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When a band soldiers on with new personnel after a loss — such as, say, the overdose death of original Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley — the preeminent task is always to try and reassure the audience that, yes, this is the same band you knew before, yet this has to be accomplished in a subtle manner. By plopping in a sound-alike replacement, you risk losing your credibility and, worse, you come off as insensitive to the band’s legacy. On the other hand, if you go too far in the opposite direction, you alienate your original fanbase.
The fact that Black Gives Way to Blue, the album by the mostly reunited Alice in Chains, deftly straddles the two is quite an achievement. New singer William DuVall fits into Staley’s timbre, but he sounds unique enough to avoid being called a clone. The new songs seize upon everything that AiC had come to represent musically, so it’s a comfortable transition in that respect, too. Truth be told, however, that’s all that can be considered comfortable, and so much the better for that. I have never walked away from an AiC recording wanting to pick wildflowers and draw smiley suns and rainbows, and Black Gives Way to Blue continues that streak. From the opening confessional, “All Secrets Known,” to songs like “Acid Bubble” and “Private Hell,” you can be assured a heavy time in the offing. (more…)
It’s hard to believe (for those of us who lived it, anyway) that it’s been fifteen years since Kurt Cobain committed suicide. On April 5th, 1994, the Seattle native left the world with the same cold-water shock his band Nirvana had on the world when the album 