On Mafia, Wylde found time for an Alice in Chains face-lift, and the album bears the unmistakable marks of the operation: Drowsy post-anaesthetic harmonies decorate gloomy dirges, while surgical scarring renders the vocalist temporarily unable to sing out of both sides of his mouth. Ozzy influenced AIC, so Mafia feels like a postmodern project, an idolized artist interpreting the sounds his work inspired. This reverent treatment occasionally produces refreshing records, whether it's David Bowie appropriating Nine Inch Nails, Johnny Cash tapping Danzig, or Wylde exhuming Layne Staley.
Wylde stretches his voice, supplementing his Southern-rock snarl with upper-octave yowls and grave, gritty tones. He alters his axe attack, shrouding songs in a wah-wah haze. When even the piano-powered ballads sound solid, Wylde is definitely going through changes.