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I didn't expect this
album to blow me away. The passion-filled grunge/metal vocals of
ex-lead singer, Layne Staley, were what made Alice in Chains so damn
good and I saw little chance of the band resurrecting him for an
album.
It was then that I heard the two singles, 'Stone' and 'Hollow'. These singles might possibly be the two greatest rock songs I've heard all year. The super-sludgy riffage and eerie harmonised vocals are a deadly combination.
Sadly, it was clear after listening to the whole album, that these singles were the highlights of the album. The record gets off to a good start, stomping along like a mighty brontosaurus but this constant mid-tempo speed slowly grows monotonous and is reduced to a wounded plod-along. The songs of the latter half cannot live up to the standard of the first half and so become boring in comparison. They lack the catchiness and power and start to feel like fillers. Were the entire second half of this album cut off and the remainder turned into a EP, it would be a far more solid release.
★★★☆☆
TRACK TASTER:
It was then that I heard the two singles, 'Stone' and 'Hollow'. These singles might possibly be the two greatest rock songs I've heard all year. The super-sludgy riffage and eerie harmonised vocals are a deadly combination.
Sadly, it was clear after listening to the whole album, that these singles were the highlights of the album. The record gets off to a good start, stomping along like a mighty brontosaurus but this constant mid-tempo speed slowly grows monotonous and is reduced to a wounded plod-along. The songs of the latter half cannot live up to the standard of the first half and so become boring in comparison. They lack the catchiness and power and start to feel like fillers. Were the entire second half of this album cut off and the remainder turned into a EP, it would be a far more solid release.
★★★☆☆
TRACK TASTER: