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Obviously, today’s Grungedown is significant not only just for capping off the most inane and meaningless drawn-out narcissistic countdown in history. Rather, in addition the crown also is another feather in the cap of the greatest, most precisely “grunge” band in musical history. Not only that, the countdown’s end marks the very week of Mister Faded Glory’s long-awaited pilgrimage to the ascribed promised land of Seattle, where “everything is cool.” Thursday!

Before we get to it, though, I gotta get something off my chest. See, I’m somewhat of a musical — nay, grunge only — snot. And, untrue to form, throughout this countdown, I’ve been admittedly notorious for the inclusion of some seriously ‘mainstream’ songs – and say what you will about grunge or music elitism, usually I skew choices more towards my personal favorites rather than incorporating chart success, subconsciously or overtly.

However, I realize that I didn’t skew that way here, and this may have led to some dissension and backlash among selections (I know, quite the uproar), mainly because several of the songs have been staples on Power/Edge/Laser/Killer 1990s rock stations for the better parts of 10 years. (I.e., Mad Season’s I Don’t Know Anything instead of Wake Up; Nirvana’s Come As You Are instead of Lounge Act; and the complete and total omission of Soundgarden’s Mailman in favor of cuts from BadMotorFinger). So if I haven’t opened you up completely to any revelations from grunge bands’ back catalogs, I apologize. Even further, in a lame attempt to rectify the situation, tonight’s number one arrives complete with a B-side in tow, from the same album.

Grunge countdown

No. 1 . . .

(drum roll)

Alice In Chains, Would?
(b-side) Alice In Chains, Junkhead

The No. 1 entry in our countdown is, quite simply, a classic rock song. For the ages. For all time.

Alice In Chains’ seminal song Would? not only launched classic album Dirt into multiplatinum status, it also served as the lynchpin of the Singles soundtrack – widely regarded as the most classic sampling of grunge tracks to date.

Would? is a classic, catchy, timeless cut from a band that was known as relentlessly hard-rock, yet this song – the first release off Dirt – offered a glimpse into the more intense, guttural, confessional side of Alice In Chains.

AIC worked best (I’ve said this before) when its songs interplayed between guitarist Jerry Cantrell’s understated vocals and solemn, bursting guitar chords with Layne Staley’s brutally honest, passionate, resonant vocals. This song is a perfect, precise, short example of Alice In Chains at its best.

Written by Cantrell and Staley in tandem, and about either the death of iconic and drug-addled Seattle frontman Andrew Wood (get it?) or Staley’s own repeated descents into heroin lows, the song’s intensity makes it a natural fit as the closing crescendo on both Dirt, Singles, Unplugged and typically at the band’s blistering live shows.

The song opens with Cantrell’s guitar delivering a slow burn, and his backing vocals mix with Staley’s typically haunting stanza, before Layne‘s fury unfolds. By the time the song moves into its landmark “Into the flood again…same old trip it was back when” chorus, the song’s claws are into your ears and the tune is nearly impossible to forget. As Staley unleashes his passionate confessional, growing more intense with each chorus, the song ferociously builds to a fiery end, with a cluster of guitar, bass, drums, and vocals. It’s unkempt but immaculate, painful yet inspirational, and harmful yet tender. It’s an absolutely breathtaking song, and it slides in as grunge’s most lasting and exemplary anthem, as well as a glimpse into the greatness of Alice In Chains.

Juxtaposed with Junkhead, the pair of songs create perhaps the most lasting images of the band. Junkhead contains Layne’s most overt references to heroin use (That’s saying quite a bit, actually) and again peels off an outer layer to reveal an intensity trapped beneath addiction, and begs Layne’s eternal question – Is it really addiction, if you like the drugs so fucking much? And who’s addicted to who, here?

Anyway, it’s either Layne’s complete admission or submission to the pain of his vices, and its nearly as intense as Would?, and as graphic as anything else the band did. Perhaps most powerfully, the grinding, frustrating song is built around a killer Cantrell riff in the center, which is as exciting as any guitar solo, well, ever – perhaps a perfect musical description of the brief highs of addiction?

Well, that’s it. That’s the list. And I’d be remiss if, during this long soliloquy to all things Alice, I didn’t mention that the band – with nouveau lead singer William Duvall – is touring the U.S. this fall, in smaller venues. Suffice it to say I was already in a good mood, poised before the pilgrimage, and this knocked me over the top. (Kind of like Junkhead’s guitar riff…)

And with that, Mr. Faded Glory is off! Off to the Pacific Northwest, off to Seattle. I’ll return rested, rejuvenated, relaxed, and ranting on Sept. 1. Same old trip it was back then . . .