For the remote few interested on this site.....if you were wondering, the new Alice in Chains is F'N SPECTACULAR!

The new vocalist is a Layne Staley clone....and I'd flat out be lying if I said that was not the case....but to me...that's a good thing.

Many people thought that Jerry Cantrell and Co. should not have went on without Staley or that they should not have called it AIC....I think that;'s a crock....

It's not like they did not give it proper grieving time as it's been almost 8 years since he passed. The title of the album even says it all "When Black turns to Blue".....so does the opening lines of the very first song..."a new begining, time to start living, like just before we died, there's no going back to the place we started from"

I also think that as much as I liked Layne's writing and voice, I don't really feel that his death is worthy of not going forward with the name. Let's face it....the guy was a selfish drug addict that chose heroin over his band, family, friends and fans.....it's not like he was Freddy Mercury...a victim of ignorance.

SO.....in case any of you were wondering about it.....I say if you were a huge AIC fan.....you would be doing yourself a favor by going out and getting this disc!

This is Pure AIC.

AND.....go buy it...don't steal it ya F'N bums!

BGv2.0...defending the Record Industry's pocket books since 2006!

NO....asshole...defending artists material, the entire F'N idea of Capitalism. and personally not taking part in theft.

You can TRY to rationalize it and defend it all you want to.

If you now own this album and paid nothing for it....you stole it....and you know it too.

BUT....not being a F'N bum I actually bought the album, and yes that will put money in the record industry's pocket books....but it will also put money into AIC pocket books, it is also a positive for the economy and keeps the entire idea of capitalism working as it should....which in this current economy is a needed thing. As a matter of fact....I think this massive F'N theft of music and film has contributed a VERY large part to our current economic state.

When an artist only has to sell 15,000 copies of an album to break into the top 30 on Billboard's top200 releases....how can you defend how much theft is taking place?

If I were Batman....I'd hold you over a cliff...tell you to "tell all your friends about me...download this".....then I would drop you off.

When Layne Staley died, so did Alice in Chains.

The new lead singer is a guy trying to sound like Layne, but it is really just Jerry Cantrell and some wannabe Layne...not Alice in Chains.

"trying".....have you actually heard it?

If anybody says this guy does not sound 100% spot on to Layne Staley, you are simply in denial. I have a very good ear....this dude is not "trying" anything....he sounds just like the guy.

If you don't like it due to some sort of loyal love for Layne....by all means that is your choice...but I think you would be doing yourself a huge disservice by skipping it for that reason.

And....why is it a given that when Layne died so did AIC.....what if AC/DC had quit after Bon Scott bit it? We would not have Hells Bells, Back in Black, Thunderstruck....the list goes on and on.

I think that's a pretty close minded train of thought in relation to this situation.

But...whatever....if you hate it...nobody can make you like it..so more power to you.

You don't really think that mp3 sharing caused the economy to implode do you? lol

of course not....it is not the sole reason....but when you have millions of people NOT buying products...in this case being films and music....you would have to be a total moron to not understand that it plays a role. On the mass scale that it takes place....there is no doubt multi millions have been lost....maybe billions.

if the U.S. economy can be represented as a murder victim with multiple stab wounds.....wall street may have been the killing blow that sliced the neck....but all of the stab wounds to the head and chest....did not help matters....that is the role I see it playing.

BUT....I'm sure as with usual typical media theft mentality....your argument is....well it was going to die anyhow...so it really did not matter.

Haha

No, my argument is that file sharing led to the prevalence of iTunes as the primary source of music distribution. And that your numbers for record sales are scued by that fact.

The record companies are NOT struggling, and the ease of paying $1.99 for a song...that may be the only song you even like on a particular album...has encouraged people to get their music legally rather than risking the chance of getting a virus/lawsuit.

The days of buying a CD from Specs/Camelot are over.

...but keep fighting the good fight there, Caped Crusader.

You are living in a fantasy world if you think the average American pays $1.99 per song on iTunes as opposed to getting it for free.

You can toss in the revenue at iTunes to what the cds profit and I promise you the revenue lost in theft is STILL greater.

You keep bringing up the record companies.....if I recall you had a big boner about that years ago....I said it then and I'll say it now...that is not the argument.

The argument is theft....taking and not paying for something...which completely removes a step of capitalism....when that is done on a massive scale, it has snowball effect on a number of things.....the economy, the artists, the industry, the fans.

When a talented singer/songwriter like Ian Ashbury (lead vocalist for The Cult) decides to call it a day and to no longer record new music because it gets stolen more than bought....that is a damn shame.

When the industry starts to create cheaper forms of artists (American Idol) to avoid having to sign contracts with solidified acts....it's a form of saving $$$....which is what should be done when you are leaking money due to theft. You might like that....but for the last 7-8 years now for me at least....entertainment in all forms has suffered due to drastic measures taken by the industry.....then I as a fan am left with very little to enjoy.

It's all connected. But I'm sure you don't buy that...literally.

And you do? lol

Sorry, but I don't buy just any trash that the record companies tell me too.



Apple sold approximately 1 billion iTunes songs between February 26, 2008, when 4 billion was reported by the company and June 19, when the 5 billion threshold was reported. That’s a period of approximately 16 weeks which means 62.5m songs per week.

...it’s estimated Apple takes 29 to 31 cents a song at iTunes and the remainder of the 99 cent price is shared between the artists and labels.

http://metue.com/08-12-2008/app-store-itun...l-contribution/

Who's living in a fantasy?

YOU

Give me crunched numbers on stolen media.

Oh wait....we can't can we.


You would have people believe that all is fine and perfect in the world of media....and that is NOT the case. The rationale for this is simple for me...on average for every 10 people I know....about 5-6 download illegally.....they don't use iTunes....they don't purchase at Best Buy....they swipe it off the net on one of tons of file sharing sites.

Also....good old American greed comes into play....give people and inch, they will take 10 miles. It's pretty hypocritical of those that swipe shit citing "greedy record labels"....yet they themsleves dabble in a high level of "greed" by taking when they could afford to buy.

I know Doctors that swipe shit.

Now if I can afford the $7-10 bucks for a cd.....a gotdamn phychiatrist sure as fuck should.

If I recall last time out it was all about arguing for downloading and how evil the recording industry was....not paying for iTunes and the like....

I don't care how many Batman pics you post....if you defend illegal downloading....you defend theft...pure and simple.

The only thing pure and simple is that you made a baseless claim...



...and pulled shit out of your ass to defend an outdated point of view.



Get with the times man. You don't have to defend the billionaire record moguls and millionaire artists anymore. Those people are getting PAID, regardless to how many 14 year old girls "illegally" download their shit.

Another broke-ass/struggling musician...

Not baseless....

How can owning an opinion be "pulling shit out of your ass"......I really do believe the massive levels of theft of all forms of media has had a negative impact on the economy...I've held that idea for awhile now...before the bottom fell out.

And for the umpteenth time....I do not defend the "billionaire record moguls".....you just refuse to see that part of it.

It's not about how much an artist, band or record company makes....it's about what a person takes without paying for it.

My argument is simple.....if a person takes a song/film off of the net....pays nothing for it...they have stolen that artists (and yes record company's) product.

That is wrong.

How you argue against that simple FACT....is beyond me....but I await your BS response.

You can own that opinion all you want...you'd be wrong...but it would still be your opinion. I just tried to use facts to help you realize the fault in your opinion, but I guess "owning" that opinion is a concern.

Believe it or not, there are some things in life that "you"...an individual...have no control over. One of those things is the ability to stop the rich guys from making money. They know how to survive and chase the dollar better than you can ever imagine. No matter how much you think that "illegally" downloading a song is affecting the grander scheme of capitalism, you'd be mistaken.

Didn't you ever tape a song off of the radio? I know I did. I'd also make mix tapes of different songs that I liked, and listen to those tapes from front to back. I know for a FACT that the record industry, and struggling artists, survived my previous efforts to topple their kingdom.

I guess I fail to see your "opinion's" validity given my past experiences, and current landscape of the industry's earnings.

Well...I'll tell you what else is my opinion....and it is a fact and not wrong

you and I are never going to see eye to eye on this, and this thread will be 20 pages of back and forth....you already fucked it up when you hijacked it way back.

Thanks....

I'd like to right the ship....but I hardly doubt anybody is reading this for AIC after this BS.

Let's just agree to disagree.

LOL! @ this thread.

I have no problem at all with people "stealing" media via the internet for their personal use....however, I DO think it's wrong when people try to sell it after "stealing" it though...

Ok...but for the record, I was just trying to drop a one liner and post a funny picture, not hijack the thread.

LMAO @ The CEO willing to take it another 20 pages...

I'm co-signing BG on this one. Piracy is fucked up.

Living in China for 2 years now, I can tell you for a fact that piracy does have a negative impact on the economy, especially in relation to media; how it is produced, in addition to the quality.

There are no intellectual properties in China, and Piracy is RAMPANT. We'll look at 2 categories for example:

MUSIC

Musicians in China make ZERO money from their albums. As soon as an album is released, legitimate copies sit in record stores (well, CD/DVD stores) and go nowhere. Meanwhile, the pirated DVD shop or hillbilly dumbfuck selling goods on the side of the road is selling the bootleg for a fraction of the price. And I mean fucking fraction.

Legitimate CDs generally run you around 80 - 100 RMB.
Pirated CDs run you about 5 RMB. Or less.

So, all you fucking Einsteins out there, what do you do? If you're a Chinese dumbshit you buy the pirated version because it's cheaper, and laugh all the way home about how "smart" you are.

But here is the catch, and one that should be pretty obvious: You are DESTROYING the industry!

Because these artists cannot make money from their CDs, they are forced to make all of their money through countless shitty concerts or through TV advertisement deals. Bullshit advertisements too, like fucking toothpaste, green tea, what the fuck ever.

But the catch to that is... the revenue stream still isn't enough to support a career. That's why there are no more music artists in mainland China. Because it is a corrupt cesspool.

Every music star in China comes from somewhere else: Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc... all places where intellectual property rights are valid and protected, thus allowing said star to earn the revenue he/she is entitled to.

MOVIES
Same issue as music, only 1,000,000,000 times worse, because it costs more money to produce a film than to produce a song.

What happens when a film company produces a film that goes to theatres and then, in turn, every cinema sits fallow because the people are at home downloading the film or buying the bootleg from hillbilly dick on the side of the road?

I'll tell you what happens. Studios stop investing money in film, and so do advertisers. Because there is no money in it. So what you're left with in the end is shitty-ass, poorly-acted, poorly-funded crapfest films that are bereft of quality of any kind. You thought Hollywood was bad? Not yet, mother-fucker. Not fucking yet.


I don't want to hear no more shit about how downloading songs or movies is "sticking it to the man," or about how these huge, rich companies won't go down because a few dimwits are sitting in their basements downloading music or films.

As BG said, this is all about capitalism. Everyone has to do their part. Stealing is fucking wrong. I don't care how you pay for your entertainment. If everyone who downloads music pays for it, cool. But anyone doing that shit illegally for free can suck a fat cock full of jizz that just came out of an orangutan's steaming asshole, and then die a grizzly death asphyxiating under a 10-ton pile of hot, smoking dog shit.

I was going to bring up China, but it's like arguing with a brick wall.

And the stagnation of the American music, television and film industry IMHO can be seen already.

"Reality" based shows are not simply another nitche genre...they were created out of a need to provide cheap entertainment that does not require a lot of financial output. Record companies have no interest in finding the next Metallica or NIN because a huge act like that will require a large contract worth a LOT of money. Why do that when you can take a guy like Clay Aiken, a little small town nobody....get him to win on a show...then give him a small contract that gives him more money than he's ever seen in his life...YET...is nowhere near what they would have to pay an established act. Once his popularity wanes you cut him and sign up the next big thing....it's cookie cutter mentality....and it came about as a means to save money due to losing TONS of cash from illegal downloading.

More and More films are going direct to dvd and totally skipping the theater once again as a cost saving measure....the studios know that once a film is released on a Friday, their product is already copied and circulated within a few hours...so why spend money on distribution and press? As a result we have TONS of "B" quality films being accepted as top level film.

As an avid lover of music and film....these last 7-8 years have been terrible. This is why I take media theft personally....I feel like I am being denied high quality entertainment due to the actions of others.

I'm paying the price for their theft. AND....it's not like I am asking anybody to do anything I myself don't do. All I'm saying is pay for what you consume....which again, is simply the entire basis of Capatilism.

Man....I HOPE you are wrong about it getting worse....but I'm sure it most likley will.

I thought this thread was about AIC...

As I said before...it was, until you hijacked the shit out of it.

And don't use the excuse of just wanting to post a "funny picture".....you knew when you typed that shit that I had very strong opinions toward the subject.

You were looking for a back and forth on the issue.

I have agreed to disagree with you, as you and I will never see eye to eye on this situation....I really don't see the need for you to continue to take little jabs in relation to the thread or the subject.

You hijacked your own fucking thread. Don't blame me for that shit.



I really was just posting a one liner in the hopes of adding a little bit of humor to a one post thread. Your own, self-proclaimed "very strong opinions" proceeded to dismantle any remainants of the subject from the entire thread.

You can't blame me for simply calling you on your bullshit after that...But whatever, I was willing to agree to disagree and allow the thread to return to the original topic. THEN as soon as someone posts something that you agree with about the "off topic", you want to talk about it again...cheerleading shit like, "yeah, yeah, China"...like fucking China has ANYTHING to do with the American Recording industry nor should it be used as a "model" for ANY capitalist country...smh...man, that speaks volumes for your REAL reason to agree to disagree.

You F'N moron....you admit to your own shit stirring tendencies. Apparently just because I chose to respond to an individual that KNOWS first hand about media theft due to living in the gotdamn world leading nation in regard to the topic....

Your little vagina tightens all up and you just had to post something again.

What I say to another poster has (or should have) ZERO to do with you.

I never said your name in my repsonse to his post.

You will never get me to believe that your first post was meant to do anything other than to cause a back and forth....so yes you hijacking bitch...you fucked it up...and like I said before...it's now beyond repair.

And if you really had any F'N clue about China and it's level of media theft...you would understand the validity of the comparison.

As I said before....I agree to disagree with YOU...you 8 legged fuck!

However...I will speak to other posters if I so choose...and if you were not such a little girl, that would not even bother you in the least bit....as a matter of fact...why did you even feel the need to continue to look in on this thread after we agreed to disagree....

You are like a gotdamn stalking ex-girlfriend....

I know this will cause controversy given whats gone before, but fuck it, its just my opinion, i will steal from ANY massive multi billion industry i can. The only thing i wont do is buy fake DVDs from people selling them on the street since their links to organised crime are proven (at least in scotland), but i steal my cable, and get DVD's from guys at my work who download them, and dont feel in the slightest bad for doing it. Maybe what i do doesnt make a difference, but i love to stick it to the man at any opportunity.

Don't be mad at me for the fact that you're eaiser to manipulate than a 14 year old girl posing for pictures..."Trust me, they'll be classy...like art!"



Damn son, why do you let the record company's bank accounts get you so hot and bothered? There's no reason to stop being a lady. lol

Well....that is your choice, and honestly I can't really say if media theft has had an affect on your economy or entertainment industry, but in the long run I'm sure it will not be good for it.

I can't speak for your country but here...."sticking it to the man" actually ends up sticking it to everybody.

When people steal clothing from department stores it raises the price on the rest of the items. When people file fraudulent insurance claims other's premiums go up.

And in this case...at least as I see it, when tons of people steal from the industry the industry looks for cost cutting measures that affect the quality of what I have to accept as entertainment.

But that is just my opinion....believe me when I say...I'm in the minority on this topic....

But Warlord did bring up a very valid point in relation to China....although I knew the problem was bad...it was good to hear from somebody who has actually lived there to see it first hand.

China's scale of mass media theft dwarf's the level of the United States at the moment...and I'm sure it's a much bigger issue there than in your country as well.

BUT....it has the POTENTIAL to become that bad here...and that is the scary aspect.

First off, I hate China. It is the worst country in the world, and it is home to the stupidest lifeforms on the planet. That being said...

Neither China nor the U.S. are true capitalist countries. The U.S. is getting closer and closer to socialism every day. The U.S. government buying up a ton of bad debt to "shore up" the economy was a beautiful first step. Capitalism demands that you let the market takes care of itself. A true capitalist nation would have watched GM fall to pieces, regardless of the consequences, or let it go into the hands of the highest bidder.

But you know who the highest bidder was? Ding Ding, a fucking Chinese company. No way the U.S. government, or anyone else, lets an American company fall into the red hands of a bunch of murdering, backwater hicks residing in the asshole of the universe. (The P.R.C.)

So what do they do? Anything they can, which includes buying an ownership stake in what was formerly an entirely free enterprise.

Anyone saying China doesn't fall into the discussion isn't quite aware of what's going on in the world today. China and the U.S. are chained to the wrists right now, so sad to say, and wishing it wasn't so doesn't make it not so.

And to re-iterate, "sticking it to the man" is a fucking infantile retard reason for refusing to pay for goods. Goddamn stupid. You guys keep this shit up and you'll see how valid the comparison I made is.

LET'S TALK ABOUT ALICE IN FUCKIN CHAINS

I have a friend at work who's been telling me for a while that this Duval guy sounds just like Layne. I've been skeptical, but the more I hear about it the more I hear this guy could be legit.

I was a huge AIC fan in the early 90's. Dirt is a classic CD. I saw them at Lollapalooza in 1993 and they tore it the fuck up. Even though Layne didn't appear to have the energy to do anything but sit on his chair, he could fucking HOWL. Amazing lead singer. For years I kept hoping he could get his shit straight. I remember being on the NY subway heading to work one morning and seeing a guy reading a NY Daily News and there was the obit. It wasn't unexpected but it still sucked. At least John Frusciante was able to get it together and rejoin RHCP.

I may just have to buy this CD. And yes, I'll pay for it. Maybe I'll get this and the new Pearl Jam which I hear is good and throw some old flannel on for fun.

To me this new AIC is a brand new slab of fresh grunge, which sounds like an oxymoron....but it really is the case.

It has been so good to hear new music from such a loved group. This disc has not left my player in any capacity....it's on in my office, on in my car, on when I run....

I have been so tired of the whiney BS rock that bands like Incubus and Staind have been serving up the last several years. (Although I do give both those bands credit for having awesome first releases)

I got to see AIC in early 1990 before Layne got to brittle, they were actually booed off the stage. This was WAY before Man in the Box took off and grunge for that matter. They opened for Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.... .....which explained the response of the audience at the time...but I remember really digging them that night despite those around me.

I bought the cd....heard We Die Young and tried to get any open minded friend to check it out...a few months later Man in the Box hit the radio waves and that was it!

Layne is dearly missed, but he left behind a lot of good music to remember him by. I think the time has been respectful and so is the cd....the first song and last are clear tributes to Layne.

Let me know what you think of it when you get it!