In his book I Am the Wolf: Lyrics & Writings, Lanegan writes he traveled to Houston in 2002 "to fulfill a publishing contract I had signed with an old friend, producer and label head Randall Jamail, a talented man who took no shit from anyone and who would not have been pleased if he knew the honest state of my unprepared and unraveling songcraft, such as it was." Lanegan wrote many of the songs in the parking lot on the spot as the band overdubbed in the studio. As he recalls in I Am the Wolf:
Despite the haphazard, stumble-burn way the writing was done, Randall did a stunning production job and in time I came to realize that instead of a bunch of demos, he had actually shaped a unique record that stood on its own merit. Among the tunes that have stayed in my mind: "When It's in You", which is an early version of "Methamphetamine Blues" and has a sort of mil psychedelic vibe instead of the more strident sound on the later version; "Grey Goes Black," a minimal miniature reflecting my numbness over 9/11; and "Way to Tomorrow," a song I wrote and recorded my last night in town upon hearing the devastating news that Layne Staley died.
Mark Deming of AllMusic: "The arrangements are full-bodied but leave plenty of open space, which suits the dusty overtones of Lanegan's melodies, and this music is a fine match for the phantoms and lost souls who populate Lanegan's songs (ten of which get their first public hearing on this release). Houston: Publishing Demos 2002 is by no means a lost masterpiece, but in many ways this is more satisfying and a better platform for Lanegan's talents than Bubblegum, which was his next solo effort, released in 2004.
