Alice in Chains Gets Born Again on "Black Gives Way to Blue"

I remember the first time ever I heard an Alice In Chains album. I had heard "Man In The Box" a few times and loved the lyrics and the crunch of Jerry Cantrell's guitar. The video was pretty cool. But my roommate had bought the "Facelift" album and I worked nightshift. He was an exercise nut with a weight-bench and very lucky that Alice In Chains had a unique and engaging sound, because if they had sounded like, say, the Jonas Brothers, he may have become a man without a boom box. But they were phenomenal and I just laid in bed with only two hours sleep as my room vibrated to the slamming grunge of Seattle's Alice In Chains -- and listened to every song.

I was hooked.

I bought all their albums -- and EPs -- as soon as they were released and was never disappointed. But the albums stopped after 1995's eponymous release. In 2002 it looked like they would never release a new album, as Layne Staley's body finally succumbed to the heroine he kept supplying it, a victim to the depression of his girlfriend's death.

Alice In Chains' first single from "Black Gives Way To Blue," "Check My Brain," was the #1 Billboard Rock Songs single for the fourth week in a row in the U. S. when their first album in 14 years dropped on September 29. The first song from the album, "A Looking In View," dubbed the buzz track, debuted on the radio in June to pave the way for new Alice In Chains and, when "Check My Brain" hit the airwaves with its mind-bending guitar, an effect obtained by holding down the whammy bar (we're told), Alice In Chains fans and anyone looking to hear something completely different were ready for it.

Most of the new music I hear these days comes via the radio in one of my vehicles. It is where I heard both the new songs for the first time. And although I was anticipating something good from Jerry Cantrell and company, I did not expect the sound to come off so close to their old sound, but it was amazingly similar -- but fresh and new. New lead singer William DuVall blended his voice with Cantrell's and the sound was amazingly similar to that produced by that of Jerry Cantrell and former frontman Layne Staley, Alice In Chain's late lead singer.

It's definitely music one can drive to -- the true test of any good song. Can't drive to it -- toss it.

And that's the way bands should make their transition to new material with a new singer. AC/DC replaced Bon Scott with Brian Johnson, a little higher pitch but comparable. Lynyrd Skynyrd replaced Ronnie Van Zant with brother Johnny. And Journey replaced lead man Steve Perry with virtual soundalike Arnel Pineda after watching him on YouTube.

The way you do not replace your lead singer is with someone who sounds completely different, like .38 Special replaced Don Barnes with Max Carl. Max Carl was a great singer but his tenor was a drastic change from Barnes' powerful baritone.

Alice In Chains may have waited awhile, but they've done it right once they got started up again. They still have that grungy psychodelic sound that made them famous. As Ronald Hart stated in his Billboard review, "The band's classic, down-tuned stomp could easily pass for an unreleased track from the "Dirt" era and is sure to keep longtime fans feeling pleasantly dystopic."

It's just too bad music fans had to wait so long for it. Sean Kinney, the band's drummer, believes they've hit on something and is eager to continue recording with the current line-up. He told Billboard, "It'd be a disservice to Layne's legacy to not keep moving forward with this project. You hope it strikes a chord, but to me, this record's already a success."

Look for the 11-track "Black Gives Way To Blue" to knock fellow Seattle-ites Pearl Jam, who sound absolutely nothing like they did when they created the masterpiece "Ten" (and more's the pity), out of the top spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.

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Sources:

"Alice In Chains," Billboard.com
Billboard.com