Wall of Fame: Jerry Cantrell

JERRY CANTRELL - inducted 11/08 by Herb

I stand by my October induction of a video game character. If you think that just because someone is fictional that they cannot influence what you do, say, or write, then you are a racist, my friend. But this month, since Dave was fired from the site, I'm going to induct someone that the three of us in the old triumvirate all thought was cool. This week's induction is Alice in Chains' guitarist Jerry Cantrell.

Besides being conservative Pittsburgh lovers, the three of us at Top Ten all share the same band as our second favorite of all time (although Dave may be a bigger QOSTA fan). That band is Alice in Chains, and the biggest reason is the writing, singing, and thrashing of guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Their songs are dark, hypnotic, and badass. Their grungy look is just flat-out cool, but mostly just icing on the cake. It's the music that defines this band, and as much as we miss Layne's voice, it was Jerry that carried (and I suppose still carries) the band. Not only is Jerry Cantrell one of the highlights of the grunge era, he's also seen some time on the big screen. Remember Jesus of Copy Mat in the beginning of Jerry McGuire? "That's how you become great, man. Hang your balls out there." On a side note, when I finally got a group of people together to play Rock Band 2, one of the first songs we played was Man in the Box. Needless to say, I eagerly grabbed the guitar and performed the backup vocals. Do yourself a favor and spend the rest of the day YouTubing AIC music videos and live performances to behold the coolest guy from the grunge era (sorry CC and Ed).