Upon its release in August 2004,
Bubblegum peaked at number 39 on the US
Independent Albums chart, number 19 in Italy, number 28 in Belgium, number 30 in
Norway, number 35 in Finland, number 36 in the Netherlands, number 43 in the United Kingdom, number 67 in Germany and number 189 in France. It was Lanegan's first commercially successful album. The single "
Hit the City" peaked at 76 on the British singles chart and is Lanegan's first charted single.
AllMusic's Mark Deming described the album: "With the
Screaming Trees an increasingly distant memory and his brief tenure with
Queens of the Stone Age seemingly over and done, Mark Lanegan appears to have well and truly become a solo artist, and while the dark and blues-shot introspections of
Whiskey for the Holy Ghost and
The Winding Sheet felt like a respite from Lanegan's usual musical diet of the time,
Bubblegum sounds like an effort to fuse the nocturnal atmospherics of his solo work with the impressive brain/brawn ratio of his better-known bands." Deming awarded the album four out of five stars.
The Guardians
Alexis Petridis also awarded the album four out of five stars, writing: "Lanegan once called his bluesy solo work "death dirges". From its matte black cover inwards,
Bubblegum never stints on the dark stuff. There is drug-induced despair and failed romance, with music to match: sibilant drum machines that recall 1970s art-punks
Suicide, dolefully minimal guitar figures, shrieking feedback and the unmistakable wail of
PJ Harvey on backing vocals. At its bleakest and least tuneful,
Bubblegum is powerful enough to take your breath away. In every sense,
Bubblegum is a staggering record".
Pitchfork reviewer Matthew Murphy commented that "Throughout
Bubblegum, Lanegan proves himself adroit at navigating the back alleys of Babylon, but after the record's umpteenth reference to loaded shotguns, '73 Buicks, and goin' cold turkey, one can't help but think he might eventually want to take a stab at some new material. So far, his voice has proven to be well-suited for whatever use he has put it to; hopefully next time he strays a little further afield to better stretch its limits."
Stylus Magazines Dave McGonigle: "It is, to be frank, one of the most remarkable and forward-looking rock albums that you will hear all year, and testament to Lanegan's ability to take desolate lyrics and fashion beautiful, redemptive tunes around them. This is the album that Lanegan always seemed about to make; forgive him his tardiness, and dive right in."
CD Timess Karl Wareham: "'Bubblegum', on the whole, is something of a flawed classic. When it's good it's excellent, but there's one too many fillers to make it a perfect album. It's still one of the strongest albums released for quite a while. Slipping onto the shelves with hardly a hint of hype and that's OK, this is one album that shouldn't need it for it'll sell by word of mouth for years to come." Patrick Donovan of
The Age awarded the album five stars and said: "It's hard to tell if the title is ironic, given the dark nature of the album, but perhaps he answers this on Bombed: "When I'm bombed I stretch like bubblegum." This album will resonate with listeners long after the storm has settled, the ice has melted and his words fade to black. A modern-day classic from one of rock's great survivors."
Playlouder: "At times 'Bubblegum' is terrifying, exhilarating, intimate, sexy, weird, and downright wonderful. 'Bubblegum' is the sound of being loaded. 'Bubblegum' is highly addictive, so be careful." ==Track listing==