RAINIER FOG
8/24/2018
So Alice In Chains have now released as many full-length albums with vocalist William DuVall as with vocalist Layne Staley. And people still listen. Rainier Fog received a Grammy nod for Best Rock Album, an indicator of how moribund mainstream rock has become.
On August 20, four days before the album's release, the Seattle Mariners hosted "Alice In Chains Night" at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park, probably Amazon: The Baseball Experience by 2032). Jerry Cantrell threw out the first pitch and lucky fans received a shirt and CD. The next night, the band played an acoustic set at the top of the Space Needle.
If the Seattle Kraken organization isn't run entirely by imbeciles (and pre-expansion and entry drafts, no definitive opinion can yet be stated), they'll have "Tacocat Night." Free tacos, half-price felines, and a Zamboni ride raffle. The members of the band Tacocat may be present at the game, they may not.
"The One You Know"--Basic, bendy, yeah no shit you're not the one I know. Flow black water, keep on flowin'. Aged aggression that makes up for in sonic honesty what it lacks in sonic artistry.
"Rainier Fog"--Layne's spirit is forever in the smoke tendrils wrapped around the vocals. Not just on this song, either. Terra firma sentiments, identity utterly lost.
"Red Giant"--Color's off on the TV; hence, sludge-foot's unique hue. Marvel at the volume, rage, and density. DC at the heart, soul, and beauty.
"Fly"--Blows bubbles through a window fan set on "low."
"Drone"--Kinda, but not enough. I'd love to hear a song called "Drone" that's like ninety seconds long. Here, six and a half minutes of a shadow-clad, sleep deprived figure robbing from the homeless.
"Deaf Ears Blind Eyes"--Sitting in a room that's gradually being disassembled, licking my navel between mournful beer belches.
"Maybe"--All the leaves are orange, except for the ones that are yellow. Jerry Cantrell was born too late to make a career off 80s balladry, and clearly has not reconciled this fact.
"So Far Under"--Set champions up as underdogs. Every individual in a band comprises a band all by themselves. Groove is in the taint.
This is the first song wholly written by William DuVall, making it the first AIC song ever without Jerry Cantrell or Layne Staley somewhere in the songwriting credits. Black holes are a big focus on Rainier Fog. I've never been a big fan of the great universal death traps, despite my fascination with outer space. Maybe because I never looked at a planet, or a star, or a quasar, and thought Wow instant oblivion.
This song wishes it were so devastating.
"Never Fade"--Survivor's guilt turns every floor into a sticky one. Making it across is not impossible, just difficult as hell, and there's times when the reward outweighs the risk by at least a class. Left me dry-eyed and frog-lipped; might be different for others.
"All I Am"--Wow, the saddest maggot in the bag. Do you think Cantrell's ever had an agemate for a bedmate since the Columbia contract?
Recommended for music fans with a fog fetish. Everyone else, prepare to feel like a contestant in a game where the winner is whomever vomits last.
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