"Check My Brain" is a song by the Americanrock band Alice in Chains, featured on their fourth studio album, Black Gives Way to Blue. It was released as the first official single from the album on August 14, 2009, marking it as the band's first single in a decade. The single topped the BillboardHot Mainstream Rock Tracks and BillboardHot Rock Songs charts in September 2009. This was the first time an Alice in Chains song would hit number-one on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart since their 1994 single "No Excuses". This is Alice in Chains' first and currently only song to chart on the BillboardHot 100, peaking at number 92, and also their first number-one on the Alternative Songs chart. "Check My Brain" received a nomination for "Best Hard Rock Performance" at the 52nd Grammy Awards.
Lyrics
"Check My Brain" features the lyric "California's all right/Somebody check my brain...". The lyric is in reference to guitarist Jerry Cantrell moving to Los Angeles, California in 2003, with Cantrell commenting, "I like how I am right now...and I like where I'm living." Cantrell on the song:
There's a certain aspect of sarcasm, I guess, being a guy from Seattle who lives in L.A., ex-drug addict who lives in the belly of the beast and doesn't partake, and being totally cool with that...It's like being the bad gambler and living in Vegas. It's right there. It's just the irony of that and a little bit of sarcasm. And it's not putting this place down at all. It's just kind of like, 'Wow, you know, check my brain, wow.'
Composition
It is in F minor. The tonic is played as F♭ bent up, so it can be unbent back to F♭. Both the bass and rhythm guitar do this. Also the vocals follow. The chords in the chorus are F5, E♭5, B♭5, A♭5, B♭5, C5, F5.
Release and reception
On August 12, 2009, the band released a 30-second sample of the new single. On August 14, 2009, the full version of the song was released to radio stations as the first official single from the album. "A Looking in View" was available for purchase and was streaming for free on the band's website in June 2009, but it wasn't released as the album's first single. Ronald Hart of Billboard said that the song "is faithful to the grunge terrain Alice in Chains mapped out in 1995. Written by guitarist/chief songwriter Jerry Cantrell, who shares lead vocal duties with William DuVall, the song revolves around Cantrell's distaste for his relocation from rainy Seattle to sunny Los Angeles. The band's classic, downtuned stomp could easily pass for an unreleased track from the Dirt era and is sure to keep longtime fans feeling pleasantly dystopic." In 2012, Loudwire ranked the song at number 39 on their list of "Top 50 Hard Rock Songs of the 21st Century".
In popular culture
"Check My Brain" was released as downloadable content for the Rock Band and Rock Band 2music video games for the Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 consoles, as part of Alice in Chains Pack 01, which also includes older hits "Rooster", "Would?", and "No Excuses", along with "A Looking in View", also from Black Gives Way to Blue. It was added to the Xbox Live Marketplace and in-game Music Store for the Wii on September 29, 2009 and it was added to the PlayStation Network on October 1, 2009. The song was featured in the season four premiere of the Showtime series Californication, "Exile on Main St." in 2011, when Charlie picks up Hank from jail.
Music video
The music video for "Check My Brain" premiered on September 14, 2009 and was directed by Alexandre Courtes. The video shows the band in a discolored setting in Los Angeles, California where Cantrell moved in 2003. On October 1, 2009, Alice in Chains released a behind-the-scenes video about the making of the music video.
Live performances
Alice in Chains debuted "Check My Brain" on August 1, 2009 in Marlay Park, Dublin, Ireland. They played it again the next day at the Sonisphere Festival in Knebworth Park, Stevenage, United Kingdom, and again two days later on August 4, 2009 at The Scala in London. The song is regularly performed at the band's concerts.
"Check My Brain" has become one of the band's most commercially successful singles of their career, especially on rock radio. This was their second number-one on the Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, after 1994's "No Excuses". It became their first number-one song on the Alternative Songs chart and also topped Billboards Hot Rock Songs chart, which combines mainstream and alternative rock airplay. "Check My Brain" debuted at number 99 of the Hot 100 on the chart issue of October 3, 2009, peaking at number 92. In addition, it charted on the Canadian Hot 100, reaching number 62.
