Alice in Chains put dinosaur turds here

F5AgainstOne

I'm pretty disappointed in the new AIC album. I couldn't even make it to the end (I only made it half way through song 9).

Pap

I haven't listened to it yet, but nice cover nonetheless.

musicismylife78

Its not like Black Gives Way to Blue was that great either. Grunge changed my life, but honestly, Ive never seen Alice or Soundgarden live, and want to, but as far as new music goes, I'm not all that excited at all about hearing it. I still havent heard the new Soundgarden.

Olivavu

King Animal is a good album.

Black Gives Way To Blue is ok.

Not heard this one yet. Not particularly excited to either.

jackrabbit slim

musicismylife78 wrote:

Its not like Black Gives Way to Blue was that great either. Grunge changed my life, but honestly, Ive never seen Alice or Soundgarden live, and want to, but as far as new music goes, I'm not all that excited at all about hearing it. I still havent heard the new Soundgarden.

Just got AIC yesterday so cant comment on that, but you HAVE to get king animal. It's right up there with their best work. no doubt it's the album of the year so far.

DewieCox

I haven't been able to make it through the entire thing, yet. Love Stone, but the rest of it kinda meanders. So far the last album offered more variety and had better hooks.

As for King Animal.....it's pretty good for a comeback album, but I think it's lunacy to say it can hang with their best work. There's nothing unlistenable, but there is nothing great either.

red mos

King Animal is great!
Slowly getting into the new AIC album, it's a grower for sure. really like the song, "voices." "scalpel" "Low Ceiling" "phantom limb" and "choke"

Edved82

I've come to the conclusion that this is a quality album. It takes a few listens to digest and get into, which is the major difference to BGWTB, but there's some brilliant stuff on it. Especially loving Voices, Stone, Phantom Limb, and Lab Monkey which i really disliked the first few spins. A worthy addition to their catalogue.

Ms. Wes C.addle

I should never read reviews of albums online....
we had tix to see AIC at the Rave again, and 3 days before, I read the Spin review.... stated that it was very Nickelback-esque. That did it for me- skipped the show and too afraid to give it a listen. Love the Layne stuff too much to give the new stuff a fair chance. Its all pretty unfortunate i guess.

nickburrows14

I've not heard much post Layne AIC. Was a huge fan, saw them on the Dirt tour. I guess Layne's voice was too big a part of their sound for me. Will give it a listen in time. Not busting a gut after reading the comments on here.

kramer73

Ms. Wes C.addle wrote:

I should never read reviews of albums online....
we had tix to see AIC at the Rave again, and 3 days before, I read the Spin review.... stated that it was very Nickelback-esque. That did it for me- skipped the show and too afraid to give it a listen. Love the Layne stuff too much to give the new stuff a fair chance. Its all pretty unfortunate i guess.

That's too bad, the Milwaukee show was great!

AllNiteThing

This is actually a very, very good album. Not much filler, IMO. I had an extremely negative reaction on first listen, but as others have said, it is a grower. There is a lot to appreciate about it, and the more I listen, the more I love this record. I even think it's better than the previous, and I really enjoy BGWTB. I understand some people just can't get past the absence of Layne, and I get that. But if you liked the previous album and/or enjoy Jerry's solo records, this album is up there. Give it a few listens, take it in the car, listen with good headphones and close your eyes. It's too good to give up after the first listen.

SH17171

AllNiteThing wrote:

This is actually a very, very good album. Not much filler, IMO. I had an extremely negative reaction on first listen, but as others have said, it is a grower. There is a lot to appreciate about it, and the more I listen, the more I love this record. I even think it's better than the previous, and I really enjoy BGWTB. I understand some people just can't get past the absence of Layne, and I get that. But if you liked the previous album and/or enjoy Jerry's solo records, this album is up there. Give it a few listens, take it in the car, listen with good headphones and close your eyes. It's too good to give up after the first listen.

as above

F5AgainstOne

AllNiteThing wrote:

This is actually a very, very good album. Not much filler, IMO. I had an extremely negative reaction on first listen, but as others have said, it is a grower. There is a lot to appreciate about it, and the more I listen, the more I love this record. I even think it's better than the previous, and I really enjoy BGWTB. I understand some people just can't get past the absence of Layne, and I get that. But if you liked the previous album and/or enjoy Jerry's solo records, this album is up there. Give it a few listens, take it in the car, listen with good headphones and close your eyes. It's too good to give up after the first listen.

I liked BGWTB and Jerry's solo stuff. I'll give this new one another shot before giving up on it completely.
I really do WANT to like it.

12345AGNST1

I listened to it. Boring and uninspired. It's nothing but heavy JC riffs and constant hooks. There are a few good moments just ruined by boring choruses and "insert guitar solo here" parts. Every song has the same formula. It's like a better version of nickelback. Which isn't saying much. It felt like I was listening to a constant chorus for the entire album. Yawn....

Soundgardens new album was infinitely better. It has such great variety. Not only was king animal better than this dud, it was better than BGWTB. JC has turned into a one trick pony. Or maybe it's because I just hate metal.

JimNastics

12345AGNST1 wrote:

Soundgardens new album was infinitely better. It has such great variety. Not only was king animal better than this dud, it was better than BGWTB. JC has turned into a one trick pony. Or maybe it's because I just hate metal.

To be fair King Animal is better than any of their peers' albums since about 1998, so it's not a very fair comparison.

Pap

12345AGNST1 wrote:

I listened to it. Boring and uninspired. It's nothing but heavy JC riffs and constant hooks. There are a few good moments just ruined by boring choruses and "insert guitar solo here" parts. Every song has the same formula. It felt like I was listening to a constant chorus for the entire album. Yawn....

+ 1

Soundgarden - King Animal: 8 / 10

Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue: 7 / 10

Alice In Chains - Devil Put Dinosaurs Here: 3 / 10

EdLaw

If anything, on my first listen I thought it was actually lacking the vocal hooks and choruses that I've come to expect from AIC. That and the homogeneous sound of the songs really threw me off.

However, like a lot of people, on subsequent listens I've discovered there's a lot to like on this one. It's not among their best work, but it's not a bad album by any means.

BIGDaddyWil

EdLaw wrote:

If anything, on my first listen I thought it was actually lacking the vocal hooks and choruses that I've come to expect from AIC. That and the homogeneous sound of the songs really threw me off.

However, like a lot of people, on subsequent listens I've discovered there's a lot to like on this one. It's not among their best work, but it's not a bad album by any means.

Agreed! It's missing Layne's howls!!!

musicismylife78

BIGDaddyWil wrote:

EdLaw wrote:

If anything, on my first listen I thought it was actually lacking the vocal hooks and choruses that I've come to expect from AIC. That and the homogeneous sound of the songs really threw me off.

However, like a lot of people, on subsequent listens I've discovered there's a lot to like on this one. It's not among their best work, but it's not a bad album by any means.

Agreed! It's missing Layne's howls!!!

Thats my main issue. Its not really AIC. We had this discussion about the Led Zep reunion. is it really Led Zep without Bonzo? Black Gives Way, was mediocre. It didnt have a Nutshell. Personally I couldnt be less excited about most of the 90's bands reforming. Id much rather just see Cornell solo, or Cantrell solo. In fact, Id argue Cantrells solo stuff is way more compelling than the 2 most recent AIC band albums.

musicismylife78

I also think the subjects have changed. AIC was compelling and stunning because they delved into the dark side. You had an insight into this guy who was in the downward spiral, descending into heroin addiction and sadness and depression. Cantrells solo stuff does this expertly as well. Black Gives Way and Dinosaur arent about that. No one in the band is battling heroin addiction. Im sure the death of Layne still lingers and stings for the band, as well as Mike's death. But they really havent written about it in a way thats as engrossing and powerful as the stuff on Dirt was.

kramer73

BIGDaddyWil wrote:

EdLaw wrote:

If anything, on my first listen I thought it was actually lacking the vocal hooks and choruses that I've come to expect from AIC. That and the homogeneous sound of the songs really threw me off.

However, like a lot of people, on subsequent listens I've discovered there's a lot to like on this one. It's not among their best work, but it's not a bad album by any means.

Agreed! It's missing Layne's howls!!!

FYI: Layne is dead. This is not the same AIC you listened to in 1993.

EdLaw

BIGDaddyWil wrote:

EdLaw wrote:

If anything, on my first listen I thought it was actually lacking the vocal hooks and choruses that I've come to expect from AIC. That and the homogeneous sound of the songs really threw me off.

However, like a lot of people, on subsequent listens I've discovered there's a lot to like on this one. It's not among their best work, but it's not a bad album by any means.

Agreed! It's missing Layne's howls!!!

It's not that it's missing Layne - I love Black Gives Way To Blue, I think it's almost as good as anything they've put out. Will and Jerry do a stellar job, but I don't find the vocal melodies on this one grabbing me as instantly as on their previous records. Not necessarily a bad thing - some of my favourite songs and albums have grown on me over time - but it did sound like something was missing, initially.

There are great moments on there, though. The outro of Breath On A Window knocked me sideways, it's so good.

PSUS2H

Its a very good album. Allow it to grow on you, it will. The only disappointment with it is that the vinyl version is so damn expensive! Over $50 for a double pic disc. :fp:

eeriepadave

Yeah definitely a grower. Liking it more with each listen but still probably my least fab AIC album.

Pap

Stone

New look! What do you think?

DewieCox

JimNastics wrote:

To be fair King Animal is better than any of their peers' albums since about 1998, so it's not a very fair comparison.

Sorry, but no. Isn't close to Binaural. And is it really a fair comparison? SG's had a long time to come up with the KA material and while it's good for a comeback album, it's still not a great album. AIC is missing a pretty big piece of the puzzle. PJ has only put out one album clearly worse than King Animal and they've put out albums pretty consistently for a band that's been at it for 20 years. That's all if you're only talking about the big 4 Seattle bands and not including other bands that rose in the early 90s, like Tool.

veddertown

Pap wrote:

Soundgarden - King Animal: 8 / 10

Alice In Chains - Black Gives Way To Blue: 7 / 10

Alice In Chains - Devil Put Dinosaurs Here: 3 / 10

I'd agree with this I think. The new AIC doesn't sound particularly bad. It's just nothing new and it gets boring very quickly. I'm not disappointed though as I wasn't really expecting anything great. Soundgarden have shown that there can be a second time around successfully but it's easier when you can do it with the same line-up that produced their best work to be fair to AIC.

Hugh Freaking Dillon

unless it somehow grows on me, and for that to happen I'd have to keep listening to it, this is going to be their first release I didn't purchase.

primussucks

Ms. Wes C.addle wrote:

I should never read reviews of albums online....
we had tix to see AIC at the Rave again, and 3 days before, I read the Spin review.... stated that it was very Nickelback-esque. That did it for me- skipped the show and too afraid to give it a listen. Love the Layne stuff too much to give the new stuff a fair chance. Its all pretty unfortunate i guess.

I've heard a few say the aic show at the rave was way better then the soundgarden show at the rave. Haven't heard this new record yet but BGWTB is in my opinion their best album.

red mos

I've learned to never base an album on internet/ paper reviews. I have to hear it for myself. This album does not sound like Nickleback. It's a grower alblum and sure at first listen sounds like a Jerry solo record- on first listen. However, it grows on you with each listen: I think the reception with BGWTB went so well, they didn't feel as pressured to make an album that appealed to the masses, I think that was the goal with BGWTB. That album to me was a transitional album after a very successful "test the waters" couple of tours with the band with Will on Vocals. BGWTB held a positive enough reception, that I think the band is now trying to do what they want, instead of appealing to the masses. TDPDH is a solid album, not as easy to digest as BGWTB, But it signify's the point of moving on with overall positive perception from the majority. People can think what they want: agrree,dissagree; However, Even Layne's mom gave her blessing to continue the band, and remember, for the band, this was not an over night decision. Just my 2cents.