William Duvall, who joined Alice In Chains four years after Layne Stanley‘s tragic overdose, recently chatted with KLOS’ Whiplash and discussed why people tended to overlook the musical genius of AIC and how the act’s history overshadowed its music.
Most Seattle bands seemingly have tragedies in their histories, from the suicide of Kurt Cobain to the brutal murder of the Gits singer Mia Zapata. So, it might be safe to say that Alice In Chains also had their fair share of tragedies, as the rockers struggled with addiction for quite a while, although Layne wasn’t as lucky as his bandmates in that battle.
The last years of Staley’s life, especially, have the fans conspire as the rocker lived semi-secluded, and the substance abuse had significantly damaged his physical appearance. Things got worse after his death, and speculations made it feel that most fans were fixated on AIC’s dark history rather than their compositions.
Duvall discussed this when asked why people overlooked the act’s composing talent and stated that the band’s early lyrics received much appreciation. However, some fans preferred to dive deep into the band’s history and speculate rather than enjoy what they’ve created, overshadowing their compositions.
The singer on how audiences are fixated on AIC’s history and why the musical genius behind their sound is mainly overlooked:
“That’s a tough one because all of this is so subjective; everyone has a different experience listening. From what I see, there actually does seem to be a pretty high degree of appreciation for the writing, but I think the earmarks of Alice In Chains sonically — obviously, the harmonies and the use of harmony and the sort of melding of dissonance with consonants, both musically and vocally, and even lyrically, kind of blending the bad with the good, the ugly with the beautiful, I see a lot of appreciation for that.
Unfortunately, there are elements of the story that — history and all of that — that can get sensationalized, and maybe that’s what you’re referring to where for some people, some of these more sensationalist elements might overshadow the music. But for the most part, I think it’s pretty on point. People are digging it; people are picking up on what we’re putting down and what the band has always put down.”
It seems that even though some fans overlook AIC’S compositional talent and fixate on their history, there was also an appreciation for their lyrics, and most comments regarding the act’s sound were on point.
