NICK RASKULINECZ IN CHAINS

So, yes, Alice in Chains are recording a new album with new singer William DuVall. And, yes, it’s hard to accept the idea of AIC without Layne Staley. But in DuVall’s defense, Vince and I have seen him perform with the Men in the Box not once, not twice, but three times, and while he’s no Staley, he’s pretty frickin’ cool.

So. It would have been nice to see the band reunited with Dave Jerden, who produced their first two (and, in my not so humble opinion, their two best) albums, Facelift and Dirt. But they’ve gone with Nick Raskulinecz instead. Raskulinecz is “in” right now (he’s produced the Foo Fighters, Shadows Fall, Trivium, Death Angel, Velvet Relover, etc.), which is not to say he’s bad; in point of fact, the only thing I have against the dude is that I have to look up the proper way to spell his name each and every time I wanna write about him. If only this was the Sunset Strip in ’86 and he’d changed his name to Nikki Rakkett, life would be so much easier. Sigh.

And if these guys can still muster even an ounce of the magic they captured in their heyday, a 2009 Alice in Chains record could be this generation’s Back in Black.

Then again, it will probably suck.

-AR