Originally written by Russ Wallin.
Although I wouldn’t exactly categorize this album as metal, most metal fans are familiar with Alice In Chains and Jerry Cantrell. Alice In Chains can be found in most metal fan’s music collection. Therefore, it is not only appropriate to review this CD here at MetalReview, but quite worthwhile as well. “Degradation Trip” is Jerry Cantrell’s second solo release and features Robert Trujillo (Ozzy, Suicidal Tendencies) on bass guitar and Mike Bordin (Ozzy, Faith No More) on drums. Jerry, of course, handles the guitar and vocal duties. This album contains 14 songs and is over 72 minutes long, so you certainly get your money’s worth. From the first sounds to come out the speakers, you know you’re in for a familiar treat! The uniformed listener would swear this is Alice in Chains. Jerry projects as much of the late Layne Staley as anybody could. The vocal work often sounds like Lane is either singing through Jerry or doing backup vocals over his shoulder. The vocals carry a beautiful melancholy that influence the listener tremendously. Simply fantastic vocal work! The guitar work is very nicely done as well. Whether the guitars are screaming with distorted “wah” sounds or perfectly clean, the tone is fantastic and well executed. I really felt the emotion in the guitar work, just as with the vocals. Again, stunning! The bass and drums do a nice job rounding out the group, although I would have liked to hear some more character/expression from those two instruments. They’re kinda just there for a good portion of the album and don’t really convey the emotion that the vocals and guitars do. The mix is great overall. Well balanced with maybe the exception of the hi-hat on a song or two. One thing that I did notice; there is a “crackling” effect used early in the first song. I know what they were after but, it just doesn’t sound very good. They must use the same effect in a few other songs, which don’t sound any better. The side effect of this was me thinking I was hearing this crackling sound in a whole bunch of spots where there was no crackling. Kinda weird and annoying, but a small minus for an otherwise fantastic album. Any Chains fan must pick this CD up, without question. Great songs with just the right tinge of dementia thrown in. To me, this rivals any Chains album. Long live Layne!
