He’s a modern troubadour with an Old West gunslinger’s swagger and the knowing grin of a recovering antihero. Jerry Cantrell makes music as diverse as the multigenerational hellraisers who love it. Equal parts trailblazer and traditional old-school rocker, Cantrell creates compositions that deeply connect with outsiders and outlaws, whether in the throes of sorrow or the triumph of victory.
His vocals, melodies, and riffs are as instantly recognizable as they are powerful, nuanced, and eclectic. Both a disciple of the hard rock tradition and a massive influence on subsequent generations of artists, Cantrell straddles the line between earnest salt-of-the-earth songwriter and beloved living legend.
I Want Blood arrives with all the aggression and heavy, inexhaustible stomp its title suggests. The follow-up to the best-reviewed solo album of Cantrell’s career (2021’s Brighten) further expands his musical palette without sacrificing any of his inescapably infectious melodic hooks. “Vilified,” which opens the album, is an anthem, a mission statement, kicking off I Want Blood with attitude.
His fourth solo album is a wild ride with many delicious twists and turns. I Want Blood boasts the powerful “Off the Rails,” atmospheric “Afterglow,” gorgeous “Echoes Of Laughter,” hypnotic “Throw Me A Line,” doomy “Let It Lie,” slithering “Held Your Tongue,” eerie “It Comes,” and groovy title track. Cantrell’s trademark honesty, vulnerability, and confrontation persist throughout the songs.
Rolling Stone named the multiplatinum Tacoma, Washington native one of the greatest guitar players of all time. His catalog mines the best of metal, rock, blues, and Americana.
Cantrell’s mountain of work as a solo artist and chief songwriter, guitarist, and co-vocalist in Alice In Chains stands tall in influence and respect. He’s collaborated with Metallica, Ozzy Osbourne, Danzig, and Deftones (among others). He’s contributed to music heard in films by Academy Award-winner Cameron Crowe and Judd Apatow and entries in the John Wick and Spider-Man franchises.
His debut solo effort, 1998’s Boggy Depot, featured the Billboard Award-nominated “Cut You In.” He composed most of the follow-up, 2002’s Degradation Trip Volumes 1 & 2, isolated in the Cascade Mountains with a four-track recorder, and recruited Ozzy Osbourne’s then-rhythm section of bassist Robert Trujillo (now in Metallica) and drummer Mike Bordin (Faith No More) in the studio.
Kerrang! hailed Brighten as a “vivid self-portrait of one of the most distinctive voices in hard rock.” In a 10/10 review, Wall Of Sound called Cantrell’s first solo record in 19 years “an exceptionally crafted album, done so by one of the finest songwriters and musicians to grace any genre over the last 30+ years. A true icon, he’s enlisted the finest talent to accompany him, and the outcome is sublime.”
That talent included coproducer Tyler Bates (an acclaimed composer whose longtime collaborators include James Gunn, Zack Snyder, and David Leitch), mixer Joe Barresi (Tool, Melvins, Kyuss), bassist Duff McKagan (Guns N’ Roses, Velvet Revolver), drummer Gil Sharone (Marilyn Manson, Stolen Babies), background vocalists Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (Better Lovers, ex-Dillinger Escape Plan), and Emmy-nominated piano/keyboard/strings player Vincent Jones (Dave Gahan, Morrissey).
I Want Blood reunites Cantrell with many of his favorite players: Sharone, McKagan, Jones, Puciato, Colette, Trujillo, and Bordin. Barresi came on board as coproducer, creative partner, and mixer. Maxwell Urasky, who provides backing vocals and sound FX, joined at Bates’ recommendation.
Some 30 million+ albums sold and 11 Grammy Award nominations later, Cantrell remains careful to ensure the music he creates would make his younger self proud. He’s never forgotten the teenager enthralled by his heroes in Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd, and Van Halen.
So, does I Want Blood pass that test? “The answer is, ‘Yes,'” Jerry says, without hesitation. “I don’t say this to be morbid, but the other criteria, on the other end of the spectrum, is: ‘If this is my last record, is this a good one to go out on?’ And the answer to that is also an emphatic, absolute, ‘Yes.'”
Jerry Cantrell
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