Layne Staley Birthday 6-Pack: Remembering the Great Grunge God

Layne’s not with us anymore, but that’s not stopping us from celebrating his legacy. A Layne Staley birthday six-pack, in his honor.

It was only now that I made the connection that Layne’s birthday falls exactly one day after the release of Facelift, Alice In Chains‘ major-label debut album. Different years, of course. Facelift released in 1990, Layne was born in 1967. And since we’re talking numbers and birthdays and the like, Layne was born 10 years before me. And his birthday is my half-birthday.

 Layne Staley Birthday 6-Pack: Get Born Again

Of the Big 4 Seattle grunge bands, I’d probably choose Soundgarden as my all-time favorite. But of the Big 4 Seattle grunge band vocalists, I’d definitely choose Layne. Of the myriad adjectives one could use to describe his voice, haunting is the first one that comes to mind as I type this. And the way he and Jerry Cantrell wrote and sang together? That will never be repeated. Or improved upon.

I’ve written a bit about Layne over my time here at ROCK 92.9. Since he and his grungy Seattle brother-in-arms Kurt Cobain share the dubious distinction of dying on the same day, I usually share this compilation of what I believe to be their greatest vocal performances on April 5 each year. I’ve also counted the number of times Layne says “yeah” on Alice In Chains’ self-titled album. It’s a lot.

Layne Staley Birthday Six-Pack: Real Thing

What I’ve not done, however, is cracked a Layne Staley birthday six-pack. So I’m doing that now. Usually, I’ll just share my six favorite tracks by an artist. But in this case, I’m going to share a song from each Alice In Chains release that features Layne–3 albums, 2 eps–and a bonus track. If you’re a big Alice In Chains fan and you love and miss Layne as much as I do, I hope you’ll also love the songs I chose.

• "It Ain't Like That"

  One of Layne’s earliest “yeahs.” I was in a rock band in high school and college. We covered a lot of AIC tunes, and this was always a favorite.

• "Am I Inside"

  From the Sap ep. Layne’s lyrics and vocals on this are among the best work he ever did as a songwriter and lead singer. This song is late autumn, in all its stark gloom.

• "Would?"

  Yes, I chose the “hit.” The biggest hit. This was my introduction to Alice In Chains: this music video on MTV. Layne looking cooler than any rock star I’d ever seen up until that time. 30+ years later and it still rocks me.

• "Nutshell"

  I feel like this is the official favorite song of the greater Alice In Chains fanbase. My brother and I introduced my dad to it and he loves it. We three play it together all the time.

• "Again"

  From Tripod. Gimme all the yeahs, Layne. All. The. Yeahs.

• "What The Hell Have I"

  From the Last Action Hero Soundtrack. “A Little Bitter” is on there, too. But I like this one a little better.