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From The Desk Of Alice In Chains: “Recording The Beatles”

Few bands survive the reboot Alice In Chains launched in 2008, six years after the death of its troubled powerhouse singer, Layne Staley. Guitarist Jerry Cantrell admits the idea of reemerging from stasis with a new vocalist, William DuVall, felt like a gamble. The result was Black Gives Way To Blue, a work worthy of standing alongside the band’s masterpiece, 1992’s Dirt. Though few would have predicted such a return to form, the album was certified gold, topped scads of best-of lists and launched two full tours. The new The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here stays true to the Alice In Chains sound, a dense shroud of gloom occasionally lifted by soaring harmonies and delicate riffs. For every dirge stomp like “Pretty Done” and the menacing creep of “Lab Monkey,” there are echoes of Jar Of Flies’ haunted acoustic beauty (“Voices,” “Choke”) or the filthy groove of “Stone,” the album’s second single. DuVall will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand new Alice In Chains feature.

DuVall: If, like me, you are a gear nerd and a geek for all things Beatle, then have I got the book for you! Recording The Beatles is both the Bible and Rosetta Stone for anyone who cares what tape machine, mixing desk, compressor/limiters and other sonic effects were used on every Beatles session and specifically how they were used. It also goes into thorough detail about the design of the gear itself. Want to know damn near everything there is to know about EMI’s Redd 37 recording console? This is where you’ll find it and so much more. Recording The Beatles is the product of many years of exhaustive research and interviews with the Abbey Road engineers who worked the sessions—audio legends like Norman Smith, Geoff Emerick, et al. These guys were such scientists, they literally wore lab coats to work! They give you the skinny on how it all went down and, in the process, provide a window into a (sadly) dying art: analogue recording. Bonus points to Curvebender Publishing for the beautiful packaging.