ALICE IN CHAINS' blog lord Baldy has checked in with the following announcement:

"Hey Alice fans.

Do you live in L.A. or New York? Do you have an unquenchable thirst to hear the new Alice In Chains album now? Do you want to be cooler than everyone else for the next two months? Then check this out…

There will be two private listening parties coming up, and a very small number of lucky Alice In Chains fans will be able to hear the new album in its entirety long before the release date on September 29th.

The first listening party in Los Angeles will be this coming Tuesday, July 14th, at 7:00 P.M. The New York Listening party will be on July 21st.

Here’s all you need to do:

Send an email to aliceinchains@velvethammer.net with either LOS ANGELES or NEW YORK in the subject line and include your name, email address, and phone number. Five winners will be chosen at random, and the winners will be able to bring one guest. You’ll sit next to record company honchos and industry bigwigs as they all get a sneak preview of Black Gives Way To Blue. Then you can race home and start blogging about the music, and every board member on this site will hammer you with questions for the next two months.

Here’s the pseudo-legal portion of the contest:

Admission is non-transferrable, so if you’re one of the chosen few, this means your name will be your ticket in, and you can’t send your cousin Larry in your place.

Absolutely no cameras, cell phones, video cameras, or recording devices of any kind will be allowed. You will be patted down and searched before you enter, so don’t try anything sneaky or you won’t be let in. If you look sketchy, suspicious, or just plain weird you will probably be given a body cavity search as well, so take a shower and try and be on your best behavior. And most importantly, LEAVE YOUR CELL PHONE AND CAMERA IN THE CAR!!!

That’s about it.

Winners for L.A. will be announced Monday, winners for New York will be announced July 20th - so send in your emails now and sit back and cross your fingers for the next couple of days.

Good luck…"

Go to this location for updates.

The new Alice In Chains video for the track 'A Looking In View' is available - click below to view.

Alice In Chains have confirmed tour dates in support of their forthcoming album, Black Gives Way To Blue, in stores September 29th via EMI’s Virgin Records. Check out the band's itinerary below.

'A Looking In View' is now available for purchase via Amazon below.

About 'A Looking In View', Alice In Chains vocalist/guitarist Jerry Cantrell says, “The song basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside. A cell of our own making with an unlocked door that we choose to remain in. Focusing our attention inward instead of reaching out to a much larger world. I think this is common to us all. It’s funny how hard we fight to hang on to a bone we can’t pull through a hole in the fence, or how difficult it is to put down the bag of bricks and move on.”

Black Gives Way To Blue is the band’s first new studio release in more than 10 years. The quartet (guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell, drummer Sean Kinney, bassist Mike Inez and vocalist/guitarist William DuVall) recorded the album with producer Nick Raskulinecz (RUSH, FOO FIGHTERS) at Studio 606 in Northridge, CA and Henson Studios in Hollywood.

Alice In Chains tour dates:

July

18 - Detroit, MI - Comerica Park (with Kid Rock)

August

1 - Dublin, Ireland - Marlay Park
2 - Stevenage, UK - Knebworth House - Sonisphere
4 - London, UK - Scala
6 - Cologne, Germany - Essigfabrik
8 - Berlin, Germany - Columbia Club
10 - Hamburg, Germany - Grunspan
12 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Melkweg
22 - Pomona, CA - Epicenter

September

4 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
5 - Philadelphia, PA - Theatre of Living Arts
7 - Boston, MA - Paradise Rock Club
8 - New York, NY - The Fillmore
15 - Toronto, ON - The Opera House
16 - Cleveland, OH - House of Blues
19 - Chicago, IL - House of Blues
20 - Milwaukee, WI - The Rave
21 - Minneapolis, MN - First Ave
26 - Portland, OR - Roseland Grill
28 - San Francisco, CA - The Fillmore