Never really bothered with AIC.

What's their best album?

I wanna give them proper a listen.

That's a hard question to answer, but if you're a first-timer, try from the beginning with Facelift.

I've never been a huge fan of Alice in Chains but I got to meet the band at a festival in February. Me and my mates had a good chat with them and they were really awesome guys.

Dirt is really the only album I recall getting into. My favorite song from that album was 'Down in a Hole'. Sounds like Facelift needs another listen based on comments in this thread.

Just in case you haven't heard, they have posted a new song on their Myspace, with William DuVall as their front man, pretty sure I spelled his last name wrong. The song is called "A Looking in View." Alice in Chains on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads

You're off your damn rocker son. The Trees own big time, they epitomize grunge and do it tastefully.

Love Alice In Chains and Layne is the man.
I recommend getting the MTV Unplugged album.

What are your guys opinions on Alice In Chain getting back together? What do you think of William Duvall?
I for one think Duvall's voice really doesn't have any power to it, but he's alright.

(Oh, and my opinion ont he on going arguement about which grunge band is best, Nirvana hands down. Soundgarden was alright but I see them as disposable, Pearl Jam is just....oh god. By the way I'm just talking about like the big 4 grunge bands, my favorite next to Nirvana is probably Mudhoney or Green River.)

Alice in Chains new song is absolutely awesome, and shows the nay sayers that AIC is Jerry's band as much as it was Laynes, and no one has the right to take that away from him.

Jerry did write most of the songs anyway.

I listened to the song on YouTube earlier. It's not bad, but at this stage it's just radio rock. They've influenced so many bands since then that now it doesn't stand out from the others, doesn't bring anything new to the table (not that everyone needs to). I loved AiC back in their prime and that's that. I don't really listen to this style of music anymore (unless it's something old and nostalgic like old AiC for example) so I don't feel compelled to check out their new album when it comes out.

Personally I love Alice In Chains. They're one of my favorite bands. I just recently heard their new stuff with their new singer. I couldnt really hear him. I just heard Jerry Cantrell but all in all it wasnt too bad. Its just not the same without Layne Staley.

New stuff isn't bad, but it doesn't quite feel like Alice In Chains. It actually reminds me a bit of Jerry's solo stuff.

Well the have a music vid for their new song and even if you don't care for the song, I'd suggest checking out the vid. Embedding was disabled but here is the url
YouTube - Alice In Chains - A Looking In View

The Toronto show sold out in a day. I was not happy when I heard this news.

Whoop, got tickets to see Alice in Chains at 1st Ave, up in Minneapolis, MN!!!

AIC are awesome

My favorite songs by them are:
Angry Chair
Down In A Hole
Would?
I Stay Away
Heaven Beside You

i'v been disapointed by the 2 singles. a looking in view is 3min longer then it needed to be. it gets repeatative. same with "check my brain" i think it was called. how many times do they need to repeat that line. the music is good. lyrics suck. heres to hoping the rest of the ablum is better.

Ya their first single off their new album 'check my brain' or 'check your brain' or whatever it is, is terrible in my opinion, very repedative and an all around boring song. I heard it on the radio the other day and the DJ before the song played was hyping it up so much, **** what a let down, seeing as though I enjoyed some of their older work.

Im a bit AiC fan. One of my favorite CD's to throw in is thier MTV Unplugged Album. A few of my favorites are:

Rooster
Down in a Hole
Heaven Beside You
Man in a Box

Regardless of who they hire as lead singer they won't ever be the old band that Layne Staley fronted.... look, they may even be better, but no one should expect it to be the early nineties again nor expect the new singer to be Layne reincarnated... I am hoping that fans of the band allow them to breathe, be creative and carryon in the way their former frontman would have wanted them too...

I m a big alice in chains fan i ve got all of alice in chains albums except the new one in my opinion alice in chains are nt the same anymore without layne staley

Of all the grunge bands of that era, AIC were always for me the most depressive by far. The depressive aura that surrounded Layne Staley and his slow and painful decline I think says it all.

There are a number of bands out there that are synonymous with the word depression, Joy Division quickly spring to mind.

As do AIC... but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, sometimes thats exactly the kinda music i am looking for...

Angry Chair, Grind, and Down In A Hole are my favorites.

:rolleyes: If I had a nickel.........

I am really curious to hear some of the band's new material... quite curious indeed!

I admit I'm curious too even though a) I rarely listen to them or other bands of the era anymore, b) I never cared for their followers, the bands that make up most of rock radio for the past 10-15 years, and c) as many have said, the music sounds like "good old AiC and would fit right in one of their past albums" well to me that's not really a plus, it means it's dated already. Modern rock radio is way behind the times with all these AiC, Soundgarden, and Tool clones...AiC are just cloning themselves at this point.

That said, the songs do have a nice heavy sound and because of Jerry's vocals they sound similar to old AiC. But do I really need that in my life, considering points a and b above?

If it sounds so much like old AIC, it does kinda remove the whole point from the exercise... I always thought the reasons a band like them would get back together would be to advance their artistry, not stagnate or reproduce their old sound with a new vocalist... I'm strongly thinking of giving it all a miss...

I can imagine it's always tough for bands when they reunite, because the fan base will always be split between those that want the old band back, meaning they want more of the same, and those that don't see the point unless they're going to progress, even if they sound completely different.

Yeah, I guess its a tough call... but I think even a little progression goes a long way.

My local rock station was talking about one of the new singles the other day. The DJ actually apologized for playing the song, and promised the station would never play it again. I haven't heard it, but needless to say it hasn't gotten alot of positive feedback.

Then again, it isn't Nickleback.

Wow... apologized for playing it? Is it that bad a song or is it that he was apologising for promoting the "new" AIC?

In all seriousness regardless of what one thinks of AIC reforming and releasing new music, they are, and always will be a million times better than Nickelback...

*cringes whenever he types that word*

YouTube - Alice In Chains - Check My Brain (High Quality!)

hey it's 1996 all over again. god that year sucked. it sounds like a polished demo from their last album. a chorus about 'california'? seriously? check my brain indeed, cantrell needs some help.

Nickelback, Bush, Matchbox Twenty and Live etc are all pretty synonymous with the word cringe.

*cringes a little bit more*

You know, I saw them live, doing all of their older stuff with this Duvall character. I must say that I was quite impressed with his vocal range, but after my first listen of this, I don't think I can ever see/hear them in the same light again. Someone touched on this earlier, and it is true - AIC has just become a band that recycles their sound over and over again. Could be the listeners, could be the musicians, I say it's a bland, bland combo of both.

Lol, you're not kidding. That's embarrassing. And then "oh yeah..." :laughing:

This is really no different than the crap we've heard on the radio the last 15 years, done by AiC imitators. I have no need for this in my life.

there's something about that tune that sounds a little too familiar. i can't quite place it. there's like a mix of kim thayil's guitar tone, their old tune 'angry chair', and a bit of QOTSA's 'turning on the screw'.

It didn't sound like a BAD song, and hell, if I were otherwise unfamiliar with AIC I might even love it... but no, it sounded still very much like everything they've done before...

The guitar work is still the same as it always was, IMO, but the songwriting just isn't nearly as good anymore.