Alice In Chains

[FlashFlood]

Check My Brain - Full Song

http://www.grungereport.net/2009/08/14/listen-to-alice-in-chains-new-single-check-my-brain/

[FunkyMonkey]

^^Thanks for posting the song.  Very cool, I like it. 

[FunkyMonkey]

ALICE IN CHAINS: 'Check My Brain' Released To Radio; Audio Stream Available - Aug. 14, 2009

"Check My Brain" ? the first single from "Black Gives Way To Blue", the highly anticipated new album from ALICE IN CHAINS ? has been released to radio and can be streamed in the YouTube clip below. (Note: This is a reduced-quality version of the audio file.)

Due on September 29, "Black Gives Way To Blue" is ALICE IN CHAINS' first new studio release in more than 10 years. The quartet (guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and guitarist/vocalist William DuVall) recorded the album with producer Nick Raskulinecz (RUSH, FOO FIGHTERS) at Studio 606 in Northridge, CA and Henson Studios in Hollywood.

The track listing for the CD is as follows:

01. All Secrets Known
02. Check My Brain
03. Last Of My Kind
04. Your Decision
05. A Looking In View
06. When The Sun Rose Again
07. Acid Bubble
08. Lessons Learned
09. Take Her Out
10. Private Hell
11. Black Gives Way To Blue

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=125287

[D]

Just a band I've never been able to get into

listened to the song. not my cup but I am not a fan of dark grunge type stuff

[FunkyMonkey]

From Slash....

Heard the new AIC song today, fucking brilliant! #fb

about 5 hours ago from TwitterBerry

[Malcolm]

Love the new AIC tune...New cd should be great

[FunkyMonkey]

Q&A: Jerry Cantrell of Alice in Chains

The guitarist/songwriter on Layne Staley's legacy, Dave Grohl's support, and recruiting Elton John for the band's new album.

By William Goodman 08.21.09

Alice in Chains recently announced that a very special guest would appear on their first album in 14 years, out September 29 -- and that person is Elton John, who plays piano on the record's title track "Black Gives Way to Blue," an emotional tribute to late frontman Layne Staley. It's a surprising collaboration, but one that guitarist/songwriter Jerry Cantrell tells SPIN.com was like an act of fate.

"Elton John was Layne's first concert," says Cantrell, 43, sitting in a dim New York hotel bar, clutching a cocktail with a hand that has no less than three skull-and-cross-bones rings on it. "There's a lot of really weird things lining up here. And things like that have been happening all along during our reunion process. You get little sign posts pointing the right way."

One of those sign posts directed the band to William DuVall, former frontman of Atlanta rockers Comes with the Fall, who replaced Staley on vocals. "Part of the healing process is sharing with other people who care," Cantrell says of DuVall, referring to Staley's 2002 death from a heroin and cocaine overdose.

Below, read SPIN's conversation with Cantrell, from the band's decision to reunite will DuVall to their relationship with Dave Grohl, who played a role in recording their new album.

How did the collaboration with Elton come together? It's a little surprising.
It makes a lot of sense to us. But the fact that it happened in the first place is something we didn't expect. We were in the studio and were getting near the end. "Black Gives Way to Blue" was one of the last songs we cut. We were trying to figure out if we wanted a piano track on it. Our friend Todd who was in the room suggested calling Elton just out of the blue and we all looked at him like he was crazy. Of course we would love for that to happen, but we were like, 'Nah that's not going to happen, that dude's busy. He's got his own thing going on.' But Todd was like, 'Hey man, you never know unless you ask. I think he might do it!' So we put that idea to the test.

How did you get him into the studio?
I wrote him an email and explained that the song was for Layne, and we heard that he was interested in doing it. Later, as we continued working on the record, it turned out that Elton was doing a session in the same studio as us in Los Angeles. [Drummer] Sean [Kinney] and I went out to lunch and we got a call from the studio manager saying, 'Hey, Elton wants to talk to you.' We're like, 'We'll be back after lunch,' and he said, 'No, he's taking off here in a few minutes so you guys need to get back here right now.' So we canned the lunch and tore ass back to the studio and walked into the room that Elton was tracking in. He got up and gave us both a hug and said, 'I just wanted to tell you that it's a great tune and I want to play a track on it.' We were totally blown away.

Was Layne a fan of Elton?
Yep. And, coincidentally, about a week ago Layne's mom reminded me that Elton John was Layne's first concert and she said he was blown away. Layne told me that once, but I had totally forgotten about it. It brought back some really cool memories. There's a lot of really weird things lining up here. Number one: the significance of Elton to Alice in Chains. Number two: it was Layne's first concert. And to have Elton play on a song for Layne, whew, it means so much to us.

READ MORE OF THE INTERVIEW WITH JERRY CANTRELL ON PAGE 2.

http://www.spin.com/articles/qa-jerry-cantrell-alice-chains?page=0%2C0

[Chief]

Great interview, thank you... it must be really insane replacing a singer who died....

[SpecialAgentCooper]

Didn't like the single or the album. They really shouldn't try to pass themselves off as Alice. As a new band all together it was OK I guess. Sorry I just have high standards

                                                                                        Coop

[crow316]

This is very much still AIC.  I miss Layne terribly. But the new stuff, and the live perfomance I saw a few years ago, is still very much AIC.  Far more than other bands that retain like one member and still go by the same name.

[Chief]

I just saw them and they were pretty awesome... missed layne but the new singer really has great chops and does them justice!  Great show... very surprised to hear them open with Rain when I Die!
I am looking forward to the new album and expect it will be AiC with a different vibe... their new video is freakin crazy!

[FunkyMonkey]

ALICE IN CHAINS: Footage From California's EPICENTER Available - Aug. 25, 2009

Video footage of ALICE IN CHAINS' performance at the Epicenter festival on Saturday, August 22 at the Fairplex in Pomona, California can be viewed below (courtesy of "Bad2b2").

If you pre-order ALICE IN CHAINS' new album, "Black Gives Way To Blue", via iTunes, you will receive two exclusive bonus tracks: "Your Decision" (live) and "Black Gives Way To Blue (Elton John Piano Mix)"

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=125883

[Verse Chorus Verse]

Has the album leaked yet? I've seen several posts scattered about on various forums that make it sound like it has.

[FunkyMonkey]

Song lengths...

1. ?All Secrets Known? 4:42
2. ?Check My Brain? 3:57
3. ?Last of My Kind? 5:52
4. ?Your Decision? 4:43
5. ?A Looking in View? 7:05
6. ?When the Sun Rose Again? 4:00
7. ?Acid Bubble? 6:55
8. ?Lessons Learned? 4:16
9. ?Take Her Out? 3:59
10. ?Private Hell? 5:38
11. ?Black Gives Way to Blue? 3:03

[FunkyMonkey]

Alice In Chains video for ?Check My Brain? will be released on September 8th. 

[FunkyMonkey]

ALICE IN CHAINS To Perform On 'Jimmy Kimmel Live!' - Aug. 28, 2009

Legendary rock band ALICE IN CHAINS will celebrate the release of its highly anticipated new album, "Black Gives Way To Blue", with an outdoor mini-concert on ABC-TV's "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" on Tuesday, September 29 (which will actually air the morning of Wednesday, September 30).

http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=126038

[Chief]

Thanks for the epicenter post Funky, it was cool to relive that show a little bit!

[FunkyMonkey]

Back with ?Black?

September 1, 2009

When Layne Staley, lead singer of the acclaimed Seattle rock band Alice in Chains, passed away in 2002, his singing and songwriting partner, guitarist, and friend Jerry Cantrell wasn?t sure the band would continue. In 2005, Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney regrouped for a benefit concert. A brief tour with singer William DuVall, who had worked with Cantrell?s solo band, followed in 2006. On Sept. 29, the quartet will release ?Black Gives Way to Blue,?? its first album in 14 years. The disc, which finds Cantrell sharing vocal duties with DuVall, retains the group?s heavy sound - what Cantrell dubs its ?musical fingerprint?? - and pays tribute to Staley on the poignant title track, which features Elton John on piano. Alice in Chains plays the Paradise next Monday. We chatted with Cantrell by phone from his home in Los Angeles last week.

Q. Was the title track difficult to record?

A. That song in particular was actually a pretty easy song to write but it was a very difficult process to let that out and it really affected us to actually put that into words. But I think it was necessary.

Q. On that song and several others there?s a sense of optimism bubbling under the sort of hazy melancholy surface the band has been known for. It feels like you?re counseling listeners to embrace pain as a means of healing, not just reside in the darkness of loss. Good advice.

A. Thank you. Even though we delved into some darker subject matter, I think that element was always in there. It wasn?t always about doom, gloom, and drugs. But by talking about that stuff it?s kind of a freeing thing because it?s stuff everybody feels. Years have passed and we?ve gone through a change and maybe the balance of some of the elements has shifted a little bit.

Q. Now that it?s clear that you?re relaunching do you worry that some fans might object to your continuing as Alice in Chains without Layne?

A. We?ve never really done this to please everybody. As a matter of fact, we?ve never really done this to please anybody except for ourselves. It ended up being something that spoke to people as well and over the years we?ve collected a group of people that support the music and we?re very grateful for that. But I think it really has got to be something that you do for yourself and then hopefully that gets taken to the next step of being for somebody else.

Q. What do you think Layne would say?

A. He?s probably thinking, ?What the [expletive] took you guys so long???

http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/09/01/alice_in_chains_back_with_black/

[Bodhi]

Ok so I would like to retract my previous statements about Alice In Chains from a few pages ago...from what i heard so far, this is going to be a kick ass record.

[FunkyMonkey]

LiveDaily Interview: William DuVall of Alice in Chains

September 1, 2009

LiveDaily: You're playing clubs on your forthcoming tour. Why did you decide to play small clubs, when you could play larger venues?

William DuVall: I think there's several reasons for that. It's kind of a standard plan of attack when you have a new album coming out. You kind of want to work the kinks out in smaller venues, and also it gives the fans a little something exclusive and a little more intimate while you're working your kinks out. We're still figuring out how to play some of these new songs live. It provides both a little less of a pressurized environment for us and something more intimate for the fans. It's a little bit of an appetizer before the full meal deal comes rolling down.

You must be pretty excited about the album coming out. What can we expect from it?

Well, I think you can expect a really dense, really heavy, but really ethereal and cathartic, sonic experience. We took our time with this record. There was certainly no shortage of thoughts and feelings to address with everything that's gone down. It's a snapshot of our journey from early 2006 to this point right now. It's the story of our coming together. It's also the story of a band that is both celebrating its legacy but also opening the door to the future, and mourning the loss of a friend--one of the great singers of all time, Layne Staley.

But it really is a testament to [the fact that], for every door that closes, there's another one that opens, if you chose to open it. They lost somebody but they also gained somebody. We came together on the road as brothers. I've known Cantrell for 10 years now. There's a long, long backstory that got us to that point. None of us saw this stuff coming. This is where it naturally evolved to, from even when I met him back in 2000. In the beginning of 2006, the four of us--Mike, Sean, Cantrell and myself--we all came together and bonded on the road, in a way any real band should. This is the result. This is an honest look at our lives, unflinching look at a journey of personal growth and collective growth that it took for us to get here.

Like I said before, I think it provides a lesson for people who want to see that lesson: You might get knocked down and from there you have a choice--you can lay there and die or you can get up and start walking. If you get up and start walking, life has a way of rewarding you. Even if you're walking through the desert, you're blind and you don't know where the hell you're going, you'll eventually come to an oasis if you keep putting one foot in front of the other. This is all that record has to say and more. Hopefully, it resonates with people the way it resonates with us.

Just the fact that we're putting it out at all, seeing the light of day is the testament to how we feel about it. This was a totally self-funded, self-directed endeavor. At any point, we could have pulled the plug. We weren't contractually obligated to anyone. There was no agenda being pushed from anyone on the outside. This was all us doing this thing for all the right reasons. Just the fact that it's coming out at all was a big thing.

It sounds like there wasn't a lot of pressure in recording it because there certainly could have been. For example, it's the first Alice in Chains album in 14 years.

Well, there is [pressure] internally. We are our own worst critics. We are gonna be harder on ourselves than anyone can possibly be on us. In that respect, certainly there was a lot of pressure. We want to do the best work we can. We only wanted to put something out that was going to add to the incredible legacy this group already has. In that respect, there was pressure--but that's good pressure. That's the kind that makes you strive, and dig deeper and work harder. And we did. We put in the hours and we did the digging. It was painful sometimes. But I think the results are well worth it--and I just mean that in terms of outside pressure. Had there been some label commissioning or demanding something from us, that would have tipped it over into something else that we wouldn't really want to be a part of. Luckily, we are able to do this thing the way we wanted. It was that much more liberating and rewarding.

You've been in the band for about four years now. How have you seen it evolve?

I've seen a lot of personal growth on the part of all four of us rising to this occasion. We kind of came together on the road. We did a lot of our growing up in public. It demands a lot of all of us. Certainly, to a lot of people, I'm in the hot seat, as it were. Yeah, man, all of that to me is a challenge that just provides an opportunity for you to be better and grow as a human being. I tried to concentrate on that--seize that opportunity. I think we all did. I've seen a lot of evolution, a lot of personal evolution on the part of all four of us. It's pretty incredible. It's one of the best things about this whole trip.

What was it like to work with Elton John?

Elton's great. He's certainly an important musician to all of us. We all grew up with [his music]. Our parents were huge fans of his and all that. As Cantrell will tell anyone, Elton represents the beginning of his musical journey. It was a really heavy day walking into the studio to do that session with Sir Elton John. We're all geekin' out. There's no other way to say it.

He was great. He was so gracious with his time and just a consummate pro. He tried attacking the part a million different ways. He took suggestions from us like the absolute master musician that he is. After trying it a bunch of different ways, he hit on the approach you hear on the album. I think it's beautiful and perfect fitting to the song. Again, yet another indication from the universe that maybe we're on to something here, that what we're doing is for the right reasons. It's kind of a green light from the world. You have this guy who represents all of our childhoods. In Cantrell's case, it's the beginning of his musical journey before any hard rock or guitar-oriented bands came into his world, it was Elton John, and he's got him playing on this song that represents kind of a heartfelt goodbye to a dear departed friend and also the opening of some new doors, some new chapters yet to be written in the book, with me and all of us coming together. That's heavy in and of itself. Add to that the fact that Layne Staley's first concert was Elton John. It was an incredibly heavy day and an incredibly beautiful day. It's such a landmark thing for all of us. We're really glad it was able to come together.

http://www.livedaily.com/news/20007.html

And a long article on the making of Black Gives Way To Blue:

Alice in Chains

Sep 1, 2009

THE SONIC MASSIVENESS OF BLACK GIVES WAY TO BLUE

http://mixonline.com/recording/tracking/alice-in-chains-0909/index3.html