Album
Black Gives Way to Blue
Black Gives Way to Blue is the fourth studio album by Alice in Chains, released in September 2009 through Virgin and EMI. It is the first record made without Layne Staley, who died in 2002, and the first with William DuVall on rhythm guitar and vocals. It also ended a gap of nearly fourteen years since the self-titled album, the longest of the band's career, and their first step away from Columbia Records.
The band reunited in 2005 and recorded with producer Nick Raskulinecz at Dave Grohl's Studio 606 and at Henson Recording Studios. Jerry Cantrell and Sean Kinney funded the sessions themselves. The sound returns to the heavy metal and hard rock of Facelift and Dirt, with some acoustic touches. Cantrell sings most of the leads, while DuVall takes the lead on "Last of My Kind". It reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 and went gold in the US. "Check My Brain" earned a Grammy nomination.
Black Gives Way to Blue: tracklist, credits and charts
11 tracks · 54:10Tracklist
- 1All Secrets KnownJerry Cantrell4:42
- 2Check My BrainJerry Cantrell3:57
- 3Last of My KindJerry Cantrell and William DuVall5:52
- 4Your DecisionJerry Cantrell4:43
- 5A Looking in ViewCantrell, DuVall, Inez, Kinney7:05
- 6When the Sun Rose AgainJerry Cantrell4:00
- 7Acid BubbleJerry Cantrell6:55
- 8Lesson LearnedJerry Cantrell4:16
- 9Take Her OutJerry Cantrell3:59
- 10Private HellJerry Cantrell5:38
- 11Black Gives Way to BlueJerry Cantrell3:03
- Produced by
- Alice in Chains, Nick Raskulinecz
- Recorded at
- Henson Recording Studios, Studio 606, Studio 606 in Northridge, California, Henson Recording Studios in Los Angeles
- Recorded
- –
- Mixed by
- Randy Staub
- Mixed at
- Henson Recording Studios, The Warehouse Studio
- Engineered by
- Nick Raskulinecz, Paul Fig, Stevie Blacke
- Mastered by
- Ted Jensen
- Artwork
- Alice in Chains, Emmanuel Polanco
- Photography
- James Minchin III, Rocky Schenck
- Label
- Virgin
- Length
- 54:10
Line-up
- Mike Inez · bass guitar
- Sean Kinney · membranophone, drums (drum set)
- Jerry Cantrell · guitar, background vocals, lead vocals
- William DuVall · guitar, background vocals, lead vocals
- Stevie Blacke · strings · guest
- Chris Armstrong · tabla · guest
- Lisa Coleman · vibraphone · guest
- Elton John · piano · guest
Singles
- “A Looking in View” · 30 June 2009
- “Check My Brain” · 14 August 2009
- “Your Decision” · 16 November 2009
- “Lesson Learned” · 2010
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 · 2009 | 5 |
| UK Albums Chart · 2009 | 19 |
| US Hard Rock · 2009 | 2 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2009 | 3 |
| US Alternative · 2009 | 3 |
| US Top Rock Albums · 2009 | 3 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard) · 2009 | 4 |
| New Zealand Albums · 2009 | 7 |
| Norwegian Albums · 2009 | 9 |
| Finnish Albums · 2009 | 11 |
All 25 charts
| Australian Albums (ARIA) · 2009 | 12 |
| Danish Albums · 2009 | 13 |
| Austrian Albums · 2009 | 14 |
| Poland 2 · 2009 | 16 |
| Scottish Albums · 2009 | 20 |
| Swedish Albums · 2009 | 20 |
| German Albums · 2009 | 21 |
| Swiss Albums · 2009 | 21 |
| Belgian Albums (Flanders) · 2009 | 26 |
| Belgian Albums (Wallonia) · 2009 | 31 |
| Italian Albums · 2009 | 32 |
| Dutch Albums · 2009 | 34 |
| French Albums · 2009 | 46 |
| Spanish Albums · 2009 | 54 |
| Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico) · 2009 | 88 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Canada · 2010 | Gold |
| United States | Gold |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
60.8
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
4.2k
ListenBrainz listeners
103k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
2.3k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Released the same week
Also released on 29 September
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia 2009-09-29; musicbrainz + wikidata 2009-09-25 (4 days apart, likely another territory)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 25 September 2009 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 29 September 2009 | |
| Wikidata | 25 September 2009 | |
| US release | 29 September 2009 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | 25 September 2009 | earliest UK or European date |
12 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | MY | Virgin | 5099930826427 | other |
| 2009 | XE | Virgin | 5099930826427 | other |
| 2009 | XE | Virgin | 5099930733329 | other |
| 2009 | ZA | Virgin | 6009509335853 | other |
| 25 September 2009 | AU | Virgin | 5099930826427 | original |
| 25 September 2009 | XE | Virgin | 5099930733329 | original |
| 25 September 2009 | XE | Virgin | 5099996715918 | original |
| 29 September 2009 | XW | Virgin Records America, Inc. | 197187154159 | other |
| 29 September 2009 | US | Virgin | 5099996715925 | other |
| 29 September 2009 | GB | Parlophone | 5099930826625 | other |
| 29 September 2009 | US | Virgin | 5099996715918 | other |
| 30 September 2009 | JP | Virgin | 4988006875531 | other |
Cover art sources
itunes · native: native 3000x3000
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| itunes ✓ | 3000×3000 | native: native 3000x3000 |
| deezer | 1200×1200 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |