Virgin Records (2009)

This was the first album I’ve heard in a long time that made me want to play it over again the minute it had ended. It was a combination of hearing it in that magically receptive time when I’ve had my first few sips of green tea in the AM and it capturing the spirit of heavy music plus harmonies that made Alice in Chains a stand-out band twenty years ago. Vocalist William DuVall channels with eerie accuracy the same ethereal, tortured tones of deceased singer, Layne Staley and paired with Jerry Cantrell’s excellent guitar work makes for great album.

It starts off with a melodic, slow-burn song with tones reminiscent of Tool that showcase DuVall’s ability to bring Layne back from the grave. But this album does not continuously languish in melancholy mode. “Check my Brain” features a maddeningly infectious downtuned riff and morphs into an upbeat rock song with a great sing-along chorus and “Last of My Kind” has an indisputable heavy metal feel. The spacey-sad vibe returns again in songs like “Your Decision,” “When the Sun Rose Again,” and “Acid Bubble.” There are a couple of lackluster songs at the end of the album (ironically I put the title track in this category—why would you make the album title one of the least interesting songs?) but that hardly detracts from the overall excellence of the AiC album experience. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery so if Layne’s spirit has access to iTunes, I bet he’s glowing with pride.