The present doesn’t much give a damn about heroes, no matter their achievements. Time, however, is usually kind to their memory. Screaming Trees is one of the greatest alternative rock bands. Indeed, this is also one of the most underrated bands in the genre.

Screaming Trees shot from obscurity to fame and back again. The band made adventurous, melancholy-filled, evil-sounding music. And that’s not even accounting for the solo records and additional projects.

Here’s my top 10 list of the best Screaming Trees songs.

Greatest 10 Songs by Screaming Trees

10. “Where the Twain Shall Meet”

Maybe the members of Screaming Trees had simply spent too much time together. Heaven knows they didn’t like each other in the first place. By the time grunge became an international sensation, each new release by the band felt like a Middle Eastern reconciliation campaign.

“Where the Twain Shall Meet” was released in 1989, three albums into their career and still two years away from “Nevermind.” But if ever there was a moment where the band’s nightmarishly grimey grunge sound took shape, it’s here.

9. “Bed of Roses”

Arguably, this is the band’s prettiest song. But remember, “Bed of Roses” was the single from an album called “Uncle Anesthesia” and featured artwork depicting Alice taking advice from a stoned-looking caterpillar.

By 1991, Screaming Trees was taking a more psychedelic-rock approach to its music. It suited the band. This is a great album. Still, beyond the critics, few new grunge fans adopted this.

8. “Crawlspace”

That’s no way to go! Sure, there had been plenty of infighting for years. But Mark Lanegan, the Conner brothers, Gary Lee and Van, together with drummer Barrett Martin, had somehow kept the boat afloat.

They’d even manage to retain an audience, briefly, after the demise of most of the Seattle grunge bands. Still, no record label wanted Screaming Trees’ final album.

That’s why it came out as “Last Words: The Final Recordings.” Most of the subject matter is as bleak as you’d expect. The artwork is of a waiter serving a handgun.

“Crawlspace,” especially, is a gem and, in my view, one of the band’s best.

7. “For Celebrations Past”

Screaming Trees had been working together since the 1980s. When grunge rose, the band was encouraged to capitalize. By that time, however, their proto-grunge style had morphed into a stomping psychedelic cocktail.

The group returned to the grind for 1992’s “Sweet Oblivion.” The generally pessimistic nature of the songs fit the mood of the times better.

“For Celebrations Past” is a highlight. It’s a rare coming together of all four members. It’s a song about missing the good times, no matter how bad those must’ve truly been.

6. “Dying Days”

Screaming Trees spent nearly four years coming up with a sequel to their most popular album. Much had happened in the meantime.

Grunge and the Seattle scene acquired something of a reputation. Many of its most high-profile members had succumbed to early deaths. Others were dealing with drug addictions.

“Dying Days” addresses the myth. It tells listeners, flat out, that they ought to sometimes believe the hype. It’s a great song by a band that always navigated its career at an inch of shipwreck.

5. “Nearly Lost You”

Screaming Trees appealed to people with great taste, and to those simply looking for depressing music. Both categories included fellow artists.

Director Cameron Crowe was an early adopter of Seattle rock. He was particularly enamored with Screaming Trees. Offering to add “Nearly Lost You” to the soundtrack for “Singles” greatly helped the band’s commercial appeal.

The soundtrack record, a compilation of some of the finest alt-rockers of the early ’90s, is highly regarded in itself. “Nearly Lost You” is one of its best tracks.

4. “More or Less”

Many bands flocked to Seattle once “grunge” became a thing. Many songwriters pretended that they were angry, tortured. It didn’t suit, at least, half of them.

Luckily, it all came naturally for Mark Lanegan. It was all part of the story of self-inflicted near-tragedy.

“More or Less” is a few rock chords and a whole lotta pain. It’s a great sound. And it proves, clearly, that Screaming Trees never rode the coattails of their more famous Seattle neighbors. The band did create something unique.

3. “Dollar Bill”

Oh, “Dollar Bill” is heartbreaking. But, then again, so is the story of the band behind it. After all, Mark Lanegan did name his memoir “Sing Back and Weep.”

There’s not much to the song in terms of arrangement or lyrics. The Trees go acoustic for this one. It’s a smart choice. Lanegan’s aching voice rings out like that of a bear woken too early from hibernation.

I love this song when I first heard it. I hear it as a sound of mourning. It’s one of the band’s finest.

2. “All I Know”

Few expected Nirvana to ever become successful. Even fewer expected Kurt Cobain’s buddy. Mark Lanegan, to do the same with his band.

But when it happened, nobody could sit all the members of the band in a room together.

Reinforcements were brought in. Josh Homme had already made Kyuss an underground sensation. For the “Dust” album, he was tasked with playing guitar and keeping the peace.

“All I Know” is about as good of a single as Screaming Trees could produce. It’s moody, but catchy. It’s mean-spirited, but intriguing.

The song helped bring the band from the brink and back onto large stages for one last time.

1. “Shadow of the Season”

The grunge scene had plenty of great vocalists. Out of Seattle’s rainy streets came people like Chris Cornell, Layne Staley, and Kurt Cobain.

Still, the voice of no other grunge singer was as naturally terrifying as that of Mark Lanegan.

Originally a drummer, Lanegan took up vocal duties when Screaming Trees couldn’t find anyone else. In time, his booze-soaked baritone became a staple of rock music.

“Shadow of the Season” is Lanegan’s shining hour. It’s also a testament to Trees’ potent, minimalist rock playing. It’s a song of damnation. But it sounds grandiose. It’s one of the greatest rock songs ever recorded.