Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013) Reviews

When a band loses an integral member due to untimely death, it seems like an impossible task to replace them. Avenged Sevenfold dealt with this is 2009 with the passing of their drummer Jimmy "The Rev" Sullivan. After Mike Portnoy filled in for the remainder of that tour, Brooks Wackerman took over in 2015 and the band would release one of their most diverse albums of their careers. One of the reasons I will never fully respect Slipknot ever again is because of how poorly they treated touring bassist, Donnie Steele after the passing of Paul Gray.

The same can be said for Alice in Chains after the passing of Layne Stayley. William Duvall was tasked with attempting to win back all of those people who enjoyed this band during the 1990s who would, inevitably, call it half-assed Alice in Chains and that it would never be as good as Dirt or the self titled album. 2009 was proof of that with Black Gives Way to Blue, a serviceable record that lacked the sort of growth that one would hope from an artist with almost fifteen years layover.

So what did Alice in Chains do in 2013 with The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here? How about creating the most unique AiC album that changed the direction of the band completely, but also established this as not being Layne Stayley's group anymore. And while I will admit, this album did not click with me right away, but going back and listening to it again years later, I think it helps appreciate Rainier Fog even more when you see where many of the bones were planted (pun intended).

To begin, this album is immediately better than BGWTB because of its production. The guitars are seismic in their delivery, but they don't clip the mixing. As a result, the bass lines are also distinguishable and give even the albums slowest moments a sense of direction and forward momentum. And I would be remissed if I didn't mention the fantastic sounding vocal harmonies between Duvall and Cantrell here. I mentioned it during the last AiC review, but it almost sounds like Stayley never left us.

The songwriting feels heavier than ever before. The riffs are chunkier, the harmonies in the background vocals and melodic guitar passages are superb. The hooks from "Hollow", "Stone", "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here", "Scalpel", and "Phantom Limb" are among some of the best Alice in Chains have had in this new era of the band. I love how this band moved away from the traditional grunge sound that made them so popular, but without losing much in the way of their unique identity.

Alice in Chains were always a dark and depressive group when it came to lyrical content. Many of the bands most influential songs: "Down in a Hole", "Nutshell", and "Angry Chair" were all deeply personal to Layne Stayley and his personal struggles that inevitably did him in. Where BGWTB was about coping with the loss of someone close to you, TDPDH addresses more general social issues; specifically the hypocrisy of religion. I love how songs like "Hollow" and "Phantom Limb" really flip off people who think that they can morally grandstand the plebs, but the mob is too large and the dissenting voices ring their words meaningless. Or how on "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here", how these same people in power would denounce scientific evidence that the earth is a sphere or, as the title suggests, that dinosaurs never truly existed as a living species. They were instead placed by the devil to please the ever learning human mind. Who are you more likely to believe?

I'm not sure that Alice in Chains will ever be able to live up to the cosmic levels (pun intended?) of expectations that myself and a lot of other fans have unjustly placed upon this group. This isn't Dirt by any stretch, but it isn't supposed to be. This is the new Alice in Chains. Whether we like it or not, Layne Stayley is not coming back. This is William Duvall's Alice in Chains now. And it is magnificent. Many people were unjustly harsh on this album when it came out, myself included. I suggest you give this another listen. You never know what bones you might uncover.

I am going to immediately go out on a limb and openly admit to liking Will Duvall era AIC more than Layne Stayley era AIC. I absolutely acknowledge the moments of quality from the 90’s – there is undeniably a sense that when they got it right Stayley and co were quite a force after all. The problem with even Dirt is that it is not a complete album, like its predecessor it is just a selection of songs with a few top notch, high-quality tracks that survive as anthems to this day. There is no sense of an album of theirs from their first iteration as a group making all that much of a statement to me, more that they could just drop some great songs. I look at Facelift and immediately get lost after the first two tracks.

Although not perfect in terms of complete albums, Duvall era AIC have more consistency and as such TDPDH and Rainier Fog have been their crowning glories as a revamped group. Sticking with TDPDH, it is clear that the band were more settled when it came to writing this album in comparison to the promising yet lacking in finesse BGWTB. Duvall certainly has a unique voice and, on this record, it synchronises in harmony with Cantrell’s perfectly. Likewise, there is a greater sense of fit to the music as well. There are times when it is criminal how at ease with each other all the instruments sound on the record. Each one audible yet so well ordered and mixed in that there is a constant freedom to the sound.

As we have come to expect from previous albums Jerry Cantrell’s presence on TDPDH is obvious. As co-vocalist he is integral in giving that harmonious sound but when he goes solo (Hung on A Hook) his sultry tones add that grunge dimension to the sound. His guitar work is emotional yet controlled in the same regard. His sense of restraint to deliver a firm and yet heartfelt performance is a trait you would expect from a guitarist of his noted talent and experience. Cantrell knows how to write songs and he damn well knows how to add a genuine piece of himself into every last one of them also. His melodies singe the air as opposed to flashing bolts of lightning everywhere and leaving acrid smells in their wake.

The heaviness in TDPDH is tempered well even though it is an element that was present on BGWTB the band have captured some of that Angry Chair riff mentality and the catchiness of Man in the Box this time around. It is still an album that is steeped in rock as opposed to being just the dark emotional tirade of grunge but it has a positivity to it that suggests a band happy with their surroundings and at ease with their identity. There were snippets of this last time out (Last of My Kind) but here it just feels more organic like they have found their space and are throwing caution to the wind on where it means they fit in terms of pigeon-holes.

The follow up to this record, built firmly on the foundations laid down on this album, with Rainier Fog taking this catchy song writing and blending more seamlessly this harder edge and as such TDPDH here is a real game-changing record for AIC. It feels like they learned how to show all of their maturity and experience in a record but sound like they had an absolute blast whilst doing it.

I recently read a pre-release interview where Jerry Cantrell said that they'd created a "unique record that's completely different from anything we ever did". Well after giving the record a few spins that comment seems like a bit of an exageration to be honest. From a production point of view "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" sounds very similar to "Black Gives Way To Blue" (4.5/5). In fact these songs could easily be out-takes from the same sessions.  

The release of BGWTB in 2009 saw a return to the more metal sound of AIC's first couple of albums but with a distinctly clean & modern production that made it sound a little more accessible. The overall heaviness of the riffs prevented it from ever treading too close to AOR territory though. I feel they've toed a bit closer to that line at times with TDPDH. It's definitely more of a traditional grunge record & champions a lighter feel to previous albums which is not necessarily a bad thing as long as the songs stand up. And there are certainly some fantastic songs here (see "Voices", ""Lab Monkey", "Choke" or album highlight "Phantom Limb" for example) but probably nothing to rival the highs on the previous record. The album as a whole doesn't make as immediate an impact & although the songs are fairly straight forward I found that they took more time for me get into. Given repeat listens I was singing along to quite a few of these choruses though (especially the first four tracks). They haven't held back on indulging in some long running times on some of these tracks with most songs breaching the five minute mark. There are definitely a couple of flat songs spread across the tracklisting (see "Low Ceiling" & "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" for example) & given the overall length of TDPDH they could probably have dropped a couple of tracks without too much trouble.  

Vocalist William DuVall seems to be a little more prominent on this record than he was on BGWTB when he was still the new guy on the block & spent most of his time sharing the mike duties with Jerry. He's definitely got a good voice & to be honest he probably contributes to the lighter feel of the album as he's a bit more clean cut sounding than Layne Staley was.  

Overall I think "The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here" is a strong inclusion in Alice In Chains discography. Alice In Chains are such a class act & everything they do is worth listening to but there's enough top quality material here to leave me wondering how it's been so universally underrated. I guess it could simply be a comparative thing because it's not an instant classic like a couple of their other albums.