My review on: Alice In Chain's "Black Gives Way To Blue

[JGMetalhead]

---*Album Rating* 68%---

---Overview---
Ok so Grunge isn’t completely dead I suppose. Sure there’s a good selection of artists out there but there are also a lot of “bad” artists. Sticking to Alice In Chains of course, here we have possibly the best Grunge band of all time if not then one of the best. I would say they are pretty much my favorite grunge band and I’m a fair enough fan of them. However they are far from one of my overall favorites in the rock genre even from their first releases. Sure they have some corny moments on each of their albums. But unquestionably we all know that Facelift and Dirt were and still are by far the best releases they came out with in due time with their latest release which I thought was eh, could have been better. In the regime of heavy metal sounding grunge, this album was quite average relative to being part metal and I guess it would be one of your better grunge listens. To be surprisingly honest, I’m a bit disappointed because after the first 3 tracks the album derailed and ended up getting quite cheesy and generic. However this release also, though probably their worst, has its moments and is definitely worth a listen, but I’m warning you it gets weaker after track 3 and there is some acoustic songs and just other songs with generic guitar solos that almost sound like they came off their past releases. But to make a long story short it went from the first 3 tracks which were simply amazing to the last 8 tracks which were a bit like what the fuck except for tracks 5, 7, 8, and 9.

---Track Rating---

- (+1) Track 1 – All Secrets Known ->
The opening seems nice, a good start for the album. I really have to say, it seems like William DuVall has replaced Layne very well so far. This is indeed something.

- (+1) Track 2 – Check My Brain -> [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_7YWq-gxrUo&feature=related[/ame]
Another good opening start with this track and again, another good and solid track. Keep it up Alice In Chains!!!

- (+1) Track 3 – Last Of My Kind -> [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0nQpduuLeY&feature=related[/ame]
Another good song on the album and so far this album is sounding really I mean REALLY amazing. This one of the best releases I heard this year according to what’s going on so far.

- (-1) Track 4 – Your Decision ->
What the fuck, where is that dark and heavy sound of Alice In Chains? Where did it go!!! Don’t screw up the next song.

- (+1) Track 5 – A Looking in View ->
This song isn’t bad. It sure makes up for the last song. But really all I can say is this song lives to see another day, but definitely not a highlight on this album. Another thing I would like to say is there’s a bit much blend of country sound.

- (-1) Track 6 – When The Sun Rose Again ->
One thing I really have to say about this song is the tribal beat is nice but is this track really needed like can it just be the heavy grunge I am expecting? This could have made out with a good info track if there were some dragging guitar riffs to make it darker but I don’t see the point right now.

- (+1) Track 7 – Acid Bubble ->
Ok finally, were back to that sound that we were looking for; that nice dark sound that this album should have had the whole time. Another good track for the album most especially. Now lets try to keep it rolling nicely from here.

- (+1) Track 8 – Lesson Learned ->
This is another nice song but the stylistic dark flow of genius is lost on this track. However this is a good track none the less.

- (+1) Track 9 – Take Her Out ->
Eh, this song is ok I guess. The album is loop holing from weak to consistent genericness.

- (-1) Track 10 – Private Hell ->
This would be another one of the weaker tracks on the album where the derailing of so called generic and cheesiness comes in once again.

- (-1) Track 11 – Black Gives Way To Blue ->
Yup were down to the title track of the album, and I’m ashamed on how it sounds. It should be the best or probably one of the best tracks on the album. Unfortunately it ends up being one of the worst.

 

[BloodSword]

Certainly entitled to your opinion, but I strongly disagree. Seems your main bitch is the album is not consistently good, after song 3. What is generic about these songs? Excellent guitar work by Cantrell. Duvall does an admirable vocal job. And the song composition is solid. This band is not "grunge." That's a label the media tagged them with. They are a rock/metal hybrid. Period. The title track is something AIC have done very well through the years. Listen again man.

 

[JGMetalhead]

I have listened the album an accurate enough times to do a fair review. First off, I'll answer your questions in segments, starting off with the following...

Consistency: A good album is always consistent. Yes the album was very good at the very beginning, but it went out of the blue and had less of a drag of attention later on. It got a little cheesier and less creative. Although tracks 7-9 were also good for the album, they weren't great. They were on the lines of more cheesy and generic than the past releases of Alice In Chains.

Cantrell's guitar lines/Genericness: I sort of agree and disagree with accordance to this album. The beginning the composition of guitar was quite amazing and had a nice dark style to it that I thought made the album for what it was. I was wrong later on when track 4 came. However songs 7-9 although weren't great, they were fine; but they were still less creative and less of what the past releases were.

Vocal quality: The vocal job on the album was fine, better at times and crappy at times. William DuVall and Cantrell did a great job vocally bringing back some of the raw sound of Alice In Chains, but as I said, this album didn't go the way it could have.

Composition: I think I have stated it before, the very beginning was amazing and then it grew dull.

Alice In Chains not grunge? Correction: Alice In Chains is my favorite band for the style they play which is "Heavy Grunge with heavy metal essentials in relevance to mainly the guitars and sometimes the drums". There are plenty of bands with a related style to Alice In Chains such as, The U-Men, Green River, and Gruntruck.

Thank you for your comments.

 

[BloodSword]

That's what I call elaboration and substantiating your opinion. Thanx,man. One of the great things about music, is no two people hear the same thing.

 

[fps]

Chains have done all kinds of great acoustic/soft songs, and Your Decision, When the Sun Rose Again and Black Gives Way to Blue are 3 more to add to the lengthy list.

I don't like the production on the album, too clean, a lot of Jerry's guitar work is buried, and the rhythm guitars are too spongy and compressed.

Good album. 9 and 10 are disappointing given the quality of their verses.

 

[JGMetalhead]

I forgot to add that track 5 was also a good track for the album but falls in equality to tracks 7-9. the first 3 tracks are without a doubt the best tracks on the album. The album is quite above average for its genre.

 

[SoundMaster]

Wow....this album has blown me away (and taken my completely by surprise). I had little hope for this but I cant get over how GREAT these songs are! This is just a notch behind "Dirt" and better (by a wide margin) than the remainder of their output.

just another great release in a year that's shaping up to be the *best* in a quite some time!!!

 

[JGMetalhead]

Wow....this album has blown me away (and taken my completely by surprise). I had little hope for this but I cant get over how GREAT these songs are! This is just a notch behind "Dirt" and better (by a wide margin) than the remainder of their output.

just another great release in a year that's shaping up to be the *best* in a quite some time!!!

No...