 By early 2000 , McKagan had begun working on a new project with singer Mark Lanegan and drummer Geoff Reading . Though they recorded a number of songs , Lanegan left to join Queens of the Stone Age . After being convinced by Reading and Martin Feveyear to take over lead vocals , they continued to write and record new material at Jupiter Studios . With nearly an album 's worth of material recorded , they decided to re @-@ record some of the songs from Beautiful Disease to add to the material they already had . Though primarily recorded by McKagan and Reading , Dave Dederer , who joined the band as bassist , and Mike Squires recorded additional drums , while Feveyear , who also produced the album , recorded additional keyboards . 
