Grunge rockers...prepare to Get Born Again

[CountDeMoney]

Legendary rock band ALICE IN CHAINS has set "Black Gives Way To Blue" as the title of its first new studio album in more than 10 years, due on September 29 via EMI's Virgin Records. The band and producer Nick Raskulinecz (RUSH, FOO FIGHTERS) began recording last October at Studio 606 in Northridge, California and recently finished mixing at Henson Studios in Hollywood.

Guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Inez reunited in 2005 at a benefit for victims of the tsunami in Indonesia. They began touring with new guitarist/vocalist William DuVall the following year.

"It's been a meaningful journey and a hell of a story," says Cantrell. "We're very excited to have a home at Virgin/EMI and are looking forward to writing new chapters in the book of ALICE."

"We're in a good place," adds Kinney. "We've made a record that we're really proud of, we've got a team in place that's passionate about the music and we're excited for the fans to hear the new songs."

"ALICE IN CHAINS has had a big hand in the evolution of music and I still can't believe we get to work with them," says Rob Stevenson, President of Virgin Records. "This music is going to remind people what we've all been missing."

"There is a tremendous sense of excitement and dedication within EMI around the world as we head into this album release," added Jeff Kempler, EMI's COO of New Music for North America and the U.K. "ALICE IN CHAINS' place in rock history is undeniable and when people hear this remarkable new work it will be clear how timeless, potent and visionary this band is."

ALICE IN CHAINS were among the headliners at the recent Rock on the Range festival in Columbus, OH. Next up is a July 18 show with KID ROCK at Comerica Park in Detroit, to be followed by festival shows with METALLICA overseas, including an August 1 date at Marlay Park in Dublin and an August 2 show at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth. Earlier this year, the quartet took a break from recording to perform a string of shows in Australia with NINE INCH NAILS.

Over the course of their remarkable career, ALICE IN CHAINS has garnered multiple Grammy nominations, sold more than 17 million albums worldwide and achieved 11 top 10 hit singles.

Start tearing the knees out of your jeans – Alice In Chains have finished recording their new album, the first the grunge band have made with singer William DuVall.

"We've been working toward this for over a year now," guitarist Jerry Cantrell told the Los Angeles Times. "It's a long haul." Rather than just getting together, plugging their instruments in and making a record, Alice In Chains had much to do before they could start work. They changed labels, from Columbia to Virgin/EMI, because they wanted to be seen as a fresh, hungry new act. And they met with the mother of Layne Staley, the band's original frontman who died of a drug overdose in 2002, to seek her blessing for the project.

"It was really important that it was OK with [Staley's mother]," manager Susan Silver said. "There were a lot of baby steps. The first year especially was such a profound healing for everybody."

Even with a new face at the front of the stage, Cantrell is confident that the audience is still there for Alice In Chains' angst, feedback and Dr Martens. "The most important thing to me was that we position this as a new band moving forward," he said. "The band is not a heritage act. This band is a new act and we're going to market it as such. It's a double-headed monster."

Link to the song below:

"A Looking in View" from Alice in Chains' forthcoming album, Black Gives Way To Blue (out Sept. 29; it's their first album since 1995's Alice in Chains) sounds as if it could've been grunted out in 1990. It's a girthful, slurred slab of grunge™ that won't shock a single diehard AIC fan.

[CountDeMoney]

Date City Venue
July 18 Detroit, MI Comerica Park (with Kid Rock)
Aug 1 Dublin, IE Marlay Park
Aug 2 Stevenage, GB Knebworth House - Sonisphere
Aug 4 London, GB Scala
August 6 Cologne, DE Essigfabrik

August 8 Berlin, DE Columbia Club

August 10 Hamburg, DE Grunspan

August 12 Amsterdam, NL Melkweg
August 22 Pomona, CA Epicenter
Sept. 4 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Sept. 5 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
Sept. 7 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
Sept. 8 New York, NY The Fillmore
Sept. 15 Toronto, ON The Opera House
Sept. 16 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
Sept. 19 Chicago, IL House of Blues
Sept. 20 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
Sept. 21 Minneapolis, MN First Ave
Sept. 26 Portland, OR Roseland Grill
Sept. 28 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore

[katmai]

AiC without Lane

[CountDeMoney]

AiC without Lane

ZOMG AC/DC WITHOUT BON SCOTT

It happens.

[katmai]

AiC without Lane

ZOMG AC/DC WITHOUT BON SCOTT

It happens.

Doesn't mean it doesn't seem weird, recall seeing them in concert for New Years (?) of '93 in Seattle

[CountDeMoney]

Not that I don't miss Layne and his distinctive vocals, but after Jerry Cantrell's solo work, I think we have an idea as to who was the real creative force behind AIC.  They sound like they haven't missed a beat.


And if Chris Cornell can go do his Rage Against The Machine thing, then AIC can hire a black dude as a front man.

[Grey Fox]

Emos!

[Syt]

I'm gonna miss Faith No More playing at Sziget in Hungary, because I'm on the Canaries at the time.

[DontSayBanana]

Date City Venue
July 18 Detroit, MI Comerica Park (with Kid Rock)
Aug 1 Dublin, IE Marlay Park
Aug 2 Stevenage, GB Knebworth House - Sonisphere
Aug 4 London, GB Scala
August 6 Cologne, DE Essigfabrik

August 8 Berlin, DE Columbia Club

August 10 Hamburg, DE Grunspan

August 12 Amsterdam, NL Melkweg
August 22 Pomona, CA Epicenter
Sept. 4 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Sept. 5 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
Sept. 7 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
Sept. 8 New York, NY The Fillmore
Sept. 15 Toronto, ON The Opera House
Sept. 16 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
Sept. 19 Chicago, IL House of Blues
Sept. 20 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
Sept. 21 Minneapolis, MN First Ave
Sept. 26 Portland, OR Roseland Grill
Sept. 28 San Francisco, CA The Fillmore

Nice. And the next night, they're on South Street in Philly.

[Savonarola]

Unfortunately the only show in Detroit is with Kid Rock; his shows sell out immediately and attract a... well, unkempt crowd.

[grumbler]

Emos!

Yes, grunge is a completely artificial genre designed expressly as the music of emos.  It saddens me to hear that some grunge artists and fans did not, in fact, follow through and kill themselves.  Still, there is hope that this will come to pass in the future.

[Norgy]

 

This brightens my day.

[Eddie Teach]

Yes, grunge is a completely artificial genre designed expressly as the music of emos.  It saddens me to hear that some grunge artists and fans did not, in fact, follow through and kill themselves.  Still, there is hope that this will come to pass in the future.

Music just hasn't been the same since ragtime, right grumbler?

[The Brain]

Isn't CdM a tad too old to be a grunge fan? I despise grunge as new crap that killed real music and I'm younger than him. Maybe he is tastefully challenged?

[Norgy]

Shut up, Abba.