Alice In Chains - The Devil Put A Review Here

The album that's played in the shower, on the way to work, at the desk, in the gym, and practically any other time I get the opportunity to do so.  While Alice In Chains released "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" a little over nine months ago, the album continues to stay strong on my playlist with hit like "Stone" and "Breath on a Window" in heavy rotation with other albums and bands that pass through my phone.

AFGM: Alice In Chains - Hollow/The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

I’m not a cornerstone in a palace for you

Time will bring your very own hard truth

Not to worry, ice covered rocks still move

Cold dry stone

While most long time fans initially had a hard time with William DuVall taking over the spotlight that was previously held by Layne Staley, I found the vocal combination of DuVall and Jerry Cantrell to be a perfect fit for the continuation of Alice In Chains.  "Black Gives Way To Blue" was a great re-introduction to the band and their new front man, but I personally found "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" to be the niche they were looking for.  Each song compliments the other and offers it's own level of integrity (if that means anything to you readers).

"I don't think you'll be surprised by anything you hear. ... It's us. But it's also really unique. It's got all the elements of any record we've put out, but it's unlike any record we've put out. Basically, it's the next chapter in the Alice in Chains book, and it's going to be a big one.  In my opinion, Black Gives Way to Blue stood up to anything else we've put out in our career. Hopefully, the new album will connect with people in the same way." -Cantrell

"The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" was released on May 28th, 2013 via Capitol Records.

1. Hollow

2. Pretty Done

3. Stone

4. Voices

5. The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here

6. Lab Monkey

7. Low Ceiling

8. Breath on a Window

9. Scalpel

10. Phantom Limb

11. Hung on a Hook

12. Choke

"This has a digital sheen that was missing even from Black Gives Way to Blue, and it gives the album an expansive feel, so the patented churn doesn't seem quite so claustrophobic as before." -Stephen Erlewine (All Music)

Mastering of the album was done by Ted Jensen (Within Temptation, Behemoth, Dream Theater, Lady Antebellum, Spin Doctors, etc.) while the album artwork was done by Demon Hunter vocalist Ryan Clark.  Not a bad combination if I do say so myself.  While production was overseen by Alice In Chains themselves, Nick Raskulinecz (Deftones, Rush, Danko Jones, Foo Fighters, etc.) assisted with the production duties.

 "'The devil put dinosaurs here / Jesus don't like a queer / No problem with faith / Just fear,' which appear in the title track. What's the old joke?  There are two things you never want to get into a conversation or argument about: politics and religion. But fuck, I guess we're going to be talking about this for awhile [sic]." -Cantrell

I am wise and you don't know

A cloud is my home

Only some get in

Got a 'maginary friend

The oddness of Alice In Chains have continued beyond the hiatus they had during the passing of Layne Staley.  With odd ball music videos and cryptic album artwork (see my previous article for such explanation), it was (with respect to Layne) almost as if the band never left the scene.

I honestly have a hard time picking out individual nuances of each song and can never bring myself to giving an album a star rating (3/5, 12/10, etc) because music is different for each person.  One might think my taste is music sucks, while others praise for an introduction to new music they never heard of.  So rather me wasting my time giving an exact amount rating, I leave it to the readers to make comments and experiences with the album themselves.  Who's better to review you own taste than you?

Now if you will excuse me, I will be streaming this album from start to finish once again.  I suggest you all do so if there is any piece of a 90's kid/adult in you looking to revisit one of the grunge era's most notable band.

"We made a unique record that's completely different from anything we ever did. It encapsulates a period of time, like all records do. You see growth and that the band is moving ahead in new territory that we haven't been to before, but we haven't lost our identity." -Cantrell

Whispering of names, faces

Uniforms I've worn

And all that is gone

Always climbing

To fall down again

Holding onto everything

It's not what it seems

The songs that AFGM recommends for best showcase of this album would have to be:

"Stone" | "Voices" | "Lab Monkey"

"Breath On A Window" | "Phantom Limb"