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Black Gives Way to Blue – Alice in Chains

By DJ Allyn on January 13, 2010 at 12:01 am

Black Gives Way to Blue – Alice in Chains

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Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist Jerry Cantrell and vocalist Layne Staley. Although widely associated with grunge music, the band’s sound incorporates heavy metal and acoustic elements. The band is known for its distinct vocal style which often included the harmonized vocals of Staley and Cantrell.

Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden.

Following the demise of his band Sleeze in 1986, vocalist Layne Staley formed Alice N’ Chainz, a band which he said “dressed in drag and played speed metal”. The new band performed around the Seattle area playing Slayer and Armored Saint covers. Staley met guitarist Jerry Cantrell while working at Music Bank rehearsal studios, where the two struggling musicians became roommates, and lived in a rehearsal space they shared. Alice N’ Chainz soon disbanded and Staley joined a funk band who at the time also required a guitarist. Staley asked Cantrell to join as a sideman. Cantrell agreed on condition that Staley join Cantrell’s band Diamond Lie, which at the time included drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Starr. Eventually the funk project broke up and in 1987 Staley joined Cantrell on a full-time basis. Diamond Lie played in clubs around the Pacific Northwest, often stretching 15 minutes of material into a 45-minute set. The band eventually took the name of Alice in Chains.

Local promoter Randy Hauser became aware of the band at a concert, and offered to pay for demo recordings. However, one day before the band was due to record at the Music Bank studio in Washington, police shut down the studio during the biggest marijuana raid in the history of the state. The final demo was named The Treehouse Tapes, and found its way to the music managers Kelly Curtis and Susan Silver, who also managed the Seattle-based band Soundgarden. Curtis and Silver passed on the demo to Columbia Records’ A&R representative Nick Terzo, who set up an appointment with label president Don Ienner. Based on The Treehouse Tapes (a 1988 demo tape sold by the band at shows), Ienner signed Alice in Chains to Columbia in 1989.

Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the early 1990s, along with other Seattle bands such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden. The band was one of the most successful music acts of the 1990s, selling over 17 million albums worldwide. The band achieved two number-one Billboard 200 albums (Jar of Flies and Alice in Chains), 13 top ten songs on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and seven Grammy Award nominations.

Although never officially disbanding, Alice in Chains was plagued by extended inactivity due to Layne Staley’s problems with substance abuse, culminating in his death in 2002.

In 2005, guitarist Jerry Cantrell, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney reunited to perform a benefit concert in Seattle for victims of the tsunami disaster that struck South Asia^] On March 6, 2006, the surviving members performed at VH1’s Decades Rock Live concert, honoring fellow Seattle musicians Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. The band followed the concert with a short United States club tour, several festival dates in Europe, and a brief tour in Japan. Comes with the Fall vocalist William DuVall joined Alice in Chains as lead singer during the band’s reunion concerts.

Kinney mentioned in a February 2006 interview that he would be interested in writing new material, but not as Alice in Chains. He explained, “If we found some other dude, I’d love to move on, write some cool tunes and change the name and go on like that. I don’t see continuing as Alice and replacing somebody. … We’re not trying to replace Layne. We want to play these songs one more time, and if it seems like the right thing to do, it’ll happen. I don’t know how long it will go or where it will take us. It’s kind of a tribute to Layne and our fans, the people who love these songs. It’s not some ‘I’m broke and I need the money’ situation. We love playing together.”

In April 2009, the band went into Dave Grohl’s Studio 606 and laid down the tracks to their new album in ten years called, “Black Gives Way To Blue” — a tribute to Layne Staley — which was released in September 2009.

Black Gives Way To Blue

In April 2009, a blog post from the band expressed the hope that “these songs will strike a chord and make a similar impact on all of you out there that were moved by this band in the first place.” Kinney said that the music on the album doesn’t deviate too far from the band’s past music, adding, “It’s nice to sound like yourself…It’s not really that hard, actually. I know people are blown away that we really sound like ourselves, and I understand the apprehension, but it’s not really that big a stretch to sound the way that you sound.” There are hard rock as well as acoustic songs featured on the album. In addition, Elton John appears on the album’s title track.

Kinney said that there are lyrics on the album that deal with original vocalist Layne Staley. He elaborated, “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him. And there’s a lot to address, with all of that stuff coming to the forefront. A lot has happened since 1995, a lot has happened in our lives and we’ve never talked about it or discussed it publicly. So some of that is what’s addressed here. That’s the way we operate, it’s about what really happened in life. We’re not really the fast cars and chicks songs. It’s basically what’s happened in life, but a lot has happened since the last record. And it’s on this record.” The title track “Black Gives Way to Blue” was written as a tribute to Staley. Regarding the lyrics to other specific songs, Cantrell said the first single from the album, “A Looking in View”, “basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside.” The second single, “Check My Brain”, features lyrics dealing with Cantrell’s move from Seattle to Los Angeles in 2003. Another song on the album, “Your Decision”, contains lyrics about “surviving pain and choosing to live.”

http://djallyn.org/media/aic-black-gives-way-to-blue.flv

I don’t want to feel no more
It’s easier to keep fallin
Imitations appeal
Emptiness all tomorrows haunted by your ghost

Lay down, black gives way to blue
Lay down, I’ll remember you

Fading out by design
Consciously avoiding changes
Curtains drawn now it’s done
Silencing all tomorrows forcing a goodbye

Lay down, black gives way to blue
Lay down, I’ll remember you

Audio from the 2009 album, Black Gives Way To Blue:

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