Alice in Chains 'Black Gives Way to Blue' Review
Alice Resurfaces after 14 Years in the Dark
Oct 11, 2009
It was 1995 when Alice in Chains was released and went to the top of the charts. Now an older and wiser, yet more deeply wounded, Alice in Chains have returned with the follow up to their self-titled album, Black Gives Way to Blue.
Though original vocalist Layne Staley is gone and will never be replaced, William DuVall has been added on guitar and vocals to complement the remaining ¾ of that 1995 lineup to produce a rock album that can hold its own against any recent hard rock album.
There’s No Going Back
From the opening track until the final note of Black Gives Way to Blue, it is apparent that Alice in Chains are aware what they are up against. They don’t avoid the elephant in the room and pretend that this is the same Alice in Chains as it was when Staley was alive. Instead the album radiates loss and an attempt to move beyond that loss. Staley’s presence permeates Alice in Chains and Black Gives Way to Blue even seven years after his death.
The album kicks off with ‘All Secrets Known,’ which opens with the line ‘hope, a new beginning; time, time to start living, like just before we died’ and goes on to state that ‘there’s no going back to the place we started from.’
Right off the bat guitarist/vocalist/primary songwriter Jerry Cantrell lets the listener know that this is an album where Layne Staley is a primary driving force and it is an album where the rest of the band is honoring their fallen singer as best they can, by returning to what they do best. They’re a band that knows that they’ll never be the same but that they must move forward nonetheless.
And up until the very last song, the title track written for Staley and containing Alice in Chains’ first use of piano (courtesy of guest pianist Sir Elton John), Staley is everywhere on Black Gives Way to Blue- from the sense of loss his former band mates exude to the absence of his vocal presence which any Alice in Chains fan will feel.
Alice 2.0
This new version of Alice in Chains delivers a hard-hitting album and one which wisely doesn’t stray too far from the classic Alice in Chains sound but instead adheres as closely as possible with the loss of Staley’s voice and while still showing growth as a band.
New member William DuVall is also used relatively sparingly. It is apparent that he is simply an added member of the band, not Staley’s replacement. Cantrell, who by Alice in Chains had taken over lead vocals on a few songs, is now the primary vocalist, not DuVall. DuVall is used more for harmonizing vocals or for switching back and forth between vocalists within a song, just as Staley and Cantrell had done so well.
While there are songs such as ‘Check My Brain,’ the first single from the album, which sound very much like Alice in Chains did over a decade ago, there are other moments that sound closer to Cantrell’s solo work. Softer songs such as ‘Your Decision’ and the mid-tempo ‘Lesson Learned’ could easily be songs from Cantrell’s solo disc Degradation Trip.
This only makes sense however, as Cantrell has always been the primary songwriter for Alice in Chains. The evolution of Cantrell’s songwriting style is also the evolution of the sound of Alice in Chains.
The Staley Factor
It may be the moments where this new version of Alice in Chains comes closest to sounding like the old Alice in Chains where Staley is missed the most. ‘Acid Bubble’ and ‘A Looking In View’ are standard, hard-hitting Alice in Chains songs where any Alice in Chains fan can almost imagine how the song with sound if Cantrell were harmonizing with Staley instead of DuVall.
‘When the Sun Rose’ leaves the listener with the same feeling, where the listener can almost imagine Staley and Cantrell singing together on this softer Jar of Flies-era sounding track.
Similarly, ‘Last of My Kind’ may be one of the moments where Cantrell comes closest to the ‘90s guitar sound of Alice in Chains, especially during the solo. However, DuVall’s dominant vocals make the track sound the least like an Alice in Chains song of any on the album.
And perhaps this is unfair to the band but it is inevitable for any Alice in Chains fan. It is not a criticism of the band but a tribute to Staley. Many singers have a stronger voice and a greater range than Staley had, and DuVall may be one of them, but Staley had a uniqueness to his voice that will be missed.
Still One of the Last of Their Kind
Alice in Chains will never be what they were. Even if Staley were still alive it would be hard to top anything the band did in the early 1990s. However, that does not mean that Alice in Chains isn’t still a rock outfit in fine form.
While many of their peers have disappeared or lost a bit of their edge (Pearl Jam having just released a relatively forgettable album and Chris Cornell having put out an album of electronic pop earlier in the year), Alice in Chains is still dark and angry. Twenty years into their career they can still take on any hard rock band and send them running with their tail between their legs.
Black Gives Way to Blue is hopefully just the first chapter in this new era of Alice in Chains.
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