Stone (Alice in Chains song)

"Stone" is a song by American rock band Alice in Chains and the second single from their fifth studio album, The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here (2013). The song was released as a single on March 25, 2013, reached No. 1 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart,[3] and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks.[4] A music video directed by Robert Schober was released for the song. The song was first played live on April 10, 2013, during Alice in Chains' appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live in Los Angeles.[5] The lyrics to "Stone" are printed on the bottom plate of a limited edition of Jerry Cantrell's signature Dunlop Cry Baby Wah pedal released in 2013.[6][7]

"Stone"
Single by Alice in Chains
from the album The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here
ReleasedMarch 25, 2013[1]
StudioHenson Recording Studios
Los Angeles, California
Genre
Length4:24
LabelVirgin/EMI
Songwriter(s)Jerry Cantrell
Producer(s)Nick Raskulinecz, Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains singles chronology
"Hollow"
(2012)		 "Stone"
(2013)		 "Voices"
(2013)

The riff to "Stone" - that Cantrell hummed into his phone while recovering from a shoulder surgery - was ranked No. 16 on Guitar World's 2019 list of the 20 best guitar riffs of the decade.[8]

Origin and recording

Singer-guitarist Jerry Cantrell came up with the song's riff whilst recovering from surgery to repair his damaged shoulder cartilage in 2011. 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."[9]

Cantrell showed the original voice mail of him humming Stone's riff into his phone during an interview with Team Rock Radio in 2014.[10]

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."[11]

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]

In 2019, the riff to "Stone" was ranked No. 16 on Guitar World's list of the 20 best guitar riffs of the decade.[8]

Music video

A lyric video for "Stone" was released on YouTube on April 15, 2013.[12] 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.[13]

Personnel

Chart positions
Chart (2013) Peak
Position
Canada Rock (Billboard)[14] 11
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[3] 1
US Rock Airplay (Billboard)[15] 11
US Hot Rock Songs (Billboard)[16] 37
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References
  1. "ALICE IN CHAINS: New Single 'Stone' Goes To Radio". Blabbermouth. March 25, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  2. Hartmann, Graham (March 25, 2013). "Alice in Chains Release New Single 'Stone'". Loudwire. Retrieved May 1, 2013.
  3. 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. "Alice in Chains Concert Setlist at Jimmy Kimmel Live, Los Angeles on April 10, 2013". Setlist.fm.
  6. "Dunlop JC95SE Jerry Cantrell Special Edition Crybaby Wah". Sweetwater. 2013.
  7. "Dunlop JC95SE Jerry Cantrell Limited Edition Cry Baby Wah Pedal Only 250 Were Made". Imgur. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
  8. Horsley, Jonathan (December 12, 2019). "The 20 best guitar riffs of the decade". Guitar World.
  9. "Jerry Cantrell: 'If You Can't Play You Shouldn't Be Onstage'". Ultimate-Guitar.com. April 1, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  10. "Jerry Cantrell humming Stone's melody". YouTube. June 6, 2015. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  11. "Through the good and the bad, Alice in Chains unbroken". Los Angeles Times. May 29, 2013. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  12. "ALICE IN CHAINS: Official 'Stone' Lyric Video Released". Blabbermouth. April 15, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  13. "ALICE IN CHAINS: 'Stone' Video Released". Blabbermouth. April 18, 2013. Retrieved May 28, 2018.
  14. "Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  15. "Alice in Chains - Rock Airplay". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  16. "Alice in Chains - Chart History - Rock Songs". Billboard. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
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