Customer Reviews

Sweet Oblivion

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I hadn't heard of the Screaming Trees in the Summer of 1993, after I'd just gotten my driver's license. My sister told me she'd buy the ticket for me, if I drove her up to the Orange County Fairgrounds to the Screaming Trees, Spin Doctors and Soul Asylum concert. I balked for a couple of reasons, but mostly because I hadn't heard of the Trees and the Spin Doctors made me nauseous. The Spin Doctors did little to turn me around that night. The Screaming Trees, however, did good work. Very good work. I picked up Sweet Oblivion the next day.

Mark Lanegan's hoarse voice, which at times is barely audible, gives this essetially Seattle grunge band a full force push in the right direction. "Nearly Lost You," (off of the Singles soundtrack) is the obvious standout here. However, I was just as impressed with several of the other songs on the album, including "Dollar Bill," "Winter Song," and "Shadow of the Season." They are an extremely talented band, with the Connor boys backing up Lanegan on guitar and bass.

The Trees never reached the height of popularity they should have, based mostly on poor timing. Sweet Oblivion was released prior to the Singles soundtrack, rather than the other way around, which didn't allow the band to build anticipation for a new release. Add that to a 4 year break before releasing a new album. Mix liberally and you have a band that was musically capable but unfortunately didn't become as successful as they should have.

What you do have here is a great album with a great sound, solid guitar work and a bonafide would-be hit. Buy this album.

This album was released in early September 1992, just several weeks prior to "Dirt" by Alice in Chains and "Core" by the Stone Temple Pilots. Unfortunately, "Sweet Oblivion" was overshadowed by both "Dirt" and "Core" and never really made it or the Screaming Trees the commercial success they deserved. Arguably, this album from the first song to the last is a better album than either of the above mentioned by STP and AiC. The powerful and intense vocals by Mark Lanegan exceed those by Weiland of STP and Staley of AiC... really only the vocals of Chris Cornell from Soundgarden top Lanegan's. "Sweet Oblivion", to me, is an essential recording for any early to mid-90's grunge rock collection. It is a credible following to 1991's releases: "Nevermind" by Nirvana, "Ten" by Pearl Jam, and the self-titled album by the Temple of the Dog. Until Soundgarden released "Superunknown" in 1994 (which was the last great grunge album ever released), I probably listened to "Sweet Oblivion" more often than any other grunge rock CD. I would enthusiatically reccommend this album to anyone who likes the bands I mentioned previously and is interested in adding something new to their music collection.

Yeah they're from Seattle, but this AIN'T GRUNGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is soooooooooooooooo much better...

I bought this album right after it was released, a few years later they came to N'Awlins with Sponge, The Ramones, Soundgarden, RATM, Metallica and a few others. It may have been Lollapalloza, I can't remember.. Anyway these guys were absolutely amazing.. We all went to see the 'headliners' but we left talking about 'The Trees'..

This is one of those groups that you forget about. The CD gets put on the botton of the pile and you forget about it.. Then one day you'll hear Nearly Lost You or All I Know on the radio and you think "$h!t, I haven't listen to the Trees in a while" So you dig it out, and it sits in your CD player for the next month because you just can't stop listening to it...

I have probably listened to this CD more then all of my Nirvana, Soundgarden and Alice In Chain cd's combined.. This one is THAT Good...

From the beginning of Shadow of the Season, to the end of Julie Paradise (possibly the best song on the album) this album just never lets up.. And Talk about diverse.... Nearly Lost You demonstrates the great song writing ability that these guys possessed, and is an instant classic. The Secret Kind kicks @$$, and then to go from that right into The Winter Song, which is a slower, yet 'hard' 'ballad'..

It really is a shame that these guys didn't garner more of a following, they really were an awesome group...

Although labeled as a "grunge" band, Sweet Oblivion is anything but. This is a lean hard rock album in the vein of the Stones and The Stooges, and nearly every song sounds ready for radio greatness. There's none of the sludge and little of the angst that came to define grunge, and Lanegan's gravelly weariness is mesmerizing. A tragically lost gem that has stood the test of time, sounding as fresh and relevant as the latest in rock music.

It's really too bad that Screaming Trees were not bigger as their influence is now growing tremendously. Mark Lanegan is putting out relatively mild, but still emotional solo albums. And Josh Homme (ex-Kyuss) learned quite a bit on tour with them as he formed Queens of the Stone Age. The influence can definitely be heard. Sweet Oblivion to me is one of those albums that can sweep away everything in your mind and make you relax. As the Beatles said "turn off your mind, relax, and float downstream." A lot of influences here that really should not have been grouped into grunge. They put bits of country, psychedelic, hard rock, folk, and even a bit of Dylan to make a remarkable mixture. Mark Lanegan is by far the most underrated singer of the 90's. Nobody has come close to his beautiful vocal tone. Sure Chris Cornell can hit those high notes, but Lanegan secures the bottom, a place often missing in most hard rock and metal. The most perfect part of this album is the balance of songs and how they often build to all out craze....the musicianship is fabulous. The order of the songs is key to any album and this one does it better than most. A remarkable gem of an album that should be any every rock collection. I just wish there was more of it. The follow up "Dust" was good, but Sweet Oblivion was their peak. I would also have to say that the Singles soundtrack is a good place to start if you want a taste of the many styles around in the early 90's and the influence of them all, Hendrix, all on one great album. Not to mention, one of the only great Smashing Pumpkins songs.

Someday in the not so distant future rock historians will re-discover this CD and listen to the music recorded on the weird digital piece of plastic. They will love what they hear and will refuse to believe that it was released in 1992. They will use their time machine to go back in time and right this wrong and rock history will be rewritten. Please someone from the future who owns a time machine read my plea and make it happen...

Highlights: EVERY SINGLE SONG!

When I'm with my music geek friends talking music, and the topic is "What is a perfect album?", Sweet Oblivion is my go-to example. Flawless from the very first second, it's the kind of record that makes you sit and listen; the kind of record that makes you sit in silence after it's done, refusing to put another album in the stereo cause there's such a slim chance another album is going to measure up.

Have an opinion about the Grunge era and Grunge sound with which these fellas are associated? Forget it. The Trees may be of that to a degree, but the heart of Sweet Oblivion is songwriting. These songs would sound good regardless of style or scene.

And it's cohesive, ok? The first song sets a mood and it's sustained throughout; Sweet Oblivion hits it's highs with some raved-up rockers, mellows with a couple ballads, hits a bunch of notes in-between...but all the while, there's a common sound; a singular vision created by a band that was clearly at it's peak. No one will ever again sound the way the Sweet Oblivion-era Screaming Trees did (not even the Trees themselves...).

But I'm being kinda too earnest and somber here...I don't want anyone to get the idea that I'm calling this Art, that it is Important. There are no lyrical epiphanies being dropped, no new Guitar Gods or Ace Drummers being born, and it's no Pet Sounds-caliber production miracle...it's just a damn fine rock'n'roll record. Tuneful, emotional, rocking, and good from start to finish. How often does that happen?

That last point cannot be stressed enough. Others here have already said this, but I'll happily reiterate it: every song on Sweet Oblivion is a great song.

Yeah, this is a good one.

This album is better than anything by Soundgarden or Mudhoney and yet this band never got half the recognition of either of them.(Screaming Trees were from Seattle, too...I wouldn't call them grunge tho. The guitar work is much more....varied...than in most Grunge). A bloody shame they weren't hailed as the best thing since sliced bread (if, indeed, sliced bread is all it's..er....cracked up to be..)because they were really, really good. Mark has a wonderful voice and the guitars were psychedelic and heavy metal and just GOOD. It's hard to see anyone not liking it, really. I guess the Trees just got lost in the shuffle somewhere... If you get this album you won't be disappointed, seriously. This is one 8-year-old album that will never sound dated. So sad they broke up.

I walked out the door about 10 year ago...and told my household
I was going out to find Sweet Oblivion!!!..Well that night I went out to a friends house , drank a bottle of vodka,8 beers and went driving...crashed my car...went to jail...all that...damn...

Now all these years later...Im listening to the cd again...and Im floored...Mark Lanegan sounds like a dying man with some hope,,,,and the band rocks..the death chant...this is not the Grunge band that the papers talked about...this is the real stuff...pain...hell...drugs..drinking....man Im glad Im still around to write this...
Rock on...

This album is really wonderful. Nearly lost you is probably the most famous song on here, but it isn't near the best. For Celebrations Past and Troubled Times are absolutely amazing. After hearing For Celebrations past, I hit the repeat button and listened to it for about an hour. Other standouts are Dollar Bill and Shadow of the Season at the beginning. The Screaming Trees don't really fit into the grunge catagory, actually. They are in a similar vein, but there isn't as much raw aggression as Mudhoney or Nirvana, or the sludge of Soundgarden and The Melvins here. Mark Lanegan is a terrific singer, there's lots of low notes here, which I really dig. This is easily one of the best grunge albums.