Jerry Cantrell – I Want Blood

Posted on October 25, 2024October 25, 2024 by Mike

https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/57AOabins5CaX3Ro4ctBmC?utm_source=generator

In a very recent interview, Jerry Cantrell, Alice in Chains riff GOD and my Lord and Savior, stated that regardless of who you are, no solo record should ever sound the same. And he certainly is living up to that credo with his latest record, I Want Blood, which was released just last Friday. I Want Blood is a massive departure from Jerry’s previous solo outing, 2021’s Country Rock opus Brighten. Brighten almost could’ve passed as a pre-Take It to the Limit Eagles album! Think of songs like “Take It Easy”.

With the release of the first single for the new album, which I already reviewed, it was clear that Jerry decided to bring more balls back to the music. He also decided to add a few old friends into the mix for these songs. While 95% of the Brighten crew returned, including ex-Dillinger Escape Plan members Greg Puciato (I just vomited in my mouth typing that!) on backing vocals and Gil Sharone on drums, Guns N’ Homos bassist Duff McKagen – Yeah, I said it! Fuck his band and him too! – there are a few additions. While Tyler Bates is the one man missing from the Brighten crew, Lola Collette – who I just found out is Tyler’s daughter! – provides backing vocals along with Greg. Also here, as mentioned in my “Vilified” review is Metallica bassist Rob Trujillo. Faith No More/ex-Ozzy drummer Mike Bordin also makes an appearance on two tracks.

Before I continue, I need to make clear that neither Rob nor Mike Bordin play on any tracks together. Therefore, if you were hoping for some kind of Degradation Trip audio reunion, as I was, you’re going to be disappointed.

As I was.

The opening track is “Vilified”, which again, I already reviewed, and you can read that review in the hyperlink I provided two paragraphs ago. “Off The Rails” makes it clear that “Vilified” is no fluke track, and that the album is to continue in this heavier direction. And for that, I say thank fuck! I really like the pedal tone lick that’s used to fill the empty spaces throughout the main riff before it double times. There’s even a guitar solo here! Next is “Afterglow” which was also the album’s second single to be released. I initially was not a fan of this tune. I understood this was meant to be a slower tune; but I initially saw the song as underwhelming, a tad too middle of the road. But upon hearing it in the context of the album as a whole, I appreciate it at least a little more.

It’s weird to hear the changes in Cantrell’s delivery as a singer and a guitarist as he ages. He remains a standout; you can never NOT recognize him upon hearing his style. But his lead playing style has lost some of its intensity, even if the songs themselves still kick major ass. And his voice is a tad shakier these days. I first noticed it on Brighten. So, I can’t tell if it’s something he’s just using for these solo albums to help them stand apart from his Alice material, or if this is his voice now, a product of much wear and tear. He’s 58 after all, so it’s rather plausible. But let’s not misunderstand – he STILL has a powerful voice when needed.

I chose to wait until now before reviewing the album’s title track as it was released as a single just a week prior to the album release date. I need to get this part out of the way now: The way he says, “I Want Blood!” at the beginning of the song is weird, almost funny. I understand the metaphor behind the title and the song, which is more about swinging for the fences than killing someone (too bad). But he almost sounds like a lazy vampire, if that makes sense. Maybe he can be compared to even the Count. Yes, THAT Count!

(Talks like the Count) I want blood, ha ha ha!

Basically, I’m not convinced Cantrell wants blood here. Put some more gusto into it, fucker!

In all seriousness, the track is fucking awesome! It’s so awesome I forgive him for using a tambourine! It almost reminds me a little bit of the chorus riff from “Dickeye” from Boggy Depot, but with even more beef to the guitar tones. It’s one of the fastest tracks on the entire record, and when I hear Jerry compare himself to a boxer in the track in interviews, I can envision it within the context of the song. “Echoes of Laughter” is next. I love the distorted phase effect used in the verses. It’s a slow one, bringing the pace back down after the faster pace of the previous track. But upon hearing the rest of the track, I personally feel like the production is a tad too slick, that there are far too many instrumental layers. I have zero complaints about vocal harmonies.

Next up is “Throw Me a Line” – my fucking FAVORITE TRACK ON THE ENTIRE ALBUM. It’s PERFECT. It’s got that Black Sabbath-style one-note riff, with the type of syncopation that became Jerry’s trademark via “Man in the Box” 34 years ago. The tempo and groove both allow every instrument and player to breathe. Also here is an important lesson for all musicians. Listen to that slight silence within the syncopated rhythm. Pay close attention. It’s slight but it counts. Why? Because what’s NOT played is equally as important as what is played. Space is still criminally underrated in music to this day.

Speaking of Black Sabbath, do you hear that bend in the main riff to “Let it Lie”? Jerry’s guitar style from Dirt to now is greatly informed by that type of bend, courtesy of his jerking off to “Iron Man” as a kid. That riff alone could’ve absolutely been on an Alice in Chains record. I also love his super thick wah tone in the solo. It’s been that thick even since Rainier Fog and it even reminds me of the solo to “Drone” of that record, even if the solo leaves a little something to be desired.

“No tearful confession, I admit to nothing wrong…” is the acapella line that starts off “Held Your Tongue” before the band kicks in. This along with the previous two tracks are among the heaviest of the entire record. “We belong together”, he sings in a three-part harmony fitting only of God himself. The song as a whole could have fit anywhere on Degradation Trip as far as I’m concerned. The chorus and flange-soaked arpeggio that starts off “It Comes”, the album’s closer, is beyond trippy. I actually envision multicolored, psychedelic swirls each time I play it back. It’s a slow dirge until approximately 3:25 when it picks up some speed and makes way for possibly Jerry’s best solo in the entire alum. It’s infused with wah, soaked in delay, as has become his signature ever since Black Gives Way to Blue was released fifteen years ago. And just like that, it crashes back down. That’s how dynamics are properly executed.

After Brighten, I’m very surprised at Jerry for pivoting back into a heavier style. I feel like that album is a more accurate representation of Jerry and his personality today. But respect goes to him for insisting on pivoting anyway, especially since he of all people could’ve easily kept moving in the same direction. He has NOTHING to prove to anyone, yet he chooses to challenge himself.

Recommended Tracks:

Vilified, I Want Blood, Throw Me A Line, Held Your Tongue, It Comes

I give I Want Blood four out of five middle fingers.

Jerry Cantrell – “Vilified”

Posted on August 2, 2024 by Mike

I dare you to tell me with a straight face that you saw this coming. I sure didn’t! We knew he was recording…something…and that was made apparent when his iconic 1985 G&L “Blue Dress” Rampage was misplaced for a day after initially being declared as “stolen”. So when “Vilified” dropped about a week ago, it was a pleasant surprise in so many ways.

The opening drum pattern, which establishes off the bat the song is going to be played in 6/8, is rather powerful. A John Bonham-esque triplet is the kickoff point for the rest of band to kick in. Cantrell’s main riff is rather simple, very one-note, seventies-like, but it kicks ass. It wasn’t until after I heard it that I discovered that Gil Sharone is back on drums for “Vilified”. On bass? None other than Robert fucking Trujillo. Degradation Trip reunion!

Before I continue, here’s a bit of context for the clueless out there. Jerry’s rhythm section for Degradation Trip Vol. 1 & 2, released in 2002, were comprised of both Robert on bass and Mike Bordin on drums. Those two were Ozzy’s rhythm section at the time, with Degradation Trip being released the year before Robert left Ozzy to replace Jason Newsted in Metallica. Ok, back to the song!

“Vilified” is very much a hard rock song, a major contrast to anything on his previous solo record, which I will allude to more soon. Keeping in the 70’s style of hard rock, Jerry uses the Talk Box for one guitar track. He’s been using that more in the last six years than he has in a long time! The song breaks with its 6/8 pattern at the 2:10 mark for a break down section, lasting about 25 seconds before the original time signature returns in time for harmonized guitar solo. Between his guitar solos on the last album and here, Jerry’s solos are rather simple, nothing compared to his solos in Alice in Chains and perhaps that’s by design. Who knows. But I liked it, it’s still more than what could be heard on the last record. One last breakdown section appears at 3:45 point and finishes the song. It’s a solid, slow headbanger section and an excellent way to end “Vilified”.

Lyrically, “Vilified” appears to be about the internet, the recent rise of Artificial Intelligence in particular, and society’s tendency to rely on AI, as well as fall for its deceptiveness, via fake pictures, videos with manipulated dialogue where no one sees that the sound doesn’t match the movement of the lips, etc. A word he uses in the first pre-chorus is schadenfreude. Schadenfreude is a German word that means harm-joy. It’s the feeling of joy that someone gets from watching others suffer, which we see a lot on social media, and the most insecure losers living in their mommy’s basements right now are looking for to make themselves feel more validated in life. Bullying. So, when he sings “schadenfreude crescendo/AI, skew the innuendo“, I can only imagine he’s addressing the dopamine increase we as a society get from watching everything on our computers and phones and determining it’s all happening in real time when in reality, a lot of it isn’t even true.

Must feel good to have “something” validate your thoughts.

I’m noticing a lot of people commenting on Jerry’s vocal harmonies when he sings the line “Oh, my savior, our failure“, comparing it to a harmony he easily would’ve performed with the late Layne Staley. Upon repeated listens I hear it. I really do. The only giveaway that it isn’t Layne is Jerry has that Oklahoma twang in his vocals, a product of his childhood growing up there. Overall, however, his voice is fucking STRONG here.

“Vilified” was released a day or so before it was announced that a new album, I Want Blood, will be released in October. And if “Vilified” is any indicator, I Want Blood will probably sound nothing like 2021’s Brighten, as so many people were thinking about with dread. Clearly, you can see that I liked Brighten and found it to be a solid alum if you clicked on that last hyperlink. It might’ve appeared however to be a tad too country rock for some. They can suck my dick.

But I wouldn’t go ahead and assume right off the bat that this upcoming album is going to be another Degradation Trip like I’m seeing some people jerk off to the idea of. “Vilified” is a banger; but Jerry has yet to release a solo album that didn’t have its own character. And since I have DT – and ALL of Jerry’s solo albums for that matter! – I can tell you right now that I Want Blood will probably not sound like DT, nor would I want it to. Get your hands out of your pants and let Jerry continue to give each album its own identity!

In fact, you can even preorder the album here! Now BUY THE FUCKING RECORD!

I give “Vilified” four middle fingers.

Redemption!…Sort Of…: Jerry Cantrell Live at the Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ 3/11/23

Posted on April 10, 2023 by Mike

It’s rare for me to able to see a show in my neck of the woods anymore, even though I live significantly closer to this venue than The Borgata in Atlantic City, which is where I last saw Jerry play. I haven’t been to too many shows lately; but outside of my last time seeing Black Label, most of the shows I’ve been to required me to travel. And keep in mind again, I didn’t attend too many shows between 2019 and now. I also am hesitant about seeing musicians twice on the same tour because I’ve heard stories regarding their inability to change things up. Zakk had that ability, hands down. I saw him live three times in 2005 and each time was DRASTICALLY different!

By the way, we’ll be getting around to him again real soon.

But nevertheless, I just to give this a go. It’s Jerry after all, and this was the final leg of the Brighten tour. My understanding is Alice are to reconvene soon so they can record their follow up to 2018’s Rainier Fog. This time they had a different opening band, an all-female group calling themselves Thuderpussy, not to be confused with Alabama Thunderpussy.

Thunderpussy began their set with guitarist Molly Sides playing a guitar propped up on a stand with a violin bow. I was a tad taken aback by that, as that was EXACTLY how Tyler Bates opened up Jerry’s set and encore in Atlantic City when I saw him previously. So, was this to mean Tyler wouldn’t be doing that tonight or even on this leg of the tour at all? Stay tuned to find out, girls!

The rest of the band walked on stage, and they began to play, their music reminding me of a modern-day Heart if Ann Wilson circa-1976 transcended time somehow. There were undeniable traces of Led Zep and Allman Brothers in their music peppered throughout. As if the violin bow on the guitar didn’t immediately give that away! Whitney Petty can sing her ass off. And she knows how to physically express herself on stage in a way that’s equal parts provocative and elegant.

There was one point that I do have on film, in which Whiteny is on her knees. Molly walks to Whitney and begins to lean over Whitney, Whiteny leaning back for her like they were going to kiss. HOT. Even hotter? Finding out later on that they are in fact a couple, and that the band are ALL lesbians. And I’m not even talking about the K.D. Lang/Indigo Girls style of butch dyke. I’m talking the hot lesbian type – the type I almost forgot existed!

So, between Thunderpussy’s kick ass live show – because their album, while not bad at all, sadly is a gross misrepresentation of the band! – and their physical performance, I’m convinced I want to fuck every member of Thunderpussy. Hard. I’ll fuck one while the three other members scissor each other while waiting their turns! I’ll make it work!

Did I ever mention I love lesbians?

Now for Jerry’s set!

Tyler Bates did in fact open up with the violin bow on the guitar. I guess there’s a theme here. I knew by the fact that he was bowing in the key of F that Jerry was going to open up with “Atone” and I was pretty much right. Before I continue, here’s the set list. All songs are solo songs unless noted otherwise:

Atone

Psychotic Break

Them Bones (Alice In Chains)

Siren Song

Cut You In

My Song

Check My Brain (Alice In Chains)

Black Hearts and Evil Done

Between

Angel Eyes

No Excuses (Alice In Chains)

Lesson Learned (Alice In Chains)

Man In The Box (Alice In Chains)

Would?

Encore

Whale And Wasp (Alice In Chains)

Brighten

Down In A Hole (Alice In Chains)

Rooster (Alice In Chains)

Goodbye (Elton John)

Notice a difference compared to last show, if you read about my last time seeing Jerry? More on that in a minute. The three-song opener was somewhat similar to the previous show, with “Psychotic Break” and “Them Bones” appearing early. One thing I noticed right away was his organ player. This time around, he took Lola Colette, his opener from last year with him as part of the band this time. Lola’s presence was made apparent almost immediately, not “just” because I was sitting in the middle of the building this time, but because Jerry had her playing organ on “Them Bones”. So, this wasn’t a situation where she was going to step back during the Alice tracks, Jerry made sure she’d be part of the show. And I have to say, while I understand Jerry wanted to do something different, organs and Alice In Chains songs go as well together as rock and rap ever did.

But this is a minor complaint.

The good news was that I was able to hear the entire band this time. The bad news is that I was able to hear Greg Puciato this time. I said it. Fuck, what was Jerry thinking to take Gil Sharone’s advice?? Greg was so pitchy, and so fucking WHINY! Greg, please, stick to sacrificing your body jumping off balconies. But the important part of this show was that this time around Jerry played a LOT more solo material than he did last year. Unfortunately, this doesn’t mean he did a deep dive of his previous two albums. He in fact performed the exact same tracks for those two records that he performed last time. But when I heard “Siren Song”, which I’ve dubbed “Breaks My Back Pt.2”, I was pleasantly optimistic. I also thought it would’ve been one hell of an opportune time to break out “Breaks My Back”! He did preform about 90% of Brighten, however. That alone was a major step up because any time Jerry plays solo is a rare privilege. I might be wrong, but I feel like he toured for this album longer than he did for Degradation Trip back in 2002.

The energy in the place also was MILES ahead of the crowd at the Borgata. I didn’t need to be told it would be, as Montclair, being in northern New Jersey, is essentially in the shadow of New York Shitty. Therefore, there was definitely a mixed, yet equally rowdy crowd. I even bumped into someone I hadn’t seen in almost a decade, while walking to the back of the line. Jerry himself even commented that we were “the best crowd on the tour so far!”.

That energy was made apparent when, for the start of the encore, Jerry had broken into “Whale and Wasp”, the gorgeously depressing instrumental off of Alice’s 1994 EP, Jar of Flies. No one could’ve expected that. I know he performed it in 2019 in Seattle, before he even announced he was even writing a solo record, but that was a completely different situation. So this was a treat! When he broke out “Down In A Hole”, one of Alice’s greatest songs of ALL TIME, the entire crowd, minus a few, joined in one big singalong. The only thing that damaged the moment was Greg’s WHINY bitch vocals. I will never forgive Greg Puciato for that or for even having any kind of a career.

Upon leaving after Jerry’s final performance of the classic Elton John track “Goodbye”, I walked out of there feeling like he might’ve actually listened. The biggest complaint of the tour’s previous leg was addressed – he played more solo shit this time instead of turning his band into an Alice cover band! Fuck yes! I just wish he performed more material from the previous solo records. They could’ve proven to be an interesting challenge for the rest of the band, and even for Jerry. We’re talking tracks that, before 2019, he hadn’t performed for the better part of two decades!

So, with Jerry poised to record with Alice again, the question remains: will he ever record or even perform solo material again? I guess only time will tell…

All Hail Riff God: Jerry Cantrell Live At The Music Box at Borgata, Atlantic City, NJ April 2nd, 2022

Posted on April 11, 2022April 10, 2022 by Mike

It had been nearly twelve years since I last saw Jerry Cantrell alongside Alice In Chains in Madison Square Garden. Before that I’d seen Alice months earlier at Terminal 5. THAT show was an absolute religious experience, as well as a dream come true. NO ONE ever imagined that Alice would ever get back together following the death of lead singer Layne Staley. It’s hard, even now, to describe how surreal their return was and still is.

But then there’s Jerry’s solo career. See, there’s a reason his solo career holds a major significance in my life: because if it weren’t for hearing “Cut You In” I would’ve never bought Boggy Depot. If I never bought Boggy Depot I would’ve never been floored by not just the intensity of his rhythm and lead guitar style, but especially his songwriting. And if it wasn’t for any of that, I would’ve never given Alice In Chains a chance.

In my formative years, while my friends in high school were busy sucking Cobain’s dick long after he blew his brains out, I was enamored in everything involving the one Seattle guitarist that was overshadowed by, yet far more talented than that bitch. You’re reading that correctly for anyone who’s new this blog:

Fuck Kurt Cobain and anybody that looks like him. Read that again so it sinks in.

Jerry, along with Zakk, Dimebag, Mustaine and Iommi, had a MAJOR impact on my guitar playing and he still does today. With Boggy Depot, I worshipped Jerry when people either were unaware of him or simply didn’t give a shit. To this day that’s a crime.

That’s why I was looking more forward to this than I was when I saw him twice with Alice. I was FAR more excited for this than I was to see Zakk a few months ago! This was bound to be special because we all knew he’d break out songs that we, his TRUE fans, never thought we’d hear again. And he sure didn’t fail to deliver, although there was something about this that had me wondering, which I’ll eventually get around to discussing.

The Music Box, the Borgata Casino venue in which Jerry played was significantly smaller than what I imagined. It was far more intimate, which meant I’d be able to go to the front of the stage, which I did. That’s when I found this:

You bet your ass I was tempted to at least touch that wah pedal, but I chose not to.

The opener was Lola Collette, who’s sound is decidedly…different…from what you’d expect from someone opening for someone like Jerry Cantrell. She’s very talented, don’t get me wrong. But she does sound like she would’ve fared better in the mid 90’s. I can only imagine that she got the gig thanks to her history with Tyler Bates, Jerry co-guitarist for this tour. She’s a multi-instrumentalist, playing bass, guitar and one hell of a piano. But let’s just say that, even with that big nose of hers she received equal parts applause for her music and cat calls.

Then he came on…

The Setlist:

Your Decision (Alice In Chains/Black Gives Way To Blue)

Between (Boggy Depot)

Brighten (Brighten)

Them Bones (Alice In Chains/Dirt)

Psychotic Break (Degradation Trip)

Cut You In (Boggy Depot)

My Song (Boggy Depot)

Siren Song (Brighten)

No Excuses (Alice In Chains/Jar Of Flies)

Black Gives Way To Blue (Alice In Chains/Black Gives Way To Blue)

Had To Know (Brighten)

Heaven Beside You (Alice In Chains/Alice In Chains)

Prism Of Doubt (Brighten)

Angel Eyes (Degradation Trip)

Would? (Alice In Chains/Dirt)

Encore

Atone (Brighten)

Man In The Box (Alice In Chains/Facelift)

Rooster (Alice In Chains/Dirt)

Goodbye (Elton John/Madman Across The Water)

The Pros

I was never a fan of The Dillinger Escape Plan; but being in Jerry’s band has certainly provided Greg Puciato a chance to show what he’s capable of doing outside of his former band. No diving off of balconies or off stages into the ocean here! He was a tad pitchy at times, but you could FEEL his passion and energy and I now understand why Dillinger drummer Gil Sharrone urged Jerry to reach out to Greg. Greg was given the lead for “Them Bones”, “Man In The Box” and “Rooster” and he did things that not even current Alice singer William DuVall can do.

Jerry took advantage of his expanded band, which included a lap steel guitarist and a piano player to not only perform several tracks off Brighten, but to also pull out rarely heard Alice tracks. I never thought I’d EVER hear “Heaven Beside You” live! I certainly didn’t expect Alice to ever perform “Black Gives Way To Blue” live, and I honestly wish he didn’t pull it out last week. As of 2019, “Black…” is one of two tracks that trigger memories of my now deceased brother, so it was the last thing I needed to hear in a crowd that big.

As you can see in the video, he sure had a funny way of singling out everyone who wasn’t standing. I imagine everyone just wanted to absorb this ULTRA RARE moment of seeing Jerry in a solo capacity again, but he just was not having it. Jerry himself was in top form. His voice was incredibly strong and his guitar playing was fucking God-like. Everything he did looked absolutely effortless. Everything. I said it before, and I’ll say it again: YOU DON’T NEED TO BE A STEVE VAI LEVEL GUITARIST (No disrespect to Steve Vai!) TO CONNECT WITH YOUR AUDIENCE!!!!!!!!

The Cons

Notice how many Alice songs are on this setlist. This is an actual complaint a lot of people are making. I loved this show. I get that Jerry had a golden opportunity to pull out certain Alice songs and he took full advantage. But on the flipside, he had a HUGE opportunity to perform a deep dive of his solo albums – one of which is a double album (Degradation Trip)!!! – and he didn’t. I loved hearing “Psychotic Break” and “Angel Eyes” live. But it would’ve been a real treat to have heard “Hellbound”, “Spiderbite” or even “Pig”.

That’s just a minor complaint from me though. What matters more than anything else is that this was a very rare privilege. So, if you’re one of those YouTubers bitching that he allegedly didn’t sound good or he didn’t play enough of his own solo shit, just go get a fucking sex change already, you fucking cunts.

Jerry Cantrell – Brighten

Posted on December 24, 2021 by Mike

It’d been nineteen years since Jerry Cantrell, the fucking Riff God himself, release a solo record, 2002’s Degradation Trip. And a lot has happened since that time, in particular the completely unexpected REBIRTH of Alice In Chains with their 2009 comeback MASTERPIECE, Black Gives Way To Blue. From that point on, minus a song that was recorded for the John Wick: Chapter 2 soundtrack, it was largely assumed that Cantrell would never release a full-fledged solo record again. In fact, when asked about a future solo record by Guitar World in 2018, he told them that the only reason he even recorded two solo records was because he didn’t have a band, and now he does again, thus Alice being his ultimate priority.

He wasn’t wrong ladies, there was a shit ton of unfinished business with Alice In Chains.

So, if you weren’t surprised when it was announced that he was performing a few solo shows just months before the greatest year and a half of my life took place, you were a dumb motherfucker. I was even more stunned when, not too long after those shows took place, it was announced that he WAS, in fact, going to record a new solo album. I sure didn’t know what to expect. You didn’t either, especially once the video for “Atone” was released on Rolling Stone’s website a few months ago.

I knew what NOT to expect. But I certainly didn’t imagine that “Atone” would come out sounding like something out of any Western style movie with a soundtrack composed by Ennio Morricone. As fate would have it, it’s what Jerry was looking for. As fate would also have it, holy fuck does it sound fucking great! It may sound like a modernized “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, but it also has Jerry’s signature songwriting style all over it, along with the Open D Major tuning he’s used on and off since Alice’s 1995 self-titled album. And, for as much as I will never forgive Duff McKagan for being the bassist for Guns ‘N’ Roses, I really does like some of the fills he plays here.

The next single to drop, as well as the second track on the record is “Brighten”, the title track. Very different sounding from “Atone”. I can’t begin to tell you how pleasantly surprised I was to see Abe Laboriel Jr. on drums for this video and song. If you don’t know who I’m talking about, Abe, who I’d first read about in Modern Drummer Magazine in the late 90’s, is a very talented drummer who’s been in Paul McCartney’s touring band since 2001. This is more of a Rock tune in every way.

The next track is “Prism of Doubt”. A mid-tempo track of sorts, it sounds unusually happy, or at least introspective. The pedal steel guitars, fit right in. The aura created by the track makes me think of driving aimlessly on a desert road while your girl has her head out the window, or if your friends in the backseat have their hands out.

Spoiler alert: there’s more pedal steel guitars where those came from.

“Black Hearts and Evil Done” is a largely acoustic guitar-only track…with more Pedal Steel Guitars. If I thought that the previous track was lyrically introspective, I hear more of that on this number. The opening lines, “Too many heads broke too many times/Tired of the same joke, tired of the grind/Coming down’s a bit low, harder to stay/Same punk in the mirror, different the day” hits a little too close to home as I’m trying desperately to change my own life around. I feel the aches of living a mundane life oozing out of this track, as I work two jobs daily with no true break, all so I can transition smoothly out of one of them.

I’m just curious about the second verse. I’m not the biggest fan of musicians getting political. While Jerry never named names here, or particular events, I wonder what he’s referring to when he sings “Tired of the lies spun in the land of the free/Sеlling out’s a mission, kneel, settle, assume/Samе crook in the White House prospecting me and you”.

“Siren Song” can almost be “Breaks My Back” Pt. 2. If you’ve never heard “Breaks My Back”, here’s your chance now. It just has that aura about it. It’s actually one of my favorite tracks on the record because it sounds so sensual at points. Jerry ALWAYS knows what to play and when to play it.

“Had To Know” is just fun. And no pedal steel guitars here! Holy shit! But it does contain an organ. I really love the organ solo followed by Jerry’s solo. It’s on this track that backing vocalist Greg Puciato can actually be heard outside of the title track. He’s not mixed too loud on most of this album, which is a relief because I hate him thanks to his previous band.

Dillinger Escape Plan sucks. Fuck them and him.

“Nobody Breaks You” is a lyrically powerful song. If “Black Hearts” tackles life as an existential nightmare, this targets the idea of at least trying to “get out”. “Nobody breaks you like you in your heart”, Jerry sings. Almost sounds like life advice, no? It’s as if he’s telling us all to believe in ourselves…or at least to not take on a victim mentality and take action to change our lives for the better, as only we can do so in the end.

I fucking loved “Dismembered”. Don’t let the Alice sounding title fool you; “Dismembered” is nothing like that and a hell of a lot more of an idea of the type of song the late Glenn Frey and Keith Richards would’ve written if they ever collaborated together in 1972. It’s the perfect mix of the Country Rock style that put the Eagles on the map pre-Hotel California and the Boogie Woogie style the Stones would’ve performed during that time. It’s another song that conjures up images of driving on an open road or getting hammered even in a nasty ass roadhouse somewhere in the mid-west.

Jerry chose to close this incredible record with a cover of Elton John’s “Goodbye” off his landmark 1971 album Madman Across the Water. It’s a cover so faithful to the original that it even received approval from the old Queen himself! This isn’t to say that Cantrell can suddenly sing like Elton John in his prime because Elton hasn’t sounded like Elton since the 70’s came to a close. However, for those of you not in the know regarding Jerry’s relationship with Elton: Jerry asked him to play piano on the closing title track to Black Gives Way to Blue. Elton was so moved by the lyrical content that he immediately agreed to do so. Jerry grew up listening to Elton John long before he was introduced to Black Sabbath, thus making a song like “Goodbye” childhood verse, more or less.

If you haven’t figured it out yet, Brighten is not what you expected, or perhaps even hoped for from Jerry Cantrell. After nineteen long years, what were you really expecting again? He’s no longer in the headspace needed to record Boggy Depot or Degradation Trip. He’s actually happy and he’s only out solo because for once, he just wants to, not through necessity. That being said, it’s rather fitting that the songs sound happier in a musical context, more outgoing in lyrical stature. Brighten, when compared to its predecessors, is very much a 70’s era Country Rock album with multiple guest musicians, incredible song writing and something for every fan of Jerry’s to latch on to and enjoy.

Brighten gets 4 out of five middle fingers!

Album Of The Year 2018

Posted on December 28, 2018 by Mike

I know what you’re thinking. There are a few albums I could’ve easily picked to be my top pick for this year’s Album Of The Year pick. Hate Eternal and High On Fire both came out with new albums. Fuck, speaking of Matt Pike and High On Fire, his previous band, Sleep, released a comeback album that some of you are STILL fisting yourselves to! And that’s fine…but I can give two shits because Alice In Chains came back with an amazingly, dark, depressing, desolate new album. I’m talking better than 2013’s The Devil Put Dinosaurs Here by fucking far!

Oh sure, I was already excited since I’ve worshiped this band and especially Jerry Cantrell for half my life now; but then I heard the opening single:

Well holy shit. Just go straight to that chorus line and I can swear the music sounds like it could’ve fit beautifully on the band’s 1995 self titled album. In fact, a major portion of Rainier Fog sounds very much like it would’ve fit right in on the aforementioned self titled album. And as it turns out, the band decided to take trip back to the past to get the right aura for recording my Album Of The Year.

The band set up camp back in Seattle at Studio X, former Bad Animals Studios, which Ann and Nancy Wilson of Heart owned between 1991 and 1997 and as actually named after their their 1987 album of the same name (this was when Heart were 80s sellouts playing shit arena rock). Bad Animals is where the band recorded their self titled album, sadly their last with the late Layne Staley on vocals. So needless to say, if you believe in ghosts, you just might here one of two on here.

The product of this return to their roots of sorts is such a fucking downer. It’s so depressing it’s beautiful. Gone are a lot of the Heavy Metal aspects of their previous album and especially their 2009 masterpiece of a comeback album, Black Gives Way To Blue; but there is still a shit ton of Doom all around, providing the proverbial atmosphere of a perennial rainy day. Make no mistake though, Rainier Fog is still heavy as balls, still an exercise in Sabbath worship.

Tracks such as “The One You Know”, “Rainier Fog”, Cantrell’s tribute to the Seattle scene, “Red Giant”, “Drone” and “Never Fade”, the second single from the album, prove Alice are still the very definition of a modern day Black Sabbath…and that Cantrell is still a GOD. These tracks in particular are the closest to being “grungy” as the band has sounded in 23 years, with slow, crushing riffs, drums that supply the groove yet still let the songs breath, and those vocal harmonies. It can’t be made anymore obvious that whether William DuVall is singing or Jerry himself, Jerry is truly the mastermind behind some of these virtually morbid vocal arrangements. Only Alice In Chains could ever make me want to kill myself through beautifully depressing harmonies! In fact, I feel like “The One You Know” can be like the sequel to “Grind”! And “Drone” is truly a Sabbath Worship song in just about every way. The chorus line is especially depression as Cantrell sings “I’ll stay here and feed my pet black hole…”.

Speaking of Sabbath Worship, “Deaf Ears Blind Eyes”, is as doomy as it gets. It’s main, single note guitar lines could’ve easily been used on Master Of Reality. But what will really grab your attention is Cantrell’s haunting vocal arrangement. Clearly a song about what happens when you let anxiety run your life, I had to do a double take and make sure I wasn’t listening to a 90’s recording with Layne on vocals because it sure sounded like it! It’s probably one of to more lyrically profound tracks on here as Cantrell sings “feel like a fake thing/where did the time go?/Memories worth making/pass by the window…”.

On the other end of the Sabbath Worship is “So Far Under”, the one song solely penned by DuVall…who clearly has spent way too much time with Cantrell. That bending note in the chorus is essentially the “seasick riff” Cantrell used on “Check My Brain”, hence why it can be easily to immediately think Cantrell wrote it. Oh sure, the lyrics may be some of the most positive on Rainier Fog, but his solo (his not Jerry’s!) screams Tony Iommi and the chorus just happens to bring you r right back down…and seasick.

As for the lighter tracks on here, “Fly” is essentially the sequel to “Over Now”. I don’t know how else to put it. Here…just listen for yourself:

And “Maybe” is literally a tour de force of what Jerry and William are capable of as a vocal duo. They’ve become so good at it in the last nine years that at times it can be hard to figure out who the fuck is singing what. It’s yet another song about loneliness but their singing will make you want to embrace it in such a romantic way. If you think I’m nuts after reading that line you’re not an Alice In Chains fan.

Oh, and speaking of loneliness, the most depressing, emotionally draining song on here clearly had to be saved for last. “All I Am” is sad as fuck from the first atmospheric pulse as it cuts through the ending to “Never Fade”. It’s hard to really say what the hell Jerry is talking about here. But I can only assume it’s about someone who’s so damaged from drug use that he can’t even recognize himself anymore. Would that be too much of a surprise? Let’s not forget that drugs nearly decimated this band with Layne’s tragic death sixteen years ago to heroin and cocaine. Everyone in this band were all guilty. AS I mentioned in my review of Dirt, Jerry was drinking heavily and taking Xanax during the sessions for it. I just know that when I heard it, I imagine someone on a raft, struggling to stay afloat as he’s being rushed through rapids, rain teaming down in him. The final result? Does he survive and rise above? Does he drown? It’s all up to you, the listener. I just know that if you want an album that makes you feel every negative, suicidal emotion you can, Rainier Fog is your go to album.

Pain In Recorded Form: Alice In Chains – Dirt

Posted on September 24, 2017 by Mike

September 29th, 1992. By the time this day rolled around the Grunge scene was at the top of the music heap. Just a year earlier Soundgarden released the album that got them attention, Badmotorfinger; Pearl Jam, having risen from the ashes of Mother Love Bone, released their uber-boring debut, Ten; and of course, Shitvana released their craptastic shitsterpiece, Nevermind. But on this day, Alice In Chains, on the heels of their 1990 debut, Facelift, and their 1991 EP, Sap, released their second album, equal parts Sabbath worship in music and lyrical documentation of the heroin addiction that would eventually claims the lives of two of the band’s members, Dirt. Upon it’s release was probably THE darkest album to be released in the mainstream at that point in time, with most songs blatantly about frontman Layne Staley’s radiply growing heroin addiction. But lets make one thing clear before I go any further, none of the guys in the band were squeaky clean. This wouldn’t be a Seattle band if any of them were, right? Hell, Jerry Cantrell admitted to taking Xanax during the recording of Dirt for severe clinical depression and was also drinking heavily.

Of course, heroin wasn’t the only subject matter tackled on the album, thanks to the handful of tracks written entirely by guitarist Jerry Cantrell. In fact, one of those songs, “Them Bones” is the album’s heavier-than-fuck opener. Written in a very Soundgarden-like 7/8 time, not even Kim or Chris on their best days could come up with a riff as crunchy as this. Besides, it’d mean playing more than just single notes! Add to that morbid lyrics about fearing death and a badass solo but Cantrell and you pretty much have a taste for what was to come. This would definitely sound NOTHING like Facelift. “Dam The River” kicks the door down immediately after “Them Bones” with even more drop-D Sabbath-style Metal. It’s amusing when Cantrell explains that the song was written in retaliation for drummer Sean Kinney breaking a coffee table over his head and knocking him out because he wouldn’t shut the fuck up. Musicians take note – this could be you.

Alright, here’s the first set of Layne Staley lyrics, “Rain When I Die”. There are a lot of things happening in the lyrics that’ve led to many interpretations from Layne predicting he’ll before he can even get help to him letting someone take the fall for something he did (a drug deal maybe?) to him claiming that even junkies have feelings. That last one will forever be debatable as far as I’m concerned. The music? Pure Sabbath worship. So many slow, snaky whammy bar dips, crying out throughout many layered guitar tracks. It’s almost like the song’s an “Iron Man” tribute to Iommi himself, backed up by an absolutely solid bass vamp by Mike Starr.

“Sickman” is such a HUGE track, switching from a frantic riff that just makes you panic to a slow waltz tempo at multiple points. Fuck, it sure makes me anxious while thinking about it. But the real high point to this track is Layne’s layered vocal harmonies at the midpoint. To most fans, the centerpiece to any classic Chains track is hearing Layne’s stacked harmonies. They were always surprisingly well thought out and added almost a morbid sense of finally to such a doomy backdrop. But this is also why Jerry Cantrell was and still is a GOD. Taking a break from themes of morbidity “Rooster” is the most epic track on the record. Written entirely by Cantrell, the song was a tribute to his father, a Vietnam veteran. He was estranged from his father for years and this was his way beginning to mend fences. It clearly worked: his father is interviewed on camera for the intro to the music video. And Jerry plays the part of his father in the video. It’s actually very powerful:

Following up the band’s big “Kumbaya” moment we’re thrown right back into heroin hell with “Junkhead”. I don’t think I need to explain what’s going on here: “What’s my drug of choice?/What’ve you got?/I don’t go broke/And I do it a lot”. But it almost sounds like Layne was letting everyone know that he’d become one with the fact that he was junkie and didn’t care, especially when he sings that “You cant understand a users mind/But try with your books and degrees/If you let yourself go and open your mind/I’ll bet you could do it like me and it ain’t so bad”. It’s almost as if we was writing his own eulogy.

Following that is the snaky title track. It’s yet another Cantrell-style exercise in Sabbath worship, but with an atmospheric tone that is almost unpredictable, even if it also sounds like the end of something is coming. It’s pure depression. Of all the tracks on here, especially “Angry Chair”, this to me is the track that just oozes pure emotional pain. When first heard Layne sing the lines “I want you to kill me and dig me under/I want to live no more” I totally believed it. Just remember, heroin isn’t necessarily the type of drug that makes you energetic like cocaine. It’s supposed to provide a supposed euphoric effect but as far as I’m concerned it just makes people more depressed and makes them more withdrawn, or more of an asshole. Used for pain my ass! The final moments, in which the tempo gradually slows down, reminds me of someone going to sleep…or fading away. Was that was Layne was thinking when he heard what Jerry came up with?

Now, long before some piece of shit New England band took their name from an Alice song and even stole their logo, “God Smack” was another track about heroin. It’s admittedly not one of the best tracks on here but I definitely love the main riff. Remember me mentioning an “Iron Man” tribute in “Rain When I Die”? It happens again in the short interlude track “Iron Gland”, featuring vocals by Tom Araya. “Hate To Feel” is the first of two tracks written entirely by Layne Staley, music and everything. The riff is very bluesy, yet very Sabbath inspired, based on it’s single note main riff, the backdrop to lyrics in which Layne blames his father for his addiction. In later years he claimed that he’d try to get sober and his father would come by asking him for drugs, so it’s possible.

The next, and last track written completely by Staley is one of THE most memorable and breath taking tracks, “Angry Chair”. I did say “Dirt” was the track with the most pain, but “Angry Chair” was the track where Layne not only describes in detail the horrible withdrawal symptoms of heroin, but also gives to clear of a picture of his own mental state. It’s such a jaw dropping lyric, even if he is seemingly predicting his own end as he sings “Loneliness is not a phase/Field of pain is where I graze/Serenity is far away…”. Considering it’s one of the first songs Layne ever wrote entirely it’s a masterpiece.

“Down In A Hole” is one of the darkest love songs Cantrell or anyone for that matter has ever written. His harmonizing with Layne is spot on before Layne takes off on his own. Unsurprisingly, he was apparently high as fuck while recording his vocals for this one. What is kind of surprising is how he was clearly able to keep himself together while recording his masterful triple harmony lines near the end. I’d show you the video but it honestly is lame so here’s the song.

Originally written for the Singles soundtrack and therefore recorded before the band even went into the studio for Dirt, “Would?” is the albums closing track. Also written by Jerry, the song was written about Andrew Wood, the lead singer of Mother Love Bone who died of a heroin overdose on the eve of the band’s debut album release. This is actually very significant to not just Dirt‘s roots but to the Grunge scene’s future. Many people will say that before Wood’s overdose the music that came out of Seattle was for the most part nowhere near as sad and angry as it would become. In fact, it was said the he was full of life and energy nd everyone loved the guy. So therefore his death took a toll on a lot of people. One of the reasons Cantrell was on Xanax was apparently to help him cope with this.

As far as his lyrics were concerned, it was pointed at those who pass judgement on others for their mistakes, as bought up in the final chorus line “So I made a big mistake/Try to see it once my way”. I guess I can see his view but I also can’t. Maybe that was the point, being I’ve never touched a single drug in my life. The music, and incredible display of soft and loud dynamics while never losing it’s aggression before Layne closes out the song, and this drug fueled shitstorm of an album by asking us “If I would could you?”.

The events following the release of Dirt could be comparable to see a legitimate prophecy live out. In early 1993 bassist Mike Starr was fired from the band for his own drug problems and replaced by Ozzy bassist Mike Inez. After a while the band stopped touring regularly after dropping off an opening spot with Metallica and rumors of Layne’s drug use ran rampant. After the release of their 1995 self titled album and their 1996 MTV Unplugged appearance, where Layne looked like a fucking pink haired corpse, he went into hiding. Aside from the band’s Music Bank boxset, no one really heard from Layne again, until he was found dead of his apartment in Seattle in 2002. The autopsy report determined that he died two weeks before he was even discovered, making his death date April 5th, the exact day Cobain offed himself eight years earlier. Mike Starr was found dead in 2011.

Dirt was Alice In Chains’ masterpiece. It was as dark and heavy as any Heavy Metal album could be. And Layne Staley’s lyrics were honest. He didn’t play with words and guessing games with you, like that jackass Cobain did. He told it like it was…and most likely as it was happening. it was mentioned after he died but with Dirt, Layne seemed to really be prophesizing his own death, while Jerry Cantrell was his doomy, sludgy, pallbearer.

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Tag: Jerry Cantrell