Stories album by album of Alice in Chains

Black Gives Way to Blue (2009)

It was released in September 2009, the same date as their most successful album to date Dirt, but 17 years layer. It is also their first record without singer Layne Staley, who died in 2002. It instead features new vocalist and rhythm guitarist William Duvall. It is the first Alice in Chains album released on Virgin Records and their first venture away from Columbia, who handled all of their previous releases. The album was certified gold by the RIAA on May 26, 2010, with shipments exceeding 500,000 copies and has sold 1 million copies worldwide.

About music and lyrics

In April 2009, a blog post from the band expressed the hope that “these songs will strike a chord and make a similar impact on all of you out there that were moved by this band in the first place.” Kinney said that the music on the album doesn’t deviate too far from the band’s past music, adding, “It’s nice to sound like yourself…It’s not really that hard, actually. I know people are blown away that we really sound like ourselves, and I understand the apprehension, but it’s not really that big a stretch to sound the way that you sound.” There are hard rock as well as acoustic songs featured on the album. In addition, Elton John appears on the album’s title track.

Kinney said that there are lyrics on the album that deal with original vocalist Layne Staley. He elaborated, “There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him. And there’s a lot to address, with all of that stuff coming to the forefront. A lot has happened since 1995, a lot has happened in our lives and we’ve never talked about it or discussed it publicly. So some of that is what’s addressed here. That’s the way we operate, it’s about what really happened in life. We’re not really the fast cars and chicks songs. It’s basically what’s happened in life, but a lot has happened since the last record. And it’s on this record.” The title track, “Black Gives Way to Blue”, was written as a tribute to Staley. Regarding the lyrics to other specific songs, Cantrell said the first single from the album, “A Looking in View”, “basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside.” The second single, “Check My Brain”, features lyrics dealing with Cantrell’s move from Seattle to Los Angeles in 2003. The third single, “Your Decision”, contains lyrics about “surviving pain and choosing to live.”