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Greg Dulli
Greg Dulli

THE BEST part about Greg Dulli surviving longer than anyone expected is that people still don't know how to deal with him. He was the driving force behind a pack of alt-rock outsiders when he led the Afghan Whigs to the brink of superstardom during the '90s, now he continues to weaken the knees of critics and court a hardcore fan-base as The Twilight Singers enter their most prolific period to date. The amount of conflicting emotions packed in across his songs, coupled with the gloriously diverse influence of the different musical genres he loves, makes pinning a label onto the music Dulli makes a tricky and tiresome task. The recent release of his 10th studio album, 'Powder Burns', and triumphant return to live circuit with fellow grunge survivor Mark Lanegan in tow proves he's still doing fine without them, though, which is why it's probably an understatement to describe the pair's forthcoming Gutter Twins project as 'eagerly anticipated'.

Gentlemen
Name: Gentlemen Label: ELEKTRA Year: 1993

Review: LISTED ALONGSIDE the likes of 'Nevermind', 'Ten' and 'Superunknown' any time a grunge retrospective is trotted out, the Whigs' biggest hit provides a closer, more disquieting angst than those records. It threatened to become something of an albatross for Dulli at one point, so he wisely decided to write several more killer albums. Smart move.

1965
Name: 1965 Label: COLUMBIA Year: 1998

Review: "GUILT TAKES a back seat to lust on this album," was the quote with which Dulli immortalised what turned out to be the Afghan Whigs' swansong. The lovechild of their labours was lush and seductive on the surface, but foul-mouthed and filthy underneath. If '1965' were a woman, it'd nibble your earlobe then twist your balls clean off your body.

Powder Burns
Name: Powder Burns Label: ONE LITTLE INDIAN Year: 2006

Review: 'BLACKBERRY BELLE' might've been the album that put Dulli back on rock's map with his Twilight Singers, but their latest effort has all who've heard it worked up into such a frenzy it's difficult to ignore as one of his finest works. 'Powder Burns' combines Dulli's trademark misanthropy with a sense of electrified fun for the first time in years and, damn, it sounds good.

Twilight as Played by?
Name: Twilight as Played by? Label: COLUMBIA Year: 2000

Review: BRITISH LEFTFIELD duo Fila Brazillia were hired as producers to help Dulli banish the ghost of the Afghan Whigs, creating this hybrid of electronic beats and swaggering blues-rock. The Twilight Singers have since become a 'proper' band - minus former Brad man Shawn Smith, present here but with whom Dulli later had a fierce falling out, furthering his reputation as a lover and a fighter.

Up In It
Name: Up In It Label: SUB POP Year: 1990

Review: WITH THEIR self-released debut, 1988's 'Big Top Halloween', long since deleted, 'Up In It' is the sole remaining document of the Afghan Whigs' inglorious beginning as a scrappy garage-rock band from Ohio. It's far from unlistenable, yet not a patch on Dulli's later work and unlikely to appeal to anyone other than completists filling the gaps in their collection.

    Key Greg Dulli Tracks
  • ANNIE MAE

    LIKE 'KING Only', this has since been transformed into a rockier affair when played live, but on record it flaunts a similarly spaced-out vibe alongside skittering synthetic beats.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers', 2000.
  • BEWARE

    FROM AN EP of largely unrecognisable Motown covers, this Al Green original was deemed spooky enough to later make its way onto cult smash movie 'The Blair Witch Project' soundtrack.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Uptown Avondale EP', 1992.
  • BONNIE BRAE

    NAMED AFTER a residential centre treating wayward adolescent boys, the undercurrent pulling this song along appears to plumb the depths of Dulli's past to seismic effect.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Powder Burns', 2006.
  • DEBONAIR

    WITH HANDCLAPS snapping like a snare drum over the opening few bars, this tightly-drilled number is another snarling confessional of the highest order.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Gentlemen', 1993.
  • GENTLEMEN

    'NOW!' ORDERS Dulli, and the title-track of a nerve-buckling opus comes racing out of the gate, mangling guitars over his desperate lyrical cries.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Gentlemen', 1993.
  • GOING TO TOWN

    A HIP-SWIVELLING, '70s-themed entrance song from their 'Black Love' concept album, few bands can sound as simultaneously pumped up and beaten down.

    Find on iTunes Find It: Black Love', 1996
  • HONKY'S LADDER

    THIS ABRASIVE tale of bristling racial tensions is bile-spitting, (un)easy listening that manages to set an exhilarating scene as it twists the stomach of the listener.

    Find on iTunes Find It: Black Love', 1996
  • I'M READY

    THE HEAVIEST track Dulli has recorded in years and the latest Twilight Singers single, 'I'm Ready' crashes forth with a view to reminding everybody that his new gang is most definitely back. It works, unsurprisingly.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Powder Burns', 2006.
  • KING ONLY

    A STUTTERING breakbeat score snugly underpins smooth layers of wind and brass instruments before Dulli makes his entrance, epitomising how the early Twilight Singers formula worked.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Twilight As Played By The Twilight Singers', 2000.
  • MARTIN EDEN

    'BLACK OUT the windows/It's party time' was the teasing opening lyric from Dulli's return from the wilderness. What followed was a superbly well-crafted comeback.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Blackberry Belle', 2003.
  • NUMBER NINE

    DULLI'S MOST impressive collaboration with former Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan to date closes 'Blackberry Belle' in sultry style. Enough to make your speakers salivate.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Blackberry Belle', 2003.
  • OMERTA

    ONLY DULLI could drop in a line from Nas' hip-hop classic 'NY State Of Mind' into six minutes of piano-led comedown balladry and make it sound, well, perfect.

    Find on iTunes Find It: '1965', 1998.
  • PAPILLON

    THIS CATCHY-as-hell Virginia-born ditty proves Dulli can do 'pop' when he wants - before disappearing off over the horizon into more wistful territory, naturally.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Blackberry Belle', 2003.
  • SOMETHIN' HOT

    A SONG that practically slides down a stripper's pole to introduce itself, this is irresistibly sleazy in its charm and not without a shaft of, er, humour.

    Find on iTunes Find It: '1965', 1998.
  • TOO TOUGH TO DIE

    A LIVE favourite retained from a stopgap covers album, Dulli wastes no time making (former Tricky collaborator) Martina Topley-Bird's soulful defiance his own.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'She Loves You', 2004.
  • TURN ON THE WATER

    AN EARLY example of the soulful, twisted charm of the Afghan Whigs, this tale of dumping a beheaded body into the ocean is wickedly soothing stuff.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Congregation', 1992.
  • UNDERNEATH THE WAVES

    THE DECIMATION of New Orleans, Dulli's home-from-home, never looms larger on 'Powder Burns' as it does here. 'Underneath...' is also the stirring finale to the current Twilight Singers' live set.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Powder Burns', 2006.
  • UPTOWN AGAIN

    THE ONE Afghan Whigs song Dulli saw fit to dust off for his inaugural return to the UK live circuit in 2004, for good reason. An effortlessly cool invitation to 'get down'.

    Find on iTunes Find It: '1965', 1998.
  • WHAT JAIL IS LIKE

    WHERE JOHNNY Cash's cover of Nine Inch Nails' 'Hurt' brought a tear to the eye, the Afghans Whigs' 'What Jail Is Like' tightly fastens a tourniquet around the neck. The grunge heroes' chillingly wonderful signature tune.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Gentlemen', 1993.
  • WICKED

    DULLI'S ONLY solo album consists of tracks discarded from 'Blackberry Belle' after a period of re-evaluation. This sly, slinking number easily could've made the final cut.

    Find on iTunes Find It: 'Amber Headlights', 2005.