Last Call

Review Score: (6/10)
The last studio record from AIC is mostly about what could have been. You can almost hear a band unsure of their direction and its singer's(Layne Stayley)inablity to come to terms with his heroin addiction. Stayley's menacing vocals are sorely missed in the plodding "Grind" as Jerry Cantrell's smooth voice fails to fit with the overall grim mood. Elsewhere, Cantrell has far more success singing on the acoustic "Heaven Beside You" and "Over Now"(which perfectly encapsulates the band's struggle to survive). The Stayley composition "Head Creeps" might as well be called "Angry Chair 2," but sounds hamfisted and unrehearsed. That feeling spills out to most of the record, nowhere more apparent than on the noodling jam that closes the otherwise gruesome addiction tale "Sludge Factory." This band was on its last legs and more than likely knew it. If anything this CD is good snapshot of those last moments.

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