Layne Staley Tribute: Alice in Chains Redemption and Rebirth

It had been 14 years since Layne Staley and Alice In Chains graced the airwaves with their unique sound. But Alice in Chains new album, "Black Gives Way To Blue," was finally released on September 29 amidst great fanfare for the band's return, even though they did so without the late Layne Staley. And if anyone was expecting the old Alice In Chains to give way to the new with a different sound, the replacement of Layne Staley on co-lead vocals by William DuVall might have been somewhat disappointing. But to Alice In Chains fans, the nearly seamless slide into a new lead singer worked only too well. The only complaint was that it took 14 years, seven after the death of Layne Staley, to get some new Alice In Chains out of the studio.

In the 1990s, Layne Staley and Jerry Cantrell came out of Seattle with Alice In Chains, a full grunge metal band with just enough psychodelic twists in the music and lyrics to reflect the heroine addiction that was so much a part of Layne Staley's and the band's life. It was what would kill him in 2002. And Alice In Chains, already in hiatus since 1995, would enter a sort of limbo. Although many of their fans hoped for a reformation, as time passed and nothing seemed to happen, it also seemed that Alice In Chains would never replace Layne Staley and the band would be relegated to the status of an unfulfilled promise and what could have been.

But in 2005, Alice In Chains took on William DuVall for their live performances and ideas for a new album soon followed. "Black Gives Way To Blue" was the result.

Jerry Cantrell, Alice In Chain's lead guitarist and founder, said that the entire band were addicts back in 90s but Layne Staley got caught out by the public, bore the ridicule and bad publicity for the rest of the band. Cantrell told Metal Hammer magazine that with Layne Staley the addiction was just too easy, and that was what killed him. He said, "He was a helluva lot more than that and we're lucky enough to know the rest of him, too."

The last thing Jerry Cantrell and Layne Staley worked on together was a track on Cantrell's 2002 solo album, "Degradation Trip." Staley provided vocals on "Anger Rising," a song that seemed to capture a lot of that Alice In Chains crunch-grunge on their first two albums, "Facelift" and "Dirt." Layne Staley died two months before the album was released.

"Black Gives Way To Blue" is partially a tribute album to Layne Staley. The title track most definitely is. Cantrell performed it solo at the band's homecoming in Seattle on September 24. On the album, Elton John lent supporting vocals.

But with the new album, the new addition to the old line-up, Alice In Chains have stayed true to the sound that made them a multi-platinum selling group. William DuVall, the new addition, told Metal Hammer that there was no way he would do anything to sully Layne Staley's legacy. "I love Layne. I love his work," DuVall said. "The only way to honor the past and the present is to do your thing but also to do it in a way that hopefully is a bit more life-affirming instead of revisiting the death-trip. It's about redemption and rebirth and for me it's about owning it in my own way or it would be a disservice to me and the people who care about this band and to Layne."

The first single from "Black Gives Way To Blue," "Check My Brain," has held the No. 1 position on the Billboard Rock Songs chart for the past four weeks.

Redemption granted.

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Video of Jerry Cantrell's September 24 tribute to Layne Staley, "Black Gives Way To Blue," in Seattle.

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Sources:

Metalhammer.co.uk
YouTube.com
Billboard.com