Review Summary: Alice in Chains release a great yet slightly disappointing followup to the excellent Black Gives Way To Blue.
(I recently gave this album a few more listens and decided that my last review of this album was a bit to harsh so I changed my rating from a 2.5 to the 3.5 it is now and made a few other edits to my past review)
The Devil Put Dinosaurs here is Alice in Chains second album with new vocalists and guitarist William Duvall. With The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here, Alice in Chains can finally put to rest the naysayers and some of their fans doubts that they can consistently release quality material With Duvall and without front man and founding member Layne Staley. TDPDH is a flawed but still great release, and in the following review I'll explain to you as to why I came to this conclusion.
First, lets start out with the positives. Jerry's signature dark lyrics and his and William's vocal harmonies certainly give this album a classic Alice in Chains feel. Also, Jerry's guitar solos are as great as ever, his solo's on Stone and Low Ceiling are just as good and if not better then those on Previous AIC albums. Kinney and Inez's drumming and bass are as solid as ever and definitely contribute to the album. Next, the riffs on songs like Stone and Phantom Limb are catchy, heavy, and certainly some of the best riffs Jerry's ever written. Finally, the albums production is much better then BGWTB's was.
Now, I'll talk about some Negative aspects of the album. TDPDH is AIC'S Least heavy LP they have ever released. So those like me hoping for faster, more aggressive songs like Them Bones or A Looking In View will be disappointed. Secondly, a few of the songs on this album, Hollow for example, seem to be unnecessarily long and can become repetitive and boring, which is a real shame because the riff in hollow is fantastic. Next, for the first time in their career AIC released an album that fails to distinguish itself from its predecessor in any significant way, and TDPDH often sounds like BGWTB part 2. The album also lacks variety and many of the songs sound very similar, which is something I never thought I would say about an AIC album. Finally, there is lack of catchy choruses on this album (the exceptions being Stone and the song the The Devil put dinosaurs here) , which at times can make a few of the songs sound a bit dull.
Overall, TDPDH is far from AIC's best album, and even though some fans wishing for another excellent album will be disappointed, this album still contains enough heavy riffs, solos, vocal harmonies, and dark lyrics to satisfy most fans of AIC and Rock and Metal fans in general.
