According to The Pulse Of Radio, eight previously unreleased songs from late ALICE IN CHAINS lead singer Layne Staley are currently being restored and properly mixed by Seattle-based audio designer Jesse Holt. The tunes all have vocal tracks from Staley on them and Holt has asked Staley’s MAD SEASON bandmate, PEARL JAM guitarist Mike McCready, for help in completing them.
Reportedly among the songs is “Things You Do”, which has surfaced online in various forms in the years since Staley died of a drug overdose in April 2002.
ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist Jerry Cantrell told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that there was more to his friend than the way in which he died. “It’s unfortunate that that seems to be the only headline that gets equated with him, because there was so much more to him than that,” he said. “Not taking away the fact of the reality of what that is, and how it ended, everybody knows that too. But there’s a whole lot more to the story.”
Before his death, Staley had planned to work on a solo album and also intended to record vocals for a song by metal outfit TAPROOT. The demo of the song was in Staley’s CD player when he was found dead.
There are also rumors that Staley was going to audition for the band that eventually became AUDIOSLAVE. He had reportedly gotten a call from the instrumental members of RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE about singing with them, but never made it. SOUNDGARDEN’s Chris Cornell took the job instead, recording three studio albums with that act.
The source for the eight songs was not made immediately clear by Holt, and it is also not clear if there is any chance of them being released.
ALICE IN CHAINS was inactive for several years before and after Staley’s death, but regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall on guitars and vocals. The band has since cut two studio albums and is working on a new one.
Source: Blabbermouth
