Universal/Roadrunner Records
B0000655YW
Diggin' HEARTILY the new CD by Jerry Cantrell,
late of Alice In Chains
(which I picked up used in exchange for some throwaway junk lying
around the house .) It's called "Degradation Trip" and it is one of the
best records I've heard this year.
While the packaging is somewhat morose (think of the movie "Rivers Edge",
if you saw it ) what's inside qualifies, in retrospect, as one fabulous AIC album. It was
released days before the tragic death of AIC vocalist/writer Layne Staley.
Staley, despite his musical genius and vision, is most often described as a drug
casualty; he had been out of action and out
of contact with the rest of his bandmates for more than a year and his
near legendary isolation and loneliness seems to be remembered far more
than his musical vision. They last toured in 1996. Cantrell was his closest friend in the band and he had hopes that
AIC would eventually get back to work. So did I.
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Cantrell has taken that droll, edgy, slightly
dissonant AIC sound and supercharged
it. His singing reveals a fluid and Staley-like voice, but even more
melodic...and his
grungy guitar work is without parallel since Kim Thayil and Chris Cornell
of
Soundgarden went MIA. It incorporates 60's psychedelic moves from David
Gilmour, John Cale and Arthur Lee, burnished into those off kilter chord
voicings
that AIC and Soundgarden made popular.
Oddly enough, as a lead player
Cantrell is a solid, but conventional soloist, reminding me a combination
of Hendrix,
Alvin Lee and pal Stone Gossard ( Pearl Jam ) . His ballsy, but restrained
use of the wah wah comes straight from Clapton's "White Room".
But I'm truly impressed with this gasping last stab of post grunge from
Cantrell.
It's far, far above any of the tedious four chord slop dominating
radio: crisp, smart, rhythmically challenging and moody. One night even argue that his lyrics
bring
all the unabashed fun of janitorial work at a mortuary. But Cantrell is a
really
gifted musician from one of the few great bands to emerge from the 90's.
It's sad that this album came in the wake of the death of Staley, which surely put
the
nail in the coffin of grunge, Seattle bands and probably plaid shirts.
But at least we still have Starbucks....
JERRY CANTRELL OFFICIAL SITE
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