Alice In Chains

Black Friday: The silly and the sad

Friday, July 17th, 2009 | musiX | 2 Comments

It’s bad enough when bands reunite—only to return as a former shadow of themselves—but when they do so minus key members (especially the singer) it’s just kinda silly and sad … “sillysad,” which is now the official term for when a band makes an ill-advised and desperate decision to get back together. Of course, nothing should ever surprise me—people’s insatiable appetite for nostalgia always trumps dignity.

Smashing Pumpkins (Billy Corgan and no one else): Sillysad. The Doors: Extremely silly. Horribly sad. Alice In Chains—the darkest and most metallic of the grungies—is also back together sans vocalist Layne Staley because, well, he’s dead. Yet the band trudges on with vocalist William DuVall and will release an album of new material in September called Black Gives Way to Blue. Again, a little sillysad. The new song/video for “A Looking in View” sounds like Dirt-era AIC, but the whole thing feels icky. Besides, was the world really holding out for an Alice In Chains reunion?

Mind you, I was never a huge fan of the band, but I still think their 1995 self-titled album (and last with Staley) is great … much weirder and darker than the others. As these songs will attest.

“Nothin’ Song” - Alice In Chains

“Frogs” - Alice In Chains

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