The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
Capitol
In the sexually frustrated, Cobain-emulating days of my youth, Alice In Chains was a musical staple. It is painful, therefore, to be the one to perform the Old Yeller style execution of their tired, lazy, latest release, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here.
Much like any Coldplay album, there’s nothing wrong with the songs individually, but combined, the compilation seems superfluous and uninspired. By the second track it’s apparent that the listener is settling themselves in for one hour and seven minutes of largely indistinguishable retrophilic droning.
To be fair, Stone is pretty badass, with an inexorably brooding rhythm section and deliciously satanic guitar riffs lending weight to this well-constructed song. So too, Scalpel, which makes a conscious effort to break away from the pack and show some originality – and deserves credit for such. Frankly though, only finding two worthwhile songs in an album of this length is a pretty poor effort and it is purely by the merits of those songs, as well as for my teenage self, that they even get this rating.
_ SHAUN CROWE
