JERRY CANTRELL - 'BOGGY DEPOT'
From Guitar Magazine • April, 1998
Performance - Intense and thick with guitar.
Hot Spots - Keep The Light On, Hurt A Long Time, Cold Piece, My Song.
Bottom Line - An impressive solo project, suggesting Cantrell more than holds the cards in Alice In Chains.
If it weren't for the absence of Layne Staley's nasal braying (and the shadow of the singer's rumored drug problems), 'Boggy Depot' could pass for a new Alice In Chains album. After all, AIC's drummer Sean Kinney plays on 10 of 12 tracks, AIC bassist Mike Inez picks on three, and, as guitarist/singer/songwriter Jerry Cantrell ably demonstrates here, it's his voice and harmonies that have given AIC much of its recognizable sound.
Cantrell's lyrical themes and melodic leanings here reflect the downbeat edginess rampant in AIC music. But what makes 'Boggy Depot' more than an AIC side project, is the sheer intensity of Cantrell's' efforts. Should it have ever been in question, 'Boggy Depot' confirms Cantrell's status as a genuine 90's guitar hero. It's not that the album is filled with guitar exhibitionism, if anything, Cantrell seems too absorbed in his multi-layered arrangements, seeming to forget to solo where it seems appropriate. There is little of technical or virtuostic merit in Cantrell's style, it's the feeling and strength of his playing that stand out.
What marks this album is the depth of Cantrell's work - the songs, the arrangements, the singing, and the playing are all equally weighed. While the album opening Dickeye boasts the big-guitar rage of classic AIC music, 'Boggy Depot' soon evolves into a more subtle creature, with moody songs like Settling Down displaying a sense of optimism often absent from his bands tunes. Elsewhere, Cantrell mixes churning rock with acoustic-based tracks like the intense but unburdened Hurt A Long Time, more experimental cuts like the warp-voice Breaks My Back with its jazz tingedguitar fills, and drawn out difficult melodies like those of Jesus Hands and Satisfy. Cantrell even seems to be having a bit of pop fun on Between, perhaps urged on by guest bassist Les Clypool, who also appears on the strange funk dream of Cold Piece. This final song stretches out in its eight-plus minutes, as if in the end, Cantrell seems finally satisfied and relaxed with his solo venture, this potential quagmire at the 'Boggy Depot' that, instead is the guitarist's welcome solo arrival.
