Black Gives Way to Blue

The band's original run and aftermath In the early 1990s, the American rock band Alice in Chains rose to prominence amidst a wave of interest in grunge music. Their debut album, Facelift (1990), was certified gold in the United States before peers such as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden were even known to the general public. They followed with Dirt (1992), which brought the band worldwide popularity. Frontman Layne Staley developed a heroin addiction over that time which continually hampered the band's ability to perform live; eventually, this led to the band completely ceasing performances after their third studio album, a self-titled album released in 1995. Although several new songs were recorded for a greatest hits compilation titled Nothing Safe: Best of the Box in 1998, the band's future remained uncertain. In 2002, Layne Staley was found dead from a drug overdose, and the band effectively ceased to exist. The remaining members of Alice in Chains decided to pursue their own projects. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell was already focused on his second solo album, Degradation Trip (2002), and toured with members of Comes with the Fall to support it. Drummer Sean Kinney and former Queensrÿche guitarist Chris DeGarmo formed the band Spys4Darwin, releasing the EP Microfish. Bassist Mike Inez was considered as a possible replacement for Metallica 's Jason Newsted, who had departed that band in 2001, but the vacant position eventually went to Robert Trujillo, and Inez instead joined the rock band Heart. In 2004, Sony BMG terminated the band's 15-year-old contract with Columbia Records, citing that the band had ceased performing as Alice in Chains. Reunion On December 26, 2004, a few months after the band's termination, the largest underwater earthquake in modern history occurred in the Indian Ocean off the coast of northern Indonesia, resulting in a devastating tsunami which killed over 200,000 people. This spurred Kinney to organize a benefit concert in Seattle to support the victims, and he invited the former members of Alice in Chains to take part in it. This became the first in a series of what Kinney called "little steps" toward renewed activity for the band. The show took place on February 18, 2005, and it was the band's first live performance since 1996. On March 10, 2006, the surviving members performed at VH1's Decades Rock Live! concert, honoring fellow Seattle musicians Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart. Comes with the Fall vocalist William DuVall made his first public performance with the band during that show singing Alice in Chains' "Rooster". The band followed the concert with a short United States club tour, several festival dates in Europe, and a brief tour in Japan. DuVall joined Alice in Chains as lead singer during the band's reunion concerts. DuVall was an old friend of Cantrell's. They met in Los Angeles in 2000 through a mutual acquaintance, and Comes with the Fall was both the opening act and also Cantrell's backing band during the tour for his second solo album, Degradation Trip, in 2001 and 2002. Kinney mentioned in a February 2006 interview that he would be interested in writing new material, but not as Alice in Chains. He explained, "If we found some other dude, I'd love to move on, write some cool tunes and change the name and go on like that. I don't see continuing as Alice and replacing somebody. ... We're not trying to replace Layne. We want to play these songs one more time, and if it seems like the right thing to do, it'll happen. I don't know how long it will go or where it will take us. It's kind of a tribute to Layne and our fans, the people who love these songs. It's not some 'I'm broke and I need the money' situation. We love playing together." Later in that same interview, Cantrell stated, "We want to celebrate what we did and the memory of our friend. We have played with some [singers] who can actually bring it and add their own thing to it without being a Layne clone. We're not interested in stepping on [Staley's] rich legacy. [...] Do you take the Led Zeppelin approach and never play again, because the guy was that important? [...] Or, do you give it a shot, try something? We're willing to take a chance on it." ==Recording==

In April 2007, the band's "official blogger", Baldy, posted an update on progress towards the writing of the album, saying that Alice in Chains had been in Los Angeles, California for five days, "sat through three rehearsals and one demo recording session, listened to several other demos" and the new material was "kicking his ass right out of his pants." In September 2008, it was reported that Alice in Chains would enter the studio that October to begin recording a new album for a summer 2009 release. Recording began on October 23, 2008 at the Foo Fighters' Studio 606 in Northridge, California, with producer Nick Raskulinecz (Foo Fighters, Rush, Stone Sour, Trivium, Shadows Fall, Death Angel). Manager David Benveniste began approaching record labels with a sampling of four or five songs from the new sessions, and the offers started coming from every major label. The band eventually signed with Virgin/EMI. ==Album title==

When Chris Cornell and Susan Silver's then 9-year-old daughter Lily Cornell Silver asked her mother "what does 'Black Gives Way to Blue' mean?", Silver suggested they call her uncle Jerry [Cantrell] and ask him, and Cantrell explained to her: On December 1, 2020, Cornell Silver made her musical debut performing the song along with Chris DeGarmo at the MoPOP Founders Award tribute to Alice in Chains following an introduction by her mother. ==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. 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." "Last of My Kind" is the only song in the album that features William DuVall singing lead vocals without harmonizing with Cantrell, who only sings back up vocals in the song. DuVall also wrote the lyrics and the melody of the song. Cantrell said about singing lead vocals in the album: ==Cover artwork==

The album cover art features an anatomical illustration of a heart surrounded by a black and blue background. The illustration was made by British designer Matt Taylor. According to William DuVall, the cover was Sean Kinney's basic concept, but the other members also had a hand in it. Staley's bandmates also thanked him in the album's liner notes. Guitar manufacturer G&L made a custom Rampage guitar for Cantrell with the artwork for the album cover on the body. The guitar was unveiled in January 2010 on the G&L booth at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California. For the opening of their concerts on the Black Gives Way to Blue tour, Alice in Chains used to project the album cover with a heart beating onto the stage's curtain before the band hit the stage. ==Promotion==

To help promote the album, on September 17, 2009, Alice in Chains released an EPK featuring all four of the members being interviewed while the Kiss makeup is being applied on them. An app for iPhone was released on October 27, 2009, featuring audio streaming of three songs from the album ("Check My Brain", "A Looking In View" and "Acid Bubble"), the music videos for "Check My Brain" and "A Looking In View", breaking news, photos, tour dates, band bio, discography, fan wall for commenting and access to Alice In Chains merchandise, tickets, web site and band mailing list. ==Release and reception==

On April 25, 2009, it was reported that the new Alice in Chains album would be released on their new label Virgin/EMI, making it the band's first label change in their 20-plus year career. On June 11, 2009, it was announced that the new album would be titled Black Gives Way to Blue and the release date was scheduled for September 29, 2009, the same day that Alice in Chains' second album, Dirt, was released in 1992. Alice in Chains revealed their new album publicly at a listening party on July 14, 2009 at the Ricardo Montalbán Theater in Los Angeles. They played the entire LP over the PA system and performed an acoustic set including versions of songs "Your Decision" and "Black Gives Way to Blue". Keyboardist Derek Sherinian guested with the band on this event. Another listening event took place on July 21, 2009 in New York. Metal Hammer magazine awarded the album 10/10 in September while Nigel Britto of The Times of India lauded the album as a "stunner", later going on to describe it as a "huge, huge success". On June 30, 2009, one of the songs from the album, "A Looking in View", was made available for purchase via iTunes and Amazon, and was made available for purchase on August 17, 2009. The music video for "Check My Brain" premiered on September 14, 2009. "A Looking in View" peaked at number 12 on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart Black Gives Way to Blue debuted at number 5 on the Billboard 200, selling 126,000 in its first week, and entered the UK charts at number 19 on October 5, 2009. To coincide with the band's European tour, Alice in Chains released its next single, "Your Decision", on November 16, 2009 in the UK, and in the US on December 1. The album's third single debuted on the US Rock Songs chart at number 32, and charted at number 1 on the US Rock Songs, at number 1 on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks The third and last single, "Lesson Learned", went to radio on June 22, 2010, and reached number 1 on the US Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks. Black Gives Way to Blue received Gold certification by the Canadian Recording Industry Association in February 2010, signifying sales of over 40,000 units. The album was certified Gold by the RIAA, in May 2010, and number 7 on Kerrangs 50 Best Albums From 2009. The album won the 2010 Revolver magazine Golden Gods Award in the category Album of the Year, beating out Slayer, Mastodon, Megadeth and Heaven and Hell. In 2024, Loudwire staff elected it as the best hard rock album of 2009. == Commercial performance ==

The track "A Looking in View" was the first song from the album that was made available for purchase via digital download in June 2009, and despite not being the first official radio single, Rock stations started playing the song and it peaked at No. 12 on Billboards Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The singles "Check My Brain" and "Your Decision" reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and on the Hot Rock Songs chart, and it also reached No. 92 on Billboards Hot 100, becoming the band's first single to appear on the chart. ==Music videos ==

More music videos have been released in support of Black Gives Way to Blue than for any previous Alice in Chains release. Videos were released for "A Looking in View", "Check My Brain", "Your Decision", "Acid Bubble" (which is available as an interactive video on AliceinChains.com), "Last of My Kind" and "Lesson Learned". Three of the videos ("A Looking in View", "Acid Bubble", and "Lesson Learned") do not feature the band in any way, which is a first (the music video for "Get Born Again" featured glimpses of the band with images used from previous videos). An official video for "Private Hell" was published on Alice in Chains' official YouTube channel on September 27, 2019, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Black Gives Way to Blue. The video features behind the scenes footage of the band on studio recording the album between December 2008 and January 2009. ==Track listing==

;Alice in Chains • Jerry Cantrell – lead and backing vocals, lead guitar • William DuVall – co-lead and backing vocals, rhythm guitar, lead vocals on "Last of My Kind" • Mike Inez – bass • Sean Kinney – drums, percussion ;Additional performers • Elton John – piano on "Black Gives Way to Blue" • Lisa Coleman – vibraphone on "Black Gives Way to Blue" • Chris Armstrong – tablas on "When the Sun Rose Again" • Stevie Blacke – string arrangement, performance, and engineering on "Your Decision" and "Private Hell" ;Production • Produced by Nick Raskulinecz and Alice in Chains • Recorded by Paul Figueroa with additional engineering by Nick Raskulinecz, assisted by John Lousteau, Martin Cooke, and Kevin Mills • Mixed by Randy Staub • Mastered by Ted Jensen • Art direction by Alice in Chains & Matt Taylor • Artwork and design by Matt Taylor • Band photography by James Minchin III • Package interior photography by Rocky Schenck • Illustrations pages 7 & 11 by Emmanuel Polanco ==Awards==

===Revolver Golden Gods Awards=== ===Grammy Awards=== ===Metal Storm Awards=== ==Charts==

Weekly charts Year-end charts ==Certifications==