The Elton John album Jerry Cantrell calls “magical”
While the grunge era had several notable guitar heroes, Jerry Cantrell has always been one of the finest. Not only was his work with Alice in Chains some of the darkest of the time, with a distinctly metal edge, but it’s always felt more full-bodied in composition, musicality and production than that of peers – something I say through gritted teeth.
Forming a formidable partnership with the band’s elemental frontman, Layne Staley, Cantrell devised some of 1990s rock’s most essential songs, ranging from ‘Man in a Box’ to ‘Rooster’ and ‘Would?’. He provided an array of stellar guitar flourishes that cemented his place amongst the greats and as one of the great rock songwriters.
Alongside his evident power on the guitar, which encompasses both darkly pulsating moments and those of tender acoustic candour, Cantrell is a masterful songwriter and has always been the creative force behind Alice in Chains. He’s written most of their material, and even in the years following Staley’s death in 2002, he has continued producing music of the highest quality. Their first record after the tragedy, 2009’s Black Gives Way to Blue, is an exemplary body of work for a band missing what many deemed its defining figure.
There’s no surprise that Jerry Cantrell is such an accomplished musician, as he cites some of the best to do it as his heroes. Whether it be Tony Iommi, Jimi Hendrix, Eddie Van Halen, Fleetwood Mac or even Seattle peers Soundgarden, he has picked from a berth of places to establish his distinctive style. Another figure who made a significant impact on him was Elton John. Whilst their styles differ starkly in terms of songwriting quality and attention to melody, it makes much sense that Cantrell took his cues from the British maestro when he was young.
When speaking to Amoeba as part of their What’s In My Bag? series in 2018, Cantrell chose Elton John’s classic 1971 album Madman Across the Water as one of the vinyls he was taking home with him. He called the record “magical”, before explaining that when he was a young child, Elton John made him want to be a musician.
Cantrell said: “I love everything that Elton John does. But Madman Across the Water, there’s something really magical about this record to me. Just the work itself, the denim artwork, the tracks are amazing; ‘Leave On’ and ‘Tiny Dancer’, ‘Madman Across the Water’, I love every song on this record. Probably the artist that kinda made me want to be a musician, you know, Elton John. So that was the first thing that I got really turned onto, and I got what songwriting was, and feel and emotion, even though I was just a little kid, but loved Elton John. This one is one of my favourites.”
Watch Cantrell discuss Madman Across the Water below.
