Above (album)

Infobox Album
Name = Above
Type = studio
Artist = Mad Season


Released = March 14, 1995
Recorded = 1994 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington
Length = 55:36
Label = Columbia
Producer = Mad Season, Brett Eliason
Reviews =
*Allmusic rating|3|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gud0ylmoxpvb link]
*"Melody Maker" (favorable) 7/1/95, p.38
*"Rolling Stone" rating|2.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/madseason/albums/album/302265/review/5941176/above 2/2/98]
Last album =
This album =
Next album =
Misc = Singles
Name = Above
Type = studio
single 1 = River of Deceit
single 1 date = 1995
single 2 = I Don't Know Anything
single 2 date = 1995
single 3 = Long Gone Day
single 3 date = 1995

"Above" is the only album by the American rock band Mad Season, released on March 15, 1995 through Columbia Records. The album has been certified Gold in the United States.

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 guitarist Mike McCready as Pearl Jam's sound engineer.

The music for the songs "Wake Up" and "River of Deceit" came out of rehearsals that the group had before vocalist Layne 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.

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."Gilbert, Jeff. [http://www.fivehorizons.com/archive/articles/gw04951.shtml "Alive-Pearl Jam's Mike McCready Says Goodbye to Drugs and Alcohol and is a Better Man For it"] . "Guitar World". April 1995.]

During the making of the album, Staley read "The Prophet" by Khalil Gibran. Drummer Barrett Martin said, "Layne Staley felt as though he was on a spiritual mission through his music. Not a rock mission, a spiritual mission." [Altman, Billy. [http://music.yahoo.com/read/news/12063858 "Alice In Chains' Staley Remembered By Mad Season Mate & Rage's Morello"] . Yahoo! Music. April 23, 2002.]

Music and lyrics

Mike McCready described the songs on the album as "some jazzy stuff, some blues, some arena rock." 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." [Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:gud0ylmoxpvb "Above"] . Allmusic.]

Vocalist Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees contributes guest vocals on "I'm Above" and "Long Gone Day". "I Don't Know Anything"'s verse bar features a droning guitar melody with feedback in a fashion comparable to Black Sabbath's "Iron Man". "Long Gone Day" takes influence from genres as diverse as jazz, progressive rock, classic rock, and blues. Saxophonist Skerik contributes to the song.

Lyrically, much of "River of Deceit" was inspired by Khalil Gibran's "The Prophet".

Release and reception

The album was released to critical and commercial success. Over the course of 1995, "Above" scaled the "Billboard" 200 eventually peaking at number 24. The album has achieved Gold status.cite web
url=http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&artist=Soundgarden&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2008&sort=Artist&perPage=25
title=Gold and Platinum Database Search
accessdate=2007-02-12]

"Rolling Stone" gave "Above" two and a half out of five stars. Reviewer Barbara Davies said 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." [Davies, Barbara. [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/madseason/albums/album/302265/review/5941176/above "Mad Season: "Above"] . "Rolling Stone". February 2, 1998.]

"Above" included the singles "River of Deceit", "I Don't Know Anything", and "Long Gone Day". "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 "Billboard" Mainstream Rock charts and number nine on the "Billboard" 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.

A promotional version of "Above" has a bonus track entitled "Interlude", which follows "Artificial Red".

Imagery and design

The album's title comes from the song "I'm Above". The album's gloomy, black and white artwork was illustrated by Staley. The drawing was based upon a photograph of Staley and his then-girlfriend, Demri Parrott. [ [http://laynethelegend.com/LayneDemri.html Layne & Demri] . laynethelegend.com.]

Track listing

All songs written by Barrett Martin, Mike McCready, John Baker Saunders, and Layne Staley, except where noted:
# "Wake Up" – 7:38
# "X-Ray Mind" – 5:12
# "River of Deceit" – 5:04
# "I'm Above" (Martin, McCready, Staley, Mark Lanegan) – 5:44
# "Artificial Red" – 6:16
# "Lifeless Dead" – 4:29
# "I Don't Know Anything" – 5:01
# "Long Gone Day" (Martin, McCready, Staley, Lanegan) – 4:52
# "November Hotel" – 7:08
# "All Alone" – 4:12

Personnel

*Layne Staley – vocals, guitar
*Mike McCready – electric and acoustic guitars
*John Baker Saunders – bass
*Barrett Martin – drums, percussion, double bass, cello, marimba, vibraphone
*Mark Lanegan – vocals on "I'm Above" and "Long Gone Day"
*Skerik (Nalgas Sin Carne) – saxophone on "Long Gone Day"
*Mad Season, Brett Eliason – production

Chart positions

;Album

;Singles

References