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Screaming Trees - Uncle Anesthesia Audio CD

A fair review of the Screaming Trees "Uncle Anesthesia" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Screaming Trees reviews here, or go back to the Screaming Trees tabs.

Screaming Trees Band: Screaming Trees
Title: Uncle Anesthesia
Rating:
Release Date: 1991-02-02
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Beyond This Horizon 2: Bed of Roses 3: Uncle Anesthesia 4: Story of Her Fate 5: Caught Between 6: Lay Your Head Down 7: Before We Arise 8: Something About Today 9: Alice Said 10: Time for Light 11: Disappearing 12: Ocean of Confusion 13: Closer

Excellent album
I bought this album nearly at random - the cover art was very cool - and boy did it work out. This is one of my favorite albums, not just by the Screeming Trees, but in general.

Baritone vocals, melodic indie-grunge guitar distortion, an extremely subtle spanish vibe in places (just a couple times), and some real catchy riffs.

The vocals are deep, like The Crash Test Dummies, but ventures into the higher ranges a bit more. When he does, it remeniscent of Kurt Cobain in "Dive" off Incesticide.

It can take a couple listens to really catch on to this one. But if you are like me and really appreciate "off-enough-to-miss-the-mainstream" rock music, then you'll probably love this pick.

Also check out 'Phaseshifter" by Redd Kross.


Mixed Results
This CD is one of the weaker Tree's efforts (and the band had admitted that, they were not at ease making their first major label release. I have to disagree with the mostly fans' reviews here. ) I have Buzz Factory too, which I like better - so I'm not just comparing it to the more mainstream "Oblivion" or "Dust".

The principal problem is production quality. Vocals are muddy and not mixed well. It hard to understand what's being said, much of the time which makes the album feel a bit unaccessible at first.

There are some interesting songs on here though. The album harkens to a late Beatles/Doors era sound; and I don't feel like it's fair to call it grunge.

If you're reading these reviews, and like some of the other Trees CDs, I think you will find something to like here. Just be prepared to give it a couple of listens to decide which tracks you like.


Overlooked and Awesome
While Sweet Oblivion is a darker record, this just seems to be more accessible- you actually feel uplifted after listening to it. This cd is almost as good as their best- Sweet Oblivion. Mark Pickerel's drums are a bit more imaginative than Barret Martin's- but both are good drummers for this genre. This record showcases what grunge stood for- good songwriting, originality, a bit of punk mixed in with the classic rock approach as well. For anyone who was too young to appreciate the grunge scene when it happened, and who wants to get into it a bit, I would recommend this highly. Then get Sweet Oblivion. Fantastic couple of records- it's really splitting hairs trying to decide which is superior. One is more light, one is more dark. And to the guy that has a Soundgarden fixation- remember what Plant said in The Song Remains the Same- "Does anyone remember laughter?" Get over it. Get over to the checkout lane and pick this up. It's great. .


start here
Those are okay albums, but they document the Screaming Trees during what amounts to (and you'll agree after hearing the rest of the back catalog) their slowdown. With all the undue attention on Sweet Oblivion and Dust, this album gets rather unfairly overlooked. They are comfortable records by a band that finally achieved their little bit of spotlight.

Uncle Anesthesia, on the other hand, came out just prior to the Seattle grunge strip-mining boom. It is sequenced with listening in mind -- moods shift and instruments attack and decay in just the right spots. As their first major-label release, Lanegan's voice and the Connor brothers instruments get the right amount of weight and space. Chris Cornell does a fine job of producing. Mark Pickerel makes his final appearance on drums, to be replaced by the more overstated playing of Barrett Martin on Oblivion and Dust. Yet here Pickerel makes some fine contributions to the proceedings, as songs like "Alice Said" and "Time For Light" attest.

Uncle Anesthesia is steeped in American garage rock, a love for the 13th Floor Elevators/Nuggets box sets, vintage sounding effects pedals, and dusty lysergic poetry. Coupled with all that is a deft understanding of melody and energy that ebbs and flows in the service of each song, unafraid to introduce new elements (like the swirling horns of "Disappearing" or the recorder played by Cornell on "Lay Your Head Down"), but not owned by production flourishes (as the eastern-tinged conceits of Dust occasionally were).

There are no real "hits" here, although "Bed Of Roses" should have been. But there is an album-worth of solid, memorable songs tastefully and muscularly rendered, garage-psychedelia at an early high water mark. Unsung as it (mostly) was, this album is one of the best encapsulations of the early grunge sound that does not have a baby in a swimming pool on its cover.

This is easily one of the finest American rock albums of the 90s. Work your way backward from here.


This is the One

I'm glad The Trees got the recognition they deserved but they should have got it when Uncle Anesthesia came out. Sweet Oblivion blows !
This album is so superior to that inflated box of pus, it makes me sick.
"Bed of Roses", "Caught Between", "Lay Your Head Down", "Alice Said", "Closer", I mean come on, what was everybody smoking ? Why wasn't this the break through million seller ?
Get out of town, don't pass go, buy this album so Lanegan can get another fifth of whiskey and a pack of smokes. And if it isn't all I said, Amazon will refund your money.
No questions asked, punk !
Nirvana or any of those Mudhoney grunge [. . . ] can't touch this.
.


You can see a complete list of all Screaming Trees discography, or go back to the Screaming Trees tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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