Blabbermouth:

A new ALICE IN CHAINS track entitled "A Looking In View" is now available for purchase via iTunes and Amazon. Two short teasers for the song's accompaying video clip can be viewed below. Meanwhile, sources tell The Pulse of Radio that an official radio single called "Check My Brain" will head to rock stations in mid-August.

ALICE IN CHAINS' first collection of all-new studio material in 14 years, "Black Gives Way To Blue", is set for release on September 29 through EMI Music's Virgin Records label. The disc will feature the recording debut with the group of singer William DuVall, who first got behind the mic for the band's 2006 reunion tour after original vocalist Layne Staley died in 2002.

I have to say, I'm impressed. A new Alice in Chains record without Layne Staley's vocals raised a lot of eyebrows, and new singer William DuVall brings the right amount of tribute and originality to the table. It also can't be said enough how much guitarist Jerry Cantrell's background vocals are part of the Alice in Chains sound, not unlike Michael Anthony in Van Halen, who allowed them to switch singers with (relative) impunity over the years.

I'm not even going to try to pretend for a second that there's any chance this is going to be good.

Spin, who I'm sure would make the quotes around "supergroup" bigger if they could.

The "supergroup" known as Chickenfoot -- comprised of ex-Van Halen singer Sammy Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist Joe Satriani -- have announced plans to release their first album.

First, my apologies to Michael Anthony, who is one of the most gifted background vocalists in rock. When a band whose members have sold a combined number of records that may very well have a ninth digit, and the only thing to look forward to is the background vocals, we might have a problem.

Sammy Hagar, who somehow tapped into the frustration of a nation upset about safe driving laws and turned "I Can't Drive 55" into a hit, backed by the assumed masturbatory showboating at the fast hands of Smith and Satch, with song titles like "Sexy Little Thing", "Soap on a Rope" and "Oh Yeah"?

I am going out on a limb and saying that this will not be the best album of 2009 -- though to be fair, the acrobatics will be sportsmanlike at worst.