Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2

Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2
Studio album by Jerry Cantrell
Released November 26, 2002
Recorded A&M Studios in Hollywood, CA; Master Control in Burbank, CA; Music Grinder Studios in West Hollywood, CA
Genre Alternative metal, alternative rock, grunge, heavy metal,[1] doom metal
Length 2:19:59
Label Roadrunner
Producer Jerry Cantrell & Jeff Tomei
Jerry Cantrell chronology
Degradation Trip
(2002)		 Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2
(2002)

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. All the songs were written long prior to the first release of Degradation Trip; Roadrunner Records, uneasy toward the idea of a double album release, made Cantrell condense it but promised to eventually release all of his material. The track order of the expanded version, which differs from the first, is also presented in Cantrell's originally planned order.[2] Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin and then-Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society bassist Robert Trujillo (formerly of Suicidal Tendencies and later of Metallica) contributed to Degradation Trip and would tour with Cantrell in support of it.

Recording and background

Further information: Degradation Trip

The liner notes for Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 include an article by Don Kaye entitled "A Long, Strange Trip." This has Kaye describing the album's style and features quotes from Jerry Cantrell regarding its development and final release as a double album. Cantrell described the initial plans for the album:

"We probably had thirty-plus ideas - it could have been a triple record, you know what I mean? When I was making the record, my co-producer actually gave me George Harrison's triple record (All Things Must Pass), which is one of the coolest things anyone's ever given me. So yeah, this was intended to come out as Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2"

The label executives commended Cantrell's ambition but showed uneasiness toward the idea of a double album. Since Cantrell had already spent a year searching for a label that would take his album, he compromised and condensed his work on the promise that later on it would be released in its entirety.[3]

For about four months in 1998, Cantrell locked himself in his home to write the 25 songs. He noted that much of the songwriting was inspired by the demise of Alice in Chains, describing it as "looking at a situation where I had to move on, and not really being happy about it. . . So it was just coming to grips with all that stuff - and I'm still doing it, especially now that Layne's gone." Consequently, Degradation Trip boasts various dark themes and bleak visuals. Songs like "Bargain Basement Howard Hughes" and "Pig Charmer" directly relate to the relationship between Cantrell and former bandmate Layne Staley. "Owned" and "Pro False Idol" question the career of Cantrell and his status as a musician, while "Feel the Void" and "31/32" explore the concept of lives wasted. Cantrell elaborated, "Throughout the process of making this record, I often wondered at times whether I was insane or not. Sitting here, thinking back on it now, I probably had my moments." He also noted, however, the satisfaction in having released the album as he wanted and being able to put all of the intimate expression to bed.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Jerry Cantrell. 

Volume 1
No. Title Length
1. "Psychotic Break"   4:09
2. "Bargain Basement Howard Hughes"   5:39
3. "Owned"   5:18
4. "Angel Eyes"   4:44
5. "Solitude"   4:01
6. "Mother's Spinning in Her Grave (Glass Dick Jones)"   3:54
7. "Hellbound"   6:46
8. "Spiderbite"   6:38
9. "Pro False Idol"   7:18
10. "Feel the Void"   6:57
11. "Locked On"   5:37
12. "Gone"   5:08
Total length:
 66:04
Volume 2
No. Title Length
1. "Castaway"   4:59
2. "Chemical Tribe"   6:35
3. "What It Takes"   4:44
4. "Dying Inside"   6:26
5. "Siddhartha"   6:02
6. "Hurts Don't It?" (instrumental) 4:46
7. "She Was My Girl"   3:59
8. "Pig Charmer"   8:11
9. "Anger Rising"   6:14
10. "S.O.S."   5:07
11. "Give It a Name"   4:02
12. "Thanks Anyway"   5:26
13. "31/32"   7:25
Total length:
 73:55

Personnel

Production

References

  1. ↑ Overview at AllMusic. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  2. ↑ Christopher, Michael. Degradation Trip: An Interview with Jerry Cantrell PopMatters (December 26, 2002). Received November 22, 2007.
  3. ↑ Kaye, Don. "A Long, Strange Trip" Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2 (November 26, 2002). Retrieved on 6-20-09.
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