Alice in Chains had achieved unlikely mainstream success by dealing in an uncompromising breed of sludgy, narcoticized grunge-metal all their own on 1990's Facelift and 1992's Dirt, so it created quite a tizzy when the Seattle quartet turned down their amps, dialled back the angst a bit and allowed themselves to sound almost pretty -- albeit in a dark-hued manner -- on the much-beloved Jar Of Flies EP. 

The band had dabbled in this sort of "unplugged" material before on 1992's lesser-heard Sap EP, but Jar Of Flies arrived at the right moment in Alice in Chains's career trajectory to become a No. 1 Billboard hit upon its release in January of 1994, selling nearly five million copies worldwide in the years since.

No one was more surprised by this than Alice in Chains itself, since the band had gone into the studio for a week after getting off the road the previous September with no greater ambitions than getting to know new bassist Mike Inez. 

"After playing loud music for a year, we'd come home and the last thing we wanted to do was crank up the amps right away," drummer Sean Kinney told Guitar World at the time. "That stuff was written on buses and whenever we had downtime. We did Jar of Flies to see how it was to record with Mike Inez. We just went into the studio with no songs written, to check out the chemistry. It all fell into place. The sounds and the tones were really good. We thought it would be a waste not to put that material out."

It would have been. Jar Of Flies remains a fan favourite amongst the Alice in Chains faithful, and features some of the finest vocal performances late singer Layne Staley -- who would overdose in 2002 after making just one more album with the band -- ever committed to tape. 

TRACKLISTING:

1. Rotten Apple
2. Nutshell
3. I Stay Away
4. No Excuses
5. Whale & Wasp
6. Don't Follow
7. Swing on This