Dirt

The band started recording in Los Angeles on April 29, 1992, the day the Rodney King verdict came in, and had to leave town until the riots burned out. What they finished afterward is the darkest of the big Seattle records. Producer Dave Jerden stacked Jerry Cantrell's guitars into a wall, and Layne Staley sang about his heroin addiction in the first person, no metaphors, while still inside it. The album reached number six and went on to sell five million copies in the United States.