Early ’90s Pacific Northwest grunge-rock behemoths the Screaming Trees always took a backseat to fellow flannel-bearing brethren Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and Alice in Chains because of their lack of visual appeal, on-stage presentation and overall record sales. But their underrated, delicately balanced amalgamation of the ’60s psychedelic/garage do-it-yourself aesthetic; weird, pompous ’70s hard rock excess; and dynamic, underground ’80s post-punk aggression are melded seamlessly, and righteously applauded on this single-disc, 19-track retrospective of near-hits, which includes two never-before-heard Don Fleming-produced rarities (“Watchpocket Blues” and “Paperback Bible”), all recorded from 1990-’96. during their major label tenure with Epic Records.
The original lineup was led by gruffly mournful singer Mark Lanegan, steely drummer Barrett Martin and the beefy Conner brothers–churning guitar marauder Gary Lee and stoic Van on bass. They were one of the most influential, uncharacteristic and underappreciated bands to spawn from the post-Nirvana explosion of major label alternative rock signings–except mainstream America barely noticed. Matching equal amounts of melody and power, darkness and restraint, they briefly hit paydirt with the neo-classic “Nearly Lost You”, and the equally misunderstood “Alice Said” and “Butterfly,” both of which brought hypnosis and sophistication to a disputable, contented and sometimes self-imploding band wavering on the edge of the arena rock stardom that barely escaped them.
This article appears in Jul 28 – Aug 3, 2005.