Screaming Trees - Dust (Remastered) (2021) [Hi-Res]

Although finding mainstream success with the release of Sweet Oblivion, and the single Nearly Lost You from the soundtrack to Cameron Crowes’s film Singles, the Screaming Trees’ history goes back to 1985, predating many of their Grunge-era, Seattle peers. Formed in Ellensburg, Washington state, around the nucleus of brothers Garry Lee Conner (guitar) and Van Conner (bass), and fronted by the sonorous tones of Mark Lanegan, they recorded four albums and numerous singles for such grunge movers and shakers as Sub Pop and SST, before signing a major label deal with Sony's Epic Records.

Dust emerged in July 1996, featuring guest spots from Benmont Tench, on loan from Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, and Pearl Jam’s Mike McCready. Mixed by Andy Wallace (Nirvana, Jeff Buckley, White Zombie), the album kicks off with the visceral Halo Of Ashes, driven by Garry Lee Conner’s electric sitar, followed by the psychedelic single, All I Know and the plaintive Sworn And Broken. The album ends with a drone for the formidable Gospel Plow.

"In many ways, Screaming Trees missed their opportunity. They released Sweet Oblivion just as grunge began to capture national attention and they didn't tour the album extensively, which meant nearly all of their fellow Seattle bands became superstars while they stood to the side. After four years, they returned with Dust, their third major-label album, and by that point, the band's sound was too idiosyncratic for alternative radio. Which is unfortunate, because Dust is the band's strongest album. Sure, the rough edges that fueled albums like Uncle Anesthesia are gone, but in its place is a rustic hard rock, equally informed by heavy metal and folk. The influence of Mark Lanegan's haunting solo albums is apparent in both the sound and emotional tone of the record, but this is hardly a solo project -- the rest of the band has added a gritty weight to Lanegan's spare prose. Screaming Trees sound tighter than they ever have and their melodies and hooks are stronger, more memorable, making Dust their most consistently impressive record." (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Screaming Trees

Digitally remastered