Above (Deluxe Edition) Mad Season

• 1Wake Up07:36
• 2X-Ray Mind05:13
• 3River of Deceit05:03
• 4I'm Above05:45
• 5Artificial Red06:15
• 6Lifeless Dead04:27
• 7I Don't Know Anything05:00
• 8Long Gone Day04:50
• 9November Hotel07:04
• 10All Alone04:11
• 11Interlude00:43
• 12Locomotive04:33
• 13Black Book Of Fear06:05
• 14Slip Away05:38
• 15I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier (remix)05:52
• 16Wake Up (Live at The Moore)07:38
• 17Lifeless Dead (Live at The Moore)04:59
• 18Artificial Red (Live at The Moore)06:21
• 19River Of Deceit (Live at The Moore)05:10
• 20I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier (Live at The Moore)09:20
• 21Long Gone Day (Live at The Moore)05:21
• 22I'm Above (Live at The Moore)05:36
• 23I Don't Know Anything (Live at The Moore)06:23
• 24X-Ray Mind (Live at The Moore)05:31
• 25All Alone (Live at The Moore)04:17
• 26November Hotel (Live at The Moore)13:49
• Total Runtime02:32:40

Info for Above (Deluxe Edition)

Deluxe edition of the Seattle supergroup's 1995 album. Mad Season featured the legendary Layne Staley of Alice in Chains on vocals, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam on lead guitar, Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin and bassist John Baker Saunders of the Lamont Cranston Band. CD One features the original album plus five bonus tracks. CD Two contains the full audio set from the bands historical performance at the Moore Theater in Seattle on April 29, 1995. The DVD features Live At The Moore - Mad Season's last show ever performed. Also included are four performances that have never been seen. Also featured is a full concert of the bands performance from New Years Eve 1995 at RKCNDY in Seattle and both performances from Self-Pollution Radio, one newly edited.

„Alice in Chains vocalist Layne Staley teams with Seattle pals Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) and Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees) in the tradition of other part-time grunge aggregations like Brad and Hater. These 10 numbers--mostly somber, acoustic-hued ballads like the single 'River of Deceit'--are a therapeutic soul-cleansing for the troubled Staley. Core fans of any of the aforementioned bands will rank this with the solo work of Screaming Tree frontman Mark Lanegan (a guest vocalist here).“

Barrett Martin, drums, percussion, double bass, cello, marimba, vibraphone
Mike McCready, lead and rhythm electric and acoustic guitars
John Baker Saunders, bass
Layne Staley, vocals, rhythm guitar, illustrations
Additional musicians:
Skerik (Nalgas Sin Carne), saxophone (on 'Long Gone Day“)

Recorded 1994 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington
Engineered by Brett Eliason, Sony Felho
Produced by Brett Eliason, Mad Season

Digitally remastered

Mad Season
In 1994, four Seattle-based musicians decided to embark on a side-project that took them into new and different musical territory. Formed by Mike McCready, Layne Staley, Barrett Martin, and bluesman John Baker Saunders, the group went on to form Mad Season, which made one seminal album in the history of Seattle rock. That album, Above was released in 1995 and immediately struck a resonate chord with the public that sent the album into gold status within a few weeks. It is the only complete album of Layne Staley's introspective and mystical lyrics, which were highlighted by additional vocals from Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan and Seattle-based saxophonist/percussionist Skerik.

Mad Season was essentially Seattle's version of an extremely heavy blues band, anchored by the deep swinging rhythm section of Barrett's drums and Baker's bass lines, with Layne's haunting melodies and Mike's stadium-size guitar riffs soaring over the top. This unusual chemistry made the band absolutely unique in an era of post-grunge. In the almost 20 years since the original release of Above, new generations of music listeners have discovered the dark and lasting beauty of Mad Season.

In 1996, work began on a second Mad Season album with Mike, Barrett and Baker writing and recording the basic tracks for 15 new songs. Unfortunately, because of declining health, Layne wasn't able to make any of the recording sessions and the album was shelved. Fate subsequently took each musician in a different direction: Mike back to Pearl Jam and Barrett back to Screaming Trees. Tragically, both Baker (1999) and Layne (2002) passed away.

In 2012, the two remaining band members, Mike and Barrett, along with Above's original producer Brett Eliason, convened in Seattle to sift through the original magnetic tapes from that second album's sessions to revisit the unfinished songs. They called on Mark Lanegan to pen lyrics and sing on 3 of the best of those songs, including one co-written by Peter Buck of REM, which are featured on the deluxe reissue of Above, honoring the legacy of Layne and Baker.

Booklet for Above (Deluxe Edition)