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. [A two-CD Expanded Edition of
Dust was released in 2017, featuring an 11-track bonus disc including the non-album B-sides "Wasted Time" and "Silver Tongue"; live versions of "Butterfly," "Dollar Bill," and "Caught Between/The Secret Kind"; a version of "Darkness Darkness" originally recorded for the True Lies motion picture soundtrack; a studio version of
Tim Rose's "Morning Dew"; a cover of Australian hard rock band
Buffalo's "Freedom"; and more. The set also included a booklet containing
Screaming Trees memorabilia and liner notes by
Matt Reynolds.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
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