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Above (Mad Season album)

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Untitled

Above is the only studio album by the American rock band Mad Season, released on March 14, 1995 through Columbia Records. The album has been certified gold by the RIAA in the United States.

Background

During the production of Pearl Jam's Vitalogy, guitarist Mike McCready went into rehabilitation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he met The Lamont Cranston Band bassist John Baker Saunders.[1] In 1994, when the two returned to Seattle, they formed a side band with Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin. Immediately the trio set up rehearsal time together and began writing material. McCready then brought in friend and Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley to round out the line-up. McCready had hoped that being around sober musicians would push Staley to get himself sober.[2]

Recording

The album was recorded in 1994 at Bad Animals Studio in Seattle, Washington. The band worked with producer Brett Eliason, who had previously worked with McCready as Pearl Jam's sound engineer. The album was mixed by Eliason.

The music for the songs "Wake Up" and "River of Deceit" came out of rehearsals that the group had before Staley joined. The song "Artificial Red" came together at a show that the band had at the Crocodile Cafe in October 1994. The songs "Lifeless Dead" and "I Don't Know Anything" were first premiered on Pearl Jam's January 8, 1995 Self-Pollution satellite radio broadcast, a four-and-a-half hour long pirate broadcast out of Seattle which was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it.[3] McCready said, "We did all the Mad Season music in about seven days. It took Layne just a few more days to finish his vocals, which was intense since we only rehearsed twice and did four shows. So this has been the most spontaneous thing I've ever been involved in. This was done even quicker than Temple of the Dog which took about four weeks...With Mad Season we just went in and started jamming on tunes and everybody had ideas and it just happened with three or four days."[1]

McCready said, "I told [Staley]...'You do what you want, you write all the songs and lyrics. You're the singer.' He'd come in, and he'd do these beautiful songs."[2] During the making of the album, Staley read The Prophet by Khalil Gibran. Martin said, "Layne Staley felt as though he was on a spiritual mission through his music. Not a rock mission, a spiritual mission."[4]

Music and lyrics

"River of Deceit"
A sample of "River of Deceit", the first single released from the album. The lyrics for the song, written by Staley, were inspired by The Prophet by Khalil Gibran.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

McCready described the songs on the album as "some jazzy stuff, some blues, some arena rock."[1] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said that the album "sounds like a cross between Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam, taking the ponderous seriousness of Alice and PJ's '90s update of winding '70s guitar rock."[5]

Vocalist Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees contributes guest vocals and additional lyrics on "I'm Above" and "Long Gone Day". "I Don't Know Anything"'s verse bar features a droning, overdriven guitar melody centered on the use of harmonics. "Long Gone Day" takes influence from genres as diverse as jazz, progressive rock, classic rock, and blues. Saxophonist Skerik contributes to the song.

Staley's lyrics dealt with his struggle against addiction as well as other personal troubles. Lyrically, much of "River of Deceit" was inspired by Khalil Gibran's The Prophet.

Release and reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[5]
Sputnik Music[6]
Entertainment WeeklyC[7]
CDNOW[8]
Melody Makerfavorable[9]
Rolling Stone[10]

The album was released to critical and commercial success. Over the course of 1995, Above scaled the Billboard 200 album chart eventually peaking at number 24. Above has been certified gold by the RIAA.[11]

Melody Maker called the album "a Country Sabbath combination" and "a refreshing holiday from the pressures of corporate ultra-stardom."[9] Allmusic staff writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine gave the album three out of five stars, saying that "the album meanders without much direction, yet there are flashes of invention, particularly in Staley's work, with McCready contributing a few tasty licks."[5] Rolling Stone staff writer Barbara Davies gave Above two and a half out of five stars, saying that Mad Season "take artistic risks and set out to make something fresh on Above." However, she criticized the album for having a "hit-or-miss quality." Davies ended the review by stating that "the band is—at times—more than the mere sum of its parts."[10] Chuck Eddy of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a C. He said, "A sax solo and zooming guitars provide momentary relief, but most Mad Season sludge is unbearably immobile." He ended by saying, "It's big trouble when one of the most upbeat songs is called 'Lifeless Dead'."[7]

Above included the singles "River of Deceit", "I Don't Know Anything", and "Long Gone Day". The lead single "River of Deceit" had an accompanying music video, while other music videos were taken from performances from the band's home video release, Live at the Moore. "River of Deceit" was the most successful song from Above on the rock charts, reaching number two on the Mainstream Rock charts and number nine on the Modern Rock charts. "I Don't Know Anything" also charted on the Mainstream Rock charts. "River of Deceit" is arguably the group's best known song while "I Don't Know Anything" still maintains modest radio play today.

Packaging

The album's gloomy, black and white cover art was illustrated by Staley. The drawing was based upon a photograph of Staley and his then-girlfriend, Demri Lara Parrott.[12] The album's title comes from the song "I'm Above".

Track listing

All tracks are written by Barrett Martin, Mike McCready, John Baker Saunders, and Layne Staley, except where noted

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Wake Up" 7:38
2."X-Ray Mind" 5:12
3."River of Deceit" 5:04
4."I'm Above"Martin, McCready, Staley, Mark Lanegan5:44
5."Artificial Red" 6:16
6."Lifeless Dead" 4:29
7."I Don't Know Anything" 5:01
8."Long Gone Day"Martin, McCready, Staley, Lanegan4:52
9."November Hotel" 7:08
10."All Alone" 4:12

Outtakes

A promotional version of Above has a bonus track entitled "Interlude", which follows "Artificial Red". Mad Season's cover of the John Lennon song "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" was also recorded around this time. "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier" appeared on the 1995 John Lennon tribute album, Working Class Hero.

Personnel

Chart positions

Album

Chart (1995) Position
US Billboard 200[13] 24
Norwegian Albums Chart[14] 24
Swedish Albums Chart[15] 46
Canadian Albums Chart[16] 65

Singles

Year Single Peak chart positions
US Main
[17] 		US Mod
[17] 		CAN
[18]
1995 "River of Deceit" 2 9 68
"I Don't Know Anything" 20 — —
"—" denotes singles that did not chart.

References

  1. ^ a b c Gilbert, Jeff. "Alive-Pearl Jam's Mike McCready Says Goodbye to Drugs and Alcohol and is a Better Man For it". Guitar World. April 1995.
  2. ^ a b Cross, Charles R. (June 1, 2002). "The Last Days of Layne Staley". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-08-21. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Gaar, Gillian G. "Radio Free Vedder". Rolling Stone. February 23, 1995.
  4. ^ Altman, Billy. "Alice In Chains' Staley Remembered By Mad Season Mate & Rage's Morello". Yahoo! Music. April 23, 2002.
  5. ^ a b c Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Above at AllMusic. Retrieved March 21, 2009.
  6. ^ "Mad Season - Above (album review)". Sputnikmusic. 2008-06-16. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
  7. ^ a b Eddy, Chuck (1995-04-21). "Above". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2008-10-28. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  8. ^ "Above: Mad Season: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2011-09-10.
  9. ^ a b (July 1, 1995). "Review: Above". Melody Maker (p. 38).
  10. ^ a b Davies, Barbara (1998-02-02). "Mad Season: Above". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 2 May 2009. Retrieved 2009-05-20. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "Gold and Platinum Database Search". Retrieved 2007-02-12.
  12. ^ Layne & Demri. laynethelegend.com.
  13. ^ "Mad Season – Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  14. ^ "Norwegian Single/Album Chart / Mad Season / Longplay". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  15. ^ "Swedish Single/Album Chart / Mad Season / Longplay". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 2008-02-19.
  16. ^ "Canadian Charts". RPM. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ a b "Mad Season – Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-06-11.
  18. ^ "Canadian Charts – "River of Deceit"". RPM. Retrieved 2008-03-07. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
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