In 1993, the easiest way to be labeled a grunge icon was to vehemently reject the notion that you were, in fact, a grunge icon. But Layne Staley, unlike the majority of the flannel-wearing frontmen who adopted that stance, could legitimately deny it. When the first wave of rampant grunge-based consumerism swelled in the Pacific Northwest and crashed over Middle America in the wake of Nirvana’s Nevermind, Staley was already something of a metal icon. But all that would change in 1994 when Alice In Chains unleashed Jar Of Flies, the first-ever EP to debut atop the Billboard 200 and one of the most unexpected landmark releases...
Read the entire article at A.V. Club: http://www.avclub.com/article/jar-flies-alice-chains-unleashed-accidental-master-203922
Listen to Alice in Chains' album 'Jar of Flies' via Spotify: