Alice In Chains - MTV Unplugged

By the spring of 1996, Alice In Chains had not played a concert in more than two years, and most people assumed they never would again. Then, on April 10, the band walked onto the stage of the Majestic Theatre at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, sat down on stools, and delivered one of the most haunting sets in the history of MTV's Unplugged series.

Stripped of the distortion, these songs reveal how much of their power always lived in the harmonies. Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell's intertwined voices turn "Nutshell" and "Down In A Hole" into something close to hymns, while "Rooster," "Would?" and "Sludge Factory" lose none of their weight on acoustic guitars. Second guitarist Scott Olson joined for the night, making this the band's only performance as a five-piece, and "Killer Is Me," a brand-new song finished just before the taping, closes the set.

Released that July, the album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 and went on to double platinum. It stands as one of the last great documents of Staley's voice and one of the few Unplugged records that genuinely rivals the studio albums it draws from.

This 30th anniversary edition presents the full performance across four sides of black vinyl, the definitive way to hear a night that never should have been this good.