Beggars Arkive in conjunction with the Estate of Mark Lanegan, are honored to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Mark Lanegan’s acclaimed 2004 album Bubblegum.
The limited-edition Bubblegum XX 4XLP box contains a 64-page hardcover book with essays by Troy Van Leewuen, Josh Homme, Chris Goss, Alain Johannes, David Catching, Greg Dulli, Duff McKagan, and Brett Netson along with studio notes and previously unseen photographs by Steve Gullick. It includes Bubblegum, which has been cut as a double LP and remastered by Geoff Pesche at Abbey Road. It also includes a remastered edition of Here Comes That Weird Chill (Methamphetamine Blues, Extras & Oddities) to which three bonus tracks have been added. The fourth LP contains demos and unreleased tracks, comprised of outtakes from the Bubblegum sessions and tracks recorded, produced and mixed by Troy Van Leeuwen in various hotel rooms with Mark singing and Troy playing all the instruments. The set was executive produced by Mark’s former manager Brian Klein, who worked with him during the Bubblegum era.
Bubblegum XX features features members of Queens of the Stone Age, PJ Harvey, Greg Dulli, Izzy and Duff from Guns & Roses/Velvet Revolver, among other assorted rock luminaries.
When Bubblegum was released, Mark chose to let it speak for itself and didn’t have much to say aside from within the small handful of interviews he did at the time. In 2017, he released a book of lyrics and writings called I Am The Wolf and wrote about the album then. Shared here are some of his words about the record.
"Song favorites include “When Your Number Isn’t Up,” and “Strange Religion,” a love song I wrote in a Tokyo hotel room. 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. When I insisted on."
“an album that seethes and rocks with real energy and depth” -LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Bubblegum is tougher, darker and bleaker. It’s a deathfest of sound and fury, quietly melancholy and fiercely apocalyptic” -ALTERNATIVE PRESS
