"A Looking in View" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AiC) is an American rock band formed in Seattle in 1987. Since 2006, the band's lineup has comprised vocalist/guitarists Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall, bassist Mike Inez, and drummer Sean Kinney. Voca ...

, featured on their fourth studio album, '' Black Gives Way to Blue'' (2009). It was the first publicly released song from the album and was available for purchase on June 30, 2009, and for a limited time it was available as a free download through the official Alice in Chains website. Although it was not the album's first official single, Rock stations across the U.S. started playing the song after it was made available for streaming. The first official radio single, " Check My Brain", was released in August 2009. "A Looking in View" was Alice in Chains' first release with new vocalist

William DuVall William Bradley DuVall (born September 6, 1967) is an American musician best known as the current co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for the rock band Alice in Chains. He joined Alice in Chains in 2006, replacing the band's original lead si ...

, who replaced the band's original singer, Layne Staley, in 2006. Vocalist/guitarist

Jerry Cantrell Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. (born March 18, 1966) is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is best known as the founder, lead guitarist, co-lead vocalist, and main songwriter of the rock band Alice in Chains. The band rose to internatio ...

shares lead vocals with DuVall. The song was the band's first release since 1999's " Fear the Voices". Clocking in at a length of seven minutes and six seconds, it is the second longest song Alice in Chains has released as a single (official or non-official), behind the ''

MTV Unplugged ''MTV Unplugged'' is an American television series on MTV. It showcases recorded live performances of popular music artists playing acoustic instrument, acoustic or "unplugged" variations of songs. The show aired regularly from 1989 to 1999. F ...

'' version of " Over Now", as well as their fourth longest song to date, behind "Frogs" from their self-titled 1995 album, "All I Am" from their 2018 album ''

Rainier Fog ''Rainier Fog'' (pronounced: ) is the sixth studio album by American rock band Alice in Chains, released on August 24, 2018, through BMG, the band's first release on the label. The title was inspired by Mount Rainier, a volcano that overlooks the ...

'', and "

Phantom Limb A phantom limb is the sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached. It is a chronic condition that is often resistant to treatment. When the cut ends of sensory fibres are stimulated during thigh movements, the patient feels as ...

" from their 2013 album ''

The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here ''The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Alice in Chains, released on May 28, 2013, through Capitol Records, the band's final album released through the label. Following a worldwide tour in support of it ...

''. The song peaked at No. 12 on

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

's ''

Mainstream Rock Mainstream rock (also known as heritage rock) is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations in the United States and Canada. Format background Mainstream rock stations represent a cross between classic rock, active rock and alternativ ...

'' chart, at No. 38 on the ''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

'' chart, and at No. 27 on the ''

Hot Rock Songs Hot Rock & Alternative Songs (formerly known as Rock Songs and Hot Rock Songs) is a record chart published by ''Billboard'' magazine. From its debut on June 20, 2009, through October 13, 2012, the chart ranked the airplay of songs across alternati ...

'' chart. "A Looking in View" was nominated for a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

for

Best Hard Rock Performance The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance was an award presented to recording artists at the Grammy Awards from 1990 to 2011. The academy recognized hard rock music artists for the first time at the 31st Grammy Awards in 1989. The category ...

in 2011.

Lyrics

Guitarist and vocalist

said of the song in the press release:

Release and reception

On June 30, 2009, "A Looking in View" was made available for purchase via

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and

Amazon Amazon most often refers to: * Amazon River, in South America * Amazon rainforest, a rainforest covering most of the Amazon basin * Amazon (company), an American multinational technology company * Amazons, a tribe of female warriors in Greek myth ...

, and for a limited time it was available as a free download through the official Alice in Chains website in early July. Although it wasn't the album's first radio single, Rock stations across the U.S. started playing the song. As of mid-August 2009, it has peaked at number 12 on the ''

Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart published by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States. It is an administrative category that combines the " active rock" and " heritage rock" ...

chart, at number 38 on the ''Billboard''

chart, and at number 27 on the ''Billboard''

chart. The song was nominated in the

53rd Grammy Awards The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 13, 2011, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. They were broadcast on CBS with a rating of 26.6 million viewers. Barbra Streisand was honored as the MusiCares Person of the Year two nights pri ...

Ceremony in the category of "

In popular culture

The song was released as

downloadable content content (DLC) is additional content created for an already released video game, distributed through the Internet by the game's publisher. It can be added for no extra cost or as a form of video game monetization, enabling the publisher to gain ad ...

for the

Rock Band ''Rock Band'' is a series of rhythm games first released in 2007 and developed by Harmonix. Based on their previous development work from the Guitar Hero, ''Guitar Hero'' series, the main ''Rock Band'' games have players use game controllers mod ...

and

Rock Band 2 ''Rock Band 2'' is a 2008 rhythm game developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, and distributed by Electronic Arts. It is the sequel to ''Rock Band (video game), Rock Band'' (2007) and the second installment in the Rock Band, ''Rock Band ' ...

music video game A music video game, also commonly known as a music game, is a video game where the gameplay is meaningfully and often almost entirely oriented around the player's interactions with a musical score or individual songs. Music video games may take a ...

s for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the Xbox (console), original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox#Consoles, Xbox series. It was officially unveiled on MTV on May 12, 2005, with detail ...

Wii The Wii ( ) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was released on November 19, 2006, in North America, and in December 2006 for most other regions of the world. It is Nintendo's fifth major home game console, f ...

, and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed and marketed by Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE). It is the successor to the PlayStation 2, and both are part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. The PS3 was first released on ...

consoles, as part of Alice In Chains Pack 01, which also includes older hits "

Rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated subspecies of the red junglefowl (''Gallus gallus''), originally native to Southeast Asia. It was first domesticated around 8,000 years ago and is now one of the most common and w ...

", " Would?", and " No Excuses", along with " Check My Brain", also from '' Black Gives Way to Blue''. It was added to the

Xbox Live Marketplace Xbox Games Store (formerly Xbox Live Marketplace) was a digital distribution platform previously used by Microsoft's Xbox 360 and formerly by the Xbox One. The service allowed users to download or purchase video games (including both Xbox Live Ar ...

and in-game Music Store for the

on September 29, 2009, and it was added to the

PlayStation Network PlayStation Network (PSN) is a digital media entertainment service provided by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2006, PSN was originally conceived for the PlayStation video game consoles, but soon extended to encompass smartp ...

on October 1, 2009. The song was also featured in the soundtrack of an ice hockey sports video game NHL 2K11.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "A Looking in View" was directed by Stephen Schuster. Shooting wrapped on June 20, 2009 and the video premiered on Alice in Chains official website on July 7, 2009. It was Alice in Chains' first music video since 1999's " Get Born Again", and the first music video since 1994's " I Stay Away" that does not feature the band. It features actors Sacha Senisch, Chad Post and Devin Zephyr instead. At the 6:55 mark of the video, a woman (played by Sacha Senisch) is seen lying on a cracked desert floor similarly to the cover art of Alice in Chains' 1992 album ''

Dirt Dirt is any matter considered unclean, especially when in contact with a person's clothes, skin, or possessions. In such cases, they are said to become dirty. Common types of dirt include: * Debris: scattered pieces of waste or remains * Du ...

''. Schuster explained the music video to VideoStatic:

Personnel

– lead vocals, lead guitar *

– co-lead vocals, rhythm guitar *

Mike Inez Michael Allen Inez (born May 14, 1966) is an American rock musician and bassist. Since 1993, Inez has been the bassist of the American rock band Alice in Chains. He is also recognized for his work with Ozzy Osbourne from 1989 to 1993. Inez also ...

– bass *

Sean Kinney Sean Howard Kinney (born May 27, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the drummer and co-founder of the rock band Alice in Chains. Kinney also founded the short-lived Supergroup (music), supergroup Spys4Darwin, and has collaborated with ...

– drums

Chart positions

References

External links

* * *
"A Looking in View" Uncensored music video
on

Vevo Vevo LLC ( , an abbreviation for "Video Evolution", stylized in all caps until 2013) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational video hosting service, best known for providing music videos to YouTube. The service is also available ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Looking in View, A 2009 singles 2008 songs Alice in Chains songs Songs written by Jerry Cantrell Songs written by Mike Inez Songs written by Sean Kinney Songs written by William DuVall Song recordings produced by Nick Raskulinecz Virgin Records singles EMI Records singles American hard rock songs