New Alice in Chains - any good?

[mattsmusiccenter]

Did any of you catch them on Conan last night? I've been hearing Check My Brain about 10 times a day on the internet radio station we have on in the shop and I like it alot, though it's quickly becoming overplayed. Not knowing anything about the new lineup, I was under the assumption they had a new singer who sounded alot like Layne but was surprised last night when Jerry ended up being the main singer. The new guy was only doing backup vocals. Is this really an AIC record or is it a Jerry Cantrell record that's called AIC?

[Shawn Lutz]

I voted no but then again I'm not a big fan of the old AIC either

[joelayres]

It takes a few listens to sink in, but it's definitely good stuff.

[ZaeYeL]

its boring and there's nothing awesome about it, nothing catchy or anything at all, idk nothing is going for it with me atleast

[skorb]

I like what I've heard so far. all the songs are on youtube to preview.

for people saying Will Duvall is backing Jerry's main vocs, that was also going on with Layne, there were a bunch where both of them sang equally or Layne backed Jerry, esp near the end of the band when Layne was a total waste product.

this new release is like halfway btwn AIC and a Jerry solo album, which isn't a bad thing. the hook in Check my Brain is huge, and that uber-heavy tone he gets is there in all its glory in that chorus.

[SpiralArchitect]

I was never a huge AIC fan, at the time my friends were big into it I was heavily into Pantera and wasn't much interested, but I got this new cd and I've been rockin it every day since I got it!
It's funny I find myself listening to alot of older music that I missed out on when I was younger and stuff I thought I'd never listen too but I was so surprised by how much I like this record it made me feel all nostalgic again!

C

[Inazone]

It's good, if not great. I was a huge fan of Facelift, a little less so of Dirt, and then my interest in AIC dropped off. Don't get me wrong, Jar of Flies and "Tripod" had some good songs, but Facelift was the only AIC album that I could really listen to repeatedly from start to finish.

I've read in interviews where the various surviving members said that they couldn't have made another Facelift or Dirt, just because of where they were in their lives back then. I can respect that, but I was hoping for something a little darker and more aggressive on the new album. It still *sounds* great, and I like Jerry's voice more than just about anyone else I can think of, so it's not as if there's anything bad. I just hoped for more than a nod to the early days of AIC.

7/10

[EvileMatt]

It's a good album, the first 7 tracks are especially good, then it feels like it loses what it began with. It's definitely not the bizarre heavy but beautifully twisted AIC we know, it's a more polished straightforward version, Duvalls vocals are great, they don't make me miss Layne, we have the other albums when we want to listen to Layne, but the new guy has a really good voice. All Secrets Known, Last of My Kind and Looking in View are stunning tracks.

You have to love Cantrells guitar tones.

[gregthatshreds]

Its pretty good, lynch mob's new album; smoke and mirrors is really good also, REALLY good.

[EvileMatt]

saw AIC live lastnight in manchester, they were pretty fucking tight. Duvalls voice really is incredible, BUT you can't help but miss Layne, not too much though, but enough to make you think it once or twice.