"Hollow" is a song by American rock band

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

and the first single from their fifth studio album, ''

The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here ''The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here'' is the fifth studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains, released on May 28, 2013 through Capitol Records (and the band's final album released by the label). It is the band's second reunion album. Fol ...

'', released on May 28, 2013. The band debuted the song on

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with a

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lyric video on December 18, 2012. The lyric video contains static images submitted by fans via

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. The song was made available for digital download on January 8, 2013. ''"Hollow"'' reached number one on

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Mainstream Rock Tracks Mainstream Rock is a music chart in ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations in the United States, a category that combines the formats of active rock and heritage rock. The chart was launched in Ma ...

and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks. It is played in a 6/4 time signature during the verses, and in a standard 4/4 signature during the choruses.

Origin

Asked by ''Music Radar'' if he worked out the phrasing over time or if it was immediate,

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 internation ...

said of the riff:

"That one was pretty immediate. It came about on the last night of the '' Black Diamond Skye'' tour we did
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our headlining run with the
Deftones Deftones is an American alternative metal band formed in Sacramento, California in 1988. They were formed by Chino Moreno (vocals, guitar), Stephen Carpenter (guitar), Abe Cunningham (drums), and Dominic Garcia (bass). During their first five ...
and
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. It was the very last show, we were in Vegas and I was sick as hell - I was about a click above pneumonia. But I was warming up in my dressing room, and I started playing that riff. Right away, I knew it was a good one to store away for later, so I recorded it. Nick askulineczhappened to be at that show, and so were my managers. Everybody perked up when they heard me playing it. 'What's that? That's pretty good!' aughsI was like, 'Yeah, it is.' So I tucked it away. It was pretty immediate the way it came to me."

Cantrell said of the song during an interview with ''Ultimate Guitar'' in 2013:

We didn't intend for it to do what it's done and that's all the more the better. It's just like, "F--k that's cool." It's like a six-minute kind of sludgy metal song and it ended up being a number one f--kin' single. We didn't intend on it being a single. We put that song out for our fans as a taste and get them involved in helping us make a lyric video for it. We put it out on our own and we didn't really serve it to radio until radio started to call us and then we started sending it to 'em. It just kinda got a head of steam and started rolling so it was way cool. Very cool and very proud of that and completely organic.

Style

The website Musically Diversified describes "Hollow" as "a mix of stoner or

doom metal Doom metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that typically uses slower tempos, low-tuned guitars and a much "thicker" or "heavier" sound than other heavy metal genres.K. Kahn-Harris, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'' ...

and

grunge Grunge (sometimes referred to as the Seattle sound) is an alternative rock genre and subculture that emerged during the in the American Pacific Northwest state of Washington, particularly in Seattle and nearby towns. Grunge fuses elements of p ...

" that "starts off with some

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that soon launches into a very chorus-soaked grunge

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that is accompanied by heavy drums and bass. This intro section concludes and the song goes into a very

sludge Sludge is a semi-solid slurry that can be produced from a range of industrial processes, from water treatment, wastewater treatment or on-site sanitation systems. For example, it can be produced as a settled suspension obtained from conventiona ...

or stoner metal-influenced verse where the instruments chug along at a very lethargic pace that is kept tight by the

rhythm section A rhythm section is a group of musicians within a music ensemble or band that provides the underlying rhythm, harmony and pulse of the accompaniment, providing a rhythmic and harmonic reference and "beat" for the rest of the band. The rhythm sec ...

of Mike Inez and Sean Kinney. But then the chorus comes in and picks up things with Jerry Cantrell and William DuVall's harmonized vocals. This sequence repeats itself one more time and then the listener gets a great guitar solo at 3:43. This solo continues until we hit another verse and chorus which marks the end of the song."

Music video

An official music video was made for the song by director Robert Schober (aka Roboshobo), premiered on the band's official website on January 10, 2013. The video depicts the daily routine of an astronaut (played by Ian Mackay) orbiting around earth whilst performing various floral experiments on the ship. He is shown often chatting to his significant other (played by Eli Jane) on Earth via video calling. As the video progresses, and his tenure in orbit turns from months into years, the astronaut slowly but steadily tires of his mundane routine, leading to emotional conflict with his significant other and suffering a mental breakdown. Near the end of the video, having completely lost his mind, and a visible tumor on his neck, the astronaut takes a flamethrower and destroys the experiments on board, which leads to the entire ship catching fire and crumbling with him inside.

Personnel

*Jerry Cantrell – lead vocals, lead guitar *

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 s ...

– backing vocals, rhythm guitar * Mike Inez – 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 Spys4Darwin, and has collaborated with other artists such ...

– drums

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Awards and nominations

, - ,

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Randy Staub Randy Staub is a Canadian recording engineer. He has been nominated for the Juno Awards' " Recording Engineer of the Year" award 12 times. He won in 2002 for the songs " How You Remind Me" and "Too Bad" by Nickelback.Peebles, Frank (April 4, 2008 ...

Juno Award for Recording Engineer of the Year The Juno Award for "Recording Engineer of the Year" has been awarded since 1976, as recognition each year for the best recording engineer in Canada. Winners Recording Engineer of the Year (1976 - 1998) * 1976 - Michel Ethier, ''Dompierre (alb ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control Alice in Chains songs 2013 singles Songs written by Jerry Cantrell Stoner rock songs 2012 songs Virgin Records singles EMI Records singles Doom metal songs Sludge metal songs Song recordings produced by Nick Raskulinecz