Anthology: SST Years 1985-1989

Screaming Trees: Mark Lanegan (vocals); Gary Lee Conner (guitar); Van Conner (bass); Mark Pickerel (drums).
Although the band was lumped in with the rest of the Seattle grunge scene in the early '90s, Screaming Trees had more in common with the 13th Floor Elevators than with Black Sabbath. Their early albums, which mixed pounding garage rock, psychedelia, and odd stray bits of pop in varying ratios, are condensed on this 21-track compilation, released by their former label SST shortly after the group's 1991 major-label debut, UNCLE ANESTHESIA.
Combining tracks from the 1985 EP OTHER WORLDS, 1987's EVEN IF AND ESPECIALLY WHEN, 1988's INVISIBLE LANTERN and 1989's BUZZ FACTORY, ANTHOLOGY traces the group's transformation from paisley pop a la early Green On Red to a harder-edged neo-psychedelia that nonetheless betrays a stronger pop influence in songs like "Smoke Rings" and the sublime "Night Comes Creeping." Singer Mark Lanegan shows the most improvement throughout the set.