Critical Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Sputnik Music | |
| CANOE | favourable |
| Entertainment Weekly | B+ |
| Obnoxious Listeners | |
Degradation Trip received overwhelmingly positive reviews from various media and stronger enthusiasm than Cantrell's solo debut. Many critics noted that the album holds many similarities to the Alice in Chains sound while also featuring new elements. Its bleak lyrical themes also gained much attention, particularly due to the recent death of Layne Staley.
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." Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine claimed that "serious listeners and longtime fans will appreciate the album as Cantrell's best record since Dirt" and regarded Cantrell as being "on top of game". 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." Blender's J.D. 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. Cantrell creates songs, not just riffs, and Degradation Trip is packed with memorable melodies and strikingly vivid lyrics."
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