Thursday, May 25, 2006

221. Jerry Cantrell / Degradation Trip. 2002. 3/5.

This is Jerry's second solo album, released following the tragic death of Layne Staley effectively halted any plans for further Alice In Chains releases.

Jerry follows up his first release, Boggy Depot, with an album that is filled with songs with a bit more edge to them. One difference I noticed immediately with this was that Jerry doubles up on the vocals in most songs – to compensate for Layne's absence? I know that on Boggy Depot, this was what I missed most. Here, Jerry does a good job of utilising the harmony vocals that he and Layne shared so successfully by double-tracking them on himself.

OK, it doesn't grab me like the first two Alice In Chains albums did. That was a different era, and I guess I have moved on from that as well. But it is a good album, and Jerry is a great songwriter.

Favourites for me include Psychotic Break, Anger Rising, Angel Eyes and Hellbound.

Rating : Another solid release from Jerry. But has the Seattle sound finally left the building? 3/5.

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