Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue
Virgin Records
Release date: September 29, 2009


If you’re wondering how the surviving members of Alice in Chains approached Black Gives Way to Blue, their first album since 1995‘s self-titled, look no further than the chorus in lead track “All Secrets Known” - “There’s no going back to the place we started from.”

No, when your career peak is an album that dealt with your lead singer’s heroin addiction, and everything that follows amounts to a sad waiting game against an inevitable death, the smart decision is to move forward. Which is what Alice in Chains does on Black Gives Way to Blue, and it’s also why the album sounds more like a Jerry Cantrell solo record than an Alice in Chains one. That’s obviously good news for fans of Cantrell’s Degradation Trip (count me among them, although it’s a shame both the one and two disc versions managed to have the same amount of filler) - Black Gives Way to Blue is at times the follow-up to that album as well as occasionally being a rehash of it (see “Lesson Learned”).

Essentially, this is what you’d expect it to be: an Alice in Chains album without Layne Staley. You won’t find many overt traces of the group that gave us “Love, Hate, Love,” “Them Bones,” or “Sludge Factory” - even at their most layered, Staley managed to keep the band raw and ugly, and really, there was no way the band was going to recapture that. But while the results on Black Gives Way to Blue are a little more mannered and there‘s no emotive moment that scrapes away the professional studio polish, it’s not to say it’s all sunshine and lollipops. “A Looking in View” is agreeably bleak - it’s easy to understand why that track was leaked to the public, as it does the best job at reminding people there was more to the band than just the dopesick frontman. While the chorus to first single “Check My Brain“ is radio big, it's also catchy as hell, heightened by a verse riff that curves in a deliberately wrong manner, like it’s right under your skin and trying to find a way out. “Acid Bubble” follows the same pattern as “Sickman,” in that it goes in one direction for the verse and moves in the complete opposite for the chorus. It’s not as jarring as Dirt‘s fourth track or as immediate as "A Looking in View" or "Check My Brain," but it still manages to find grace in its off kilter approach.

The band also gives a handful of well done nods to its acoustic EPs. In particular, “When the Sun Rose Again” manages to recapture the gritty, earthy vibe of Sap and stands as the non-loud highlight of the album. As opposed to the second half of Jar of Flies, here the band’s reach never exceeds its grasp, so while the title track gets a little too melodramatic, it’s never overwrought (and given the subject matter - Staley - I’ll give Cantrell a pass for wearing his heart on his sleeve).

If Black Gives Way to Blue is lacking anything, it’s a strong presence from new singer William DuVall. Apart from a couple of songs where he gets center stage, Black Gives Way to Blue is mostly DuVall and Cantrell harmonizing. I suppose they picked him because he blended in well, but I could’ve done with more tracks like “Last of My Kind” where you can immediately tell what he brings to the band. One can only hope that the next album does just that. In the meantime, this isn’t so much a welcome return as it is a welcome rebirth. Recommended.

- John Pegoraro

Was just listening to this one earlier today. Very nice return for these guys and it was this album that made me realize that it was always Cantrell that I liked most about the band, not Layne.

A pretty decent effort. Still sounds very very close to the old AIC line-up.

The Cantrell solo album comparison is spot on.
Weird, at least to me, that they'd hire a new "singer" to basically sing harmony & background vocals.

I like Jerry, I like both solo albums. This being branded as an AIC release reminds me that, in opposition to Adam, Layne was my favorite part of the band.

I still need to hear this album...

Nice review.

This sounds very much like the Alice In Chains stuff anybody would be familiar with from the radio/MTV. Cantrell was such a big part of the sound I think they actually pull it off.

A Cantrell solo album and tour wouldn't pull in as much money as a Alice In Chains album and tour. I'm pretty sure that's the only reason this is an Alice In Chains album.

Yup

william duvall plays a much bigger role live, he is definitely the frontman live. i agree, on the album, a lot of the vocals are mixed with jerry, but live duvall is without a doubt the lead singer of the band. and his voice sounded amazing.

He sounds great on the record too. Very much like Layne, but I'm ok with this.

I was hesitant about this album at first. I am with the folks who like Layne. To me he was the biggest part of AIC. Don't get me wrong though over the years I have noticed how much Jerry was as much an equal in the band. I hope to see Duvall become Jerry's equal in this version of AIC. I really like Black Gives Way To Blue. There are a few places on the album where Duvall does remind me of Layne. I will always enjoy new music from this band or a solo Cantrell album.

Well done review, Arz--I still need to hear this album, but based on the radio singles, I should really pick it up. "Dirt" had really come around for me at a crucial time....I was sort of disinterested in music as a kid at that time, and here you had something that was new sounding and metallic, but it wasn't like anything i'd heard before. They'd really tapped into a sense of despair, but the melodies and harmonies--even at their most unsettling--had something great and mysterious about them.