ALICE IN CHAINS ARE BACK IN BLACK (GIVES WAY TO BLUE)
Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 12:53pm by Axl RosenbergAlice in Chains have officially announced Black Gives Way to Blue as the title of their new, Layne Staley-less album. It will be released on September 29.
I know a lot of people – myself included – are really, really, REALLY cynical about this record, but if done right, it really could be their Back in Black. For now, let’s just say that there is 200% no album I’m more curious to hear this year, for better or worse.
Here they are doing “Again” with their new vocalist, William DuVall, at Rock am Ring in 2006. Vince and I have seen this DuVall fellow live in concert twice, and I think he’s at least worth giving a shot.
-AR
william duvall is pretty good, looking forward to the new aic
I’m super excited about this album. A little skeptical, maybe… but not cynical.
One listen to Cantrell’s solo debut and you can see/hear that clearly he was the most important part of Alice in Chains. This is not meant as a knock on Staley, but listening to Cantrell sing, you realize that his voice (literally) is all over every AIC song. Every one of those awesome vocal harmonies was as much Cantrell as Staley, and Cantrell was the main musical writing force.
That said, I’m always cynical…period.
an untrained listener really has no idea how much he contributes to most songs. many just think its Staley
Yeah, but the songs themselves sucked.
Cantrell can sing (quite well actually) and is a great guitarist. But his solo stuff leaves a lot to be desired. Furthermore, let us not forget Cantrell was largely responsible for the worst AIC song of all time, “Heaven Beside You.”
That said, I hope to give this new record a fair listen.
Dude.
Cantrell also wrote Whale And Whasp.
Man, you are certanley not the one to deside which song sucks and wich not, as a listener it’s for you to decide if you like a song (album) or not but you’re not entitled to spit on somebodeys art. When somebody puts his heart into something you have to respect it.
wtf…HBY does not suck…when I heard that for first time it was the unplugged version and totally got me into the chains…and his solo stuff rules too. A lot of this new album is very reminiscent of Degradation Trip and BGWTB is getting rave reviews already…
I hope it’s good. that’s all i can really say.
I’m looking forward to hearing this. I’m glad they’ve decided to carry on.
I’m looking forward to hearing this one, while I’m a little worried about it Jerry has enough cred with his solo stuff and the fact he wrote most of the AiC stuff that I’m not too concerned. It would be more of a surprise to me if it sucked, unlike with a new Metallica disc it would be a surprise if it didn’t suck.
I’m definitely going to give this one a shot. I mean, it’s Alice In Chains with a new singer, but still it’s the dudes from Alice In Chains.
However, I’m more excited to hear that ex-AIC member Mike Starr is going to be on the new season of Celebrity Rehab!
Has anyone ever heard of a group called Second Coming? They’re based in Seattle and their first record L.O.V.Evil featrured a song with Layne on vocals. I got to see Layne perform the song with the band at some halloween show that also featured Sweaty Nipples and Super Sonic Soul Pimps around ‘95 or ‘96 or so. Anyways, I am sure Cantrell is the man behind the man behind the man, but Layne is very much a part of the AIC sound and am myself a bit cynical of a new AIC album that is Layne-less.
I’ve heard of them, actually have their self titled cd. They aren’t too bad, I haven’t heard the one with Staley on it tho.
And true, Staley was intergral, but I’m hoping a resurgence of a Staley-less AiC is still better than no new material at all.
Their self-titled and third album are major shifts in direction with their first record as they had replaced their original vocalist. I thought their first record to be superior to the latter two, but it was made as a first pressing only and I think only available at their shows. Another great Seattle band that no one has heard of I suppose.
I would add My Sister’s Machine to that list.
And Thread, those guys were freakin’ great too. I think Second Coming and Thread were passed up because the Seattle sound was starting to lame out due to the passing of Kurt Cobain. I wish I knew how to upload that Second Coming song with Layne on vocals, I think everyone would kinda dig it.
I have “Second Coming” and “13″.
“Second Coming” is awesome. The song Confessional kills.
Not so hot on anything on “13″ though. Interesting that Staley sang on one of their earlier tracks; I didn’t know that.
Meh, like I stated on an earlier post, L.O.V.Evil was the better of the three or perhaps I just prefer that style compared to the second and third albums.
Whoa! Follow this link from Amazon to check out Second Coming’s first record:
http://www.amazon.com/L-O-V-Evil-Second-Coming/dp/B00008FPOM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1244774972&sr=1-4
It’s not brutal death metal or brutal anything, but it is a great record. But if it is not your thing it’s totally worth it for the track that features Layne.
If you click on the digital album link you can preview like 10 seconds of the song. Okay, that’s it for now.
i can’t tell if that’s how duvall sounds or if he’s trying to sound like layne. not bad, it fits. skeptical like everyone else, but i wish the best for them.
I like Duvall’s voice, and I really liked Cantrell’s two solo records, so I think that this could be really, really good.
I like it, but Duvall’s bald spot just made me laugh hella hard.
Such a great song.
I’m really excited for this, but it’s sad that a lot of people are going to miss out on some (potentially) amazing music just because people refuse to accept William Duvall simply because he is not Layne Staley.
IMO, Will’s done more than enough to prove his immense and up-to-par vocal capabilities, and Jerry Cantrell has proven (via his solo albums) that he can still write some amazing music. I really think it would be hard for these guys to fuck it up.
The great thing about William is that Jerry was first a fan of his work, then a friend, and then played with him on the Deg Trip tours in the early 2000’s – he’s not some guy they just auditioned… Jerry and William have been connected for 9 years or so and William has been playing with Sean and Mike for over 4 years now. They have had time to develop the symbiotic relationship required to write true music…on their terms and on their timeline – should be fantastic!
+1
Good post VCS.
Jerry Cantrell’s solo work is superb. He’s a class songwriter and guitarist. I’m really looking forward to this release. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be something very special.
I’m happy to read a lot of optimism about this record on this site. I watch clips of Duvall with the band live on You Tube and a lot of the comments there are just childish and overly negative. I am a huge AIC fan, I’ve loved them from their start, and I think their return is quite inspirational. I’m very anxious for the new record. I, like some of you here, though Jerry’s solo outings were pretty good. I thought Boggy Depot was very nicely produced and pretty sleek, Deg. Trip, to me, was a little rough around the edges and IMO a bit overdone, but produced some great tunes none the less. Shows Jerry still has it and is eager to please his fans. I think that is what makes AIC great, they really want to deliver! They don’t do gimmicks or rely so much on an image or past success to sell new records. They just deliever, here is KNOWING that they will continue to do so.
I am a huge Layne fan, but I am really looking forward to this. I saw the band perform with Will a couple years ago & trust me, they kicked some serious ass! This band has a sound like no other and will definitely be the next coming of AC/DC. Like it or not, the new era of AIC has begun!
This youtube video of Will is one of the worst. I saw them live in Atlanta in OCT 06 and he was spot on and it was one of the best (and I have been to a LOT) concerts I have ever seen…if not the best. I was always an AIC fan from the first time I ever heard them but after that show my respect for them went way up. That said, the new song is not quite up to my standards for AIC but its still better than most of the crap they play on radio. I am looking forward to listening to the rest of the new album as soon as it comes out.