Alice in Chains has been on "hiatus" for about 2-3 years now, and even the most stalwart fans have begun to lose faith in the band. Hope began to fade with the release of Jerry Cantrell's solo effort and really started to ebb away with the announcement of a summer tour and Cantrell's plans for another album. But we, the fans of AIC, have now been vindicated with the latest news on the band.

First, Layne Staley (lead singer) called in during Cantrell's interview on Rockline, a syndicated radio show, and alluded to projects he had in the works, saying that we'd be hearing about them "soon." Then, during the break in Cantrell's touring, reports started coming in that Alice in Chains had recorded 4 songs with Dave Jerden, the guy who produced Facelift and Dirt. Now the news is that they're switching to Jar of Flies and Alice in Chains producer Toby Wright to record other material; the switch is apparently because Layne disliked Jerden.

All of this is quite exciting to your die-hard AIC fan. Though one has to wonder about the reliability of these unnamed sources that have stated these facts to the magazine community, most fans choose to take an optimistic approach to this information.

The band has reportedly recorded the aforementioned material for an upcoming box set (tentatively named Men in the Box) that will contain hits, rarities, and new material. This box set has been rumoured about and alluded toward for quite a while; it was even placed on the list of albums to be released in October, but it was taken off, confounding AIC fans.

Is Alice in Chains on its way back from oblivion? One can only hope.

--Ryan Martin--