Alice in Chains' 2009 album, Black Gives Way to Blue, celebrated its 15th anniversary Sunday. The record marked the "Rooster" outfit's first with new vocalist William DuVall in place of the late Layne Staley, who passed away in 2002.
Speaking with ABC Audio, vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell shares that Black Gives Way to Blue, and particularly its title track, reflected "what we gained, what we lost, how we decided to pick up and continue on."
"It speaks to a big thing," Cantrell says.
In tackling such complex emotions, Cantrell knew that music was the best, and perhaps only, way for him to communicate how he was feeling at the time.
"As long as you put it in a form that it makes sense and it's personal to you, you can rest assured sending it out into the world that it's gonna connect with somebody," Cantrell says. "But you never know how wide that connection's gonna go or how far the ripple is gonna travel."
"Black Gives Way to Blue, that was a hell of a ripple," he adds.
For example, Cantrell was recently introduced to an "up-and-coming young actor" who was a fan particularly of Black Gives Way to Blue.
"I said hello to the fella, and he was a nice guy," Cantrell shares. And then the guy [who introduced us is] like, 'He's got f****** Black Gives Way to Blue lyrics tattooed on his f****** chest.'"
Alice in Chains is celebrating the Black Gives Way to Blue anniversary with a vinyl reissue.
Cantrell, meanwhile, will release a new solo album, I Want Blood, on Oct. 18.