10 Reasons Why Layne Staley Was Cool

04/22/02 4:30pm

As many readers surely already know, Alice In Chains singer Layne Staley was found dead in his Seattle home on Friday evening (April 19). While the cause of Staley's death has not been confirmed, a heroin kit was found with his body and authorities have said that he likely died of either an overdose or natural causes.

Staley, a long-time addict, was always up-front with his heroin problem and had all but disappeared from public life in recent years. Layne Staley was 34 years old.

Still, despite the darker side of Staley's short and often painful life, there were plenty of bright spots. As Alice In Chains fans convene on Internet Bulletin Boards around the globe mourning the singer's passing, we here at ChartAttack would like to offer 10 reasons why the late Layne Staley and his band Alice In Chains were cool:

1. Alice In Chains were, without a doubt, the heaviest of all the mainstream grunge bands. That's cool.

2. While we'd never advocate drug use (especially heroin) as an artistic muse, Staley was always refreshingly frank about his drug problem in the context of his songs. He admitted to using drugs, but painted his experiences in a painfully bleak light. In a 1996 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Staley spoke of the drug references in his lyrics: "I wrote about drugs, and I didn't think I was being unsafe or careless by writing about them," he said. "Here's how my thinking pattern went: When I tried drugs, they were fucking great, and they worked for me for years, and now they're turning against me — and now I'm walking through hell, and this sucks."

3. Alice In Chains brilliantly straddled the line between metal and alt.rock — many have called them the missing link between Nirvana and Queensryche. In 1992 they did a stint opening for Ozzy Osbourne. A year later they were touring with Lollapalooza.

4. Staley started Alice In Chains back when he was still in high school. How many high school bands do you know that have helped start a decade-defining musical movement?

5. Pre-dating the unplugged craze, Alice In Chains released an acoustic EP, Sap, way back in 1992. (They also released an official Unplugged set in 1996).

6. Staley pioneered that long braided goatee look that's so popular among the nu metal bands these days. While we don't advocate the facial hair style nowadays, it was pretty cool lookin' back in the day.

7. Alice In Chain's self-titled 1995 album, the final studio recording of their career, debuted at #1 on the U.S. charts.

8. Staley (and bandmate Jerry Cantrell) began his musical career in a series of young hair metal bands — and he was never ashamed to talk about it.

9. Alice In Chains played on the Clash Of The Titans tour in 1991 alongside Anthrax, Megadeth and Slayer. Awesome!

10. Staley's intense, dark vocals inspired a generation of gloom metallers. If it weren't for him, there would be no Godsmack or Puddle Of Mudd.