DUST

Screaming Trees: Mark Lanegan (vocals, guitar); Gary Lee Conner (acoustic & electric guitars, sitar, background vocals); Van Conner (guitar, bass, background vocals); Barrett Martin (cello, harmonium, drums, percussion, congas, tablas, djembe). Additional personnel: Mike McReady, Jeff Nolan (guitar); Milori (cello); Benmont Tench (piano, electric piano, mellotron, organ); George Drakoulias (percussion); Chris Goss, Brian Jenkins, 21st Street Singers (background vocals). Engineers include: Brian Jenkins, Jim Scott, Brett Eliason. Recorded at Capitol Studios and Sunset Sound Factory, Hollywood, California and The Hit Factory, New York, New York. Finally released four years after 1992's SWEET OBLIVION and recorded during a chaotic period of intra-band turmoil--singer Mark Lanegan was paying more attention than before to his concurrent solo career, and a Don Fleming-produced album from 1994 was reportedly rejected by the band's label--1996's DUST is a post-grunge epic. Although the Seattle band's '80s albums on SST Records had obvious roots in folk-rock and psychedelia, those influences were obscured in the metallic roar of the group's two previous major-label albums. DUST is the most stripped-down of Screaming Trees' albums, with Gary Lee Connors' electric guitars mixed lower than before, giving more room to Lanegan's whiskey-cured voice. Neo-psychedelic touches like Mellotrons, flutes, and even sitars color the songs, which have a reflective, introspective feel missing from most of their earlier records. DUST is a giant step forward.