GRAMMY WATCH: ALICE IN CHAINS

Over the next few days, I'm gonna be posting about different Grammy nominees, who I don't think are getting much attention in the press. Obviously everyone knows about all the nominations for Eminem, Bruno Mars and B.o.B. But there are a lot of other artists that are nominated who deserve some shine. This series of posts is inspired by the fact that, when I worked at VH1, I covered the entire ceremony, and had the privilege of interviewing lots of artists who weren't part of the "big story," from Lemmy to Tibetan monks, from Lord Of The Rings score composer Howard Shore to The Blind Boys Of Alabama.  I also interviewed Beyonce, but sometimes the artists who aren't quite as big seem to appreciate it a bit more.

I don't know what awards will be given out on the national broadcast (you can see the pre-telecast at the Grammys website). But Best Hard Rock Performance probably won't be on TV, and if there is one win I'm really hoping for, it's that Alice In Chains wins in that category. "A Looking In View," which opens their comeback album, Black Gives Way To Blue, is nominated.  It is a really intense song.  I remember going to an album preview event, and hearing that song, and being kind of blown away. I hadn't seen the reunited Alice yet (although I had seen William DuVall singing their songs as part of Jerry Cantrell's solo band years earlier, and he was amazing). But I was still skeptical about whether the band could credibly go on, post-Layne Staley. Midway through "A Looking In View," I knew they could. It's a great song.

Also, AIC have never won a Grammy, and while I'm kind of against voting based on that criteria, it would be a shame for them not to win this one. They are up against some great competition: I love Ozzy Osbourne's "Let Me Hear You Scream," and Them Crooked Vultures' "New Fang." Also in the competition is Soundgarden's "Black Rain," which shouldn't even be there, as it is an outtake from about twenty years ago. I love Soundgarden, but that's my opinion. And I'll keep my opinion on STP to myself. I think AIC deserves this one, hands down.

ALICE IN CHAINS AT TERMINAL 5

To be honest, I wasn't sure I wanted to see a band called "Alice In Chains" in 2010. There's no easy way around the fact that replacing original singer, the late Layne Staley, is an impossible task. It's not that Layne was the leader (that would be Jerry Cantrell), but was obviously a really important element of the band. In some bands, some members are irreplacable.

But.  A few years ago, I saw Jerry Cantrell on a solo tour, and William DuVall was playing rhythm guitar in his band, and also singing. When they did Alice songs, it was pretty mind blowing how good it sounded. I remember thinking, wow, Jerry and William sound a lot like Jerry and Layne. The fans loved it and so did Jerry.
Eventually, Jerry got Sean Kinney and Mike Inez back in the fold, and they did a bunch of "Alice In Chains" reunion shows. Then they did the album Black Gives Way To Blue, which is a great addition to their catalog (and better than the group's final effort, 1995's self-titled album). "Check My Brain" from the new album is as good as anything they've ever done.

Still, it was weird seeing a concert by the post-Layne Alice In Chains. William pulled off Layne's songs really well, and of course did a great job on the new ones. I think he is actually a better singer, and in some ways, an even better frontman than Layne. If *I* were in a band, I'd rather be in a band with William than Layne. But that's the problem in a way: William seems to be a stronger man, and a less tortured one. He sings slightly more muscular versions of the songs, and makes them his own, but the problem is that so many of those songs are about drug addiction and Layne's tortued soul was perfect for them.

But the band chemistry was great. William is a true member of the band.  Some songs, he just sings. Others he sings and plays guitar. On some he just plays guitar and Jerry even gave him some of the leads. Sometimes Jerry is at the center mic, but sometimes William is.  He's not a standin, he is a member, and that's a pretty incredible thing, given who he replaced in the band.

It was a great show, and made me optimistic (if such a word applies for Alice In Chains!) that the band have a real future, and I look forward to seeing how they progress. I bet the next album will be even better than Black Gives Way To Blue.

WHO *IS* WILLIAM DUVALL (ALICE IN CHAINS' SINGER)?

When Alice In Chains reactivated with new singer William DuVall, I was a bit familiar with him: he had actually played rhythm guitar in Jerry Cantrell's solo band. When they performed Alice songs, it was pretty intsense, so when I heard he was actually joining AIC, it kind of made sense.  What I didn't know was his history. He used to be in an underground punk band called Neon Christ. And he co-wrote the '90s-era hit "I Know" for former Arrested Development singer Dionne Farris (Alice and AD toured together on Lollapalooza '93, by the way). Read an interesting piece about DuVall at Atlanta's Creative Loafing.