Review by Josh Felty
Rating: **
I'm perhaps a more critical reviewer of bands I've followed for a long time, especially ones like Alice in Chains who I have absolutely dug since I heard Dirt back in high school. I was really big into grunge, still am in fact.
With regard to Alice in Chains' latest, Black Gives Way to Blue, there's much to celebrate and also lament over. First off, this is Alice's first studio album in fourteen years, and the first of completely new material since lead singer Layne Staley's death in 2002. This means that their new frontman, William DuVall, is behind the mic in Staley's place--essentially filling some pretty ginormous shoes. Surprisingly, the guys hold together that classic Chains sound, eerily so. DuVall's obviously no Layne, but his and Cantrell's vocal harmonies are uncanny on the openers "All Secrets Known" and "Check My Brain". I don't know if that's due to studio trickery or what, but their vocal work meshes together well. Probably because the two sound so much alike, a fact that is discovered on "Last of My Kind". The song "Your Decision" is an amazing composition, haunting in its reminder of the songwriting power AIC's always possessed. And this being the first batch of new work since Staley's demise has undoubtedly spawned some post-mortem lyrical odes, such as in "Your Decision", the title track, and quite possibly "When the Sun Rose Again". It's safe to say Alice in Chains still has it, as long as Cantrell's alive and kicking anyways.
They also rock just as hard, if not harder than previously witnessed. Again, don't know if that's made more apparent via studio shenanigans or if I had my volume turned way too high (it was about as low as audibly possible, I swear it). Other than that, Black Gives Way to Blue is a superb comeback for a band who's been through hell and back and even managed to have an incredible MTV Unplugged session and subsequent record, a feat that really hasn't been replicated beyond Nirvana in the 90's grunge scene. This album culminates in a beautiful acoustic ballad in the title track with the lyrics 'Tomorrow's haunted by your ghost/Lay down/Black gives way to blue/Lay down/I remember you', which also happens to contain a cameo with Elton John on piano.
Is this the best Alice in Chains album of all time? Hardly. Is it the worst? Not gonna go that far. Let's just say it's a continuation of sorts, with very little in the way of a "new Chains" or anything like that. Which is good in many ways, a detriment in others. With DuVall at the helm, puppeteered by Cantrell, I'm sure they'll continue to make some great music. And in the end, that's all that matters, despite their torrid history.