“Once you hit that first note and get into the groove, and you hear the roar from the crowd, any feelings of tiredness or whatever, I don’t really get”: Jerry Cantrell names the riff that “defines” Alice In Chains

Jerry Cantrell publicity photo — (Image credit: Darren Craig)

Alice In Chains guitarist/vocalist Jerry Cantrell has revealed which riff he thinks “defines” the band.

The musician, 58, makes his pick during a Metal Hammer fan Q&A. When one reader asks for the riff that, in Cantrell’s opinion, summarises the essence of the alt-metal stars, he names their famed single Man In The Box, taken from 1990 debut album Facelift.

“That’s a tough one,” Cantrell responds. “The first big one was Man In The Box and that seems to be one of our immediate, universal riffs. Rooster [from 1992’s Dirt] is another but I don’t know if that’s necessarily a ‘riff’. I’d say Man In The Box.”

Hammer then asks the guitarist if he’s ever got sick of playing the Man In The Box riff in the 34 years since the song came out.

“Once you hit that first note and get into the groove, and you hear the roar from the crowd, any feelings of tiredness or whatever, I don’t really get,” he answers.

“I think you’re lucky if you have a song that people want to hear, so you’ve got to play it for them. We’ve been lucky enough to have a good handful of songs throughout the years, so the challenge becomes, what do you cut out? Somebody’s always going to be bummed out. Ha ha!”

Man In The Box was released as a single in January 1991, almost six months after Facelift came out. The band’s second single after We Die Young, it was a moderate hit, reaching number 18 on the US Mainstream Rock chart. Its success gradually grew, getting nominated for the Grammy Award For Best Hard Rock Performance in 1992 and eventually being certified Platinum three times over in the US.

The song became Alice In Chains’ most-played live, currently boasting 860 performances per setlist.fm, and now stands as the band’s most listened-to on streaming services. On Spotify, Man In The Box has upwards of 439 million streams.

Cantrell released his new solo album, I Want Blood, in October. The record sees the guitarist collaborate with legendary Guns ’N’ Roses bassist Duff Mckagan. Cantrell explained how the pair met in a recent interview with Classic Rock.

“I think we met in L.A.,” he said, “and I ended up over at his house one night. He’s a Seattle dude, and he’s been a fixture on the local music scene forever. I was a big fan of Guns ’N’ Roses, and it had to be the late 80s/early 90s when we met, and we’ve been buddies ever since.

Artists

Louder’s resident Gojira obsessive was still at uni when he joined the team in 2017. Since then, Matt’s become a regular in Metal Hammer and Prog, at his happiest when interviewing the most forward-thinking artists heavy music can muster. He’s got bylines in The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, NME and many others, too. When he’s not writing, you’ll probably find him skydiving, scuba diving or coasteering.