Screaming Trees is an American rock band formed in 1985. The guys write songs in the direction of psychedelic rock. Their performance is filled with emotionality and unique live playing of musical instruments. This group was especially loved by the public, their songs actively broke into the charts and occupied a high position.
Creation history and first Screaming Trees albums
Screaming Trees was formed by the Conner brothers, who collaborated with Mark Lanegan and Mark Pickerel. The guys went to the same school, and in high school they had a common interest in rock compositions. Then the future musicians decided to join forces and start a joint musical career.
The group was organized in a very small town, so the guys often had problems finding a place to rehearse and perform. Beginning musicians strongly rallied and began hard work. They first rehearsed at the video rental store owned by the Conner family.
Screaming Trees made their first appearances in local bars and venues for small audiences. In the same year, the newly formed group recorded their first demo tape in one of the recording studios. The guys persuaded the owner of the studio to release it on the indie label Velvetone Records, and a year later they recorded and released their album Clairvoyance, which became their debut.
The style of this album combines psychedelic and hard rock, which was a highlight for the music industry. Through their hard work, the band secured a long-awaited contract with SST Records.
Over the next two years of productive work, the group released four albums, and also participated in various shows and festivals.
New contract and line-up changes for Screaming Trees
In 1990, a new life began for Screaming Trees. The guys signed another contract with Epic Records. A year later, the band began working on a new fifth album and released it as "Uncle Anesthesia".
The work of the musicians was fully justified and several songs from this album gained wide popularity, and also took the first lines of the charts. The band members began to be recognized on the street, as well as invited to various festivals, shows and photo shoots.
Rotations in the Screaming Trees group
After this album was released, one of the Conner brothers left the band. He decided to change the scene and went on tour with another band as bassist. The musician was immediately replaced by Donna Dresh, who successfully replaced him. It was during this period that the peak of the development and popularity of Screaming Trees fell.
After some time, the drummer also left the group, but he was replaced by Barrett Martin. A year later, with an already updated line-up, the guys recorded another new album, Sweet Oblivion.
This album was a huge success and won a large audience. Some songs even soared to the top of the charts and were played on radio stations. The album sold out with great speed and the band was a big commercial success.
The guys decided not to miss the success of the album and support it with a tour. During this year-long tour, misunderstandings and tensions arose between the participants. After that, Screaming Trees immediately went on hiatus.
Reunion and new discoveries
In 1995, the guys reunited again and went on tour to Australia to perform at the Big Day Out festival. After its completion, the band began to work hard on the continuation of the successful and sensational album "Sweet Oblivion".
After one attempt at making an album, the band finally decided to hire a new producer. The efforts of the guys were justified, and the group, together with George Drakoulias, released a new album. It was called "Dust" and was released in 1996.
This album did not match the success of its predecessor, but it still hit the charts even outside the United States.
After another US tour with a new album, the guys took a break again. During this rest, Lanegan began work on his solo album.
Label search and breakup
In 1999, the band returned to their usual work in the studio and recorded several demos. The decision was made to send them to various labels, however, no label was interested and did not respond to them.
A year later, the group gave several high-profile concerts in order to somehow attract attention, but this was not crowned with any success. Despite this, Screaming Trees still released the song on an Internet label, and in 2000, after the concert, the guys announced the final breakup of the group.
After the breakup, each of the members of the group took up solo projects, and some of the guys joined other groups.
To the delight of all fans, in 2011 the band announced that the album they had previously recorded together would still be released as the final one. It was released on CD under the title "Last Words: The Final Recordings". Despite the fact that the album was very late, the public showed keen interest in it.
Screaming Trees is a successful and popular band that pleases its fans with compositions in an unusual musical direction, as well as live playing musical instruments and thundering concerts. Even after the breakup of the group, their songs live on in the hearts of fans.
