I'm a Generation X'er all the way. I grew up listening to Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Sound Garden, STP, etc. I was 11 when Cobain died, and this had a big impact on me. I remember very clearly when Layne Staley died in 2002. (On a side note, check out this hilariously accurate Genarations Reference Manual
Back to the album.
This album rocks. I'll let these notes that I plagiarized from some listening party sum it up (they did a super job):
1. Heavy as fuck. AIC is the band every modern hard rock band (Chevelle, Disturbed, etc) tries to be, but aren’t nearly as good.
2. Awesome, heavy, deep groove. “Check My Brain”? Dense vocal harmonies, inflection just like Layne. Depth.
3. Power grooves, bass present throughout.
4. Acoustic. First time you can hear Duvall’s voice upfront without all the layers of guitars and harmonies. Verse sounds like “Keep on Rockin’ in the Free World.” Multi-layer vocal harmony. very ’90s guitar — “Your Decision”?
5. “A Looking in View.” God damn this song is heavy. Track 1-3 were also as heavy as this. This album is slow, groovy. Slow heavy as opposed to fast heavy. Sometimes slow is heavier than fast. Fade out… no one really does fade-outs anymore.
6. Another acoustic song. Is this the Layne song? Kinney bongos. Electric solo great — shoulda been longer.
7. Slowest yet — heavy. Not going for poppy choruses on this record, just good songs and emotion. Part 2 — fastest section on the record yet. Back to part 1. This song is epic. Back to part 2!
8. mid-paced rocker — most like old AIC so far. Duvall’s voice really low, haunting. Pretty sweet chorus. Possible single.
9. Big, slower, but arena-rocky. Major key chorus. Reminds me of “Sea of Sorrow.” Short but fitting solo. Song still kinda slow and plodding (in a good way).
10. Really slow but still loud. Distorted guitars. AIC are the Crowbar of alt-metal/rock. Gigantic sounding guitars on this whole record. Another ace solo – Jerry not a guitar hero, just plays what’s right.
11. Quiet. piano + guitar + vocals. Layne song? melancholy. “Black Gives Way to Blue”? “I Remember You.”
The best thing about this is that they kept the same vibe going on. Listening to this album reminds me of hacking trails through the woods and listening to mix tapes on a crappy little boom box. And then there's always the time I got attacked by a swarm of bees.
On a side note, here's a feel good article I dugg up about Generation X titled: "So Maybe the Slackers Had It Right After All", and here's a part I like a lot from this article:
"Slacker," like most labels, has always been a crude and misleading shorthand. We were a bit aimless, us urban, liberal-arts types. We were a little too enamored of irony, perhaps. A little too frivolous.
But there was something to be said for a life in the moment; for a dalliance in California, for concerts and failed screenplays, for a little fun before the fall. And the truth is, we were always more purposeful - more responsible - than our fathers and uncles and grandmothers realized.
That sounds like me all the way. And then there's this part:
Of course, we could abandon this life as we get older, I suppose. We could grow impatient with our little apartments and cramped hatchbacks. We could set our sights on the kind of suburban existence we've forsaken. But I'd like to think we're smarter than that.
We created something worthwhile - a sustainable neighborhood, a tech future, a life we can manage. And we won't let it go too easily.
Which, again, is where I'm at. I wouldn't consider that I'm abandoning this life in any way. Although I do want that "suburban existence" for my family, I think these roots will always keep us grounded.
