Review by Daniel for Alice in Chains - The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013)

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.