Alice In Chains!
They had a haunting saound to them that no other grunge band could compete with. Lane Stanley was the man and had a very distinctive voice. Nirvana was very good but just not as good as AIC. I LOVE Pearl Jams' "10" album but I don't feel that they were ever able to recreate that success.
I love each and every one of AIC's albums and the range they displayed (from Dirt to the entire Jar of Flies and unplugged albums) was just incredible.