My Top 100 All-Time Albums

My Top 100 Music Albums

After stumbling across an excellent website, neverendingchartrendering.org, I realized that I could take a crack at putting together a top 100 album list. The resulting list is my top 100 albums of all time from my own personal music journey. 

Masterpiece Crate #2: Alice In Chains - Dirt

Alice In Chains - Dirt Analysis and Review

If Nirvana created the perfect storm for grunge to come into the fold with their worldwide hit, Nevermind, then Alice In Chains took the genre a giant leap further, with their second full-length album, Dirt. Like Nirvana, Alice In Chains also came into their own after recording a gritty debut, punk-grunge album, Facelift in 1990, before the release of this grunge-metal masterpiece. Facelift displayed some true potential for the band since they produced some excellent hit songs which have just as much staying power today as some of Dirt's best songs, such as Man in the Box, Bleed the Freak, and Sea of Sorrow. These singles were also a big indicator that lead singer Layne Staley's talents were a grade above those of Kurt Cobain's, as his vocal cords could easily handle an excessively powerful release from within all the while maintaining his delicate flutter as he sang. It seemed only a matter of time then, after Nevermind, that Alice In Chains would continue to top themselves after Facelift, and they most certainly did with what is undisputedly the strongest album in the group's career.

Masterpiece Crate #1: Nirvana - Nevermind

Nirvana - Nevermind Analysis and Review

September 24, 1991

Starting off this 49-album series is the worldwide commercial breakthrough of an entire genre and the monolithic rise of a band destined for tragedy. Another band I have been exposed to later in life followed a similar trajectory with their frontman just over 20 years prior, and that was The Doors, a band which had a frontman full of mystery, intrigue, and demons, who ultimately succumbed to a death that was equally as suspicious as our latter subject's demise, but this group was before my time, and so I digress.

Alice In Chains - Rainer Fog Review

As a group that has shown perseverance and evolution through its tumultuous beginnings and tragic loss, Alice In Chains has become a shining example of an act who's show can, and must, go on. Jerry Cantrell, original founding member and songwriter of the group, learned to find his voice after the tragic overdose of legendary vocalist Layne Staley left him with no other choice but to step in and become the lead. Of course, all wouldn't have been as easily possible without enlisting the help of close friend and co-vocalist William DuVall. Through this questionable decision to continue on without their chief vocalist Staley, Alice In Chains have been able to grow into a healthy, heavy, and critically acclaimed second act in their career, first with the release of their 2009 comeback album Black Gives Way To Blue, and then in 2013 with The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. The loss of Staley can be felt, but the alchemy between Cantrell and DuVall created a new future for a band that was originally thought to never be able to get back on its feet. Now, with an equal split of albums through two generations of Seattle's defining grunge and alternative metal band, Rainier Fog is another step in the right direction for Alice In Chains, despite falling for some of the cliches of an aggressive band getting older, and some thematic material getting recycled.