Sad news arrived two days ago that Mark Lanegan passed away too soon. Mark was a forming member of Screaming Trees, a band that stamped grunge in the early 90's. Unfortunately they didn't got the success like Nirvana or Soundgarden but for me they were one of those bands in these days that made the difference to many others in this genre. In 1990 he quit the job with Screaming Trees to release a solo album. The Winding Sheet, his first solo album showed him turning away from grunge and moving into a blues-rock based sound where his baritone made simple songs beauty.
Later he was a long time member of The Queens Of The Stone Age, a band that discovered adrenaline based rock music for young people and created a sound filed under stoner rock. Songs For The Deaf was one of those albums at the begin of the century that many people could commit. And Mark's powerful voice was the trademark of their sound beside heavy guitars.
After 12 years with the band and many problems with drugs and alcohol he released steady solo albums. None of them was bad but Gargoyle from 2017 was outstanding because it showed his musical spectrum form terrific ballads to Andrew-Eldrich-bombast to New Order inspired sound.
I am glad that I could see him live four years ago and he was in a good shape. The more I was shocked that I heard that he suffered a long time by an infection of Covid 19. We lost a steady basement in music.
Rest easy Mark
