Degradation Trip is the second solo album by Alice in Chains guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell, released on June 18, 2002.

[1] It marks his difficult transition from Columbia Records to Roadrunner, and was dedicated to Alice in Chains lead singer Layne Staley, who died two months before the album's release.

[9] Degradation Trip featured two singles and was well received by critics, faring better than Cantrell's solo debut and bearing stronger resemblance to his work in Alice in Chains.

[13] Cantrell enlisted new bandmates (Faith No More drummer Mike Bordin and then-Ozzy Osbourne/Black Label Society bassist Robert Trujillo) to officially dissociate himself from the incapacitated Alice in Chains and, after being dropped from Columbia, faced a turbulent recording process funded entirely by himself.

Cantrell's backing band for the Degradation Trip tour was Comes with the Fall, featuring Alice in Chains' future co-lead vocalist, William DuVall.

[18] To continue developing his second solo album, Cantrell enlisted drummer Mike Bordin and bassist Robert Trujillo of Ozzy Osbourne (and later Metallica).

[20] However, he remarked positively on his recording experience with Cantrell: "I was primarily just there to enhance the bass, but he taught me a lot about simplicity and using space and notes that really mean something to a song.

[23] With its aggressive, metallic approach and dark tones, Degradation Trip more easily compares to Cantrell's previous work in Alice in Chains than that of his more experimental solo debut.

A hallmark of Cantrell's style, many unorthodox rhythms and time signatures are exhibited throughout the album as well as heavy use of wah-wah guitar effect and choir-like vocal harmonies.

Cantrell vents on the demise of his band and other personal issues with depictions of drug abuse, troubled relationships, and the rocky, hedonistic lifestyle of a musician.

The lyrical impact of songs such as "Psychotic Break", which also describes Cantrell's seclusion and reflects on deceased friends and family, was only prophetically magnified upon the sudden death of Layne Staley in April 2002.

The booklet also contains an image of Cantrell lying on the ground bare chested with his eyes and lips upside down, and a dismembered right hand with a 1/4" audio jack (such as that used for guitar cables) replacing the index finger.

The back cover has a photo of Cantrell, Trujillo and Bordin in a field, and the dedicatory "This record is dedicated to Layne Staley" above the track listing.

[27] With his album still being shopped around to labels, Jerry Cantrell began a national club tour with a show in his new hometown, San Francisco, California,[3] in January 2001.

[28] In May 2001, Cantrell had an accident while playing football after a concert at the Kentucky Derby and broke his left hand and had to undergo reconstructive surgery, which caused the tour to be postponed.

[31] Comes with the Fall, a young band that Cantrell admired, would continue touring with him into the following year and even participate during his sets, which included both solo work and Alice in Chains songs.

[37] That summer, Cantrell toured with Nickelback, whom he had befriended at a Roadrunner Records Christmas party, and played in select cities with Creed.

However, Bordin and Trujillo were occupied recording Ozzy Osbourne's latest album, forcing Comes with the Fall to both perform as Cantrell's band and open for him in October.

[16] The solo musician found himself ironically opening for bands that his previous elder group, Alice in Chains, had undeniably influenced.

Further details revealed that Sevendust's bus broke down on their way to Ontario and that they waited two hours for officers to clear them to cross the border.

Months prior to the album's release, Jon Wienhorn of MTV declared it "Cantrell's best and most personal outing since Alice in Chains' last stand, and in many ways the disc takes over where that band left off.

[42] Sandy Masuo of Rolling Stone considered it less adventurous than Boggy Depot but noted, "There's no happy ending when all is said and done, but it's a more poetic trip than most angst merchants offer these days, and for that reason alone it's a journey worth taking."

Considine similarly praised Cantrell's lyrics: "For all the overdubbed vocals and layered guitars, it’s the writing, not the arranging, that carries this album.