Boggy Depot
Encyclopedia
- For the ghost town, see Boggy Depot, OklahomaBoggy Depot, OklahomaBoggy Depot is a ghost town and Oklahoma State Park that was formerly a significant city in the Indian Territory. It grew as a vibrant and thriving town in present day Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States and became a major trading center on the Texas Road and the Butterfield Overland Mail route...
.
Boggy Depot is the debut solo album
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
by Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains
Alice in Chains is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1987 by guitarist and songwriter Jerry Cantrell and original lead vocalist Layne Staley. The initial lineup was rounded out by drummer Sean Kinney, and bassist Mike Starr...
guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge/metal band Alice in Chains, as lead guitarist, backing and co-lead vocalist, and co-lyricist. He performs lead vocals on his solo projects, and is part of Alice in Chains' harmonizing...
. It was released on April 7, 1998 through Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
.
Background
In 1996, after Alice in Chains opened for the first KissKISS (band)
Kiss is an American rock band formed in New York City in January 1973. Well-known for its members' face paint and flamboyant stage outfits, the group rose to prominence in the mid to late 1970s on the basis of their elaborate live performances, which featured fire breathing, blood spitting,...
reunion show
Alive/Worldwide Tour
The Alive/Worldwide Tour was a 1996-1997 concert tour by Kiss. It was the first tour with original members Peter Criss and Ace Frehley since their 1979 Dynasty Tour...
in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Jerry Cantrell began work on his first solo album. With the help of producer Toby Wright
Toby Wright
Toby Wright is a record producer and mixing engineer who has worked with artists such as Alice in Chains, Metallica, Sevendust and Korn. He is currently in Nashville, Tennessee working on Kara Clark's latest Ep.-Producer:...
, whom he'd previously worked with in AIC, Cantrell worked on the album through 1997. Columbia originally gave a projected October '97 release date which had to be postponed greatly. Early net sources gave the tentative album title as "Bogey Depot."
In February 1998, Cantrell spoke about the status of Alice in Chains and his new solo project:
- "Well, there's really nothing's up with Alice in Chains. We've been together for 11 years now, and we've done a lot of great music together and accomplished a lot of things and that's very special to me. We're a part of a group of fans that really put their stamp on the map, actually, on the world for that matter, and far surpassed where we probably initially thought we'd get to. So that's cool. That's in the books, and that's something we did and something to be proud of. But there also comes a point in the life of any band, I think, that it's time to change, and time to try new things"
Cantrell and Columbia launched his official website, JerryCantrell.com, in March 1998 to promote Boggy Depot. This would feature song clips and the "Cut You In
Cut You In
"Cut You In" is a song by American rock musician Jerry Cantrell. It was the lead single from his 1998 debut album Boggy Depot. The song reached #5 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts and remained arguably the album's best known track...
" music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
. It also included QuickTime
QuickTime
QuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
video interview footage where Cantrell explained that he had been wanting to venture into solo territory for a while and, with Alice in Chains at a standstill, finally had the chance. However, in the June 1998 issue of Guitar World
Guitar World
Guitar World is a monthly music magazine devoted to guitarists. It contains original interviews, album and gear reviews and guitar and bass tablature of approximately five songs each month. The magazine is published 13 times per year...
, Cantrell made it clear that his solo venture was actually a reluctant response to Alice in Chains' diffusing:
- "It's something I never really wanted to do, but the way things have played out, it's like, why not? To be honest, I'd just be happy being the lead guitarist and singer for Alice in Chains. It's always been my first love, and always will be, but the situation being what it is... we've been together for a long time, and right now it's kinda played out. . . Now I've got to step up to the plate and take a few swings."
Boggy Depot incorporates piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, and country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
elements, namely in the tracks "Hurt a Long Time" and "Between." Cantrell confirmed that as a child he was "raised on country music" and that he admires the strong emotion conveyed through the genre. However, the ominous guitar styles previously heard in Alice in Chains are undeniable in tracks like "Jesus Hands" and "Keep the Light On." The tracks "Settling Down" and "Hurt a Long Time" were originally introduced during the recording sessions for Alice in Chains' self-titled album
Alice in Chains (album)
Alice in Chains is the eponymous third studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains. Released on November 7, 1995, it was the follow-up to the highly successful Dirt...
in 1995
1995 in music
This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1995.- January–February :*January 18 – Jerry Garcia crashes his rented BMW into a guard rail near Mill Valley, California, USA, but is not injured in the accident....
, but the group chose not to record them. As such, they were the oldest and longest-awaited songs to be introduced on Boggy Depot.
Boggy Depot features both bassist
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Mike Inez
Mike Inez
Mike Inez is a rock musician best known for his role as the bassist of Alice in Chains. Inez has also worked with other popular musical acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society, and Heart. Inez is of Filipino ancestry.-Career:...
and drummer
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Sean Kinney
Sean Kinney
Sean Howard Kinney is an American musician best known for being the drummer of the influential grunge band Alice in Chains....
of Alice in Chains. This further incited fans to regard it as a "lost" Alice in Chains record or as a follow-up to their 1995 self-titled release
Alice in Chains (album)
Alice in Chains is the eponymous third studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains. Released on November 7, 1995, it was the follow-up to the highly successful Dirt...
. Three other well-known bassists also contributed to the album: Rex Brown
Rex Brown
Rex Robert Brown is an American heavy metal bassist. A former member of Down, he is most famous as the longtime bassist for the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling band Pantera.-Pantera:...
of Pantera
Pantera
Pantera was an American heavy metal band from Arlington, Texas. Formed by the Abbott brothers, Vinnie Paul and Dimebag Darrell in 1981, bassist Rex Brown would join in late 1981 with vocalist Terry Glaze. Looking for a new and heavier sound, Pantera had Terry replaced in 1987 with Phil Anselmo as...
, John Norwood Fisher
John Norwood Fisher
John Norwood Fisher is the bass player and founder for the band Fishbone. Fisher has played bass in the band throughout its history, even as other members have departed and returned...
of Fishbone
Fishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
, and Les Claypool
Les Claypool
Leslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
of Primus
Primus (band)
Primus is an American rock band based in San Francisco, California, currently composed of bassist/vocalist Les Claypool, guitarist Larry "Ler" LaLonde and drummer Jay Lane. Primus originally formed in 1984 with Claypool and guitarist Todd Huth, later joined by Lane, though the latter two departed...
. Cantrell credited his relationships to some of these musicians to Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza is an annual music festival featuring popular alternative rock, heavy metal, punk rock and hip hop bands, dance and comedy performances, and craft booths. It has also provided a platform for non-profit and political groups. The music festival hosts more than 160,000 people over a...
'93 where their bands often collaborated on stage.
A wide variety of equipment was utilized for the recording of Boggy Depot.
In terms of amplifiers
Guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier is an electronic amplifier designed to make the signal of an electric or acoustic guitar louder so that it will produce sound through a loudspeaker...
, Cantrell used the Peavey 5150 head
Peavey 5150 Amplifier
The Peavey 5150 is an all-tube guitar amplifier made by Peavey Electronics from 1991–present as a signature model for Edward Van Halen. Since Van Halen and Peavey parted ways in 2004, the name of the model was changed to 6505, with Van Halen taking the 5150 name for his company, EVH, to name his...
given to him by Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
as well as Marshall
Marshall Amplification
Marshall Amplification is a British company, founded by drummer Jim Marshall, that designs and manufactures music amplifiers, brands personal headphones/earphones , and, after acquiring Natal Drums, drums and bongos. Marshall amplifiers, and specifically their guitar amplifiers, are among the most...
s, Fender
Fender Amplifiers
Fender Amplifiers have a long history. Leo Fender began building guitar amps before he started manufacturing guitars. The first of these amps were the K&F models, which were produced between 1945 and 1946...
s, and Soldano
Soldano
Soldano is a guitar amplifier manufacturing company, founded in 1986 by Michael Soldano in Los Angeles, California and later relocated to Seattle, Washington. It is mostly known for its modern high gain amps, particularly their flagship model — Soldano SLO-100, but product lineup also...
s. The band used a lot of old RAT
Pro Co Rat
The Pro Co "The RAT" is a guitar effects pedal produced by Pro Co Sound. The original RAT was developed in the basement of Pro Co's Kalamazoo, Michigan facility in 1978...
pedals and an Electro-Harmonix
Electro-Harmonix
Electro-Harmonix is a New York-based company that makes high-end electronic audio processors. The company was founded by Mike Matthews in 1968. They are most famous for a series of popular guitar effects pedals introduced in the 1970s and 1990s....
distortion on "Jesus Hands." According to Cantrell, they also used "vintage crappy mikes
Microphone
A microphone is an acoustic-to-electric transducer or sensor that converts sound into an electrical signal. In 1877, Emile Berliner invented the first microphone used as a telephone voice transmitter...
" including one that Toby Wright bought for $20 at a pawn shop. Cantrell used largely the same guitars as he had in Alice in Chains, including the G&L Rampage, '52 Goldtop Les Paul, and old Stratocaster
Fender Stratocaster
The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as "Strat", is a model of electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares in 1954, and manufactured continuously by the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation to the present. It is a double-cutaway guitar, with an extended top...
s and Telecaster
Fender Telecaster
The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is typically a dual-pickup, solid-body electric guitar made by Fender.Its simple yet effective design and revolutionary sound broke ground and set trends in electric guitar manufacturing and popular music...
s. He also bought Nancy Wilson's Les Paul Junior
Gibson Les Paul Junior
The Gibson Les Paul Jr. is a solid body electric guitar introduced in 1954 as an affordable, entry level Les Paul. It was first released with a single cut body style however models with a double cut body style were later introduced in 1958.-History:...
which he used heavily and satisfyingly played a new '50s-era Les Paul that Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
sent him. Cantrell also intermixed guitars on certain songs; for instance, in "Dickeye," a Goldtop was used for the left channel
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
while his white Les Paul reissue went on the right.
Album title and art
Boggy Depot was named after the ghost townGhost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
of the same name
Boggy Depot, Oklahoma
Boggy Depot is a ghost town and Oklahoma State Park that was formerly a significant city in the Indian Territory. It grew as a vibrant and thriving town in present day Atoka County, Oklahoma, United States and became a major trading center on the Texas Road and the Butterfield Overland Mail route...
. This is the area Cantrell's father grew up in. The album cover depicts a placid Cantrell standing in a branch of the Boggy River, a place he sometimes visits to hunt or fish. He detailed the choice in an interview:
- "As I was writing for the album, I actually made a few trips to Oklahoma. I would drive my truck down to the edge of the river where we shot the cover of the album. I wrote quite a few of the lyrics there. And I just had this [vision] of me with mud all over myself. It was kind of like an Apocalypse NowApocalypse NowApocalypse Now is a 1979 American war film set during the Vietnam War, produced and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. The central character is US Army special operations officer Captain Benjamin L. Willard , of MACV-SOG, an assassin sent to kill the renegade and presumed insane Special Forces...
/Martin SheenMartin SheenRamón Gerardo Antonio Estévez , better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands and Apocalypse Now , and in the television series The West Wing from 1999 to 2006.He is considered one of the best actors never to be...
type of thing. It just fit the vibe of the stuff I was writing."
The album's booklet photography centers around rural Oklahoma. This includes a photo of Cantrell sitting on a porch with his great uncle, Victor Lane. The disc itself depicts Cantrell with hooks attached to his face with surgical adhesive. Strings attached to the hooks are being pulled, morbidly stretching his face.
Touring and promotion
The promotion of Boggy Depot led to Jerry Cantrell's first concert experiences as a band frontman which he considered "intimidating." On June 24 in West Palm Beach, FloridaWest Palm Beach, Florida
West Palm Beach, is a city located on the Atlantic coast in southeastern Florida and is the most populous city in and county seat of Palm Beach County, the third most populous county in Florida with a 2010 population of 1,320,134. The city is also the oldest incorporated municipality in South Florida...
, Cantrell began touring for the album with Days of the New
Days of the New
Days of the New is an American alternative rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians...
and headlining act Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
on their Poor Re-Touring Me Tour
Poor Re-Touring Me Tour
The Poor Re-Touring Me Tour was a 1997 to 1999 concert tour by the band Metallica. It had two legs, one in the Far East, Australia and New Zealand, and the other in the US and Canada. Jerry Cantrell and Days of the New opened for the US portion of the tour. The name comes from the title of the song...
. For his lineup, Cantrell enlisted former Queensrÿche
Queensrÿche
thumb|250px|right|Queensrÿche's classic line-up performing at the [[Sauna Open Air Metal Festival]] 2011 in [[Tampere]], [[Finland]]. Left to right: bass Eddie Jackson, lead vocals Geoff Tate, drums Scott Rockenfield and guitars Michael Wilton....
guitarist Chris DeGarmo
Chris DeGarmo
Chris DeGarmo is an American heavy metal and hard rock guitarist. He co-founded Queensrÿche in 1981 and played with the group during their most commercially successful period. Since departing from the band, DeGarmo has continued his involvement in the music business in a much smaller capacity...
, Old Lady Litterbug bassist Nick Reinhardt, former Fishbone
Fishbone
Fishbone is a U.S. alternative rock band formed in 1979 in Los Angeles, California, which plays a fusion of ska, punk rock, funk, hard rock and soul. Critics have noted of the band: "Fishbone was one of the most distinctive and eclectic alternative rock bands of the late '80s...
keyboardist Chris Dowd, and Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney
Sean Kinney
Sean Howard Kinney is an American musician best known for being the drummer of the influential grunge band Alice in Chains....
. The band also opened for Van Halen
Van Halen
Van Halen is an American hard rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. The band has enjoyed success since the release of its debut album, Van Halen, . As of 2007 Van Halen has sold 80 million albums worldwide and has had the most #1 hits on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart...
on their 1998 summer tour
III Tour
The III Tour was a 1998 concert tour by hard rock band Van Halen. It was the band's first and only tour with vocalist Gary Cherone, in support of the only album he recorded with the band—the poor-selling Van Halen III.-History:...
. Naturally, Cantrell's concert set featured songs by Alice in Chains, and he often closed with Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd were an English rock band that achieved worldwide success with their progressive and psychedelic rock music. Their work is marked by the use of philosophical lyrics, sonic experimentation, innovative album art, and elaborate live shows. Pink Floyd are one of the most commercially...
's "Brain Damage
Brain Damage (song)
"Brain Damage" is the ninth track from British progressive rock band Pink Floyd's 1973 album, The Dark Side of the Moon. It was sung by Roger Waters. David Gilmour took over as lead vocalist when the band performed it live on the band's 1994 tour...
/Eclipse."
Despite Cantrell's uneasiness towards performing as frontman, concerts were quickly met with praise by critics from the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
, and other major publications. The broad approval led Cantrell to schedule a headlining tour starting October 1 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
. Flight 16 filled the slot as his opening band.
"Cut You In" served as Boggy Depots lead single
Lead single
A lead single is usually the first single released by a musician or a band before the release of its home album.During the era of the grammophone record, all music arrived in the marketplace as what is now termed a single, one potential hit song backed by an additional song of generally less...
and video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
which charted well and remained one of the album's best known songs. The track is unusual for Cantrell's style considering its use of horns
Horn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
. It was the #1 most added track at Rock and Alternative radio with more than 1,000 spins and an audience of more than nine million in its first five days. The second single, "My Song" was on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Mainstream Rock Tracks
Mainstream Rock Tracks
Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks is a ranking in Billboard magazine of the most-played songs on mainstream rock radio stations, a category that includes stations that play primarily rock music. Modern rock tracks are counted in the Alternative Songs chart.This chart began with the March 21, 1981, issue...
chart for over a dozen weeks. Its controversial music video was directed by Rocky Schenck
Rocky Schenck
Rocky Schenck is an American music video director and photographer. He has worked with such artists as Adele, Nick Cave, Joni Mitchell, The Cramps, Alice in Chains, Redd Kross, Godsmack, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Rod Stewart, and Van Halen, among others...
and features performance artist Ann Magnuson
Ann Magnuson
Ann Magnuson is an American actress, performance artist, and nightclub performer who first gained prominence in the 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan...
. A third and final single, "Dickeye," also managed to chart albeit briefly.
On July 19, 1998, Cantrell was interviewed for the MTV program 120 Minutes
120 Minutes
120 Minutes is a television show in the United States dedicated to alternative music, originally airing on MTV from 1986 to 2000, and then on MTV's sister channel MTV2 from 2001 to 2003....
which also aired the videos for "Cut You In" and "My Song."
Critical reception
Boggy Depot received marginally positive and mixed reception from major publications. Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine estimated that Cantrell was a reluctant solo artist who would prefer his work to be published through Alice in Chains. However, Erlewine claimed, "everything that an Alice fan has loved [...] is here in spades." He detailed how guitar soloGuitar solo
In popular music, a guitar solo is a melodic passage, section, or entire piece of music written for an electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. Guitar solos, which often contain varying degrees of improvisation, are used in many styles of popular music such as blues, jazz, rock and metal styles such...
s tend to drag songs too long and that, while Boggy Depot lacks the "psychological weight" of Dirt, it "comes close to replicating the sound."
Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
commended Cantrell's writing but gave a less enthusiastic review. He regarded it as the "same reliably hook-y '70s metal album that Alice in Chains always made" and "basically Alice in Handcuffs." Sheffield also claimed "'Breaks My Back' sounds exactly like [Led Zeppelin's]
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
'No Quarter
No Quarter (song)
"No Quarter" is a song by Led Zeppelin that appears on their album, Houses of the Holy, released in 1973. It was written by bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, guitarist Jimmy Page and singer Robert Plant.- Overview :...
' except it lasts eight seconds longer and fails to mention Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
. . . Nothing here would've sounded novel or Earth-shattering in 1978, let alone 1998, but Cantrell sure does know his trade."
Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
described Boggy Depot as similar to Cantrell's work in Alice in Chains and considered it "an album that solidifies Cantrell's reputation as a singer/songwriter/performer in his own right."
In December 1999, The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...
s Stephen Thompson listed Boggy Depot as a nominee for Least Essential Solo Album in his article "Least Essential Albums of the '90s." In April 2002, Thompson gave the album a mixed review, commending "My Song" and "Between" as the best tracks while regarding "Dickeye" and "Devil By His Side" as "pedestrian." He elaborated on the overall sound as "too much [...] like Alice in Chains minus a recognizable vocalist; in other words, a little bit like Creed
Creed (band)
Creed is an American rock band formed in 1995 in Tallahassee, Florida. Becoming popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the band has released three consecutive multi-platinum albums, one of which has been certified diamond, and has sold over 28 million records in the United States, with an...
and Days of the New
Days of the New
Days of the New is an American alternative rock band from Louisville, Kentucky, formed in 1995. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Travis Meeks and a variety of supporting musicians...
." Thompson compared it to Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland
Scott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...
's 12 Bar Blues
12 Bar Blues (album)
12 Bar Blues is the debut solo album from Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland. Its sound and style differs greatly from his band's releases. The design concept of the cover is a homage to the cover design of John Coltrane's Blue Train album...
as another "bad post-grunge
Post-grunge
Post-grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged in the mid-1990s as a derivative of grunge, using the sounds and aesthetic of grunge, but with a more commercially acceptable tone...
solo album."
Track listing
All tracks by Jerry CantrellJerry Cantrell
Jerry Fulton Cantrell Jr. is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter best known for his work with the grunge/metal band Alice in Chains, as lead guitarist, backing and co-lead vocalist, and co-lyricist. He performs lead vocals on his solo projects, and is part of Alice in Chains' harmonizing...
.
Personnel
- Jerry Cantrell - Vocals, Guitar, ClavinetClavinetA Clavinet is an electrically amplified keyboard instrument manufactured by the Hohner company. It is essentially an electronically amplified clavichord, analogous to an electric guitar. Its distinctive bright staccato sound has appeared particularly in funk, disco, rock, and reggae songs.Various...
, Organ, Piano, Steel Drums, Producer - Rex BrownRex BrownRex Robert Brown is an American heavy metal bassist. A former member of Down, he is most famous as the longtime bassist for the Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling band Pantera.-Pantera:...
- Bass (tracks 1, 3 ,8, 9, 10) - Mike InezMike InezMike Inez is a rock musician best known for his role as the bassist of Alice in Chains. Inez has also worked with other popular musical acts such as Ozzy Osbourne, Black Label Society, and Heart. Inez is of Filipino ancestry.-Career:...
- Bass (tracks 2, 6 ,7) - John Norwood FisherJohn Norwood FisherJohn Norwood Fisher is the bass player and founder for the band Fishbone. Fisher has played bass in the band throughout its history, even as other members have departed and returned...
- Bass (tracks 4, 5) - Les ClaypoolLes ClaypoolLeslie Edward "Les" Claypool is an American musician and writer, best known as the lead vocalist and bassist in the band Primus. Claypool's playing style on the electric bass mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends and slapping.Claypool has also self produced and engineered his...
- Bass (tracks 11, 12) - Sean KinneySean KinneySean Howard Kinney is an American musician best known for being the drummer of the influential grunge band Alice in Chains....
- Drums - Angelo MooreAngelo MooreAngelo Christoper Moore is an American musician, best known for his work as the founding member, lead singer and saxophonist for the Los Angeles alternative rock band Fishbone. Moore also performs and records spoken word poetry under the stage name of Dr. Madd Vibe.-Biography:In 1993 he released a...
- Horns - Toby Wright - Producer, Engineer, Mixer
- Scott Olson - Assistant Engineer
- Mary Maurer - Art Direction
Charts
Album - Billboard (North America)| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Billboard Top 200 | 28 |
| Canadian Top 100 CDs RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... |
39 |
Singles - Billboard (North America)
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | "Cut You In" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 5 |
| Modern Rock Tracks | 15 | ||
| "Dickeye" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 36 | |
| "My Song" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | 6 |