Alice In Chains

[cyanskies]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ECzrxAzBAYA

Alice In Chains newest music video, "A Looking In View". Since when was youtube cool with nudity?

I'm seeing them on the 7th of Sept. at the Paradise Rock Club in Boston.

Any AIC fans here?

[lmerr]

Re: Alice In Chains

Its alright. The video is pretty cool. The music isn't quite the same, though I didn't expect it to be, nor have I listened to any other new songs besides this one. Maybe I'm being too quick to judge.

[Sittingsideways]

Re: Alice In Chains

whats up with it being 7 and a half minutes.

i never was a big fan of the songs sung by JUST cantrell anyway. Its a decent song, but nothing that great.

[imago]

Re: Alice In Chains

Well,I believe that the new album will be generally good,but I cannot imagine AIC without Layne...

[cyanskies]

Re: Alice In Chains

Most AIC fans haven't accepted William Duval as the frontman and rightfully so, no one can replace Layne for what he did with the band. But, regardless, I'm giving them a chance without him. Layne was a huge part of Alice In Chains, but he, himself, wasn't Alice In Chains.

[Sittingsideways]

Re: Alice In Chains

wait... i thought that cantrell was just taking over as frontman? they have a new lead singer?

[Corroded Halo]

Re: Alice In Chains

i never was a big fan of the songs sung by JUST cantrell anyway. Its a decent song, but nothing that great.

Judging by the new dude's voice where it shows up in this song, I'd much prefer that Jerry just take over the duties completely.

Layne is irreplaceable, but I always thought Jerry's vocal contributions weren't far behind ("Over Now" might make my list of their top 5 cuts).

As for the song itself... it actually sounds like a fairly faithful harkening back to the DIRT era, yet it doesn't excite me all that much. Maybe a little of that is the lack of Layne, but I think more of it has to do with the fact that mainstream rock has evolved so little since they were at their peak 15 years ago. Their style feels so tired and worn out, thanks largely to the onslaught of cheap imitators we've been dealt over the past decade.

[sangreal314]

Re: Alice In Chains

i think i would be way more into it if jerry would just handle all the vocals. don't really like the idea of replacing layne. you can't really do that. plus jerry is talented enough to not need to do that. jerry's songwriting and playing is what defines aic for me, even though everyone always identifies with the voice (layne). actually jerry is also one of my favorite singers. i always loved his harmonies that he added and even when he sang solo. i wish he would do it all now, it would probably be better.

[cyanskies]

Re: Alice In Chains

wait... i thought that cantrell was just taking over as frontman? they have a new lead singer?

Yeah, he joined around the time the band decided to tour before writting a new record. ('07, maybe?) I know little of him, other than the fact that he's the new AIC frontman.

[lmerr]

Re: Alice In Chains

His voice isn't as versatile as Laynes, especially when it comes to the wailing and the higher notes. Not that anybody could quite match it.

[dsv]

Re: Alice In Chains

There should be some kind of law that forces you to change the name of your band once your signature singer is no longer in it. The voice is such a distinct instrument. I guess "signature" would be hard to define in the details of the law but AIC would be pretty obvious.

[sangreal314]

Re: Alice In Chains

There should be some kind of law that forces you to change the name of your band once your signature singer is no longer in it. The voice is such a distinct instrument. I guess "signature" would be hard to define in the details of the law but AIC would be pretty obvious.

i disagree. as long as you still have the guy that writes all the songs (and they do) then it's fine to keep the name. the only part i disagree with is getting another singer to try to replace layne.

[dsv]

Re: Alice In Chains

^ Good point.

But if I was in Jerry's shoes, there's no way I would even consider going on with that name. I'd feel like a total douche.

[Ooga]

Re: Alice In Chains

i disagree. as long as you still have the guy that writes all the songs (and they do) then it's fine to keep the name. the only part i disagree with is getting another singer to try to replace layne.

Wouldn't the majority of that statement, in its' own way, be agreeing with what dsv said above you.... though you said you disagreed with him?

dsv thinks a law should be passed that prohibits the use of a band name once the band is no longer what it is known to be. So if Layne is no longer a part of AIC, and you feel he rounded out their sound, the band should no longer be AIC.

Anyway...

My opinion of the matter is quite simply:

Fuck the guy who writes the songs if the guy that adds magic to them isn't around anymore. The guy that writes the songs isn't the reason people enjoy the songs. You can go deep with this, but in the end... that is NOT why you truly enjoy the songs. When was the last time you were sitting around going, "damn... that song is so great because Cantrell wrote it?"

The same applies to:

The Doors
Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin (assuming they do tour without Plant)

.....

Anyone who says, "well, it still sounds good," doesn't matter in relevance of the issue. Sure, you might like the new sound, but the distinction will always be indisputable. Could you imagine what Nirvana or Pantera would sound like with a new singer? That's what I thought.

[sangreal314]

Re: Alice In Chains

Wouldn't the majority of that statement, in its' own way, be agreeing with what dsv said above you.... though you said you disagreed with him?

dsv thinks a law should be passed that prohibits the use of a band name once the band is no longer what it is known to be. So if Layne is no longer a part of AIC, and you feel he rounded out their sound, the band should no longer be AIC.

Anyway...

My opinion of the matter is quite simply:

Fuck the guy who writes the songs if the guy that adds magic to them isn't around anymore. The guy that writes the songs isn't the reason people enjoy the songs. You can go deep with this, but in the end... that is NOT why you truly enjoy the songs. When was the last time you were sitting around going, "damn... that song is so great because Cantrell wrote it?"

The same applies to:

The Doors
Black Sabbath
Led Zeppelin (assuming they do tour without Plant)

.....

Anyone who says, "well, it still sounds good," doesn't matter in relevance of the issue. Sure, you might like the new sound, but the distinction will always be indisputable. Could you imagine what Nirvana or Pantera would sound like with a new singer? That's what I thought.

i already said my favorite thing about them always been jerry's songwriting. i love jerry's guitar playing and jerry's vocal harmonies. don't get me wrong i loved layne, he was amazing. but yea, i'm probably one of the few that would actually say jerry has always been the biggest draw. it's always been jerry's band, so he should keep the name. so we are not totally agreeing about that.