Myself, I prefer AIC with Staley. But AIC with Duvall is good in its own right. The common thread is Jerry Cantrell as their main creative force.
I’m not discounting Layne’s contribution nor his vox, and the hits are his (and Jerry’s) voice. Candidly, I think AIC was the best band out of the grunge movement period from Seattle (Soundgarden is a close second IMHO). But his drug problem really held the band back. They did not tour as extensively as other bands and thus never got to that megastardom level that Toe Jam achieved. Maybe Layne knew that he held them back and that drove him further into his coward spiral.