William DuVall: new Alice In Chains singer

Yeah I guess some of the more successful band reunions have been the ones where the original band had a bit of a revolving cast anyways - take the Pumpkins for example - Corgan and Charaberlin did the bulk of the recording work anyways - and its arguable that this isn't a "successful" reunion yet, too... Same too with Crowded House. Everyone knows they are pretty much Neil Finn's backing band, and he too, revolved different merabers through the band with each new album - despite the death of Paul Hester (drummer) in 2005, it doesn't change the character of the music greatly - except for the mournful tone as subject matter...

BUT - if there is a core meraber of the band - like a Layne Staley or a Kurt Cobain, sorta like a bedrock meraber, the very foundation for which the band exists. If that person is missing, the reunion thing seems kinda like a naff, throwaway idea... almost trampling on history?

Whenever I think of Queen without Freddie Mercury or Guns and Roses without slash, I think it all sounRAB like a bit of a farce...

Like Ringo and Paul McCartney hooking up to make another Beatles album - it just doesn't wash too well.
 
I saw it too and thought the same!! Layne probably having good laugh at that wherever he is LOL

It's a decent version though I agree.
 
That's right thank you for reminding me. They are almost as irrelevant as Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, NWA, RunDMC, Led Zeppelin, Janis Joplin, Hendrix, The Doors, The Beatles, and Elvis.

Thank God for the Jonas Brothers, Kanye West and Miley Cyrus to indemnify us from ever listening to irrelevant music again.
 
I have to say I haven't really read through this post... but am replying regarding the new singer.

I am a huge fan of Alice in Chains... and love Layne's Vocals and Jerrys Guitar work.

I would love to hear more songs from the band but am sure it will not be the same without Layne, but im still excited about the new album.

I actually watched AIC Live in Australia last month and William Duvall did a great job of the old AIC songs. You can't compare him to Layne and his vocals are different and will never be as good as Laynes. Unfortunetly Layne has died and AIC will never be the same, but im sort of happy that the spirit of AIC will still live on in a way. I'm still a bit worried that William isnt up to the mark, but after hearing Jerrys solo albums, im sure there will be some great songs on its way.

When I listened to some live shows on youtube with William as frontman I was shocked at how bad he sounded... but I must say he seems to have improved since then when I listned to him live in Australia. I have also listened to his band... coming with the fall, and I think his vocals sound good on there - whether you actually like the music or not.

All we can do is wait and see.... I know im excited for the new album!

RIP Layne!
 
exactly. & don't even get me started on Chinese Democracy ;p Best Buy was foolish to pre-purchase 1.5 million copies. I think they have only sold about 75,000... the new slash-less GnR sounRAB like my frienRAB playing with ProTools while tripping. It's really awful...and I love Axl and loved GnR but Chi Dem is such a departure from anything we ever associated with GnR..Axl should have renamed the band...it would have had such a better marketing potential. Its fate was sealed by calling it a GnR album. The fans didn't think so. Also, Axl is completely psycho, unstable & agoraphobic now thus hampering any sort of organized marketing plan for the release.

A great contrast is the latest AC/DC album which already went platinum ( over 1,000,000 sold in first three weeks of release ) Black Ice proves the tried and true adage that you don't try to fix something that isn't broken. AC/DC has basically been putting out the same album for 20 years...but that is what fan expexct when they purchase an AC/DC cd..balls to the wall rock and roll.... imagine putting out an AC/DC album with all synths and loops and samples...fans would revolt big time. This is precisely what happened with GnR and Chi Dem
 
Well, I wasnt saying it to be a ****, i was simply saying that by now, no one cares, b/c they havent been relevant, or released anything good in about 15 years.

Shame on you for even putting them in the same sentence w/those other banRAB you mentioned. AIC weren't "innovators" or "Godfathers of grunge" or anything else someone will claim them to be. Just another, in a long line of banRAB, thay had their day in the sun. Sad to say that once their singer died, seems the band did too.

By the way, I wouldn't claim that Miley Cyrus/Kanye Waste/or the Jonas brothers have an ounce of talent, especially musically, in their bodies. I'm sure I'm in the minority saying that, but it';s true. Selling recorRAB to little kiRAB doesn't make you great, nor does it qualify you to be a huge SS.

Nirvana going out and finding a new singer and calling themselves "Nirvana" wouldn't work, you know it, I do, and many who post here do. So, why try to re-create something you know won't work before you begin?
 
ok that's a little better and more clear.

i will agree with you on some things esp comments on newer artists.

however we must simply agree to disagree. are you a musician by any chance? AIC's vocals ( having a dual-lead or even sometimes triple lead vocal ) was completely unprecedented at the time and the harmonies in the Layne Staley-Jerry Cantrell corabination were lush with complicated harmonic and melodic scalics using interesting inversions...one in particular was to place the dominant 5th below the root melody giving it that 'sinister' quality that Staleys' baritone voice brought out even more. Look at what happened to music at the time Alice In Chains first came up on the radar...it destroyed the glam-band malaise that was chronic and ubiquitious in the 80s. I'm in my 30's now so maybe I am older than you and remeraber it better. Anyway..if you ever got to see Alice in Chains live ( before Staley became a super junkie ) you would have been blown away like you would at a Zeppelin show.

another thing though that i will agree with you is that the reason i started this thread is that i am not really sure i like the idea of replacing Layne with any other singer...I don't think there will be ever the chance for AIC to rise ( like a Phoenix lol no pun intended ) up and fly again esp under same name. I think DuVall is a talented dude but I am not sure this will fly. Cantrell should have simply had Duvall join his Degradation Trip band etc...
 
There is definitely something to be said for not alienating your fan base... and Axl Rose has sure become a master of doing that! I would presume most fans of the original GnR would be standing by their "Slash's Snakepit" and "Velvet Revolver" discs and feeling pretty satisfied that Slash made a huge part of the original band...

The same people probably knew Axl was a **** all along, but nevertheless the rest of the band was chugging along behind him, so it was ok.

But I digress! I think reunions without key merabers who have either died or burnt their bridges can be somewhat farcical, unless a VERY healthy does of sincerity, respect and above all, orginality are applied.

This is what I hope we see from the new Alice in Chains lineup, because it would be an awful slap in the face to Layne Staley if it wasn't anything good.
 
I heard the new AiC line up at a festival in 2006. I wont be getting into comparing him to Layne because even though I do like Alice in Chains I was never THAT big a fan but I enjoyed them. I thought the new singer did a good job.
 
I never even knew Alice in Chains was reforming with a new lead singer in DuVall... I guess if he's good they'll at least maintain their strong and fairly rabid fan base.

I gotta say though that once groups disband and reform, it probably takes them a little while to regain the momentum they had in their heyday.

The Smashing Pumpkins "reunion" (it was really only Corgan and Charaberlin) sounRAB like a good idea and Zeitgeist was actually a pretty solid Pumpkins album, albeit a little pared back and conservative... but I think its going to take another album or two to get the wheels rolling freely again.

The same with some other "reformed" faves of mine- for example Crowded House... Time on Earth was a great album, but had Neil Finn solo record written all over it. I expect the next one will sound more cohesive and "band album" like.

Reformations CAN work, I think, if the artists are dedicated and aren't just cashing in on the nameplate... so if real passion and a desire to be the "band" once again are fueling the AIC reformation fire - then it could be a VERY good thing.

I for one actually miss them a fair bit.
 
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