If grunge was the great asteroid that wiped the slate clean after hair metal sent heavy metal back to the stone age, Alice In Chains are the equivalent of finding a woolly mammoth walking through the streets of Croydon on a Tuesday afternoon. While their peers in Nirvana and Pearl Jam disdained all things 80s metal, Alice In Chains' vocalist Layne Staley started out very much in the thrall of spandex and hair spray, singing with the band Sleze, who eventually transformed into Alice N' Chainz, glam rockers with such delightful song titles as Lip Lock Rock and Fat Girls. Nonetheless, Staley's time in Alice N' Chainz brought to him to the attention of Jerry Cantrell and in time the pair would team up for an entirely different kind of band... sort of. For while their sludgy riffs and dour demeanour were worlds away from the glamour of the Sunset Strip, Alice In Chains never particularly hid their love for metal and could often be found on bills alongside everyone from Slayer and Megadeth (where they opened the legendary Clash Of The Titans bill) to Ozzy Osbourne. Slipping just a little glam flair into their sound helped AIC become one of the first major grunge success stories – their 1990 debut Facelift was the first of any 90s Seattle band to go Gold in the US – and the band enjoyed enormous commercial appeal across the decade.Layne Staley's tragic death in 2002 crushed any hopes that the band's original incarnation would ever come back, but sporadic reunion shows from 2005 to 2008 ultimately gave way to a new incarnation of Alice In Chains with new vocalist William DuVall. Their first release, 2009's Black Gives Way To Blue was the kind of triumphant comeback rock legends are made of and the band's subsequent activity – tours, albums, celebrations – has ensured their legacy has not just remained in tact, but actively grown in the decade-plus since their return. Here, we dive deep into band's discography to definitively rank their albums (and EPs) in order of greatness.