Degradation Trip
Encyclopedia
Degradation Trip is the second solo album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

 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...

, released on June 18, 2002. It marks his difficult transition from 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...

 to Roadrunner
Roadrunner Records
Roadrunner Records is an American record label that concentrates primarily on heavy metal bands. It is currently a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.-History:...

 and was dedicated to Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...

, who died two months before the album's release. Degradation Trip featured two single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

s and was well received by critics, faring better than Cantrell's solo debut
Boggy Depot
Boggy Depot is the debut solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. It was released on April 7, 1998 through Columbia Records.-Background:...

 and bearing stronger resemblance to his work in Alice in Chains.

The album was the result of an intense writing process that resulted in 25 songs. Cantrell enlisted new band mates to officially dissociate himself from the incapacitated Alice in Chains and, after being dropped from Columbia, faced a turbulent recording process funded entirely by himself. After a lack of label interest, Cantrell eventually acquired a deal with Roadrunner who requested that he condense the material to 14 tracks. On November 26, 2002, the full Degradation Trip sessions' songs were released in their entirety as Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2
Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2
Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 is a double album by Jerry Cantrell, released on 26 November, 2002 on Roadrunner Records. It is an expanded limited edition of Cantrell's Degradation Trip album, which was released approximately five months earlier...

.

Background

Not long after the April 1998 release of Cantrell's solo debut, Boggy Depot
Boggy Depot
Boggy Depot is the debut solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. It was released on April 7, 1998 through Columbia Records.-Background:...

, he began work on a sophomore record which he confidently projected for a mid-'99 release. The majority of this follow-up, later entitled Degradation Trip, was written in the seclusion of a house in the Cascade Mountains. In a state of self-imposed isolation Cantrell recorded the demos using a four-track recorder
Multitrack recording
Multitrack recording is a method of sound recording that allows for the separate recording of multiple sound sources to create a cohesive whole...

 and a battered Gibson Les Paul
Gibson Les Paul
The Gibson Les Paul was the result of a design collaboration between Gibson Guitar Corporation and the late jazz guitarist and electronics inventor Les Paul. In 1950, with the introduction of the Fender Telecaster to the musical market, electric guitars became a public craze. In reaction, Gibson...

. In 2002, he detailed the experience of writing the album and its outcome:
"In '98, I locked myself in my house, went out of my mind, and wrote 25 songs. I rarely bathed during that period of writing; I sent out for food; I didn't really venture out of my house in three or four months. It was a hell of an experience. The album is an overview of birth to now. . . Boggy Depot is like kindergarten compared to this. The massive sonic growth from Boggy Depot to Degradation Trip is comparable to the difference between our work in the Alice in Chains albums Facelift
Facelift (album)
Facelift is the debut studio album by the American rock band Alice in Chains. The album was released on August 21, 1990. The album is the band's second highest selling album and has been certified double-platinum by the RIAA for shipments of two million copies in the United States.-Background and...

 to Dirt, which was also a tremendous leap."

"I got into a writing session which lasted for three or four months where I just continued to spew and pour all of this shit out of the depths of myself from every level and aspect of my life. I dealt with a lot of issues that aren't easy for me to verbally get across. I think it's easier for me to do it in a musical venue. But it was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. I'm glad I did it and I'm glad I went through the experience, but it's certainly something I don't ever want to do again."


Amidst writing a surplus of material between fall 1998 and spring '99, Cantrell showed two of his new songs to Alice in Chains' dwindling lead singer Layne Staley
Layne Staley
Layne Thomas Staley was an American musician who served as the lead singer and co-lyricist of the rock group Alice in Chains, which was formed in Seattle, Washington in 1987 by Staley and guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Alice in Chains rose to international fame as part of the grunge movement of the...

. Despite the band's spotty existence, Staley wrote lyrics for the demos which would become "Get Born Again
Get Born Again
"Get Born Again" is a song by Alice in Chains and one of the last two songs recorded with vocalist Layne Staley before his death in 2002, the other song being "Died"...

," a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 from Nothing Safe: Best of the Box
Nothing Safe: Best of the Box
-Personnel:*Jerry Cantrell - Guitar, backing vocals and lead vocals on "Grind"*Layne Staley - Lead vocals and guitar on "Angry Chair" and "Grind"*Mike Starr - Bass *Mike Inez - Bass *Sean Kinney - Drums*Alice in Chains - Producer...

, and the song "Died
Died (Alice in Chains song)
"Died" is a song by Alice in Chains and the final one recorded with vocalist Layne Staley before his death in 2002. The song was included on the compilation albums Music Bank and The Essential Alice in Chains .-Origin and recording:...

." Thus, rather than becoming Cantrell's solo work, this led to their recording by Alice in Chains in 1998, release the following year, and the esteem of being what would years later be recognized as the final material written by the band with Staley.

To continue developing his second solo album, Cantrell enlisted drummer Mike Bordin
Mike Bordin
Mike Bordin is the co-founder and drummer of rock band Faith No More. He is also known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne. As a left-handed drummer, he notably plays with a right-handed kit with his ride cymbal on the left...

 and bassist Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo is an American bassist who currently plays bass in Metallica. He has also played in Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, and with Jerry Cantrell and Ozzy Osbourne.-Career:...

 of Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is an English vocalist, whose musical career has spanned over 40 years. Osbourne rose to prominence as lead singer of the pioneering English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, whose radically different, intentionally dark, harder sound helped spawn the heavy metal...

. The choice would deliberately refrain Cantrell from his Alice in Chains bad mates and therefore distinguish his solo career from his past. He originally booked studio time with Dave Jerden
Dave Jerden
Dave Jerden is an American record producer, engineer and mixer who mostly works with artists in the alternative rock, punk rock and metal genres....

, who produced Alice in Chains' first two albums; however, Cantrell fired him after two days, claiming "It was just not working out personally. . . Mike and Robert had hooked up with me and we had been through rehearsals, and we got into the studio with Dave and it all blew up on us on the second day. It took us months to get regrouped again. . . He's a great guy and we did some great music together, but sometimes I guess you just can't go home."

Recording and production

Cantrell was unable to find a replacement and decided to self-produce Degradation Trip with his friend Jeff Tomei. They waited another three months for Bordin and Trujillo to become available again, but Cantrell found himself losing Columbia Records' approval of the project. As soon as recording began, his contract with Sony
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Entertainment ' is the second-largest global recorded music company of the "big four" record companies and is controlled by Sony Corporation of America, the United States subsidiary of Japan's Sony Corporation....

, parent to Columbia, had ended, leaving him with staggering studio bills. He continued financing it on his own, even mortgaging
Mortgage loan
A mortgage loan is a loan secured by real property through the use of a mortgage note which evidences the existence of the loan and the encumbrance of that realty through the granting of a mortgage which secures the loan...

 his house to do so, and developed the album to its completion without label interference. Cantrell reflected in early 2002 on his time making a record without a label:
"It was very strange for me, because my experience in this business has been with one band and one label. The last couple years I was not only on my own making a record of the magnitude that I committed myself to, but I was having to deal with being like a brand new artist going around to all these different labels and meeting with them and hearing the same things over and over: 'Yeah, we love it. We love you,' and then have nothing happen. It was a little disheartening after a while."


Trujillo noted the difficulty in re-recording Cantrell's "little hoodrat demos." He was asked to replicate the demo arrangements which were on cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

 and, according to Trujillo, had nearly indistinguishable bass. It resulted that Trujillo, inspired by Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino
Pino Palladino is a Welsh bass guitarist who gained fame playing primarily rock and roll, blues rock, and rhythm and blues music, although he has been lauded for his ability to play most genres of popular music, including jazz, neo soul, and funk...

, developed his own code for writing down bass compositions which he would continue using in the future. However, he remarked positively on his recording experience with Cantrell: "I was primarily just there to enhance the bass, but he taught me a lot about simplicity and using space and notes that really mean something to a song."

Finally, he was picked up by Roadrunner who insisted Cantrell narrow his solo work to 14 songs. He was told, however, that the remaining tracks would later be released in some form. Indeed, on November 26, 2002, a second version
Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2
Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 is a double album by Jerry Cantrell, released on 26 November, 2002 on Roadrunner Records. It is an expanded limited edition of Cantrell's Degradation Trip album, which was released approximately five months earlier...

 of the album – considered to be the "definitive" and originally intended version – was released. This limited edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...

 double album
Double album
A double album is an audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically records and compact discs....

 includes 11 additional recordings that Roadrunner forced Cantrell to cut, in fear that a double album would have low commercial viability. As such, Cantrell has called the single-disc release the "Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest
Reader's Digest is a general interest family magazine, published ten times annually. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, its headquarters is now in New York City. It was founded in 1922, by DeWitt Wallace and Lila Bell Wallace...

 version" of Degradation Trip.

Music and lyrics

With its aggressive, metallic
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...

 approach and dark tones, Degradation Trip more easily compares to Cantrell's previous work in Alice in Chains than that of his more experimental solo debut
Boggy Depot
Boggy Depot is the debut solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. It was released on April 7, 1998 through Columbia Records.-Background:...

. A hallmark of Cantrell's style, many unorthodox rhythms and time signature
Time signature
The time signature is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats are in each measure and which note value constitutes one beat....

s are exhibited throughout the album as well as heavy use of wah-wah
Wah-wah pedal
A wah-wah pedal is a type of guitar effects pedal that alters the tone of the signal to create a distinctive effect, mimicking the human voice...

 guitar effect
Effects unit
Effects units are electronic devices that alter how a musical instrument or other audio source sounds. Some effects subtly "color" a sound, while others transform it dramatically. Effects are used during live performances or in the studio, typically with electric guitar, keyboard and bass...

 and choir-like vocal harmonies.

The album's grungy
Grunge
Grunge is a subgenre of alternative rock that emerged during the mid-1980s in the American state of Washington, particularly in the Seattle area. Inspired by hardcore punk, heavy metal, and indie rock, grunge is generally characterized by heavily distorted electric guitars, contrasting song...

 heaviness is balanced, however, by moody acoustic
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

 ballads such as the somber "Angel Eyes." Serene, twangy guitar riffs featured in the likes of "Gone" allude more to Cantrell's Southern
Southern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...

 roots.

Its lyrics, often haunting and confessional, range from cynical sarcasm to explicitly morbid portrayals. Cantrell vents on the demise of his band and other personal issues with depictions of drug abuse, troubled relationships, and the rocky, hedonistic
Hedonism
Hedonism is a school of thought which argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good. In very simple terms, a hedonist strives to maximize net pleasure .-Etymology:The name derives from the Greek word for "delight" ....

 lifestyle of a musician. The album's title refers to Cantrell's self-imposed isolation and appears in "Solitude," a brooding acoustic track. The lyrical impact of songs such as "Psychotic Break," which also describes Cantrell's seclusion and reflects on deceased friends and family, was only prophetically
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...

 magnified upon the sudden death of Layne Staley in April 2002.

Promotion and touring

Two singles were released off the album, "Anger Rising
Anger Rising
"Anger Rising" is a song by American hard rock musician Jerry Cantrell. It served as the lead single from his 2002 second album, Degradation Trip. Cantrell's fourth single overall, the track made its radio debut in April 2002 and reached #10 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts."Anger Rising"...

" and "Angel Eyes." The former debuted in April 2002 and had a 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...

 which gained the album substantial coverage on MTV2
MTV2
MTV2 is a cable network that is widely available in the United States on digital cable and satellite television, and is progressively being added to analogue cable lineups across the nation...

. The acoustic ballad "Angel Eyes" surfaced on radio in September. MTV2 also aired short segments of a primitively animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 Cantrell discussing various aspects of his music and personal life. Prior to the release of Degradation Trip, "She Was My Girl" appeared on the soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...

, Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man
Music from and Inspired by Spider-Man
Asian Edition Bonus Track- Use in other works :As a tribute to the film, "Weird Al" Yankovic's album Poodle Hat contains the song "Ode to a Superhero"; in which he takes the plot of this film but recites it to the tune of Billy Joel's "Piano Man"....

.

With his album still being shopped around to labels, Jerry Cantrell began a national club tour with a show in his new hometown, San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, in January 2001. Supported by Comes With the Fall
Comes With The Fall
Comes with the Fall is an American rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. Since 2001, the line-up has been composed of William DuVall , Adam Stanger and Bevan Davies . Nico Constantine was the band's second guitarist before departing in 2001...

 and Swarm
Swarm (band)
Swarm , formed after the demise of Death Angel in 1997 by former members Rob Cavestany, Andy Galeon and Mark Osegueda, who were joined by Michael Isaiah...

, he recruited M.I.R.V.
M.I.R.V.
M.I.R.V. is a band based in the San Francisco, California, Bay Area. Founded in 1994, it initially consisted of the band's namesake guitarist and singer Marc "Mirv" Haggard, bassist Craig McFarland, drummer Jeff Gomes, and guitarist Bryan Kehoe, who also contributed vocals and keyboards...

 guitarist Brian Kehoe to join himself, Bordin
Mike Bordin
Mike Bordin is the co-founder and drummer of rock band Faith No More. He is also known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne. As a left-handed drummer, he notably plays with a right-handed kit with his ride cymbal on the left...

, and Trujillo
Robert Trujillo
Robert Trujillo is an American bassist who currently plays bass in Metallica. He has also played in Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, and with Jerry Cantrell and Ozzy Osbourne.-Career:...

 on stage. The three bands performed together from March 13 to April 5. Comes With the Fall, a young band whom Cantrell admired dearly, would continue touring with him into the following year and even participate during his sets, which included both solo work and Alice in Chains songs.

Cantrell, who recently signed with Roadrunner, performed at the 16th annual South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...

 music conference in March 2002. In support of his new album, Cantrell embarked on a two-month North American solo tour beginning April 20. Despite the death of Layne Staley during this time, Cantrell opted not to cancel any shows, stating, "The shows I played between the time I got the word about Layne and Layne's funeral were very important to me in terms of being able to continue on. It's one of those things where if you take a break and allow things to settle in, it might be harder to get up again." William DuVall
William DuVall
thumb|200px|right|William DuVall performing with [[Alice In Chains]] at Roskilde Festival 2010William DuVall is an American musician, best known as current lead singer for Alice In Chains, following the death of the band's original lead singer Layne Staley.DuVall is also co-founder, lead singer,...

 of Comes With the Fall, who performed Staley's vocals during concerts, elaborated on this emotional period:
"I lost my grandfather in the same week, so Cantrell and I both hit the road with immense personal losses dogging us. There were times on stage—there was one show in Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...

 where it was just so heavy. I’m holding back tears onstage, and Jerry would start crying onstage too a lot at that point, and a lot of times we would just look at each other when we were singing the stuff because it was the only way... it was heavy. I can’t quantify it really in words."


That summer, Cantrell toured with Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....

, whom he had befriended at a Roadrunner Records Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 party, and played in select cities with 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...

. However, Bordin and Trujillo were occupied recording Ozzy Osbourne's latest album
Down to Earth (Ozzy Osbourne album)
-Personnel:Primary musicians*Ozzy Osbourne – vocals*Zakk Wylde – guitars*Robert Trujillo – bass*Mike Bordin – drumsAdditional musicians...

, forcing Comes With the Fall to both perform as Cantrell's band and open for him in October. The solo musician found himself ironically opening for bands that his previous elder group, Alice in Chains, had undeniably influenced. Regarding the tours, Cantrell expressed enthusiasm toward Nickelback, a Canadian band with high admiration for Cantrell. During some shows, Cantrell also joined Nickelback to play the Alice in Chains song "It Ain't Like That" together, as documented on Nickelback's Live at Home DVD.
However, Cantrell also noted his annoyance toward Creed's indifference and lack of friendliness while touring with them.

Cantrell also took part in the Canada's Edgefest
Edgefest
Edgefest, a yearly outdoor rock concert festival that primarily promotes Canadian rock music, began in 1987 as a thank-you gesture to the listeners of Toronto radio station 102.1 the Edge and as a birthday party to commemorate both the station's tenth birthday, and the coinciding Canada Day...

. One particularly heated show forced Cantrell to swap places with Sevendust
Sevendust
Sevendust is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 1994 by bassist Vince Hornsby, drummer Morgan Rose and guitarist John Connolly. After their first demo, lead vocalist Lajon Witherspoon and guitarist Clint Lowery joined the group...

 who were having trouble crossing into Canada, and postponed their slot. The sudden inconvenience led to technical problems with Cantrell's set and a rift between the two parties; his guitar shorted
Short circuit
A short circuit in an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path, often where essentially no electrical impedance is encountered....

 out early on, and he later tripped on a microphone cord before angrily ending his set early. Cantrell then gave the crowd a disparaging remark about the upcoming Sevendust. Lajon Witherspoon
Lajon Witherspoon
Lajon Witherspoon is the vocalist for the Atlanta-based alternative metal band Sevendust. Members from such bands as Staind, Seether, Alter Bridge, and Diecast have listed Lajon and Sevendust as musical influences. In March 2008, Lajon was recognized in Hit Parader's magazine as one of the "Top...

, frontman of Sevendust, then spoke out during their set: "When Jerry Cantrell says fuck Sevendust, I say fuck you, Jerry Cantrell. I hope you heard me, Jerry Cantrell." However, Sevendust's spokesman soon after claimed that the two parties had apologized over the misunderstanding and that Cantrell was largely just upset over the technical difficulties. Further details revealed that Sevendust's bus broke down on their way to Ontario and that they waited two hours for officers to clear them to cross the border.

After opening for Nickelback and Creed, Cantrell began a headlining tour on October 9. This included Comes With the Fall, Mad at Gravity
Mad at Gravity
Mad at Gravity was a short lived alternative rock band from 2000 to 2003. The band's name came from a poem that lead singer J. Lynn Johnston wrote at age nineteen, stating that it "just jumped out" and "it had so many applications."-History:...

 and Diesel
Diesel (band)
Diesel was a Dutch pop/rock group that became one of the few Dutch acts to chart in the U.S. when their song "Sausalito Summernight" entered the U.S. Top 40 in 1981.-Biography:Diesel was created in October 1978 by ex-Kayak drummer Pim Koopman...

 as openers. After an October 23 show in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Cantrell passed out from extreme exhaustion and dehydration. This caused the cancellation of two shows in Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...

 and Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

. He continued touring on October 27.

Critical reception

Degradation Trip received overwhelmingly positive reviews from various media and stronger enthusiasm than Cantrell's solo debut
Boggy Depot
Boggy Depot is the debut solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell. It was released on April 7, 1998 through Columbia Records.-Background:...

. Many critics noted that the album holds many similarities to the Alice in Chains sound while also featuring new elements. Its bleak lyrical themes also gained much attention, particularly due to the recent death of Layne Staley.

Months prior to the album's release, Jon Wienhorn of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

 declared it "Cantrell's best and most personal outing since Alice in Chains' last stand, and in many ways the disc takes over where that band left off." Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that "serious listeners and longtime fans will [...] appreciate the album as Cantrell's best record since Dirt" and regarded Cantrell as being "on top of [his] game". Sandy Masuo 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...

 considered it less adventurous than Boggy Depot but noted, "There's no happy ending when all is said and done, but it's a more poetic trip than most angst merchants offer these days, and for that reason alone it's a journey worth taking." Blender
Blender (magazine)
Blender was an American music magazine that billed itself as "the ultimate guide to music and more". It was also known for sometimes steamy pictorials of celebrities....

s J.D. Considine similarly praised Cantrell's lyrics: "For all the overdubbed vocals and layered guitars, it’s the writing, not the arranging, that carries this album. Cantrell creates songs, not just riffs, and Degradation Trip is packed with memorable melodies and strikingly vivid lyrics."

Track listing

Charts

Album – Billboard (North America)
Year Chart Position
2002 Billboard Top 200 33


Singles – Billboard (North America)
Year Single Chart Position
2002 "Anger Rising" Mainstream Rock Tracks 10

Personnel

  • 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...

     – vocals, guitar
    Guitar
    The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

    , production
  • Robert Trujillo
    Robert Trujillo
    Robert Trujillo is an American bassist who currently plays bass in Metallica. He has also played in Suicidal Tendencies, Infectious Grooves, Black Label Society, and with Jerry Cantrell and Ozzy Osbourne.-Career:...

     – bass guitar
    Bass guitar
    The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

  • Mike Bordin
    Mike Bordin
    Mike Bordin is the co-founder and drummer of rock band Faith No More. He is also known for playing with Ozzy Osbourne. As a left-handed drummer, he notably plays with a right-handed kit with his ride cymbal on the left...

     – drums
    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 ....

  • Jeff Tomei – production, mixing, recording
  • 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...

     – additional guitar on "Anger Rising"
  • Walter Earl – additional percussion
  • George Marino – mastering
  • Monte Conner – A&R
    A&R
    Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...

  • Pascal Brun and Comenius Röthlisberger, Team Switzerland – artwork and photography
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