Alice In Chains  are definitely one of my all-time favorite bands. I've began listen to this great seattle group about 6-7 years ago, when I was 18, and it was the first time that i've been exposed to alternative rock music (besides Nirvana).
Alice In Chains began their way at the end of the 80's, and ended it tragically with the death of Layne Staley, the lead singer and the leader of the band in April this year (2002).
A.I.C. had a way to release aggressive, dark albums like Dirt or Tripod and then sattle down with some acoustic, soft melodies like the albums Jar of Flies and Sap.
Maybe more than any other guitar player, Jerry Cantrell had the most influence on my style of playing. This was my first time I had tuned my guitar slight different from usual ("drop D tuning") and played some real heavi-metal riffs that kicked ass!
I'm almost sure that their unplugged for MTV six years ago, has convinced me to buy an acoustic guitar, insted of replacing my electric YAMAHA to something better. (Thank God I replaced it after all !). For more information about the band, click here to visit the UK site.
To read my eulogy about Layne and AIC (in Hebrew), click here.