| Whiskey for the Holy Ghost | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | January 18, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1991–1993 | |||
| Studio |
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| Genre | Country blues [1] | |||
| Length | 49:22 | |||
| Label | Sub Pop | |||
| Producer | Mike Johnson & Mark Lanegan | |||
| Mark Lanegan chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Whiskey for the Holy Ghost | ||||
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Whiskey for the Holy Ghost is the second solo album by former Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan. The album builds upon the roots music foundation that Lanegan had established with his debut The Winding Sheet .
The recording was reportedly a frustrating affair for Lanegan; at one point the singer had to be physically prevented from throwing the master tapes into a river by producer Jack Endino. In his 2017 book I Am the Wolf: Lyrics and Writings, the singer recalls:
From the time I began writing the songs until the record was done, Screaming Trees also wrote and recorded an album and did much touring, so I was compelled to work on my own record in the off-time. A week here, a month there – and what I had originally intended to be a quick recording experience stretched out over four years. Many different musicians, engineers, producers, and studios were burned through, and my behavior became erratic, not easy to deal with as I continually rewrote, re-recorded, and mixed tunes according to an internal, chemically cracked sensibility that sometimes verged on paranoia.
In an interview on WTF with Marc Maron, Lanegan highlighted the making of Whiskey for the Holy Ghost as an instance in his life where his drug use had a positive effect artistically: "Around the time I did my second solo record I decided to smoke weed, and it made me do some stuff that I never had thought about doing – but of course it turned on me, like all drugs." [2] Lyrically, Lanegan continues to delve into the darker side of the human experience on songs like "Borracho" and the Biblical "Pendulum." ("Jesus Christ been here and gone, what a painful price to pay.") In his book I Am the Wolf, Lanegan states that Van Morrison and writer Cormac McCarthy sparked his imagination for the imagery on the album, with Morrison being a direct influence on "Carnival," and admits that "Pendulum" started "as a joke designed to make my musical partner Mike Johnson laugh."
Dan Peters of Mudhoney plays drums on "Borracho" and "House A Home." "House A Home" was released as a single with an accompanying video. "The River Rise" was used in the 1996 grunge documentary Hype! , where it accompanied a montage filmed at the vigil following Kurt Cobain's death.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [1] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− [3] |
| NME | 7/10 [4] |
| The Philadelphia Inquirer | [5] |
| Q |  [6] |
| Rolling Stone | [7] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [8] |
| Spin Alternative Record Guide | 8/10 [9] |
Mark Deming of AllMusic writes, "The songs are more literate and better realized than on the debut, the arrangements are subtle and supportive (often eschewing electric guitars for keyboards and acoustic instruments), and Lanegan's voice, bathed in bourbon and nicotine, transforms the deep sorrow of the country blues (a clear inspiration for this music) into something new, compelling, and entirely his own." [1]
All tracks are written by Mark Lanegan
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "The River Rise" | 4:29 |
| 2. | "Borracho" | 5:40 |
| 3. | "House a Home" | 3:07 |
| 4. | "Kingdoms of Rain" | 3:24 |
| 5. | "Carnival" | 3:40 |
| 6. | "Riding the Nightingale" | 6:17 |
| 7. | "El Sol" | 3:42 |
| 8. | "Dead on You" | 3:11 |
| 9. | "Shooting Gallery" | 3:32 |
| 10. | "Sunrise" | 2:55 |
| 11. | "Pendulum" | 2:12 |
| 12. | "Judas Touch" | 1:37 |
| 13. | "Beggar's Blues" | 5:36 |
Screaming Trees were an American rock band formed in Ellensburg, Washington, in 1984 by vocalist Mark Lanegan, guitarist Gary Lee Conner, bassist Van Conner, and drummer Mark Pickerel. Pickerel was replaced by Barrett Martin in 1991. Screaming Trees became known as one of the pioneers of grunge along with Melvins, Mudhoney, U-Men, Skin Yard, Soundgarden, Green River, and Malfunkshun, among others. Although widely associated with grunge, the band's sound incorporated hard rock and psychedelic elements.
Mark William Lanegan was an American singer and songwriter. First becoming prominent as the lead singer for the early grunge band Screaming Trees, he was also known as a member of Queens of the Stone Age and The Gutter Twins. He released 12 solo studio albums as well as three collaboration albums with Isobel Campbell and two with Duke Garwood. He was known for his baritone voice, which was described as being "as scratchy as a three-day beard yet as supple and pliable as moccasin leather" and has been compared to Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave.
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Other Worlds is Screaming Trees' 1986 debut EP. It was produced by Steve Fisk and recorded in 1985 at his studio in Ellensburg, WA. It was released on Velvetone Records the following year as a cassette only release, and distributed by K Records. The album was later re-released on CD and 12" black vinyl by SST Records in 1988.
The Winding Sheet is the debut studio album by alternative rock artist Mark Lanegan. It was released in 1990 on Sub Pop. The album was Lanegan's first solo work, and is notable in its departure from the characteristic sound of Screaming Trees, the band he fronted from 1985 until 2000.
Mark Pickerel is an American musician best known as the original drummer for the alternative rock band Screaming Trees. He is also an active session musician and has released several solo albums as a singer/guitarist.
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Ocean of Confusion is the third 'best of' album by the Screaming Trees. The album chronicles their career from the time they signed to Epic Records until their final album, Dust. The band's years on SST Records are represented on a separate, earlier-released compilation, Anthology: SST Years 1985-1989. The tracks on Ocean of Confusion were personally chosen by the band's lead vocalist, Mark Lanegan, and all other aspects of the compilation were overseen by Lanegan, as well.
Anthology: SST Years 1985–1989 is the first compilation album by the Screaming Trees, covering their tenure under SST Records. Released in 1991, about six months after their major label debut album Uncle Anesthesia, Anthology consists of three songs from the Other Worlds EP, and six each from the Even If and Especially When, Invisible Lantern, and Buzz Factory albums. Because the Screaming Trees had switched labels from SST to Epic Records, the band had nothing to do with the creation of this compilation album.
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Scraps at Midnight is the third solo album by the American musician Mark Lanegan. It was produced by Lanegan and longtime collaborator Mike Johnson, and was released in 1998.
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Imitations is the eighth studio album by the American alternative rock musician Mark Lanegan, released on September 17, 2013 on Vagrant Records and Heavenly Recordings. It is a collection of cover songs, consisting of songs from Lanegan's parents' music collection and contemporary musicians, including Chelsea Wolfe, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and The Twilight Singers.
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John Agnello is an American music producer and recording engineer who has worked with a multitude of recording artists. He has produced or co-produced dozens of albums. He also founded his own record label in the 2000s.
