In late summer
of 2008, at the suggestion of longtime friend/Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl,
Alice In Chains met with producer Nick Raskulinecz to talk about the
possibility of collaborating on a new album.
“I went to the
studio where they’d been working on demos,” recalls the producer, whose credits
include Foo Fighters, Rush, Deftones. “We stayed outside and just talked for a
couple of hours. After the ice was broken, they brought me inside to hear some
music. The first track started playing and I was immediately hooked—the riff
was so killer, so catchy and so heavy, and when the vocals kicked in, I looked
at Jerry (Cantrell, Alice In Chains’ guitarist/vocalist) and said, ‘I don’t
need to hear anything else—I’m in.’ I was just blown away.”
By early fall,
the band and producer had hunkered down at Grohl’s Studio 606 in Northridge,
CA, and were hard at work on Alice In Chains’ first new studio release in more
than 10 years.
Production
eventually moved to the famed Henson Studios in Hollywood, and by spring of 2009 the band
emerged with 11 electrifying songs about faith and perseverance. They titled the album Black Gives Way To
Blue after the song of the same name, a heart-stirring tribute to Layne
Staley, their brother and vocalist who passed away in 2002.
“I’m really
proud of that song,” says Cantrell, who sings on the track (and shares lead
vocal duties throughout the record). “It’s about facing up to the bad stuff and
continuing to walk forward and live a life.”
The song
features a special guest appearance by Elton John on piano.
“We were thinking about adding piano to the
track and a friend suggested we call Elton,” recalls Cantrell. “I remember
laughing and saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll get right on that.’ But I decided it was
worth trying and wrote him an email explaining what that song means to us—that
it’s a real, raw openhearted song for Layne. We sent him the track and got a
call shortly after saying he thought it was beautiful and that he wanted to
play on it. He was finishing his ‘Red Piano’ run in Vegas, so we flew there and
hung out for a few hours. Walking into a studio and seeing the
sheet music for that song on Elton’s piano made it meaningful on so many
different levels. The whole experience was pretty magical.”
The album’s
genesis can be traced back to January of 2005, when drummer Sean Kinney called
Cantrell and bassist Mike Inez about getting together for a benefit show to
raise money for tsunami relief. It was the first time in nine years that the
three had performed together and following the loss of Staley, was the first in
a series of little steps toward hope and healing.
“After
that we started talking about how we could maybe do another show,” recalls
Kinney. “Everyone was comfortable with the idea, so we decided to take another
step.”
Enter
William DuVall, a gifted singer and guitarist from Atlanta who had previously
worked with Comes with the Fall and as part of Jerry Cantrell’s touring band
for his solo work. As live audiences discovered, DuVall brings a sound and
stage presence all his own, and when DuVall and Cantrell blend their voices—as
Cantrell and Staley did so often—singing together over the rhythms of Kinney
and Inez, there could be little doubt that the spirit of Alice In Chains was
once again alive and well.
“To his credit,
Will never tried to do a karaoke version of the past,” says Kinney. “It’s not
easy to find your place in a pre-existing dynamic, but he did. He puts his all
into it and it fits.”
"I've joined a
group that has a strong identity and a strong legacy," says DuVall.
"Nobody wants to, in any way, disrespect or sully that legacy. You want to
add to it."
And it was while on
the road that the quartet opened itself up to the idea of writing new material.
“On tour we jammed
pretty much every day,” recalls Cantrell. “Cool riffs would come up and we’d
record them backstage and in dressing rooms. By the time we got home from the
tour, we had a disc full of ideas. Eventually we wound up with a body of work and started thinking about taking yet
another step.”
“There
was no master plan,” adds Inez. “Everything felt right, so we kept moving
forward. The whole process was very organic.”
“If we
had gone through all of it and felt that it didn’t live up musically to the
legacy of the work we’d done before, then we would’ve shelved it,” says
Cantrell. “We would’ve known for ourselves that this is the end, and that
would’ve been cool. But that didn’t happen.
You ask yourself questions like, is this record something positive to
add to the catalog? Is it worthy? And the answer is yes, it is. But you don’t
know that until you go through the process. We all busted our asses and have
been rewarded with a record that exceeds our own expectations.
In the end,
Cantrell explains, Black Gives Way To
Blue is an album that reflects survival for Alice In Chains. “And,” he
says, “I think survival is something to celebrate.”