Personnel includes: Jerry Cantrell (vocals, guitar, piano, Clavinet, organ, steel drums); Angelo Moore (horns); Rex Brown, Les Claypool, Mike Inez, Norwood Fisher (bass); Sean Kinney (drums).
Recorded at Studio D and The Plant, Sausalito, California, Paradise Sound, Index, Washington and Studio X, Seattle, Washington.
In tilling the same fields of gloom and dread that Alice Chains has reaped in the past, guitarist Jerry Cantrell's debut is an easy transition for long-time fans of the band. Guitars grind, rhythms plod and religious imagery occasionally bubbles up ("Jesus Hands," "Devil By His Side.") Unlike Layne Staley's flat, nasal vocals, though, Cantrell's voice carries a lilt to it that comes to the fore in "Hurt A Long Time" and "Cold Piece." Simplicity is the key to this album's success. The fanciest the arrangements get is the inclusion of a clarinet in the eight-minute plus "Cold Piece" and Cantrell's use of a voice chamber for the underwater effect of "Breaks My Back." No longer content to work behind the scenes in Alice In Chains, Jerry Cantrell is propelled into the public eye with a flourish via BOGGY DEPOT.
