Dust

Kinda surprised to find this album on here. It's completely unnotable. No real hits. Certainly didn't change anything even the genera. It's not a bad album, but there's nothing remarkable about it either. To me, it's just another of the hundreds of bands that tried to copy the Washington sound of the 90s but unremarkably so.

boring BORING boring that's right, it's a boring sandwich

Not bad at all. Didn't know them yet and didn't have very high expectations when I read about them, but it's really very decent. A variation of rather light grunge with some more experimental psychedelic rock mixed in. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

A reasonable description of the Screaming Trees would be to suggest they're the Eagles of Grunge. As an unabashed Eagles fan, I mean that as a compliment. It might explain why the music press didn't fall over themselves to give Screaming Trees the praise they provided the Nirvanas or Pearl Jams or even Soundgardens of the day. Or maybe it was because this band's vice of choice seemed to be booze instead of some of the hard drugs other grunge bands preferred. Whatever the reason, unlike the wildly successful Eagles, the Screaming Trees just never completely broke through in a way I thought they surely would after hearing them on the "Singles" soundtrack. Maybe their music was just too accessible for the grunge crowd to embrace. Ultimately the music is all that matters. This still holds up quite well - it's not nearly as dated as a lot of grunge from the Era - and deserves reappraisal. One should dock this a point for the horrible album cover, but acquiesce upon remembering the fictional grunge band Matt Dillon fronted in "Singles" called Citizen Dick.

I really enjoyed this album. Unexpected gem for me, hit in all the right places. I was a big fan of a lot of the grunge that came out (Pearl am, Nirvana, etc.). I don't know how I missed this group!

Uninspiring cover hides grand and majestic grunge (not grunge) album with nods to classic hard rock, 60s psychedelia, folk and blues instead of the nihilistic pop punk and metal of their contemporaries. Underrated.

I was this close to rating this album a 4 before listening. I love the Screaming Trees, and on top of that I've just finished singer Mark Lanegan's memoir "Sing Backwards and Weep" so I'm feeling a stronger connection to his music than usual. I last listened to this album in full about 10 years ago, and I think the only songs I enjoyed back then were All I Know, and Gospel Plow (which is one of my all-time favourite songs.) So I wasn't exactly going into this expecting much. But wow, I really appreciate these songs in a different way now compared to 10 years ago. I'm disappointed that so many people find it boring, but that's their rating, not mine. I still like Sweet Oblivion more as an album, but Dust is phenomenal, and a beautiful farewell to the Trees.

I was only aware of Screaming Trees because of Mark Lanegan's collaborations with QotSA. This could be an underrated gem, a grower, I'll be re-listening to in future.

Overall, the album feels kinda flat. Not bad but doesn't really grab me in any significant way. Indicative of the era really. Screaming Trees are one of those 90s bands that I know the name, but I couldn't tell you any songs of theirs that I know. Sounds like a thousand others from that time period. Meh. I do like a lot of stuff Mark Lanegan has done post screaming trees, though.

Lanegran's voice sounded frankly appalling at the start, but by the end I was on board, or at least less irked. So give him that. Give the band their dues, too, as dreary murksters who know how to keep things sprightly. Or if not sprightly, at least varied. The Indian guitar work helps. And they can arrange their way through five minutes plus when they need to. But in truth, I only think this is keeping its head above water because one listen isn't enough for me to parse what I surmise from the turgid and sad sack music are turgid and sad sack lyrics.

This is a band that I had heard of but never knew much about them and hadn't listened to their music. Personally the name of the band was a little deceiving (at least for this album), I thought there would be a lot of screaming so I was really pleasantly surprised! I really like this album and this band, one I will look into more.

I think I preferred Screaming Trees by Dust. After Abbey Road (yesterday), we now seen to be listening to some middle of the road bullshit again. It's not bad music, but the chord progressions are so textbook, with the lyrics on Spotify I can sing along, despite never having heard it before.

Damn this was the most pleasant surprise I’ve had since starting this. Really, really good for a band I’d never listened to before. Will absolutely return to this one. Fav songs: All I Know, Witness, & Gospel Plow.

very noice 5.5

Mark Lanegan is a god. This isn't their best album but that doesn't make it less than a 5/5.

This is brilliant. A riveting listen, compelling vocals, an alt rock grunge classic. Sounds so good. RIP Mark Lanegan.

A very cool album. Reminds me of Canadian band Tea Party. I like these guys much more than their grunge brethren like Soundgarden and bands of that ilk. Their sound is more nuanced and the vocals smoother and more inviting. I'll be enjoying this album quite a lot in the coming weeks 4 🌟

Usually when I read that a band is classified as "grunge" I'm not super excited. Most bands in that genre don't appeal to me - the music is too heavy on the noise and light on the melody. This was really good however. Solid songs, solid production, interesting tunes. 3.5 stars rounding up to 4.

I rather like this album. While uneven, the best of the tracks are better than a lot of the watered-down, over-hyped songs and bands with more output in the nineties. I'm not sure why they never crossed my radar back then. If they had, I think I would have listened to this album. Now, it's maybe a bit too rooted in it's time to make a regular rotation for me, but I would like to re-experience it occassionally.

Eh, not a fan, especially in a world with so many better bands. Leaving them in the 90's.

I thought it was just okay at first, but you know what, I'm not feeling it.

Generically boring 90s alt-rock. Might be my least favorite of the 90s styles to be honest, it's just.... there... Like, just listen to Pearl Jam if you want this style.

Dust is a great ride, really enjoyable, although the feelings the singer expresses are not really happy, but melancholic, bittersweet, anxious and anguished, in a tainted poetry that cherishes the song above the personal pain. Every song brings you to the next one in a nice journey, as if you were driving a car full of dust with an open window for you arm to rest there. Embarking a mystical journey in the middle of the night with a halo of ashes in the horizon as inevitable as the moon, the album starts nicely with a really catchy yet psychedelic song. The following morning you realize that all that you knew could have been yours, but you keep on stepping on the gas with the wind in the hair and the past in the rearview mirror. Another day passes and the night falls again looking at her instead of the road, as a specter in your mind. The sunset comes in a postcard view in Dying Days, one after another in the same car, to accelerate in Make my Mind, with a climax in the solo... And that false ending! The night settles in Sworn and Broken, passing the finger through the dusted car to draw a child with open arms and weird smile. But the next day comes as a bullet and starts shouting out loud with a guitar riff you cannot witness without awe, fear and vertigo as you look in the mirror and you try not to look too long. You need to stop after that ride. Halfway there. It's a broken morning outside. You need a break, as you're trying' to meet the dawn. After all, it's the longest way you've traveled / From the darkness to the light / Lord it's been a million miles / In these prisons you can't abide. All along you've been the traveler, forever outta time, forever just unwinds. You focus on the dew, as you want to make it through. You feel like rays of shattered light are there to bleed my eyes, as the spark has burned away until the blind has settled inside. You've been in roads they have never seen, been or dreamed, and you need someone to take you higher... But the next day you waking up without her again and the sky burns into your soul. All you need to know is that she's yours. But you feel alone. And your dreams are torn. The car's gone. She's gone. All is left is dust.

I'm conflicted about this rating. I absolutely loved this album but I can't tell you why. I don't know if it just scratched same nostalgic itch as Smashing Pumpkins and Sunny Day Real Estate or it was just legitimately great. Either way it's going in my rotation. Loved it.

Had never listened. Loved this album.

Never heard of Screaming Trees but glad I know them now. Great grunge/rock sound to their music. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.

-grunge -rock -psychedelic -driving -dreamy -Middle Eastern and Asian influences -nice harmonizing -good basslines Mark Lanegan's voice was smooth at all points of the vocal spectrum. Gone too soon. This album ranks high in their catalog.

Reading the reviews here you’d think this is the dullest record on the planet earth but I was happily blown away. It’s subtle, grungey, energetic and accessible in all the right ways. The first song is probably weakest for me which may have turned people off. 4.5/5 rounded up, great stuff!

I thought this album was unfairly overlooked at the time of release, and it still sounds great 27 years on. An expansion of the sound from 1992's Sweet Oblivion, with Benmont Tench adding some welcome keyboard backing.

Incredibly solid, verging on the definition of my favourite genre of music right here. Straight forward but with feeling. No surprise that Josh Homme was in/around these guys can hear how they influenced QOTSA big time

There’s something in my head telling me I’ve at least come across the name Screaming Trees before, but I can’t place where. I don’t recognise any song titles on this album, but I’m eager to find out if I get any pangs of recognition. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: All I Know, Gospel Plow This was pretty great. I enjoyed it to the point that when I could feel the music wrapping up, I was a bit gutted as I wanted it to continue on. The album isn’t too short by any means, taking 44 minutes to listen to everything, and yet I still wanted more! The singing had such a deep, rich tone, and the guitar distortion was such a delight - not too distorted that it becomes a mess, but still with plenty of grit. Overall, a very enjoyable surprise for me with this album today.

AMAZING

Don't know how I haven't come across them before being a fan of the Foo Fighters and Queens of the Stone Age. So happy!

YES GRUNGE THANK GOD i was beginning to lose hope. I adore this album, and basically all of Screaming Trees. Just the perfect music for me, and Lanegan is a fantastic singer for the music they produced.

This is one of my favourite alternative rock albums of all time. The record is packed with power and beauty. 'Look at You', 'Sworn and Broken' and of course 'Gospel Plow' are incredibly beautiful. With each listen, my favourite track changes. First it's 'Dying Days', then it's 'Witness' and the next time it is yet another one. Very impressive! Mark Lanegan truly was a genius with a voice of his own.

Dust stands as a monument to what a beast of a singer Lanegan was. Scrappy and hoarse yet fragile and beautiful. An absolutely unique voice mainly comparable to singers such as Waits and Cave. While a bit more polished than earlier Screaming Trees records this still sounds extremely raw at points. And while the string section delivers it is Barrett Martin's exceptional drum and percussion work that earns Dust the last star for me personally.

One of my favourite albums.

Solid blurr meets queen's of the stone age, this rocked

Dope, already familiar 5

She wears a halo of ashes Spectre of the wind Waits on me so patiently I no longer can pretend

Excellent grunge from when grunge was dying out. “All I Know” and “Sworn and Broken” are excellent songs that I return to frequently.

The Trees broke through on the neo-psych grunge of "Sweet Oblivion" but this is their greatest artistic triumph, encompassing not just psych influences (especially noticeable on the sitar-tinged opener "Halo of Ashes") but country and blues as well, especially on closing numbers "Dime Western" and "Gospel Plow". "Make My Mind" is another highlight, with a hook that makes the most of singer Lanegan's gravelly delivery. Unfortunately, the band would dissolve after this high watermark, though the "Last Words" compilation basically serves as a final "lost" album.

The middle eastern grunge thing going on in “Halo of Ashes” is really cool and unique. A lot of folk and blues influences I’m enjoying here too as I get into “Dying Days”. Really solid 90s rock album by a band I’d never heard of!

I really should like this more than I do. It falls into my music taste so well; I love 90s grunge-adjacent alternative bands like this. I think it's just missing the spark that makes the albums in this genre that I DO like so special. This one feels a bit generic in comparison, even when looking at it next to Copper Blue by Sugar, which is probably the album most similar to this one that I've heard on the list so far. Listening back, Copper Blue has the oomph that this album lacks. Maybe this album suffers more from Similar Song Syndrome so I can't evaluate each song individually as much, which makes it less interesting as a whole. I think the unthreatening production coupled with the fact that each song feels too sonically aligned with all the others kind of makes the album fade into background-music status.

Je n'ai aucune envie de vous livrer une critique à froid, plus de dix heures après avoir écouté cet album. C'est la raison pour laquelle je vais vous retranscrire mot pour mot l'échange que j'ai eu avec mon compagnon d'écoute gadelmapeze une poignée de minutes seulement après en avoir terminé avec les Screaming Trees : - Il était bien l'album d'aujourd'hui ? - Pas mal, disons 3,5. Problème : la note 3,5 n'existe pas sur ce site ô combien mal pensé. Alors pour remédier à cette anomalie , j'ai mis au point une méthode consistant à arrondir à l'entier inférieur. Trois sur cinq.

2 feels a bit mean but 3 would feel too generous. A shame because at first I was pleased it wasn't what I expected, a grunting underbite grunge album. Surprisingly Beatleish in places but a bit bland

Best Song: All I Know. Nice alt-rock chorus that feels radio-friendly in a not unpleasant way. Worst Song: Traveler. Nothing here sticks out here as singularly "bad", just generally boring, so this song wins by virtue of being slightly more boring than the rest. Overall: Perfectly ordinary music that I can't imagine a single person getting excited about. An album whose highs are as medium as its lows.

So I guess that the 1001 execs decide there's 30 or 40 genres (like grunge, for example) that should be addressed in their selections, and then present us with the best releases from those genres. Of course, if you're not a fan of the genre, like grunge for example, you question what exactly it is that makes this band worthy of being on the list. This was the question I was asking after 4 songs when I abandoned. But when I returned and listened to the 2nd half of the CD, which is a bit more acoustic and varied. It could have been worse. Still...

Screaming Trees were at the forefront of the grunge wave in the late 80s... and then kinda got left behind as the genre exploded in the early 90s. They never reached the heights that their compatriots achieved commercially, though apparently "Dust" was critically acclaimed. I'm not really sure why though. I know "All I Know," but I'm not familiar with the rest of the album. The Screaming Trees song I know best is "Nearly Lost You," off 1992's "Sweet Oblivion," mostly because it was on the soundtrack to the movie "Singles" alongside Pearl Jam, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and Alice in Chains. What does Screaming Trees not have in common with those bands? I'm kind of at a loss to explain why this was a well-received album. It was voted best album of 1996 by Kerrang! magazine!? Tool's "Ænima" came out that year, among others much better than "Dust." Because "Dust" is pretty unspectacular. It's fairly run-of-the-mill grunge. I don't get much of the folk and blues influence the Wikipedia article claims it has. At the end of the day, I've still got "Nearly Lost You" stuck in my head, even though I didn't actually listen to it today.

Bitterly disappointed in this one as a Kyuss/QotSA fan. Was expecting grimy, locked-in guitars and just a touch of edge but got derivative, radio-friendly Pearl Jam instead. The whole thing just feels as if it’s aiming for rock radio play with its big swooping ballads and deliberately repetitive vocals. Call it a case of unrealistic expectations, but I was expecting a lot more than this

I have once again failed to defeat the 90s music allegations

this album is legitimately EXACTLY what I was looking for when I started this project. Words cannot express how satisfying it was to drive off the airfield listening to All I Know.

I had heard of Screaming Trees before, but I don't think I know any of their songs. I really loved the sound of this album and was grooving along the entire time. The psychedelic sound mixed with grunge was great, with lots of variation from track to track, but just a really well-written and well-recorded sound throughout. I listened to it twice, five stars.

Rip Mark Lanegan

Great album. Mark Lanegan was one of the great voices of the Seattle scene. Also love the inventive guitar work of Gary Lee Conner. This band should have been bigger than they were.

grungy & great

My ears are still ringing like an hour after listening to this in my car because I just couldn’t turn it down. I see this classified as grunge, and from reading it seems like these guys were part of that scene. But to me this felt a lot more energetic, less morose, more like an extension of American hard rock, a la Iggy pop. Full and heavy but not weighed down? Really good music to drive to. Maybe unremarkable technically, but sometimes I just want to rock my dick off on the drive home. Maybe going out on a limb here, but can o my go with my heart…

A really good listen. It's very "of it's time" with its mid 90's rock sound, which is not a bad thing. They nailed the vibe. Adding to my collection.

Great listen

This was awesome. Lots of catchy tracks that were fun to rock out to

Other than seeing Mark Lanegan open for Nick Cave once, I had nothing more than a passing familiarity with this band. I thought this album was great. Trippy and energetic songs either real pathos in the lyrics. I’ll listen to more from this band for sure.

holy smokes.. what an album! i take back my comment about nirvana being the only good grunge band…

A fantastic album from a legendary band. RIP Mark Lanegan.

This thing surprised me because I did not expect to like it. It's a grunge garage album done extremely well. It's well produced, the guitarist takes a page from the psychedelic and progressive rock of the 70s and 80s and meshes it making this really polished grunge sound. I also like that it's clean enough it never feels too cringe, it gets its nasty and evil messaging not from extreme imagery or over the top scary sounds. It's rooted in reality, the darkness of spirituality and the world. All I know is great, Witness is the best song to me and probably one of the best songs this list has brought me, the grunge mixed with the psychey guitar is so sick. Gospel Plow really ends the album strongly, the percussion is creative and the song progresses in a fun way. This whole thing is a lot of fun and it really feels like a cool kind of rebellion that was really making interesting music. A real answer to the punk music coming from the UK. This is the kind of adventurous music kids can aspire to make.

Another 90s as hell album but I am not complaining at all. Screaming Trees is a band I knew about mostly through their various members (Josh Homme, Mark Lannegan) and that one minor hit they had “Nearly Lost You”. I’m glad this came up because I’ve been wanting to check them out forever and this is a perfect reason. Turns out I’ve been missing out. This album hits all my old nostalgia buttons. Basic guitar-bass-drums-singer composition, great solos, aggressive sometimes but plenty of feeling, lots of key switches and riffs, etc. It’s a proto grunge album that somehow got written during the peak of grunge. I can’t say I disliked any of the songs. The whole album is great. It makes me want to go to the train station to buy cigarettes to hide from my parents. To make mixtapes for a girl I have a crush on. To bang out shit covers of songs we liked with my unreliable garage band. To sleep until 2pm on a Saturday and stay out all night bullshitting with my schoolmates and throwing rocks off a bridge in to a river. Yeesh.

Really enjoyed this album. I don’t think I was overly aware of them at the time. Reminder me a lot of soundgarden.

Never heard of this band, but really enjoyed the album. Saved for listening again.

I loved this - specially in the context of 90s music this is absolutely incredible

Actually really good

Heck yeah. I smiled when this album came up. This one's a familiar friend. I threw Nearly Lost You on plenty of mix tapes back in the day. I've listened to these guys off and on over the last 30 years. It wasn't until Lanegan passed and I revisited their catalog that I really connected. This album is brilliant. It hits the nostalgia trip to a much younger me. This will be on all day.

Early grunge pioneer album

this is one of my favorite albums from this site in a long time tbh

Very nice!

Really good

Eine Entdeckung, solider British Rock den ich nicht kannte. Cool!

Pleasantly surprised by this. Not "grungy" at all, thankfully.

I may need another listen to this album, just in case there is something I am missing. I had heard of Screaming Trees but not heard a single note by them. This is (another) case of a band's album being in this book and me not entirely understanding why that would be. This is like after-grunge pre-post-grunge rock. I like a lot of what I heard here even if this isn't music that will shock the world with its originality. The album slows down a bit towards the end with Traveler, Dime Western and the slow fade-out of Gospel Plow. The sound is almost not grunge enough to be grunge and almost too grunge to really be listened to as a musical artifact from 1996. The sound does tickle the part of me that loves college rock from when I was in college, but I also feel like this music isn't relevant anymore. So sure, "Dust" is on the list and I like it but can't tell you why.

I really enjoyed that album

Gorgeous songs, massive sound, just a fabulous album by Lanegan & co.

I don't understand the bad reviews. Had very low expectations but I'm captivated and listened to this album multiple times. "Look at you" is a very good song

Love this album

Really good, and always interesting to see what was going on elsewhere when Britain was looking inward. Not what I expected from Mark Lanegan, but I really enjoyed it anyway

Didn’t know what to expect from this one, pleasantly surprised

I really liked this album and thought all of the songs were pretty good.

I think that I must confuse Screaming Trees for a different band, because by name, I think that I don’t like the band…and this encounter is not the only time that I had done this. But I think I just don’t really know this band. I really liked this album!

I completely missed Screaming Trees back in the day. This is really good! And I see that they're from around here and two of them died recently when they were about my age and for some reason that makes me like it even more. I really like this one.

Here is a band that I wish I had discovered in 1996 - because if I had this would have really spoken to me. The psychedelic grunge land this band inhabits is established in the opening track “Halo of Ashes” with its strong middle-eastern sound, sitar and all. It’s one of my favorite tracks on the album. Other highlights on this album for me include “Dying Days”, “Make My Mind”, “Witness”, “Traveler” and “Dime Western” (love the drumming and touches from the Middle East again!). The other contender for favorite song on the album is “Sworn and Broken.” It’s got a lot packed in there with its melancholic sentiment and that great 60s organ solo at the end. “Gospel Plow” is a fascinating way to close an album. So satisfying! The more I listened to this album today (I’m on my sixth listen at the moment), the more impressed I am. You can’t help but note the interesting choices. A 90s “grunge” band with sitar, 60s organ and flute solos… why didn’t I discover this sooner? If I had a time machine I’d go back and slip this CD into my 1996 self’s stereo and maybe Screaming Trees would be one of my favorite bands today. I guess I’ll have to be content to keep this high in the rotation and start checking out their other albums.

I can’t believe I’ve never heard of these guys

Amazing grunge album. I'd listen to this all day.

Stupidly good.

nice

Really liked this album, from a band I don't ever recall hearing about. But makes complete sense Josh Homme was a touring musician for this album. Nice hard emotive sound to it.

Mark is voor mij een held! In zijn biografie is hij zelf niet te spreken over het werk van de screaming Trees maar ik wel

Kan ik ook 6 sterren uitdelen? Screaming Trees staat hoog - erg hoog - in mijn lijstje favoriete bands. En deze plaat is voor mij ook echt briljant goed. Doet zeker niet onder voor Sweet Oblivion. Wat een geweldige stem heeft die Lanegan, en wat een ontzettende hufter van een vent was het (zijn bio is echt ontluisterend). That's heroin for ya, folks.

It’s a solid album, can’t believe I missed this when I was growing up

Folk Metal! Yes. What's not to love!

Great album

Yes.

Great grunge record

A cracking grunge fest.