Jerry Cantrell--Degradation Trip

Jerry Cantrell--Degradation Trip (2002/Roadrunner) Rating--8.5

This disc was actually completed several months before the untimely passing of Layne Stayley (I had my grubby hands on it around the end of February or so), but its actual store release comes two months after the event. The result will be one of bittersweet irony: gathered here are some of the truest "oldschool" Alice in Chains sounds in almost ten years, and yet the man who helped Cantrell formulate these sounds back in the early '90s -- Stayley -- will be brought to our minds when listening to these songs in only the very truest sense of remembrance-- as a memory. None of that should detract from what Cantrell has accomplished here, though; just the opposite, in fact, as the disc will likely benefit from that exposure (as unfortunate as its terms may be). And that exposure will be warranted. There is excellent grooving, there are the grunge-induced rhythms and chorus, and there are also the meandering, river-like mood pieces. In fact, we are actually treated to several absolutely top-of-the-catalog numbers.
This is 'Facelift,' this is 'Dirt,' and this is 'Sap'. This is Jerry Cantrell, and somewhere deep inside the music, you can hear and feel Layne Stayley as well...
"Hellbound" is an ungodly tune of sliding rhythm work, a mewling, pulling chorus, and drum-driven, back-moving rhythm sections. It is a track that stacks up against the best of the Chains catalog. Some nasty grinding is spread throughout "Spiderbite," and 'Dirt'-like mood shifting is shown in "Psychotic Break" and "Bargain Basement Howard Hughes".
Lead single "Anger Rising" has a good rhythmic flow, and both "Mother's Spinning in Her Grave" and "Chemical Tribe" are good as well. "She Was My Girl" is a spunky piece, "Angel Eyes" is a calmer track (and possible 2nd single), and the 'Sap'-like "Gone" closes things out.
A great big thumbs up to the man on the six-string, as he returns to his roots and comes through in solid fashion.
TRACK LIST: Psychotic Break/Bargain Basement Howard Hughes/Anger Rising/Angel Eyes/Solitude/Mother's Spinning In Her Grave/Hellbound/Give it a Name/ Castaway/She Was My Girl/Chemical Tribe/Spiderbite/Locked On/Gone

Back to Discography