Bubblegum (Mark Lanegan album)

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While many of the songs came from a place of dejection and ennui at the end of a tempestuous relationship, "Bombed" in particular came about when, after I had written and recorded it in just a few minutes, I put a microphone in front of Wendy Rae Fowler, my soon-to-be-ex-wife, and had her sing along while simultaneously hearing it for the first time. I loved the result as it reminded me of Royal Trux, a band I liked.

Also in I Am the Wolf, the singer writes that he wrote the love song "Strange Religion" in a Tokyo hotel room. The song was used in season 6 of the Showtime television series Californication , as well as during the closing credits of a 2017 episode of Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown.

Release and reception

Bubblegum
Markbubblegum.jpg
Studio album by
Mark Lanegan
ReleasedAugust 10, 2004
Recorded2003–2004
Genre Alternative rock, blues rock
Length49:06
Label Beggars Banquet
Producer
Mark Lanegan chronology
Here Comes That Weird Chill
(2003)		Bubblegum
(2004)		 Blues Funeral
(2012)
Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan chronology
Ballad of the Broken Seas
(2006)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 85/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
Blender Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [3]
Entertainment Weekly A [4]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [5]
Los Angeles Times Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [6]
NME 8/10 [7]
Pitchfork 7.2/10 [8]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [9]
Spin B+ [10]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [11]

Upon its release in August 2004, Bubblegum peaked at number 39 on the US Independent Albums chart, number 19 in Italy, number 28 in Belgium, number 30 in Norway, number 35 in Finland, number 36 in the Netherlands, number 43 in the United Kingdom, number 67 in Germany and number 189 in France. It was Lanegan's first commercially successful album. The single "Hit the City" peaked at 76 on the British singles chart and is Lanegan's first charted single. AllMusic's Mark Deming described the album: "With the Screaming Trees an increasingly distant memory and his brief tenure with Queens of the Stone Age seemingly over and done, Mark Lanegan appears to have well and truly become a solo artist, and while the dark and blues-shot introspections of Whiskey for the Holy Ghost and The Winding Sheet felt like a respite from Lanegan's usual musical diet of the time, Bubblegum sounds like an effort to fuse the nocturnal atmospherics of his solo work with the impressive brain/brawn ratio of his better-known bands." Deming awarded the album four out of five stars. The Guardian 's Alexis Petridis also awarded the album four out of five stars, writing: "Lanegan once called his bluesy solo work "death dirges". From its matte black cover inwards, Bubblegum never stints on the dark stuff. There is drug-induced despair and failed romance, with music to match: sibilant drum machines that recall 1970s art-punks Suicide, dolefully minimal guitar figures, shrieking feedback and the unmistakable wail of PJ Harvey on backing vocals. At its bleakest and least tuneful, Bubblegum is powerful enough to take your breath away. In every sense, Bubblegum is a staggering record".

Pitchfork reviewer Matthew Murphy commented that "Throughout Bubblegum, Lanegan proves himself adroit at navigating the back alleys of Babylon, but after the record's umpteenth reference to loaded shotguns, '73 Buicks, and goin' cold turkey, one can't help but think he might eventually want to take a stab at some new material. So far, his voice has proven to be well-suited for whatever use he has put it to; hopefully next time he strays a little further afield to better stretch its limits." Stylus Magazine 's Dave McGonigle: "It is, to be frank, one of the most remarkable and forward-looking rock albums that you will hear all year, and testament to Lanegan's ability to take desolate lyrics and fashion beautiful, redemptive tunes around them. This is the album that Lanegan always seemed about to make; forgive him his tardiness, and dive right in." [12] CD Times's Karl Wareham: "'Bubblegum', on the whole, is something of a flawed classic. When it's good it's excellent, but there's one too many fillers to make it a perfect album. It's still one of the strongest albums released for quite a while. Slipping onto the shelves with hardly a hint of hype and that's OK, this is one album that shouldn't need it for it'll sell by word of mouth for years to come." [13] Patrick Donovan of The Age awarded the album five stars and said: "It's hard to tell if the title is ironic, given the dark nature of the album, but perhaps he answers this on Bombed: "When I'm bombed I stretch like bubblegum." This album will resonate with listeners long after the storm has settled, the ice has melted and his words fade to black. A modern-day classic from one of rock's great survivors." Playlouder: "At times 'Bubblegum' is terrifying, exhilarating, intimate, sexy, weird, and downright wonderful. 'Bubblegum' is the sound of being loaded. 'Bubblegum' is highly addictive, so be careful." [14]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Mark Lanegan.

No.TitleLength
1."When Your Number Isn't Up"3:01
2."Hit the City"2:48
3."Wedding Dress"3:07
4."Methamphetamine Blues"3:16
5."One Hundred Days"4:36
6."Bombed"1:08
7."Strange Religion"4:07
8."Sideways in Reverse"2:46
9."Come to Me"3:45
10."Like Little Willie John"3:53
11."Can't Come Down"3:37
12."Morning Glory Wine"4:27
13."Head"3:04
14."Driving Death Valley Blues"2:48
15."Out of Nowhere"2:43

Personnel

Charts

Chart performance for Bubblegum
Chart (2004)Peak
position
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [16] 28
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [17] 73
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [18] 36
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista) [19] 35
French Albums (SNEP) [20] 189
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [21] 67
Irish Albums (IRMA) [22] 28
Italian Albums (FIMI) [23] 19
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [24] 30
Scottish Albums (OCC) [25] 32
UK Albums (OCC) [26] 43
UK Independent Albums (OCC) [27] 2
US Independent Albums ( Billboard ) [28] 39

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References

  1. ↑ "Reviews for Bubblegum by Mark Lanegan Band". Metacritic . Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  2. ↑ Deming, Mark. "Bubblegum – Mark Lanegan Band". AllMusic . Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Mark Lanegan Band: Bubblegum". Blender (30): 125. October 2004.
  4. ↑ Browne, David; Endelman, Michael (December 20, 2004). "EW reviews noteworthy music from 2004". Entertainment Weekly . Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  5. ↑ Petridis, Alexis (July 30, 2004). "Mark Lanegan Band, Bubblegum". The Guardian . London. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  6. ↑ Appleford, Steve (August 22, 2004). "Basking in a gloom that's light around the edges". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  7. ↑ Jam, James (December 9, 2004). "Mark Lanegan Band : Bubblegum". NME . Archived from the original on May 31, 2016. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  8. ↑ Murphy, Matthew (August 29, 2004). "Mark Lanegan: Bubblegum". Pitchfork . Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Mark Lanegan Band: Bubblegum". Q (218): 121. September 2004.
  10. ↑ "Breakdown". Spin . 20 (9): 120. September 2004. Retrieved May 15, 2016.
  11. ↑ "Dark Angel". Uncut (88): 96. September 2004. Archived from the original on July 24, 2019. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  12. ↑ McGonigle, Dave (August 23, 2008). "Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum – Review". Stylus Magazine . Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Mark Lanegan Band". CD Times. Archived from the original on 2007-10-11. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  14. ↑ "Playlouder MSP Music Service". Playlouder . Archived from the original on 2012-02-11. Retrieved 2008-10-20.
  15. ↑ "Mojave Phone Booth - Bio". mojavephoneboothmusic.com. Retrieved 2023-01-31.
  16. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  18. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  19. ↑ "Mark Lanegan Band: Bubblegum" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  20. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  21. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  22. ↑ "Irish-charts.com – Discography Mark Lanegan Band". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  23. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  24. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Mark Lanegan Band – Bubblegum". Hung Medien. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  25. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  26. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  27. ↑ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 7, 2022.
  28. ↑ "Independent Albums: Week of August 28, 2004". Billboard . Retrieved March 7, 2022.
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