Album Review

Alice In Chains – Black Gives Way To Blue

• 14th Oct 2009

Hope is sometimes found in the most unusual of places. A feel good song, movie or any other medium although designed to make you feel better, to improve your mood, quite often fails to do just that. Why? Well it has to do with the connection it has with the listener or viewer, and their interpretation-if they cannot resonate with what is occurring then it is lost entirely.

This is the reason heavy music survives, because it admits that everything isn’t perfect, that life is a struggle, a grind and it’s this openness to human frailty that makes it believable, real and therefore something that you can use to deal with your own demons.

Since they began Alice in chains have always been a ‘Down’ band in so much as they have reflected the darker corners of life: depression, isolation, drug abuse, broken relationships these are all close friends to AIC’s and ones that they hold close and up to the light for examination without compromise.

‘A looking in view’ is an obvious choice for first single as it represents the closest connection to AIC’s previous material. One of the heaviest songs on the record and a good starting point at which to judge if AIC’s have lost any of their venom and bile-it’s a resounding ‘No’ before we even get to the chorus.

It refreshing that the chains don’t start the album with ‘A looking in view’ instead beginning with the altogether more open ‘All secrets known’ it serves as an admission of what has gone before and acknowledges that there has to be forward movement, for the music, for the band, for the individual members.

When William sings “A new beginning” it is completely true; and so the twisting begins, with AIC’s engaging in a filthy waltz as they pull you in and swing you around; you want to hear what happens next. The whole opening of the album serves as the perfect slide into the classic droning Alice riff of ‘Check my brain’ finally being broken up with its massive chorus.

It’s ‘Last of my kind’ where William claims his own identify, yes he can fit perfectly within Alice’s’ sound, but he can also lead the band down darker alleyways. It’s a song about resolve and defence, standing resolute-it could very well be about himself, the band or both, but it also could be about absolutely anyone in similar straits. Its clear Alice in chains are spreading their dirty wings and opening up the channels of what they want to deal with.

It seems almost cliché now when a metal/rock band puts acoustic guitars into the mix, a long time ago every band went unplugged with mixed results. It was Alice in chains that seemed one of the most comfortable, and it’s now become part of their lexicon, just another colour from the murky palette. During ‘Your decision’ and ‘When the sun rose again’ it opens up the human feel to the album, and its sparse delivery only emphasises that close connection with the listener that AIC’s are going for-and attain.

With all this tweaking of invention and moments of considered experimentation it’s still a welcome sound to hear Cantrell, Kinney ,Inez and DuVall just be Alice in chains, and with ‘Acid bubble’ they do just that, seemingly outweighing most riffs and cutting right through the mix at 2:46 just snapping the record wide open.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that AIC’s has lost anything in their odyssey, ‘A lesson learned’ proves that and contains the biggest insights into the bands psyche “Feeling like you never could”, “In your darkest hour you strike gold” could serve as a one sentence review, not fully giving credit to their achievements but directly explaining their journey-“Just another lesson learned” is there respectful acknowledgement of the past and its importance to the future.

As always it’s the struggle that provides the best music, finding that the only way out is through, through the self doubt, the tragedy & pain as ‘Private hell’ puts it ‘My little cell”.

It was always going to be a beautiful tribute to Layne on the album’s title and closing track, giving the long time fans and the band themselves a moment to mourn his loss publically, it is the closest to a musical funeral pyre as possible.

‘Black gives way to blue’ deals with familiar material to Alice in chains: personal demons & internal conflict , in many ways a transitional record-in a positive sense-its constantly moving, progressing, but it’s such a strong starting point it means that AIC’s can often look back, whilst not arresting their future development.

This is the sound of a band clearing its house, ready for something new, placing some of the reminders of the past judiciously around the rooms, as simple signposts and gentle nudges to a previous time, whilst now making room for new ideas and members.