ALICE IN CHAINS guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell’s recently released solo album, “I Want Blood”, is being reimagined as a spoken-word series, with new versions of the album tracks debuting every Thursday, and featuring video animations by Boy Tillekens. The first installment is for “Vilified”, which can be viewed below.In a recent episode of the “Lipps Service” podcast, Cantrell shared how the spoken-word pieces came to be: “I wanted to do something special, try to do something cool, and I’ve never done a spoken-word recitation of the lyrics, and I thought it might be kind of cool to have it on the B-side of ‘Vilified’. I recorded it, and it sounded cool. I thought maybe it needs some music or something, and I was sitting there with Maxwell Urasky, my demo partner. He’s a really talented musician, and he said, ‘Let me mess around with it for a night.’ He came back the next day with that piece of music, and it sounded killer. I brought it in to [producer] Joe Barresi and he said, ‘Man, you should do this with all of them.'”So I sent it out to my friends, and they hadn’t heard the songs, which I thought was really cool. I got this creative stew going of sending the lyrics out to people, having them come up with the music, and sending it back. We ended up with nine pieces of really interesting takes on the lyrics, but the music is done by creative partners of mine, and it has nothing to do with the real music, so it is truly a standalone piece.”Additional collaborators on the project include Barresi, Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, THE BLACK QUEEN),Roy Mayorga (MINISTRY),Gil Sharone (STOLEN BABIES, TEAM SLEEP),Rani Sharone (STOLEN BABIES),George Adrian (THE MAYBIRDS),composer Vincent Jones, and producer Michael Rozon.The spoken-word version of “Vilified” arrives as Cantrell heads out on his first headlining tour supporting “I Want Blood”. The five-week tour kicks off on January 31 in Niagara Falls, with FILTER opening on all dates.”I Want Blood” was released on October 18. The LP, co-produced by Cantrell and Joe Barresi (TOOL, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MELVINS),was recorded at Barresi’s JHOC Studio in Pasadena, California. The album features contributions from bass heavyweights Duff McKagan (GUNS N’ ROSES) and Robert Trujillo (METALLICA),drummers Gil Sharone (TEAM SLEEP, STOLEN BABIES) and Mike Bordin (FAITH NO MORE),and backing vocals from Lola Colette and Greg Puciato (BETTER LOVERS, ex-THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN).Ahead of the album’s release, Cantrell has been featured on the cover of Revolver, participated in a career-spanning conversation with Rick Beato, and has received widespread praise album for the collection’s heavier sound. Metal Hammer described “I Want Blood” as having an “iconic sound, sludgy guitars and soulful vocals.”Cantrell’s tour with BUSH concluded three months ago, with the North American outing wrapping up at the iconic Greek Theatre in Los Angeles on September 15.Cantrell’s previous solo album, “Brighten”, came out in October 2021. The LP was Jerry’s first project without ALICE IN CHAINS in 19 years.Jerry’s career outside of ALICE IN CHAINS has consisted of two other solo albums and contributions to major film soundtracks. Cantrell’s first solo album, “Boggy Depot”, was released in 1998, followed by his second album, “Degradation Trip”. In addition to his solo artist work, Jerry has released music on soundtracks for several films, including “Spider-Man”, “The Cable Guy”, “John Wick 2”, “Last Action Hero” and “The Punisher”.ALICE IN CHAINS regrouped in 2006 with William DuVall joining the band, and released its third LP with DuVall in the lineup, “Rainier Fog”, in August 2018.Photo credit: Darren Craig[embedded content]
