Jerry Cantrell can be his own worst critic. He will have song ideas he will sit on and see nothing in them, only for his bandmates in Alice In Chains – or his producer – to persuade him to change his mind.
Speaking to Guitar World in 1996, upon the release of the Seattle grunge legends’ eponymous third album – the so-called ‘Dog Album’ – he explained how it took a group effort to help him sort treasure from trash.
“We have shared tastes as well as shared dislikes. It’s an unspoken language that we have,” he explained. “That’s not to say that we don’t sometimes disagree on stuff. There have been plenty of times where I think something is completely horrid and the other guys will make me check it out again. For weeks I’ll be like, ‘God, that sucks!’ Then one day it’s like, ‘Ohhh, I get it. Okay. That’s good!’ [laughs]”
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As Cantrell says, it can take weeks for him to come around to an idea he originally thought was bogus. Sometimes longer. Sometimes he never comes around to them, especially when it comes to his guitar solos. It’s always weird to hear an artist appraise their own work, especially when that work has established itself as part of the pop-cultural canon.
For many, Dirt is a front-to-back classic, the feelbad hit of the ‘90s, all swampy nihilism and self-loathing. But key are the moments of grace and levity that give it this great dynamic power. Cantrell’s ‘70s rock influences expanding the canvas. Hate to Feel could be an alternate title track, such as it captures the vibe.
But its seesawing wah solo? Cantrell never liked it. “I thought the solo on Hate To Feel was a piece of shit,” he said.
Cantrell was in good spirits in ’96. The ‘Dog Album’ had his tail wagging. They had recorded it at their usual spot in downtown Seattle, Studio X, then owned by the Heart sisters, Ann and Nancy Wilson.
Even so, there was part of him that still wished he could have found the time to nip back into the booth to fix up the solo to Grind and do it all over again. Toby Wright, the producer, talked him out of it. What we hear on the record was what he tracked for the ADAT demo.
“[It] works fine. I didn’t think it was that strong, but I never got around to fixing it,” said Cantrell. “Toby kept trying to sell me on it. I kept telling him I wanted to do it better because it just didn’t seem to work for me. In the end, it’s perfect for the record, but it took me a long time to feel comfortable with it.”
Maybe that is because Cantrell doesn’t see lead guitar as his strongest suit. We know he can rip – the solo to Them Bones has everything, including that Aristotelian narrative structure where we get a beginning, a middle and an end. Plus, it doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Cantrell says he has never been big on solos.
“I just put in what needs to be there. I’m more of a rhythm player who plays lead – or tries to play lead,” he said. “I’m not saying I do bad shit, but I just do what fits the part. I’m more interested in what the whole picture is instead of creating a big vehicle for Cantrell to wank off all over everybody.”
