Mark Lanegan is an assassin. A professional voice hitman for hire. Tons of great projects sol and as a duo with Greg Dulli in Gutter Twins, Isobel Campbell, Soulsavers, U.N.K.L.E., QUOTSA. Prolific and at the top of his game.
@@td315 for queens check out Songs for the Dead, In the Fade, his best solo album by far is Bubblegum with songs like 100 days and Methamphetamine Blues, other songs like Sad Disco, his biggest hit was “Nearly Lost You” with Screaming Trees which I personally hate TBH
Layne went into the control room at the studio, kicked everyone out of the room. He sat down with Mark Lanegan and wrote the lyrics with Mark... Layne writing a line, then Mark writing the next line... they did that back and forth until they finished the song. The song was based on the events of the summer of 1989, just before careers were about to take off. According to Kelly Curtis’s assistant (Curtis used to co-manage Alice In Chains with Susan Silver... another story unto itself), “It was just an epic kind of summer, where there was a lot of parties and we’d go to the beach all the time, just a fun time. A lot of socializing, and just really good times, a really hot, fun summer.” This would become the subject of the Mad Season song LONG GONE DAY. “It’s interesting that [Layne] felt the same way … Curtis's assistant rented a house where Screaming Trees practiced in the basement. Her band practiced in the basement. Alice in Chains was happening. All those bands were happening.” According to the ABOVE album liner notes, the song was “inspired by those who shared this memory.” The notes mention by names of people who were there, including Demri, Layne and Demri’s close friend Fabiola Gonzalez, members of the band Sweet Water, and Curtis's assistant. Absent from the list was someone Demri had an on-and-off relationship with during this period. The band is Layne Staley singing, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam on guitar, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees on drums and John Baker Saunders (who was from Minneapolis but McCready met him in rehab there and dragged him back to Seattle with him after their rehab stint.) Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees sings of a few of the songs on the Above album. I'M ABOVE and LONG GONE DAY. He is also credited for co-writing the music to those tracks along with McCready and Martin. Lanegan also wrote the lyrics for the three bonus tracks on the deluxe issue - LOCOMOTIVE, BLACK BOOK OF FEAR, and SLIP AWAY. R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck is credited for co-writing the music to BLACK BOOK OF FEAR along with McCready, Martin, Saunders, and Lanegan. Layne Staley's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range was so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals. Barrett Martin said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne’s vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful. The shows they did live at the Moore in 1995... Layne killed the vocals on every song he sang. Even ALL ALONE was just an instrumental to begin with and then Layne went in and added the bare minimum of vocals and made it haunting. And ALSO on the Live at the Moore they covered John Lennon's I DON'T WANT TO BE A SOLDIER... Layne's vocals are AWESOME on that, and the song's good up until they put a distortion pedal on the saxophone. But up until then Lennon may have wrote the song, but Layne perfected it. Layne drew the Above album cover art and wrote the lyrics to the songs he sang on the Above album so they're about his addiction and recovery/12 step, WAKE UP is basically telling himself to wake up from the 10 year love affair with drugs, Slow suicide's no way to go (of course that is what happened, after the KISS shows in 1996 to 2002 it was a six-year-long slow suicide. My Top 5 Mad Season songs: Wake Up (Live at the Moore, 1995), Artificial Red (Live at the Moore, 1995), River of Deceit (Live at the Moore, 1995), a toss up between I Don't Know Anything (Live at the Moore, 1995) OR X-Ray Mind (Live at the Moore, 1995), I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier (Live at the Moore, 1995... John Lennon wrote it, Layne PERFECTED the vocals, the song is good until they decided to put a distortion pedal on the saxophone, then it's just noise). Aside from I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier... Layne wrote all the original songs he sang on Mad Season and he drew the cover art for Mad Season's Above album. Back in 1994, near the end of the classic Seattle period, four musicians came together from a wide cross-section of Seattle’s heaviest bands. They included Pearl Jam’s lead guitarist Mike McCready, Alice In Chains lead vocalist Layne Staley, the not-from-Seattle-but-he-fit-right-in bassist John “Baker” Saunders, and Barrett Martin came from the bands Skin Yard and Screaming Trees. Mike and Baker had met in rehab in Minneapolis, and they immediately hit it off with their love of the Delta Blues and the bright clarity that comes from a newly sober mind. They played a series of secret shows at Seattle’s now-legendary Crocodile Café. The intent was to tighten-up the songs and try out the new material on a live audience, and during these shows, they realized a singular vision that would manifest in the studio a few weeks later. Mike McCready wanted to do demos, and Layne said screw that, we're doing a whole album right out of the gate. Layne had tried rehab 13 times, but he could never completely give it up. He tried quitting cold turkey on two of the last attempts at rehab, but that didn't work either. After he returned home from the second attempt at detoxing cold turkey, McCready started calling and then just showing up at Layne's condo with Baker in tow. They all got together and dragged Layne out of his condo, got him excited about doing ABOVE album, thinking if he was creative he wouldn't want the drugs, and for the length of time it took to do that, Layne was excited about the project, but it didn't curb his drug habit. The saxophone is done by a Seattle Jazz musician known as Skerik. The Above album was released internationally on March 14, 1995, on Columbia Records and it immediately struck a resonant chord with the public that sent the album into gold status within a few weeks. It peaked at #24 on the Billboard Top 200, and the album’s first single, RIVER OF DECEIT, was a bona fide radio hit in the United States, reaching the #2 spot on the American modern rock charts. All of this happened, I might add, without the band playing a proper, advertised show or any touring. They did the 4 shows at the Crocodile and the main show that got turned into a VHS/DVD Mad Season Live at the Moore. Mad Season essentially played a grungier version of the Blues. This unusual chemistry made us sound totally unique for our time, in an era of post-Grunge, formula rock that was beginning to dominate popular music then, as it still does to this day. Above was the only complete album of Layne Staley’s introspective, mystical lyrics, and in the almost 30 years since its release. Layne was an extremely intelligent, humorous, and gracious human being, and he cared about things like politeness and kindness to strangers, qualities that seem to be forgotten in today’s narcissistic, nihilistic culture. He laughed easily and talked openly with his fans, and his guest list at shows was always reserved for the young, marginalized people who couldn’t afford to buy a ticket. Those were Layne’s people, the ones without a voice, and through the power of poetic language, Layne gave them a voice. Barrett Martin's best personal memory of Layne "came when we were making the Above album and he was in the studio lounge reading Kahlil Gibran’s iconic book, The Prophet, a book I highly recommend everyone read at some point in your lives. I told him I had read it as a teenager, and I liked the part about the arrows you fire into the world to keep the darkness at bay. Layne said that as musicians we were like burning arrows, arcing across the sky. We started talking about what it meant to be an artist with a spiritual message and I can tell you that Layne deeply felt that he had a spiritual message to convey in his music, even if his lyrics were dark. And that is because darkness must exist first in order for light to emerge in contrast to it; the two are inseparable parts of the same continuum. "This theme is evident in all of Layne’s songs, both with Mad Season and Alice In Chains, and that is because he existed in a realm between darkness and light, a place where he could see both. So please remember this: Layne was very young when he wrote and sang those lyrics, he was only in his mid-twenties (Layne was ONLY 27 when he was with Mad Season in mid to late 1994 through April 1995, before he returned to AIC to record Tripod), yet he said a huge amount with that incredible voice." Several years after Layne’s passing Barrett Martin got a call from an old friend in Massachusetts who had a couple of young children. While on a family drive through the countryside, he was playing the Above album when the last song on the album, ALL ALONE, came on. One of the little ones in the back seat asked if there were angels singing on the song, a question that he relayed to Barrett over the phone. “Yeah, he was a certain kind of angel,” Barrett said, “a dark one perhaps, but an angel all the same.” Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine said Layne sang like an angry angel. After Layne died and Baker died, McCready wanted to restart Mad Season with Chris Cornell singing and Chris had learn how Layne sang the songs before he could put his variation on it. Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12-year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002. Layne kept his humor and wit even to the end of his life.
Thank you so much for this. This is the most thorough and accurate recounting if this band I've ever read. I'm a maniacal, borderline obsessive music nerd who came of age when all this was happening. Still arguably my favorite band ever. Layne was a gift from above
The ramblings of a madman. And btw, this Layne never lost his voice is not true. One of the main reasons Alice broke up is layne couldn’t sing anymore because of his drug habit. They did use auto tune and pro tools actually cause he was so awful. There’s a story of Jerry in the control room listening to Layne singing and when he was done, he just said one word “awful” and left the room. Shortly after he went to work on his solo album without Layne messing up his music.
As much as I love AIC with Layne and Jerry singing together perfectly, I sure wish we had more Mad Season. I fkn love Mark Lanegan and Layne together. Check out early and live Queens of the Stone Age for more Mark
Mark and Layne are great, but their combined vocals in the mix are what makes this song.. along with the magic of the sax solo. The sax is what keeps bringing me back.
I'm gonna get it on Apple Music and revisit it soon. I was into other stuff at the time (Faith No More, Tool, Korn, etc) so I didn't really follow Screaming Trees at all. I really appreciate Sweet Oblivion though!
It’s honestly annoying to me how much mark is associated with screaming trees. Even in marks own opinion, that band was mediocre at best. Lanegans truly great musical projects are his solo records, the work he did with Greg Dulli and other collaborations with different artists such as mad season. Listen to bubblegum if you want a great Mark Lanegan record.
You made such a great observation here- grunge focuses more on feel than enunciation, while simultaneously having beautifully poetic lyrics. They had this aspect to their music that could go toe to toe with any other genre, and just casually glossed over it. You only know the poetry if you go looking for it. That's just.... the epitome of cool
Fantastic album. If anyone who reads this ever gets the chance, there is an concert video here on YT celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album release that was performed with live musicians and different vocalists in 2015. They played the song All Alone, with the musicians playing live...and then suddenly through the speakers came Layne's vocalisations from the recording of the song...the audience cheered, and if you don't get goosebumps, check your pulse. Thanx for this! ~Be Blessed
Type this: Mad Season with Chris Cornell.If you want just "All Alone "listening (the song what mentioned in the comment above )idk that only this song is up on yt,but easy to find if not.Do What I said first and you can find it.This song the last.I hope it'll help.
In an interview Mark said that when writing the lyrics for this song, Layne would write a line then pass the piece of paper over, and then he would write a line and so on.
I didn’t know Layne was such a Michael Jackson fan sporting the one glove but it was around 1995 and MJ was really popular world wide. Layne was in a funk band so maybe it makes sense.
I've got several of Mark Lanegan's albums. He's one of my absolute favorites. He's got a book out there too that's an absolute must-read if you're a fan!
Gotten to see Mark Lanegan live several times over the years and he has always been great. A few of the shows were in Aberdeen and I still can't believe he has been willing to travel there, normally Glasgow is the nearest to me.
Yeeeeees! Incredible band! Mark Lanegan is one of my favourite singers ever! You should check out his live "one take session" rendition of One Way Street. He's a good bit older, but he's still a paragon of coolness.
Hadn’t listened to or thought about Mad Season in awhile til I saw this video pop up. Definitely gonna give their album another listen today. It was always one of my dad’s favorites.
RIP Mark. Mad Season is an underappreciated collab, and this song in particular is a masterpiece of bluesy, gravelly, grungy genius. Layne and Mark play off one another's voices so brilliantly.
It was easy to miss, much great music came out of the 90s, they only put out the one album; Above, this song in my opinion stand out from the rest, which isn't to say those are in any way bad, this is just above.
I've seen Screaming Trees and AiC back in 1993 same bill, and yet chose to skip Mad Season when it was released. So weird. Checking out Lanegan solo now. So far, I like it!. Thanks Beth.
Mark Lanegan did a lot of great things solo, with queens of the Stone Age, the Soulsavers, to much to name really. If people want that kind of voice they call him. Love that voice 😀
I found this album on a cassette in a thrift store, you can imagine my enthusiasm when I hit play to find Layne belting out to these super groovy songs. Love the video !
Oh damn I see Mad Season & I couldn't click fast enough. I caught Mark Lanegan doing a show with just him & a guitarist. Nearly moved me to tears. Black sun morning is such a great song.
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Barrett Martin is a drummer that nobody ever talks about, even though he should be! He's a beast! Also Mike McCready from Pearl Jam on Lead Guitar. Mad Season Live @ The Moore is a must see performance if anyone who is reading this, hasn't already.
You looked very good in this video Beth. Very relaxed and expressive. You could really tell you were just enjoying the music and sharing your feelings....excellent
Mark Lanegan, at long last! I love his gorgeous voice so much! 💜 Anyone who enjoys this song should listen to the marvellous Screaming Trees album Sweet Oblivion 🖤
This collaboration CD was definitely one of the best collab records ever. I bought it when it came out then lost it and bought it again. Now it's downloaded on apple Music love Screaming Trees and Alice in Chains
Hi, Beth! It's awesome you got a Lanegan wig just for the video! 😅😂😅 Kidding, of course. Admittedly I never would have seen your awesome videos if this one didn't exist. And with all due respect, as much as a mancrush as I have always had on Dark Mark, you're one of the most beautiful human beings I've ever seen and heard - both inner beauty and outer - especially on TH-cam. Hearing someone with your expertise compliment Mark so much makes my eyes well up with tears. I'd love to see you do a video with some of his solo work such as Wild Flowers, Lexington Slow Down or Strange Religion. Even his work with Isobel Campbell (Circus is Leaving Town especially) would be great to hear you talk about!
Yes!!! Finally some Lanegan!!! Ok now do more, lol. The 4AD Session is the best on TH-cam right now, I think. His Concert Privé appearance seems to have disappeared from the internet? Too bad there's no good live version of the Trees' "Julie Paradise" online, because the album version is stunning, with his whole range on display.
I’m glad some1 has finally done Mad Season, thank you Beth! It’s funny you mentioned the 🚬on stage, this being the band that got together to keep themselves sober.. Besides Staley, Saunders, the bassist was also lost to addiction. I have the deluxe edition for their 💿 ‘Above’…Lanegan went into the studio to do a #of songs intended 4the next💿 & I think those songs are beautiful, his vocals R rich&velvety, but u can hear the effects of🚬. My fav is “The Black Book of Fear,” the lyricism alone is impeccable. &“Slip Away” makes me cry every time, both songs are so close to the bone. I also love McCready’s work here, quite different from his work w/PJ, both R great, 💭it depends on who u work w/&how much they infl.your playing. I even like his little interlude. I’ve mentioned B4 how much I appreciate the use of non traditional instr.s - the upright bass, 🪘, ¿marimbas?, 🎷. I💭1 had🍷works, but it was just a layering of🎸 work.
Beth , I love that you love Layne, just wish he were still here for you to do more reactions on , he deserved so much better than the hand he dealt himself, seemed like a genuinely great hearted person and absolutely wailed like no other, LLL❤👑⌛😪
I know a major hospital OR that played Mad Season during many a case. Kept everyone chill even during difficult procedures. RIP Layne... too soon, too soon.
Side note……… mark and Layne wrote this song together. Layne would write a line, then mark would write a line. After the album came out, much yo mark’s surprise, Layne and the rest of mad season gave mark a full writing credit. ( mark is only on this one song) Layne knew mark was very much a working artist and could really use the royalties. They were great friends
I think Mark Lanegan tends more toward the lower registers when he is working with other singers. In the early days of the screaming trees he was often higher in pitch. I like The Gutter Twins project he did with Greg Dulli from the Afgan Whigs, and some of the Soul Savers stuff is interesting too. I'm not sure labelling him a grunge singer does him justice.
Lanegan once said that the main reason he sang higher in the Trees was that the Conners wrote the melodies for their own range, which was significantly higher. You can kind of hear through the 90s as he finds his own voice.
Ty for showing grunge more love! Growing up in Seattle was such a blessing! Mad Season, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, I could go on! Plus Queensryche.... :)
Yeah, definitely Queensryche. I got ahold of their debut EP on cassette somehow back in '83 or '84 and wore the thing out. Great prog/power metal band.
This one is at an interesting point in Layne's career. This is around '94 or '95 (not sure which off the top of my head). This is *after* he had to stop touring with Alice in Chains due to his severe drug addiction, but *before* the Unplugged show where we got to see him look so....well, spent. I'm so glad this show exists in HD, it's such a great one. Watching Barrett *utterly annihilate* the drums on "I Don't Know Anything" (with Layne on Rhythm Guitar!), then you got "Wake Up", "River of Deceit", and of course "Long Day Gone". Such a great show. You should really react to Man in the Box. Catch a little more of Layne in his heyday when he could shake stadiums.
Hearing Layne is one of my favorites things to do
You nailed it with that statement. I concur
Same ❤️🧡💛💙💚
Me too
Agree!!! There is just no one like him.
same
Layne Staley has the most emotionally expressive tone that I've ever heard. Listening to him sing is like getting to scratch a really bad itch 🔥
One does not simply listen to Layne you feel him.
I'd say the most expressive tone belongs to Cornell, but that would be a close call.
@@wmeo5349 no it doesnt
@@Joaozinho-jj9uv thanks for an argument
Mark Lanegan is an assassin. A professional voice hitman for hire. Tons of great projects sol and as a duo with Greg Dulli in Gutter Twins, Isobel Campbell, Soulsavers, U.N.K.L.E., QUOTSA. Prolific and at the top of his game.
Living legend for sure.
What are some of your favorite songs of his? Not popular per se, but your favorites.
And Twilight Singers with Greg Dulli...
@@Feliperost Not anymore :(
@@td315 for queens check out Songs for the Dead, In the Fade, his best solo album by far is
Bubblegum with songs like 100 days and Methamphetamine Blues, other songs like Sad Disco, his biggest hit was “Nearly Lost You” with Screaming Trees which I personally hate TBH
Layne went into the control room at the studio, kicked everyone out of the room. He sat down with Mark Lanegan and wrote the lyrics with Mark... Layne writing a line, then Mark writing the next line... they did that back and forth until they finished the song.
The song was based on the events of the summer of 1989, just before careers were about to take off. According to Kelly Curtis’s assistant (Curtis used to co-manage Alice In Chains with Susan Silver... another story unto itself), “It was just an epic kind of summer, where there was a lot of parties and we’d go to the beach all the time, just a fun time. A lot of socializing, and just really good times, a really hot, fun summer.” This would become the subject of the Mad Season song LONG GONE DAY. “It’s interesting that [Layne] felt the same way … Curtis's assistant rented a house where Screaming Trees practiced in the basement. Her band practiced in the basement. Alice in Chains was happening. All those bands were happening.” According to the ABOVE album liner notes, the song was “inspired by those who shared this memory.” The notes mention by names of people who were there, including Demri, Layne and Demri’s close friend Fabiola Gonzalez, members of the band Sweet Water, and Curtis's assistant. Absent from the list was someone Demri had an on-and-off relationship with during this period.
The band is Layne Staley singing, Mike McCready of Pearl Jam on guitar, Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees on drums and John Baker Saunders (who was from Minneapolis but McCready met him in rehab there and dragged him back to Seattle with him after their rehab stint.)
Mark Lanegan of Screaming Trees sings of a few of the songs on the Above album. I'M ABOVE and LONG GONE DAY. He is also credited for co-writing the music to those tracks along with McCready and Martin. Lanegan also wrote the lyrics for the three bonus tracks on the deluxe issue - LOCOMOTIVE, BLACK BOOK OF FEAR, and SLIP AWAY. R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck is credited for co-writing the music to BLACK BOOK OF FEAR along with McCready, Martin, Saunders, and Lanegan.
Layne Staley's vocal range can run rings around any other grunge singer in my opinion. Layne could sing the phone book and never hit a wrong note. Even at the end of his life, with no teeth and a lisp, his voice, wit and humor were all still there. Layne's voice and vocal range was so powerful he did NOT need auto tune or pro-tools until he lost his teeth and had a lisp around 1998, and even then he still killed the vocals.
Barrett Martin said that when he stood to the side of the stage, he could hear the sound of Layne’s vocal resonance come out of Layne's body LOUDER than it did coming out of the speakers, Layne's voice was that powerful.
The shows they did live at the Moore in 1995... Layne killed the vocals on every song he sang. Even ALL ALONE was just an instrumental to begin with and then Layne went in and added the bare minimum of vocals and made it haunting. And ALSO on the Live at the Moore they covered John Lennon's I DON'T WANT TO BE A SOLDIER... Layne's vocals are AWESOME on that, and the song's good up until they put a distortion pedal on the saxophone. But up until then Lennon may have wrote the song, but Layne perfected it.
Layne drew the Above album cover art and wrote the lyrics to the songs he sang on the Above album so they're about his addiction and recovery/12 step, WAKE UP is basically telling himself to wake up from the 10 year love affair with drugs, Slow suicide's no way to go (of course that is what happened, after the KISS shows in 1996 to 2002 it was a six-year-long slow suicide.
My Top 5 Mad Season songs: Wake Up (Live at the Moore, 1995), Artificial Red (Live at the Moore, 1995), River of Deceit (Live at the Moore, 1995), a toss up between I Don't Know Anything (Live at the Moore, 1995) OR X-Ray Mind (Live at the Moore, 1995), I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier (Live at the Moore, 1995... John Lennon wrote it, Layne PERFECTED the vocals, the song is good until they decided to put a distortion pedal on the saxophone, then it's just noise). Aside from I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier... Layne wrote all the original songs he sang on Mad Season and he drew the cover art for Mad Season's Above album.
Back in 1994, near the end of the classic Seattle period, four musicians came together from a wide cross-section of Seattle’s heaviest bands. They included Pearl Jam’s lead guitarist Mike McCready, Alice In Chains lead vocalist Layne Staley, the not-from-Seattle-but-he-fit-right-in bassist John “Baker” Saunders, and Barrett Martin came from the bands Skin Yard and Screaming Trees. Mike and Baker had met in rehab in Minneapolis, and they immediately hit it off with their love of the Delta Blues and the bright clarity that comes from a newly sober mind.
They played a series of secret shows at Seattle’s now-legendary Crocodile Café. The intent was to tighten-up the songs and try out the new material on a live audience, and during these shows, they realized a singular vision that would manifest in the studio a few weeks later. Mike McCready wanted to do demos, and Layne said screw that, we're doing a whole album right out of the gate.
Layne had tried rehab 13 times, but he could never completely give it up. He tried quitting cold turkey on two of the last attempts at rehab, but that didn't work either. After he returned home from the second attempt at detoxing cold turkey, McCready started calling and then just showing up at Layne's condo with Baker in tow. They all got together and dragged Layne out of his condo, got him excited about doing ABOVE album, thinking if he was creative he wouldn't want the drugs, and for the length of time it took to do that, Layne was excited about the project, but it didn't curb his drug habit.
The saxophone is done by a Seattle Jazz musician known as Skerik.
The Above album was released internationally on March 14, 1995, on Columbia Records and it immediately struck a resonant chord with the public that sent the album into gold status within a few weeks. It peaked at #24 on the Billboard Top 200, and the album’s first single, RIVER OF DECEIT, was a bona fide radio hit in the United States, reaching the #2 spot on the American modern rock charts. All of this happened, I might add, without the band playing a proper, advertised show or any touring. They did the 4 shows at the Crocodile and the main show that got turned into a VHS/DVD Mad Season Live at the Moore.
Mad Season essentially played a grungier version of the Blues. This unusual chemistry made us sound totally unique for our time, in an era of post-Grunge, formula rock that was beginning to dominate popular music then, as it still does to this day. Above was the only complete album of Layne Staley’s introspective, mystical lyrics, and in the almost 30 years since its release.
Layne was an extremely intelligent, humorous, and gracious human being, and he cared about things like politeness and kindness to strangers, qualities that seem to be forgotten in today’s narcissistic, nihilistic culture. He laughed easily and talked openly with his fans, and his guest list at shows was always reserved for the young, marginalized people who couldn’t afford to buy a ticket. Those were Layne’s people, the ones without a voice, and through the power of poetic language, Layne gave them a voice.
Barrett Martin's best personal memory of Layne "came when we were making the Above album and he was in the studio lounge reading Kahlil Gibran’s iconic book, The Prophet, a book I highly recommend everyone read at some point in your lives. I told him I had read it as a teenager, and I liked the part about the arrows you fire into the world to keep the darkness at bay. Layne said that as musicians we were like burning arrows, arcing across the sky. We started talking about what it meant to be an artist with a spiritual message and I can tell you that Layne deeply felt that he had a spiritual message to convey in his music, even if his lyrics were dark. And that is because darkness must exist first in order for light to emerge in contrast to it; the two are inseparable parts of the same continuum.
"This theme is evident in all of Layne’s songs, both with Mad Season and Alice In Chains, and that is because he existed in a realm between darkness and light, a place where he could see both. So please remember this: Layne was very young when he wrote and sang those lyrics, he was only in his mid-twenties (Layne was ONLY 27 when he was with Mad Season in mid to late 1994 through April 1995, before he returned to AIC to record Tripod), yet he said a huge amount with that incredible voice."
Several years after Layne’s passing Barrett Martin got a call from an old friend in Massachusetts who had a couple of young children. While on a family drive through the countryside, he was playing the Above album when the last song on the album, ALL ALONE, came on. One of the little ones in the back seat asked if there were angels singing on the song, a question that he relayed to Barrett over the phone. “Yeah, he was a certain kind of angel,” Barrett said, “a dark one perhaps, but an angel all the same.”
Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine said Layne sang like an angry angel.
After Layne died and Baker died, McCready wanted to restart Mad Season with Chris Cornell singing and Chris had learn how Layne sang the songs before he could put his variation on it.
Layne's story is more tragic and haunting because you can actually watch and hear him deteriorate over the 12-year span: from the mild use of drugs in 1990 all the way through 1996 when he was deep into a heroin addiction to dropping to 90 pounds by 1998 to 86 pounds when he died in 2002. Layne kept his humor and wit even to the end of his life.
Thank you so much. I knew a lot of the things you wrote about, but managed to find some completely new information, pure gold!
Your great at copy n paste
@@RS-ge4dz I'm great at typing it all once and then saving it for the copy/paste later to save myself from carpal tunnel syndrome, smartass
Thank you so much for this. This is the most thorough and accurate recounting if this band I've ever read. I'm a maniacal, borderline obsessive music nerd who came of age when all this was happening. Still arguably my favorite band ever. Layne was a gift from above
The ramblings of a madman. And btw, this Layne never lost his voice is not true. One of the main reasons Alice broke up is layne couldn’t sing anymore because of his drug habit. They did use auto tune and pro tools actually cause he was so awful. There’s a story of Jerry in the control room listening to Layne singing and when he was done, he just said one word “awful” and left the room. Shortly after he went to work on his solo album without Layne messing up his music.
As much as I love AIC with Layne and Jerry singing together perfectly, I sure wish we had more Mad Season. I fkn love Mark Lanegan and Layne together. Check out early and live Queens of the Stone Age for more Mark
Finally some Mark Lanegan...and Layne again 💜 Amazing supergroup
Mark and Layne are great, but their combined vocals in the mix are what makes this song.. along with the magic of the sax solo. The sax is what keeps bringing me back.
What a band! What a song! What a couple of singers!
The Screaming Trees album Dust is an underrated masterpiece, IMO. Every song is great.
Yep. And made while they were falling apart.
I'm gonna get it on Apple Music and revisit it soon. I was into other stuff at the time (Faith No More, Tool, Korn, etc) so I didn't really follow Screaming Trees at all. I really appreciate Sweet Oblivion though!
Brilliant record, I can’t stop listening to Dying Days lately.
Dust is my favorite Trees album
It’s honestly annoying to me how much mark is associated with screaming trees. Even in marks own opinion, that band was mediocre at best. Lanegans truly great musical projects are his solo records, the work he did with Greg Dulli and other collaborations with different artists such as mad season. Listen to bubblegum if you want a great Mark Lanegan record.
One of the most underrated collaborations of the 90's
get a thesaurus. tired of hearing overrated, underrated and iconic
Right, a mad season vinyl record costs 200€ and its underrated. wtf.
@@f.schulef4403 Woah really? I have Above on vinyl and it didn't cost me anywhere near that when I bought it around 10-15 years ago
@@madhatter8508 cool, I give you 40€ for it :)
@@f.schulef4403 I'll sell it to you for 400€
Hard to belive both these guys are gone now. RIP legends.
You made such a great observation here- grunge focuses more on feel than enunciation, while simultaneously having beautifully poetic lyrics. They had this aspect to their music that could go toe to toe with any other genre, and just casually glossed over it. You only know the poetry if you go looking for it. That's just.... the epitome of cool
Fantastic album. If anyone who reads this ever gets the chance, there is an concert video here on YT celebrating the 20th anniversary of the album release that was performed with live musicians and different vocalists in 2015. They played the song All Alone, with the musicians playing live...and then suddenly through the speakers came Layne's vocalisations from the recording of the song...the audience cheered, and if you don't get goosebumps, check your pulse. Thanx for this! ~Be Blessed
Do you have a link? All I can find is Matchbox 20
Type this: Mad Season with Chris Cornell.If you want just "All Alone "listening (the song what mentioned in the comment above )idk that only this song is up on yt,but easy to find if not.Do What I said first and you can find it.This song the last.I hope it'll help.
So glad you react to this song, because Lane Staley and Lanegan are my 2 favourite singers!!
Same here. The Album "Above" from Mad Season is a Masterpiece
In an interview Mark said that when writing the lyrics for this song, Layne would write a line then pass the piece of paper over, and then he would write a line and so on.
He explains a little more in his autobiography, it was an amazing read.
I didn’t know Layne was such a Michael Jackson fan sporting the one glove but it was around 1995 and MJ was really popular world wide. Layne was in a funk band so maybe it makes sense.
@@td315 he wore fingerless gloves a lot in later shows. It was to cover evidence of his drug use.
The Screaming Trees! Glad she pointed that out. Loved them back in the day
I've got several of Mark Lanegan's albums. He's one of my absolute favorites. He's got a book out there too that's an absolute must-read if you're a fan!
Same here! Loved his book, dark, sad, raw, intense but captivating.
His stuff is awesome!
I read it. The Layne parts were super sad
Are you talking about Sing Backwards and Weep? I never, ever listen to books, but Mark Lanegan was reading it... Now that was an experience.
It always bugs me when people say Eddie Vedder is the last of the grunge/alternative singers alive, I'm like... MARK IS STILL THERE MAN
Gotten to see Mark Lanegan live several times over the years and he has always been great. A few of the shows were in Aberdeen and I still can't believe he has been willing to travel there, normally Glasgow is the nearest to me.
Yeeeeees! Incredible band! Mark Lanegan is one of my favourite singers ever! You should check out his live "one take session" rendition of One Way Street. He's a good bit older, but he's still a paragon of coolness.
I've suggested that, too. Such a great performance.
I think his voice has only gotten even better!
Beth's uploads makes everyone smile.
Hadn’t listened to or thought about Mad Season in awhile til I saw this video pop up. Definitely gonna give their album another listen today. It was always one of my dad’s favorites.
RIP Mark. Mad Season is an underappreciated collab, and this song in particular is a masterpiece of bluesy, gravelly, grungy genius. Layne and Mark play off one another's voices so brilliantly.
Embarrassed to admit, my first time with these guys. Wonderful! Must hear more. Thanks, Beth.
It was easy to miss, much great music came out of the 90s, they only put out the one album; Above, this song in my opinion stand out from the rest, which isn't to say those are in any way bad, this is just above.
I've seen Screaming Trees and AiC back in 1993 same bill, and yet chose to skip Mad Season when it was released. So weird. Checking out Lanegan solo now. So far, I like it!. Thanks Beth.
You should check Mark Lanegan solo albums, so good!!!
Ilthese were the best days we had such great music this is one of my favorite albums of my 55 yrs❤
Godspeed Mark…..Layne has been missing you. Give him a big hug from all of us down here on Earth.
I can’t listen to this song without crying
Mark Lanegan did a lot of great things solo, with queens of the Stone Age, the Soulsavers, to much to name really. If people want that kind of voice they call him. Love that voice 😀
This live version with Mark and Layne singing together, absolutely flattens me every time.
This live show is amazing. Thanks Beth, more Layne is always appreciated!
I found this album on a cassette in a thrift store, you can imagine my enthusiasm when I hit play to find Layne belting out to these super groovy songs. Love the video !
Oh damn I see Mad Season & I couldn't click fast enough. I caught Mark Lanegan doing a show with just him & a guitarist. Nearly moved me to tears.
Black sun morning is such a great song.
Glad to see Mad Season get some love. The juxtaposition in Staley and Lanegan's voice just work.
Oohhh my goodness that song is amazing!!! Their voices and the 🎷 oohhh my goodness loved it so bluesy I love Layne Staley ❤️🤘😇
thanks for taking Mark Lanegan....He's a legend. Check out the first album with Isobel campbell... it's my favourite.
At last! Mad Season. For some strange reason I really enjoy watching other people listen to my favorite tracks. This was a good one :)
I absolutely love Layne Staley.
One of my favourite performances of any song for a damn long time.
Mad Season....Just the Title, Speaks Volumes. Incredible album.
Lanegan&Layne: a soft pillow hit by a knife. Love both 🤘💜
Mark Lanegan is one of the best American singers out there today!✌
I absolutely love the Come as You Are riff on the sax in the end
More Alice In Chains- Bleed the Freak live at The Moore please 🤘🏽
Yes, my fav from The Moore!
Masterpiece of a song, Cantrell is a genius and Layne was pretty much at his peak at that time.
that was always my fav from LP1...though It Ain't Like That is pretty close, specially live, what a genius super simple riff.
Hell Yes! Love how they shot it in black and white...and really dark. Set the mood for the haunting song🤘
Everyone always requests love hate love, but dude bleed the freak is even better
Mark Lanegan was amazing he never got the love he so greatly deserved rest easy
Love your analysis. So nice and positive.
Yes Beth!!! I've been asking for this one for a long time😀 thanks Beth
RIP Mark and Layne. Together again
It was so awesome to experience this in real time i miss the 90’s😢
This is just a cool song, especially the live recording. I love it. The Bass, the Sax, the Bongos... So cool.
This is one of my favorite songs of all time. Great analysis!
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My favorite song on one of my all-time favorite albums.
Barrett Martin is a drummer that nobody ever talks about, even though he should be! He's a beast! Also Mike McCready from Pearl Jam on Lead Guitar.
Mad Season Live @ The Moore is a must see performance if anyone who is reading this, hasn't already.
Bout time someone does this band and song! Wake up live at this same show is one of the best
You looked very good in this video Beth. Very relaxed and expressive. You could really tell you were just enjoying the music and sharing your feelings....excellent
Undoubtedly at the top 5 favorites, nice job Beth✌🏽
Thank you Beth. Great to see you appreciate Mad Season.
Mark Lanegan, at long last! I love his gorgeous voice so much! 💜 Anyone who enjoys this song should listen to the marvellous Screaming Trees album Sweet Oblivion 🖤
This collaboration CD was definitely one of the best collab records ever. I bought it when it came out then lost it and bought it again. Now it's downloaded on apple Music love Screaming Trees and Alice in Chains
Rip to the greatest duo, 😔
Mad season, one of the best albums in any record collection.
This is such a great song. I honestly thought it was a masterpiece when I first heard it.
I love Mark Lanegan and Layne Staley!!!! I haver never seen it before and I will supportât the Patreon to be the winner too
I love the whole album by mad season, such a great superband
Thanks for choosing this masterpiece ;)
Love Mad Season & AiC ❤️
Every day. 💜
Laynes vocal progression is one of my favourites EVER...as tears flow.
She is amazing
Hi, Beth! It's awesome you got a Lanegan wig just for the video! 😅😂😅 Kidding, of course. Admittedly I never would have seen your awesome videos if this one didn't exist. And with all due respect, as much as a mancrush as I have always had on Dark Mark, you're one of the most beautiful human beings I've ever seen and heard - both inner beauty and outer - especially on TH-cam. Hearing someone with your expertise compliment Mark so much makes my eyes well up with tears.
I'd love to see you do a video with some of his solo work such as Wild Flowers, Lexington Slow Down or Strange Religion. Even his work with Isobel Campbell (Circus is Leaving Town especially) would be great to hear you talk about!
Yes!!! Finally some Lanegan!!! Ok now do more, lol.
The 4AD Session is the best on TH-cam right now, I think. His Concert Privé appearance seems to have disappeared from the internet?
Too bad there's no good live version of the Trees' "Julie Paradise" online, because the album version is stunning, with his whole range on display.
Ordered this album on vinyl a while back, happy days!
Great video! Wish you would react to more of Lanegan's stuff and maybe Mark Sandman from Morphine :)
Yes this very much reminds me of Morphine. I'd love to see a reaction to Morphine.
I’m glad some1 has finally done Mad Season, thank you Beth! It’s funny you mentioned the 🚬on stage, this being the band that got together to keep themselves sober.. Besides Staley, Saunders, the bassist was also lost to addiction. I have the deluxe edition for their 💿 ‘Above’…Lanegan went into the studio to do a #of songs intended 4the next💿 & I think those songs are beautiful, his vocals R rich&velvety, but u can hear the effects of🚬. My fav is “The Black Book of Fear,” the lyricism alone is impeccable. &“Slip Away” makes me cry every time, both songs are so close to the bone. I also love McCready’s work here, quite different from his work w/PJ, both R great, 💭it depends on who u work w/&how much they infl.your playing. I even like his little interlude. I’ve mentioned B4 how much I appreciate the use of non traditional instr.s - the upright bass, 🪘, ¿marimbas?, 🎷. I💭1 had🍷works, but it was just a layering of🎸 work.
He has great story telling, exactly!!!! :)
A bit too much theoretically hahahha :)
7:09 Hear the sax player's little tribute to Kurt Cobain?
Yes!! I think I was the only one who noticed!! He played the intro of Come as you are!!
Beth you are fabulous!!!
For the first time ever, I'm that person who says "I've never clicked on a video so fast in my life".
You are awesome Beth
Hoy lo oí en el coche rumbo a mi consulta a las 8 am, luego de vuelta a casa , y no había caído en que era 05 de Abril . Thanks Beth, 4 your work .
Beth , I love that you love Layne, just wish he were still here for you to do more reactions on , he deserved so much better than the hand he dealt himself, seemed like a genuinely great hearted person and absolutely wailed like no other, LLL❤👑⌛😪
I feel blessed that these guys decided to do a side project and created such a great album.
Perfect assessment.
I really love the way you break down a song you are awesome baby!!!!!!
RIP to both of these gentlemen
This is a great live performance and Beth I love your red hair 😍
I'm in love with this channel!!! 🇧🇷
Love love love this song❤️❤️❤️
Layne staley was such a tragic loss to music he's always gonna be my favorite
RIP to 2 legends
I know a major hospital OR that played Mad Season during many a case. Kept everyone chill even during difficult procedures.
RIP Layne... too soon, too soon.
Yes! Would love to see you review more Mark Lanegan maybe Dollar Bill by The Screaming Trees or Black Sun Morning?
Side note……… mark and Layne wrote this song together. Layne would write a line, then mark would write a line. After the album came out, much yo mark’s surprise, Layne and the rest of mad season gave mark a full writing credit. ( mark is only on this one song) Layne knew mark was very much a working artist and could really use the royalties. They were great friends
Thank you for this beth.. Raawr
Layne could harmonize with anyone and sound fantastic, but I love the both of them together ❤️
R.I.P. Layne & Mark
I think Mark Lanegan tends more toward the lower registers when he is working with other singers. In the early days of the screaming trees he was often higher in pitch. I like The Gutter Twins project he did with Greg Dulli from the Afgan Whigs, and some of the Soul Savers stuff is interesting too. I'm not sure labelling him a grunge singer does him justice.
Lanegan once said that the main reason he sang higher in the Trees was that the Conners wrote the melodies for their own range, which was significantly higher. You can kind of hear through the 90s as he finds his own voice.
You've helped my singing so much, I have a wierd combo of layne and Marc.
Ty for showing grunge more love! Growing up in Seattle was such a blessing! Mad Season, Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains, I could go on! Plus Queensryche.... :)
Yeah, definitely Queensryche. I got ahold of their debut EP on cassette somehow back in '83 or '84 and wore the thing out. Great prog/power metal band.
Lifeless Dead another great Layne showcase from Mad Season
Lanegan got you hair... we need more Mark
This one is at an interesting point in Layne's career. This is around '94 or '95 (not sure which off the top of my head). This is *after* he had to stop touring with Alice in Chains due to his severe drug addiction, but *before* the Unplugged show where we got to see him look so....well, spent. I'm so glad this show exists in HD, it's such a great one. Watching Barrett *utterly annihilate* the drums on "I Don't Know Anything" (with Layne on Rhythm Guitar!), then you got "Wake Up", "River of Deceit", and of course "Long Day Gone". Such a great show.
You should really react to Man in the Box. Catch a little more of Layne in his heyday when he could shake stadiums.