Degradation Trip is the second solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell, released on June 18, 2002 through Roadrunner Records. It marks his difficult transition from Columbia Records to Roadrunner, and was dedicated to Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, who died two months before the album’s release. The title was taken from the song “Solitude“, the fifth track from the album. Degradation Trip featured two singles and was well received by critics, faring better than Cantrell’s solo debut and bearing stronger resemblance to his work in Alice in Chains. The tracks “Anger Rising” and “Angel Eyes” were released as singles. “Anger Rising” reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Tracks and stayed on the chart for 18 weeks. The album has sold 100,000 copies in the U.S. as of December 2002. In April 2019, it was ranked No. 21 on Rolling Stone’s “50 Greatest Grunge Albums” list. Degradation Trip was released on vinyl for the first time on January 20, 2017, with a limited edition of 1,500 copies on transparent green vinyl.
The album was the result of an intense writing process that resulted in 25 songs. Cantrell enlisted new bandmates (Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin and then-Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society bassist Robert Trujillo) 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. Cantrell‘s backing band for the Degradation Trip tour was Comes with the Fall, featuring Alice in Chains‘ future co-lead vocalist, William DuVall.
Tracklist:
- Psychotic Break
- Bargain Basement Howard Hughes
- Anger Rising
- Angel Eyes
- Solitude
- Mother’s Spinning in Her Grave (Glass Dick Jones)
- Hellbound
- Give It a Name
- Castaway
- She Was My Girl
- Chemical Tribe
- Spiderbite
- Locked On
- Gone
Credits:
Jerry Cantrell: guitar, vocals, production
Robert Trujillo: bass guitar
Mike Bordin: drums
Chris DeGarmo: additional guitar on “Anger Rising”
Walter Earl: additional percussion
Production
Produced by Jerry Cantrell and Jeff Tomei
Mixed by Jeff Tomei at A&M Studios
Recorded by Jeff Tomei and Tim Harkins, assisted by Jaime Sikora
Mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound, NYC
Artwork and photography by Team Switzerland (Pascal Brun and Comenius Röthlisberger)
Drum tech: Walter Earl
Guitar tech: Brett Allen
