Better Alice in Chains Era

Which has been the better era of Alice in Chains – the current one with William DuVall singing alongside Jerry Cantrell or the original era in which Layne Staley and Cantrell shared vocals? That is the debate at the center of this week’s Chuck’s Fight Club on the Loudwire Nights radio show.

One thing that is not debatable is that Alice in Chains have now been a successful band in two different eras.

The group arrived in the 1990s with their Facelift album and yielded three big records before taking a break. Over the course of their run with Staley and Cantrell at the helm, they delivered a dark and cherished catalog of material that featured such standouts as “Man in the Box,” “Would?,” “Them Bones,” “Rooster,” “No Excuses,” “I Stay Away,” “Got Me Wrong,” “Heaven Beside You” “Over Now” and “Get Born Again.” Sadly, Staley’s deteriorating health and substance abuse issues curtailed the band’s ability to continue and his 2002 death officially concluded the first era of the band.

After years with the band splintered and Cantrell focused primarily on a solo career, the late 2000s brought about the second era of the group. Comes With the Fall vocalist William DuVall, who had developed a friendship from touring with Cantrell, joined the band to help handle the Staley parts and soon the decision to record again was made. So far, three albums have been released from this Alice in Chains iteration and songs such as “Check My Brain,” “Your Decision,” “Lesson Learned,” “A Looking in View,” “Hollow,” “Stone,” “Voices,” “The One You Know” and “Never Fade” have helped the band regain their standing in the rock world.

As with all Chuck’s Fight Club battles, Loudwire Nights host Chuck Armstrong will introduce the matchup in the 8PM hour of Monday’s show. Individual arguments will be made for both eras on Tuesday and Wednesday’s shows, while fans continue to rank the two eras using the voting tool at the bottom of this post. Then, on Friday afternoon, the voting tally will be counted and the winning entry will be featured in a rock block on Friday’s Loudwire Nights show in the 8PM hour.

READ MORE: What Layne Staley Said to Jerry Cantrell That Made Him Sing in Alice in Chains

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