Mark Lanegan solo album recommendations... (RIP February 2022)

Realised he was being limited to solo albums? Tough shit, I can highly recommend Ballad of the Broken Seas.

...Homme has dealt with similar questions regarding Mark Lanegan, whose formidable presence is noticeably absent from Over the Years and Through the Woods. Lanegan is seemingly the only member of Queens with access to a revolving door—he left Queens right around the time Oliveri was fired, but returned to the fold less than a year later. However, those familiar with Lanegan’s somewhat sordid history shouldn’t be all that surprised. “Mark has had a drug problem for years that’s just deadly,” Homme explains. “I love the guy—he’s one of my closest friends, and that’s why I can’t hang around him right now. It sucks, because I want to. I’ve always sought ways to try to elevate Mark in the public eye so more people would know who he was. But you know, he’s unwilling to even let people know when he has a record out. [Lanegan has released six solo albums since 1990.] He’s not that social of a guy, and I wish he’d understand that he doesn’t understand what the rest of the people don’t understand about him. He writes great music, and it doesn’t need to be any more than that. I love him, but he also needs to get up off the cross and fuckin’ play rock n’ roll.”

Bonnie Brae, Twilight Singers

there was a rapture
so i can never see you anymore
nightmares believable
walking into sweet oblivion
i'm not saying it's easy
to feel it all nor not at all
when somebody say, lay down your gun
and when you lay it down, get ready to run

situation dire
it's gone away, it's not going away
since you're wasting time again, my friend
on bonnie brae, on bonnie brae

if she's your master
then get down on your knees and beg for more
i'm not saying it's easier
to live your life like her little whore

'cuz when you play with fire
take your fate, it's not going away
situation dire, on bonnie brae
on bonnie brae, on bonnie brae

the soul, the screen, the smoke in between
the rise, the fall, the thrill of
the first, the last, the sins of the past
the burn, the fade, the skin that you've flayed
come see, the sun, kill everyone
but me, i'm free indubitably

There was a rapture
So I can never see you anymore
Not saying it's easy
Not saying it's easy...

His collaborations have been great but I am more than ready for a new solo record, Bubblegum seems like it came out ages ago. Lately I have really been enjoying I'll Take Care Of You.

Jim

Bubblegum is probably my favorite, i actually pulled it out last week for a spin. but i need to hear all the solo records (i've heard maybe half of them). great guy though, was killer on the Gutter Twins tour this spring.

He's too old.
Irrelevant.
96BPM at best

Fer Dumb Comment?

yeah that was stupid. Lanegan's great live. he's not about showmanship, stage presence, anything like that. it's all about That Voice. and man does he still have it going live (and on record, btw).

http://thequietus.com/articles/13327-mark-lanegan-imitations-album-stream

Heard that the other day -- the man's still got it.

v nice

this is basically American VI: YOLT, isn't it? I keep imagining that Mark recorded several albums' worth of cover songs with Martin Feveyear, with this album being the final installment of odds 'n' sods that didn't make it onto the earlier collections. I know Mark chose the material himself and has a sincere appreciation for the original artists, but there's a whiff of "give this guy any old schlock, and he'll put his own world-weary, whiskey-soaked stamp on it" to the project. with the exception of "Pretty Colors", the oldies material is weaker than the contemporary stuff.

part of what I liked about I'll Take Care of You is that he was unashamed to play tastemaster, covering cool, obscure singer-songwriters like Tim Hardin, Fred Neil, Dave Van Ronk who were obvious precursors for his own music. but on Imitations he isn't ashamed of his uncool, somewhat kitschy track picks, and ironically the performances are stiffer and more self-conscious because he's less suited to the material. the sweet string arrangements only heighten the disconnect between singer and song. it's not a bad album, but it's definitely his weakest solo effort. to my ears, this album, his collaborations with Isobel Campell, and some of his guest appearances are little more than showcases for his wonderful singing voice, but that isn't enough to interest me anymore. eh, Blues Funeral and the Gutter Twins album were great, so I'm not worried that he's completely run out of ideas.

I can't believe he shelved these songs for 13 years. some of his best work, imho.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KaOaHD3ndmI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAvrybmGzAs

Huh, apparently no talk about Gargoyle, his newest, on here, or maybe I've just forgotten where it is. Came out a few months ago and while I picked out a couple of great songs from it from the start -- "Beehive" is my favorite, easy -- a relisten last night made it fully click front to back -- it's easy to say Yet Another Great Mark Lanegan album but it really is. A remix EP also came out that's really enjoyable.

But I also bring this up because after nearly 25 years of being actively interested in his work I finally saw him last night live for the first time. What a ridiculously good show. As my girlfriend said, it's remarkable just how easy his backing band made everything look, just one sharp performance after another in all manner of approaches and styles. Meantime the man himself similarly nailed it, that rich and ragged sound song for song, and all he had to do was just stand there, sing, maybe move a bit here and there and otherwise limit it to occasional thank-yous and a band introduction near the end.

What blew my mind into the next room was the final song, though -- a cover of "Love Will Tear Us Apart," unintroduced. They just hit those opening riffs and I thought I might know it, then the full synth part kicked in and goddamn. And it couldn't have been a better match for both his voice and his aesthetic.

All that and it was just refreshing to see someone like that who had 'the big hit' with "Nearly Lost You" all that time back not feeling the need to play it all, and nobody missing it or caring. Some acts aren't so lucky.

The new album is one of my favourites of this year. I saw Lanegan with Masters Of Reality supporting him some years back. He was great. Josh Homme and Nick Oliveri were backing Chris Goss in MOR.

This is already going to be one of my reads of the year next year

https://www.dacapopress.com/titles/mark-lanegan/sing-backwards-and-weep/9780306922800/

I haven't really kept up with his output over the last couple of years, the man's been pretty prolific!
MLB have just released a new album, Somebody's Knocking, the AMG review of which makes me curious to hear it.
He's also released a collaborative album (as Dark Mark, lol) with Italian musician Not Waving (whose solo output I've been enjoying a lot): Downwelling. This is an album I've grown to love over the last few weeks. The music evokes an idiosyncratic atmosphere of melancholy bleakness that matches so well with his vocals. Highly recommended.

no real interest in lanegan's stuff normally but what an odd and excellent record 'downwelling' is

I haven't heard his last couple albums, but he seems to have some very, uh, interesting ideas these days

https://www.spin.com/2020/05/mark-lanegan-rails-against-technology-i-had-my-own-private-snowden-in-the-room-with-me/

His new memoir is pretty great (although it stops around 1998ish, so we need a sequel), but he's clearly gone off the deep end with the 5G nonsense.

dude is on a mission to do as many guest vocals as possible it seems like? The Armed and Moby this week alone

tbf Moby could actually be a member of The Armed

lol

if he lifts for 8 months maybe

RIP Mark

Our beloved friend Mark Lanegan passed away this morning at his home in Killarney, Ireland.  A beloved singer, songwriter, author and musician he was 57 and is survived by his wife Shelley.  No other information is available at this time. We ask Please respect the family privacy

— mark lanegan (@marklanegan) February 22, 2022

Fuck.

Oh no.

Jeez. RIP

Holy fuck! No, this is awful RIP.

Awful.

Mods, probably worth making this the canonical thread if you get a chance? Thx

aw jeez, the older I get the more I liked his work... RIP

Wonderful vocalist and writer... really sad to hear this, I saw him a few times years ago

ugh this sucks, 57 is very young

what the fuck! ugh, he was really great and i was only recently starting to dive into his massive discography

From the RIP thread:

perhaps the greatest singer of his generation.

One of them for sure. Which is high praise, as more than 99% of all singers wouldn't even be in the running.

Literally and angrily said "FUCK!" out loud when I learned this news.

:(

And to you who never need
Fuck yourselves
I need some more room to breathe

RIP

fuck fuck fuck :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjme8WrPRA0

I ordered his memoir on interlibrary loan so hope it is still coming. I know there wasa 2nd one about him going through Covid in Killarney.
JUst hope he don't join the devil's army or however that song goes.

really sad, he had a tough go of things.

great singer and songwriter, incredible presence on stage

had no idea what he'd gone through in the last year - fucking hell, poor guy:

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/feb/22/mark-lanegan-screaming-trees-singer-dies

MESSAGE FROM IGGY:
Mark Lanegan, RIP, deepest respect for you. Your fan,
Iggy Pop

— Iggy Pop (@IggyPop) February 22, 2022

gutted

loved him since i was a teen, def one of my own personal mt rushmore artists. fuckin tragic loss

A few days ago I downloaded a sample of ML's memoir because unfortunately I had snoozed on his excellent writing. I am reading about the early days of the band and it's fun to put a face to a name.

i think that's mark pickerel on the left then van conner at the front and gary lee behind him

The baby has to be Pickerel

i went back & re-listened to the early Trees albums, they are really great. I think my favorite is Clairvoyance. First three or four albums definitely have a heavy throwback psychedelia/garage vibe. First album is that in its purest form imo, very Sonics, at times reminds me of Electric Prunes, just a bunch of 20 year olds making music & having fun. It’s cool & they are fucking great.

Intersting the different quality to Lanegan’s voice, he’s in a Jim Morrison lane here & hasn’t yet plumbed down into the baritonal depths of later Trees & solo career. More energetic YAYUH stuff, he sounds so good but its exciting in that unformed, “doesn’t know what he is yet” kinda way.
Youthful, obviously, too which is also fun to hear from a guy who has sounded older than his years for a long time.

Intersting the different quality to Lanegan’s voice, he’s in a Jim Morrison lane here & hasn’t yet plumbed down into the baritonal depths of later Trees & solo career.

He told me that during this era he'd walk offstage every night with a headache from trying to sing songs written in a register other than his. He was really sour on the early Trees stuff, and didn't sweeten on it when he wrote his memoir. But I love those records; they aren't the equal of Sweet Oblivion or Dust, but they are fantastic garage rock - In The Forest and Back Together have this excellent proto-punk energy, End Of The Universe has that thundercrack second riff towards the end that Jack White later half-inched, Cold Rain is just a fantastic pop song. And Grey Diamond Desert is just this majestic, slow, shimmering thing. That's the song where whatever Lanegan was going to become first surfaces.

For those with an interest in young Screaming Trees, The Fertilichrome Cheerleader Massacre has been released on youtube since last I checked!

Trailers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwDD8f-LiCE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIWDbWjuVu0

Full movie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rqghby05ImU

This whole session is great, they also cover The End and Tales Of Great Ulysses
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mjzmOquIP8g

So glad to see all these posts, photos, videos, links. ILM can be so wonderful.

Meanwhile, fwiw, I've written a very simple thing about discovering a deeper pattern in my mourning process involving musicians. Lanegan, Prince, Bowie, etc.

https://jaybabcock.substack.com/p/landline-in-love-with-the-love-that

Yes! I have that too - thank you :-)

Nice. I have already listened to that Bowie thing a few times just now.

The first memoir is pretty good, very scathing though. Really didn't like himself much. Hope he wasa lot more comfortable with himself later on.
I'm like 2/3s of the way through it.

Gary - The Bowie is just the best, isn't it? His joy in figuring out the puzzle of each vocalist's approach is a delight I never tire of.

Thanks, Jay. Truth be told I couldn't totally figure out who each singer was until I looked at the comments. Think Lou was my favorite, Marc Bolan a close second. To me it was disingenous of him to say Iggy was "hard to do" since there is a lot of obvious overlap in their singing styles.

Also, say hello to your brother for me.

Finally, you may call me James.

Just gonna put this here. Watch to the very end.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9BPh6fBsEw

Thanks. Will watch later. Also meant to come back and say I ended up listening to The Gutter Twins over the weekend and finally paid a little attention

Another gorgeous cover/interpretation I'd missed. I saw him joke/not-joke in a 2019 interview that it had become his signature song and now I hear why.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaGE_MsUmPA

xp That KXLU session is awesome

Missed this at the time -- Barrett Martin's response to the news (there are various further posts)

https://www.instagram.com/p/CaTD40dvh4g/

It was a real treat to do something long overdue here: an introductory guide to Lanegan’s work across all the decades and in numerous contexts.

https://theshfl.com/guide/mark-lanegan

The focus is on albums for Shfl so it’s not the true range given all the EPs, singles and one-offs, but I really think this gives him his real due.

excellent!

Thanks!

Enjoyed this write-up! Working my way through a few things I hadn't heard. The gravel/grain of his voice well recorded is such a force.

There's some really great live stuff from the Bubblegum tour in 2004. I remember the Milan date and the video from Other Voices in Dingle, County Kerry both being brilliant. May have said that on here before but not managing to look back on thread cos on my phone and video and other images are messing up scrolling.

Great stuff Ned!

Thanks very kindly.

A new piece talking with many who knew/worked with him

https://www.vulture.com/2022/05/mark-lanegan-tribute-remembrance-screaming-trees.html

beautiful

Among other things, I hadn't realized the mid-90s MTV taxi guy in those spots was Donal Logue!

Interesting. This appears to be something of a general memoir?

https://moochinaboutltd.bandcamp.com/merch/confessions-of-the-night-porter-mark-lanegan-moochin666

Or rather some kind of interpretive work of his lyrics and words but with his participation? Whatever it is, potentially of interest.

One year. Miss him.