RIYL: Soundgarden, Godsmack, Staind
In a sense, the fact that Alice in Chains have reformed and released a new album isn’t all that improbable. Though their earliest albums were marked by the passionate, fiery vocal performances of original lead singer Layne Staley, he began to withdraw during the band’s later years as his addictions got the best of him. By the time of the band’s final, self-titled album in 1995, Layne – who eventually died of an overdose in 2002 – sounded almost like he wasn’t really there, a shadow of his former self.
Fourteen years after the original band’s swan song, Layne Staley’s ghost is ever-present throughout Black Gives Way to Blue. Guitarist and chief songwriter Jerry Cantrell blended his voice so well with Layne’s back in the day that whether he’s singing to his own multi-tracked vocals or in harmony with new lead singer William DuVall, one could be forgiven for thinking that Layne had come back from the dead to add his stamp to the record. Not only that, the album has more in common with Alice in Chains than with any of the band’s other records; Cantrell shares the lead vocal spot more frequently than he did on Dirt or Facelift, the overall tone is more melancholy and dire than manic mindfucks like “Sickman,” “Real Thing” or “Them Bones” ever aspired to be, and other than “Take Her Out” and the catchy lead single “Check My Brain,” pop hooks are few and far between.
While the title track tastefully pays tribute to the band’s fallen singer, its much-hyped Elton John appearance on piano ultimately disappoints; what could have been an epic memorial and a signature piece of the reborn band comes off more like a demo, and one that’s still searching for a bridge and a suitable conclusion, ending far too soon. Even now, Alice still has one up on copycats like Godsmack and Staind, but Black Gives Way to Blue falls just short of what they’re truly capable of achieving. (Virgin 2009)
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Anyone who was lucky enough to snap up a copy of 2008’s here-today-gone-yesterday Yo Gabba Gabba! CD will likely be disappointed with Music Is…Awesome!, the newest release of songs from the TV show that’s a hit with both kids and stoners. Eight of the 13 tracks from the previous release are here, along with songs from the Shins, Chromeo, Of Montreal, I’m from Barcelona, and Money Mark. That’s a whole lotta hipster, right there, and the decision to include the hipster bands over acts that actually had our kids singing along – there is no excuse, for example, for the exclusion of the Aggrolites’ “Banana” or GOGO13’s fantastic ska tribute “Pick It Up” – is a curious one, to say the least. Then again, the soundtrack supervisors had positively tons of bands to choose from (The Bird and the Bee, the Ting Tings, Mates of State, Jason Falkner, MGMT, Jimmy Eat World, Datarock, the Clientele, etc.), not to mention original songs (“Hold Still,” “Please, Thank You”), so it stands to reason that they were going to leave some essential YGG moments out. Be that as it may, Music Is…Awesome! is good, but not quite as awesome as it could have been. (Filter/Fontana 2009)