Jar of Flies marked a much-needed breath of fresh air for Alice in Chains. Though 1992’s Dirt was a monstrous global success, sustaining the depressive, drug-focused and dirge-driven direction of that album might’ve seemed a heavy burden to the Seattle quartet at the time. While grunge-gloom’s greatest sons didn’t exactly pull a total 180, Jar of Flies is a comparatively free-and-breezy follow-up EP full of orchestrated whimsy and semi-acoustic, fully-jangling radio hits like “No Excuses”. It was the first ever EP to top the Billboard 200, and it remains an essential part of Alice in Chains’ discography.