Stone (Alice in Chains song)

"Stone"
Single by Alice in Chains
from the album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
Released March 25, 2013[1]
Genre Sludge metal[2]
Length 4:24
Label Virgin/EMI
Songwriter(s) Jerry Cantrell
Producer(s) Nick Raskulinecz, Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains singles chronology
"Hollow"
(2012)		 "Stone"
(2013)		 "Voices"
(2013)

"Stone" is the second single by American rock band Alice in Chains from their 2013 album, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here. The song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart,[3] and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks.[4] A music video has been released for the song.

Meaning

Singer-guitarist Jerry Cantrell came up with the song's riff whilst recovering from surgery to repair his damaged shoulder cartilage. He told Ultimate-Guitar.com: "My arm was f--ked up and I couldn't play guitar so I just hummed that riff into a phone and that's how that song came to be. When I could play a little bit and we were going through riffs, I remember doing some riffs with Paul Figueroa, our engineer. I'm like, 'Wait a minute, I got a good one, man. Check this out.' I started f--kin' playing it to him and it was me singing into the f--kin' phone. I'm like, 'Dude, this riff is killer. Give me a guitar and I'll f--kin' work it out.' So that song I actually came up with just off a voice message on a phone. I didn't even have a guitar; I just f--kin' hummed it into the phone."[5]

Cantrell showed the original voice mail of him humming Stone's riff during an interview with Team Rock Radio in 2014.[6]

The brooding song includes the lyric: "What makes you want to carve your initials in me?... Find me distant, outwardly rough obscene." Singer William DuVall explained to The Los Angeles Times: "It seems to be about confronting outside misperceptions. You think you know me? You don't."[7]

Release and reception

"Stone" was released to radio stations on March 25, 2013.[1]

According to Graham Hartmann writing for Loudwire, "the new single [...] has its fair share of sludge [...], further delving into a dark and unnerving side of alternative rock and atmospheric metal."[2]

Music video

A lyric video for "Stone" was released on YouTube on April 15, 2013.[8] The music video for "Stone" was shot in Lucerne Valley, California and directed by Robert Schober (aka Roboshobo), who directed their previous music video, "Hollow". The video features the band playing on a rocky hill. Separately, three individuals are alone trying to transport stones that get heavier or larger, using a basket, a cart, and one rolling a boulder uphill. Once they are unable to proceed, they stop and become stones.[9]

Personnel

Chart positions

Chart (2013) Peak
Position
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[3] 1
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[10] 11
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[11] 37

References

  1. 1 2 "ALICE IN CHAINS: New Single 'Stone' Goes To Radio". Blabbermouth. March 25, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Hartmann, Graham (March 25, 2013). "Alice in Chains Release New Single 'Stone'". Loudwire. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  3. 1 2 Trust, Gary (June 13, 2013). "Chart Moves: Cassadee Pope Debuts On Hot 100, Hot Country Songs; Alicia Keys Reaches Adult R&B Milestone; The Lone Bellow Adds Airplay". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved June 13, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Alice in Chains - Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved August 1, 2017.
  5. ↑ "Jerry Cantrell: 'If You Can't Play You Shouldn't Be Onstage'". Ultimate-Guitar.com. April 1, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Jerry Cantrell humming Stone's melody". YouTube. June 6, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  7. ↑ "Through the good and the bad, Alice in Chains unbroken". Los Angeles Times. May 29, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  8. ↑ "ALICE IN CHAINS: Official 'Stone' Lyric Video Released". Blabbermouth. April 15, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  9. ↑ "ALICE IN CHAINS: 'Stone' Video Released". Blabbermouth. April 18, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  10. ↑ "Alice in Chains - Rock Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  11. ↑ "Alice in Chains - Chart History - Rock Songs". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.