what do you think about "black gives way to blue"?
― EyDav, Monday, 18 October 2010 17:22 (thirteen years ago) link
(-.-)zzZZ
― ilxor is awesome what the fuck are you guys on about (ilxor), Monday, 18 October 2010 17:29 (thirteen years ago) link
I've listened to it once, and only the single struck me as memorable in any way.
― A brownish area with points (chap), Monday, 18 October 2010 19:41 (thirteen years ago) link
I've listened to it once, and only the single struck me as memorable in any way. do you mean "check my brain"? (amazing riff, nice chorus , stupid lyrics) . It seems that Jerry Cantrell lost it a little bit.He tries to much to deliver impressive riffs (and most the time he fails) that he forgot all about good vocal melodies and the lake of a vocalist in the caliber of layne staley isn't helping. The ballades are pretty good though.
― EyDav, Monday, 18 October 2010 20:35 (thirteen years ago) link
So...would someone who idolized Staley's vocals and felt that the band should not have carried on as AiC after his death be able to look past it on this album?
― melody-hating aggr0 nerd (San Te), Monday, 18 October 2010 21:15 (thirteen years ago) link
brain says no, heart says yes
― S Beez Wit the Remedy (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Monday, 18 October 2010 21:24 (thirteen years ago) link
AiC's final album with Layne was mostly rubbish too.
― A brownish area with points (chap), Monday, 18 October 2010 22:22 (thirteen years ago) link
AiC's final album with Layne was mostly rubbish too.Now here you are very wrong my friend. It a weird album alright, but just stop wanting it to be "Dirt" and you'll find out its good(just like In Utero ----> Nevermind) . It's a great musical documentation of a defeated man (layne) in despair that lost the battle he described in "Dirt". "Frogs" is the creepiest thing ever to be put on a record. "Shame in you" is so sad and all about self pity. "grind","again","heaven beside you" and "over now" are as good as anything the band had made before then, even if they don't explode in your face like the tracks on Dirt and Facelift. Yes, there are some fillers that are pure crap ("so close" and "nothing song").
― EyDav, Tuesday, 19 October 2010 00:58 (thirteen years ago) link
The s/t is a mixed bag.
Excluding the singles here, which we all should know and have our own opinions on, "Brush Away" has a nice tense bassline and a pretty clever chorus....Sludge Factory of course rocks to all hell, "Frogs" is flat out fucking amazing...."God Am" has really nice triad harmonies and a thick verse riff (not to mention the awesome eBowed chorus riff).
It doesn't measure up as their best but it ain't crap either.
― melody-hating aggr0 nerd (San Te), Tuesday, 19 October 2010 02:02 (thirteen years ago) link
It a weird album alright, but just stop wanting it to be "Dirt" and you'll find out its good
I never wanted it to be Dirt, I'm always up for bands trying something different. I've given it a good number of spins over the years, and when it came out I really wanted it to be great. I just find most of the songs muddy and nondescript I'm afraid.
And FWIW I agree In Utero>Nevermind.
― A brownish area with points (chap), Tuesday, 19 October 2010 02:24 (thirteen years ago) link
I like Sludge Factory, Again, Heaven Beside You and Over Now. The rest doesn't do it for me at all.
― A brownish area with points (chap), Tuesday, 19 October 2010 02:33 (thirteen years ago) link
My problem with the new album is that as a "Hey guys we're back!" album, it's too mediocre to sway my misgivings. Sure it still sounds like AIC, but I don't know that I really want a guy singing that sorta sounds like Layne. I saw them live, the new dude is really good but it just feels weird. I don't know that it will ever not feel weird. But all that said, I still love Jerry to death, even when he's mediocre.
― That is the stench of tyranny (VegemiteGrrrl), Tuesday, 19 October 2010 03:11 (thirteen years ago) link
never heard a peep about this album, but i was never a fan, so maybe i blinked and missed it. heard "check my brain" last night, though, and damned if it isn't suddenly my favorite AIC song by a huge margin. such a sucker for that thick, groovy, stoner-rock swing, like the halfway point between soundgarden and fu manchu. listened to the rest of the album's singles, and didn't care for any of them, but "check my brain" is all i really need anyway. wish it'd come out this year so i could vote for it in tracks poll.
― carles marx (contenderizer), Tuesday, 4 January 2011 10:44 (thirteen years ago) link
the main riff on 'check my brain' is great and probably the freshest sounding thing on that album.
― charlie h, Saturday, 29 January 2011 03:19 (thirteen years ago) link
wtf is up with the fucking title/cover of their follow-up to the 'comeback' album from last year? blegh
― Neanderthal, Saturday, 23 August 2014 15:04 (nine years ago) link