By Paul Patras, Newswire Intern

Alice in Chains has cemented themselves in music history as one of the best bands from the Seattle sound in the 90s and early 2000s. Their Live album exemplifies this, and its celebrating 24 years. 

They have produced iconic songs like “Man in the Box” and “Rooster” that are still just as iconic today as they were almost 30 years ago. 

When looking at the mid-to-late 90s, there were many popular grunge bands like Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Stone Temple Pilots and Pearl Jam. It’s important to note what the “Seattle Sound” was— a large population of rock bands that all seemed to emerge at around the same time at the same place in America.

Alice In Chains was formed in 1987 and grew to popular success in the 90s with lead singer Layne Staley, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Star and drummer Sean Kinney. This band produced a unique sound that put the dirt and grime into grunge. This music is nasty. It’s sinister. It has haunting vocals and beautiful melodies. It combines heavy riffs, angelic vocals and ties it all together with a powerful drum kit. 

The band released their first album, “Facelift,” in 1990 and sold millions of copies. Just two years later, the band released “Dirt,” which is easily a personal favorite with 13 masterclass songs, ending with one of the most famous and probably best songs, “Would?.”

The band ran into hardships, addiction, loss and as the music progressed, it became that abuse of substances like heroin were present in the band and ultimately led to lead singer Layne Staley’s death due to an overdose in 2002.

Before his death, the band released a number of albums that were equally successful, such as “Jar of Flies,” a unique—sounding series of acoustic heart-wrenching songs that utilized instruments like violins and 12-string guitars. Their self-titled album had crunchy guitar tones and came after a break in the band after Layne Staley’s drug abuse began to affect the band. The band than had an MTV unplugged session which largely marked the end of the band’s success.

This album, “Live,” is a love letter to the genre and to all of the things that the Seattle Sound stood for. This album is a live compilation of some of the band’s greatest hits with preformed live songs from performances in Glasgow, Dallas and at the band’s hometown, Seattle

Here’s a short preview of some of the best songs on this album. Beginning with “Would?.” This song is a masterpiece. Every part of it is powerful, from the extremely heavy bass tone to the explosive drums to the harmonic vocals between Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley and, of course, the final chorus of the song which is as haunting as it is beautiful. 

“Angry Chair” begins with a nice leadup with drums and explodes with the guitars. This is a song that sticks with the listener because of how the guitar melodies seem to end at the end of each verse but the chorus of this song is nothing short of melodious.

“Love, Hate, Love” tells the story of betrayal and falling in love. This song begins soft and erupts into an emotional volcano that is led by the vocals, especially at the end of the song with the final words from Layne Staley; “I still love you, but I still burn…Love, hate, love.”

There are many other songs on this album that all require a listen. But these are the ones that are pure Alice In Chains.