Jerry Cantrell : "I Want Blood'

I owned "Boggy Depot", but haven't checked out his solo stuff since. I love his guitar playing but often feel with most artists' solo work, it is energy that would have been better invested in their main band. The first song sounds like Alice In Chains so it's hard to complain. There is a who's who of rock royalty on the album Robert Trujillo plays on the second song. The riff to this song sounds like it should be on a solo Ozzy album, making me surprised Ozzy has not tapped Cantrell for solo stuff. If this was all supposed to be on the next Alice In Chains album I would not be surprised. 

Duff Mckagan also joins him on "Afterglow", which feels like an Ozzy solo ballad run through the filter of Alice In Chains. The way the chords ring out could have been found in the band's later work. However, the chorus is not as strong as the previous songs. Duff is also back on the more rock n roll title track that feels more in line with Queens of the Stoneage, though I guess on "Facelift" there is some of this on the b-side. Marilyn Manson's drummer Gil Sharone, plays on this album though Mike Bordin plays on the title track. Still, it does not feel like the best use of his talents. It's basic rock n roll. 

Greg Puciato lends backing vocals to "Echoes of Laughter". It's a darker song, that tempers the brooding with soulful melody. The vocals on this album are really well produced. This might be the album's best guitar solo. "Throw Me a Line" is rock but with a slithering groove that works really well. It goes to show his songwriting ability has not faded since Alice in Chains. "Let it Lie" oddly has Bordin just playing the drum parts on the chorus, which I'm not sure they cut it that way, maybe he just got the best take. I like that it is darker which does give it more of the classic Alice In Chains feel, it could have been an outtake from 'Dirt". 

"Held Your Tongue" is more rock n roll, though is still doused in the nostalgia for Alice in Chains. At this point, it's clear, that Cantrell was carrying Alice in Chains, as he proves by making an Alice in Chains record by himself. It's weird because if this was an Alice In Chains album I would have been less hesitant to check it, going to show you how powerful the branding of a band is. "It Comes' is another Alice in Chains-like ballad, but I enjoy the mood it creates. I'll give this a 9.5, as it is the best Alice In Chains album that they did not make as a band. 

pst609