Alice in Chains - Black Gives Way to Blue (2009)

Back in 1992 Alice in Chains released their breakthrough album ‘Dirt’ into the mainstream crowd via Columbia records. Alongside Seattle comrades Nirvana and Soundgarden the grunge sound was firmly established and Alice in Chains became icons over night. Ten years later, already after a number of years of inactivity lead singer Layne Staley died of a Heroin overdose. Buried but not forgotten, one would have thought the passing of Layne would have finally triggered the retirement of the Alice in Chains moniker. Exactly seventeen years after the release of Dirt Alice in Chains returns with a new singer named William DuVall (guitarist/vocalist of Comes with the Fall) and their fourth studio recording titled ‘Black Gives Way to Blue.’

Wrote and recorded over the past couple of years, Black Gives Way to Blue hankers back to the classic AiC’s sound with songs that are both heavy and catchy, slow and somber and the classic grunge gloom of the early 90’s. Regrettably though after numerous listens this album has generally failed to fully capture my attention and keep me clamoring for more. Sure the album has some great songs like the poignant ballad ‘Your Decision’ or the hard rocking ‘Lesson Learned’ and I wouldn’t hesitate to say ‘Check my Brain’ is one of the finest songs the band ever wrote. It’s just that the rest of the songs are basically very standard and somewhat forgettable in there execution. Nevertheless I find interesting characteristics within these other songs that lead me to believe that one day I’ll appreciate this album further.

Oddly enough it would appear both Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall split the vocal duties up about 50% and in general I prefer Jerry’s voice over William’s. I won’t take anything away from William though, he’s a great singer, absolutely, but filling the shows of a unique voice like Layne’s is like replacing Freddy Mercury or some other iconic lead singer. It just can’t be done and to some it might be a bad idea too.

In the end I wouldn’t say BGWtB is a bad album nor were my expectations let down, because frankly I never thought there would be a fourth Alice in Chains album. As previously stated I think some of these songs may grow on me over time, but as of now I remain only semi won over by this albums inclusion in the otherwise stunning AiC discography.