As I feel like I am always saying, the problem with hype is that you hear the hype before you hear the music.
And so I found myself struggling with this record upon first listen because I had read enough about this band to get my expectations up. I listened to it and I thought “This? Really?” I am somewhat familiar with Mark Lanegan’s solo career and so you can imagine my surprise when I came back to Lanegan’s band and found it sounds a little bit like Lanegan. My brain tricked me into disconnecting Lanegan, whom I don’t love, with Screaming Trees. (Yes, I am aware of how dumb that is.)
So I guess Lanegan’s presence was a bit of a barrier for me initially. But after more listens I did come to like it more than initially.
But, though I feel like I am past my initial reaction to it, I can’t say I love it like I was expecting to. I can’t say that I find the record as strong as other grunge band’s best records. (My understanding is that this is usually viewed as Screaming Trees’ best record.) Maybe it just has less of the things I like than albums by other grunge bands or maybe I just need to give it more time.
But I can’t say that it’s convinced me to check out other records of theirs which is disappointing because I sort of imagined that Screaming Trees were this great unimagined grunge avenue which I could venture down at some point, and thoroughly enjoy myself. That’s not the band’s fault. That’s hype’s fault (and my fault) but alas, this is just okay to my ears.
7/10
- “Shadow of the Season” L. Conner/Lanegan 4:34
- “Nearly Lost You” L. Conner/V. Conner/Lanegan 4:07
- “Dollar Bill” V. Conner/Lanegan 4:35
- “More or Less” L. Conner/V. Conner/Lanegan 3:11
- “Butterfly” L. Conner/V. Conner/Lanegan 3:22
- “For Celebrations Past” L. Conner/V. Conner/Lanegan/Martin 4:09
- “The Secret Kind” L. Conner/V. Conner/Lanegan/Martin 3:08
- “Winter Song” L. Conner/Lanegan 3:43
- “Troubled Times” L. Conner/V. Conner/Lanegan/Martin 5:20
- “No One Knows” L. Conner/Lanegan 5:13
- “Julie Paradise” V. Conner/Lanegan 5:05
- Mark Lanegan – Vocals
- Gary Lee Conner – Guitar
- Van Conner – Bass
- Barrett Martin – Drums