If you’re a regular reader of Midlands Rocks, you’ve undoubtedly heard of he Screaming Trees, but you might not have heard their music. Despite being a key component in the alternative rock revolution of the late ‘80s/early ‘90s, they are strangely absent from those retrospective compilations and shunned by classic rock radio. It’s a mystery why some bands breakthrough to the mainstream while other, more talented, acts fall by the wayside. In his latest book, The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn’t, Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin provides some of the answers in a series of tales that are equal parts comedic and tragic, but most importantly engaging, making this one of rock’s best reads.
Although the Screaming Trees formed in Ellensburg in 1984, things really started moving for the band when Barrett Martin joined in 1991. In an amazing piece of serendipity, it was a time when grunge burst out of Seattle and initial signs were good; it was a heady time when the band were included on the Singles soundtrack and a couple of 7”’s even gatecrashed the UK charts. This book is split into three acts, and it is this period that comprises the first. Barrett really captures the excitement of that era; the major label deal, video shoots, the first European tour, and the general feeling that the band were on an upward trajectory about to hit the highest echelons of the charts. Yet, it wasn’t all milk and honey and Barrett plants seeds here that will come to fruition later in the book; some self-destructive behaviour and bad business deals that contributed to the band’s nemesis. But when a band is tight and on the upswing, such things seem unimportant, and Act I captures that feeling perfectly.
The chapters comprising The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn’t are short and snappy, and it’s the literary equivalent of listening to a vinyl album, with each chapter representing a track. It has the same type of forward motion, too, and you might be tempted to plough through, but it’s best to reign in that urge; there’s a lot of wisdom to be gleaned from these pages, and no more so than Act II: Descension. The band had started to reap what they sowed; the alcoholism of certain members and drug abuse of others (and if you need proof that alcohol and drugs don’t mix, it’s right here) only increased as the pressures intensified. The Irony was that the Screaming Trees final album (1996’s Dust) found them at a creative peak and scoring their best chart placings. What followed was a slow death as the band were dumped by Epic Records and they limped on for a few more years, eventually disbanding in 2000.
Redemption is the aptly-titled Act III and finds Barrett rising from the ashes. It’s a triumphant elevation, but not without trauma and it is tinged with tragedy as he loses band members and friends along the way. After having material success with the Screaming Tress within the band’s grasp, only to have it snatched away at the last moment could have resulted in Barrett Martin becoming a bitter individual, but this is a true tale of stoicism and redemption in which he finds a different type of success, and one built on more solid foundations.
Part social history that speaks of a different age, part “how to” guide for aspiring musicians, and part rock ‘n’ roll memoir, The Greatest Band That Ever Wasn’t is all of these (and more), but most importantly, it’s a darn good read.
