Track Listing

1. When Your Number Isn't Up
2. Hit the City
3. Wedding Dress
4. Methamphetamine Blues
5. One Hundred Days
6. Bombed
7. Strange Religion
8. Sideways in Reverse
9. Come to Me
10. Like Little Willie John
11. Can't Come Down
12. Morning Glory Wine
13. Head
14. Driving Death Valley Blues
15. Out of Nowhere

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58958 in Music
• Released on: 2004-08-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Album Description
This is the first new album in three years from ex Screaming Trees front man and Queens Of The Stone Age vocalist. "Bubblegum" features members of Queens Of The Stone Age, PJ Harvey, Greg Dulli from Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers, Izzy and Duff from Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver, and members of Earthling, Eleven, and Enemy. "A dark hearted rock triumph"--Maxim. "Thrilling menace"--NY Daily News.

Amazon.com
Bubblegum is Mark Lanegan's sixth solo album, but still he's relatively unknown to all but a few. Since going solo, the former Screaming Trees frontman has attracted a cult following, but if a man can be judged by the stature of his friends, then surely Bubblegum marks the beginning of Lanegan's turn in the spotlight. Featuring such high-profile guests as PJ Harvey ("Hit the City" and "Come to Me"), Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver's Izzy Stradlin and Duff McKagan ("Strange Religion"), Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers' frontman Greg Dulli ("Methamphetamine Blues"), and Masters of Reality's Chris Goss (who shares production credits, as well as appearing on a number of tracks), the songs on Bubblegum display a breadth of style that matches Lanegan's trademark depth of substance. And though he kept his profile comparatively low as a longterm collaborator with Queens of the Stone Age, his two bandmates Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri feature heavily throughout (Homme, in particular, plays guitar or drums on five of the tracks here). But this is by no means a QOTSA album. Bubblegum has a sound all its own, and Lanegan is firmly at the helm, with his gravelly voice and somber observations making him sound more and more like Tom Waits. Its pleasures may not be immediate to all listeners, but once found, they're difficult to shake. --Robert Burrow

Customer Reviews

A Dark and Dense Brand of Bubblegum
Lanegan is a man of many "phases." As a matter of fact, you may be reading this review either because of his work with Screaming Tress, his haunting and stripped down Americana solo output, or his recent singing contributions to Queens Of The Stone Age, have interested you enough to see what our boy is up to here.
The good news here is that Lanegan, rather than "returning" or "departing" from what you may be used to, has brought all of it together into a an intense boil, and come out of it with a powerful collection of songs that will offer immediate, if different, favorites for everyone.
In addition to this, the list of musicians called on to help his efforts is quite impressive and likely to make you salivate, even before the album starts playing. Whether it is PJ Harvey, Afghan Whigs/Twilight Singers' mastermind Greg Dulli, or Josh Homme -from QOFTA- to name only the ones I was most excited about and intrigued by for what they may add to this album, their contributions are a major plus to "Bubblegum'"s sound.
Speaking of "bubblegum" -a reference from a line in the song "Bombed"-Lanegan could not sound farther from what that word may make you expect. Actually, he sounds closer to Tom Waits than ever before, a similar tone yet not ever trying to imitate Tom, and he phrases his words in ways that remind me -at least me- of the dark sensuality of Jim Morrison.
The reference to Morrison may be more apparent on "When Your Number Isn't Up," and ominous and prophetic slow tune about mortality, or "Wedding Dress," as dark a "love song" as you can expect.
As far as Lanegan ability to bring into a single album everything he's explored musically in the past, I'd like to name some of the remaining tunes. "Methamphetamine Blues" is probably densest piece of the bunch, in part thanks to Homme's raging guitar and the machine-like pipe-banging that drives the song from the beginning ... Let's just say its title could not be more accurate
PJ Harvey's duet on the quieter "Come To Me" -one of two songs she sings on- makes it another high moment from this album, giving it a sensuous and menacing mood, think of it as a hymn to dark love.
Other songs I particularly recommend are "Morning Glory Wine," as tender a ballad as Lanegan gets; the bluesy "Like Little Willie John;" and the dense beauty of "Strange Religion" and "One Hundred Ways."
Last but not least, I must mention Chris Goss' co-production, which gives Lanegan a partner who seems to read his mind and soul, and pushes him to further greatness, and Wendy Rae Fowler whom I didn't know but whose voice adds incredible depth to the above-mentioned "Wedding Dress, and the very brief, although sad and gorgeous, "Bombed."
All in all, this is a remarkable album, a dark and fierce set of songs that has stretched Mark Lanegan in more directions than any of his prior recordings, and, to my taste, one of the best albums of 2004.

IS THIS THE BLUES I'M SINGING
Yes, Mark Lanegan's voice is a whiskey-soaked, cigarette ravaged bed of nails. We know that. It's exactly what makes him such an obvious candidate to sing the white man blues."Bubblegum" is his blooze masterpiece.

This disc is for the most part a fairly quiet endeavor. His tales of addiction/survival are all the more chilling for it. Even the "rawkers" like "Hit The City" & "Driving Death Valley Blues" have a spareness to them that evokes the ghost of Robert Johnson signing on the dotted line. By the way, whoever thought of pairing Lanegan with PJ Harvey was a freaking genius. Two of the most intense voices in any genre that fuse into a monster of mood & menace.

"Wedding Dress" pulses & creeps along towards some dark, disturbing altar.
"Methamphetamine Blues" has an industrial clank and tortured guitar providing just enough dread to a dreadful confession.

But it's really in the quietest moments where Lanegan is at his most effective. In "Bombed", "Strange Religion" & "Morning Glory Wine" he reaches an artistic peak his prior recordings have merely hinted at. These songs are torn and frayed like fallen angels staggering up to the bar. As beautiful as they are sad.

I've reconciled myself to the fact that the hard pop psychedelia of Screaming Trees will never be revisited. That's okay though, the dank, dangerous delta that Lanegan's muse currently resides feels pretty close to home.

One of the best damn singer/songwriters ever!
Mark Lanegan sings like he means every single solitary syllable. The new CD, Bubblegum is like buying an E ticket to the best sideshow you are ever going to experience.
The lyrics are as deep as the deepest coal mine on the planet. Each song tells a story and if you take the time the tales he tells are often so real they hurt. Most of the stories are troubled and true. With every solo work Lanegan has produced you get the feeling that you are looking, feeling and hearing things that are on a truely personal level. Drug addiction, worry, death, trying, failing, hope, fear, love... you name it and Lanegan can piece together a tale that will bring you in, sit you down, and make you understand. Bubblegum is no exception. He truly has a gift. That is why I have every Lanegan solo,album and every Screaming Trees lp(yes...lp's) since Clairvoyance. I have seen the Screaming Trees live. It was a sight. Intense. I saw QOTSA (Kyuss was ok) but I went to see Lanegan. Daisy Theatre in Memphis, Tenn. When Lanegan came on stage the temperature and mood in the room changed! He has that ability. The people in the audience who had been rocking to QOTSA took a step back and then eased forward looking at each other and thinking "What is this"? The side conversations stopped, people payed attention. Lanegan held on to the mike stand with both hands like it was the last solid object on the earth and let fly. One of the best damn singer/songwriters ever!