Originally Posted by
Prettybrokenspiral
Jerry is the lead singer now. William just harmonizes on the songs and gets one lead spot per album (Last of My Kind, Phantom Limb, Never Fade). And I'll vouch for him; I've seen AIC 2.0 about four times now and William does a fantastic justice to the old stuff, as well as the new. Plus, he's incredibly humble and honoring of both Layne and the legacy of the band before him. To say it's not the same band isn't necessarily fair; they still sound like the 90s AIC and Jerry wrote about 80% of the band's stuff even before Layne died.
I agree though, there is indeed the feeling of the band coasting with this new album. I've listened to it about a dozen times through now and at least half of it just doesn't resonate much. I was a huge fan of TDPDH and hold that album in the same esteem as Dirt and S/T. BGWTB isn't far behind, either. Both of those albums had some gargantuan riffs, a fair amount of experimentation (by AIC standards) and had songs like Your Decision, Voices, Hollow, Stone, Private Hell and numerous others that were as good as anything the 90s albums put up.
Rainier Fog isn't bad, but it definitely gives the impression that the band is spinning their wheels here. Especially after a five-year layoff in between records. I've heard people say TDPDH sounded like AIC just making an album for the sake of it, which I don't agree with at all; that album gives up a TON if you spend the necessary time with it.
That being said, this album still has its share of gems. Maybe, Fly, Deaf Ears Blind Eyes and the title track are all keepers..