Mark Lanegan Bubblegum CD

In between the release of FIELD SONGS and its follow-up, BUBBLEGUM, former Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan sang for hard-rock heroes both old (a reunited MC5) and new (Queens of the Stone Age), gaining both fans and famous friends in the process. Thus, all eyes were on Lanegan for BUBBLEGUM, which features guest shots by everyone from PJ Harvey and Queens leader Josh Homme to Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan of Guns N' Roses. Fortunately, all this attention doesn't seem to have fazed the sandpaper-voiced singer; despite the guest list, BUBBLEGUM is as dirty, gritty, and raw as anything in his catalog.

While much of Lanegan's previous solo work is a mix of languid folk-rock, gutter blues, and the kind of grunge-mutated 1960s-psych influences that powered the Screaming Trees, BUBBLEGUM is lean, angular, and occasionally almost avant-garde. Simple, driving, Stooges-like riffs and rhythms abet minimalistic organ lines, heavily treated vocals, and a somewhat industrial tonal aesthetic. Notorious substance-abuser Lanegan's post-rehab lyrics are no less ominous or emotionally harrowing for their expanded perspective, and he remains a challenging singer/songwriter eager to explore new sonic avenues.

Screaming Trees Lead Singer

Recording information: 11a.d., Hollywood, CA (2003-2004); Del Boca Vista South, Pasadena CA (2003-2004); Donner & Blitzen Studios, Arcadia, CA (2003-2004); Kudzu Ranch, Mebane, NC (2003-2004); Lethal, Los Angeles, CA (2003-2004); Rancho De La Luna, Joshua Tree, CA (2003-2004); Sound Arts, Houston, TX (2003-2004); Sound City, Los Angeles, CA (2003-2004); Stagg Street, Los Angeles, CA (2003-2004).

Personnel: Mark Lanegan (guitar); Mark Lanegan; Wendy Rae Fowler (vocals, piano, background vocals); Polly Harvey (vocals); Alain Johannes (guitar, strings, organ, keyboards, synthesizer, drums, background vocals); Dimitri Coats (guitar, piano, drums); Troy Van Leeuwen (guitar, piano); Dave Catching (guitar, organ); Josh Homme (guitar, drums); John Kastner (guitar, background vocals); Aldo Struyf (piano, organ, synthesizer); Wendy Rae Fowler (piano); David Catching, Bukka Allen (organ); Molly McGuire (bass guitar); Keni Richards, Joey Castillo (drums); Tracy Chisholm (drum machine, tapes); Greg Dulli, Nick Oliveri, Ian Moore , Natasha Shneider, Brett Netson (background vocals); Chris Goss (vocals, guitar, piano); Izzy Stradlin (vocals); Duff McKagan, Aldo Struyf.

Audio Mixer: Rick "Soldier" Will.

Spin (p.120) - "[G]ruff stuff....[With] a genuine, slow-burning Leadbelly brutalism." - Grade: B+
Entertainment Weekly (p.66) - "[I]t seems as if it were rising from a deeply dug well, especially Lanegan's glowering pirate-in-recovery voice....He hasn't sounded this focused in years." - Grade: A
Q (p.121) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[He's] more alive and more vital than ever."
Uncut (p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]his is an entirely consistent record from a man who's yet to make a bad one, and whose rasping gravitas has made him one of the great voices of our time."
Uncut (p.75) - Ranked #6 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "[A] bleakly corrosive, yet strangely uplifting album that spits, snarls and nurses..."
Magnet (p.115) - "He expands his palette on BUBBLEGUM...A full-blown creative revival..."
Magnet (p.66) - Ranked #8 in Magnet's "The 20 Best Albums Of 2004" - "Lanegan does a few gypsy box-steps and a couple Seattle stomps, always dancing with his favorite partners: love and drugs..."
CMJ (p.6) - "His finest work yet swoons between nail-biting highs and strung-out lows..."
Mojo (Publisher) (p.84) - 4 stars out of 5 - "BUBBLEGUM is, in many respects, classic Americana, at its simplest level, wide-screen loneliness, the sound of rattling boxcars and rattling lung, of dusty roads and endless journeys."