Mad Season's Above released 28 years ago
It was 25 years ago today, March 14th, 1995, that we released the only Mad Season album, “Above." I wanted to say a few words about our band, beyond what I wrote in the liner notes for the “Above: Deluxe Edition.”
You know, when we recorded “Above," Layne and I were only 27 years old, Mike was 28, and Baker was 40, and even 40 seems young to me now, as I approach the age of 53. I am now twice the age I was when I laid down the drum and vibraphone/marimba tracks for Above, and more than twice the age of the album itself. There was something so special about the musical chemistry the 4 of us had together, which I have never been able to fully articulate. I wish we could have completed the double album we were working on as a follow up, but the Universe only wanted that one album from us - so we made it count.
I’m not sure if the magic was based on musical experience (or perhaps a lack thereof?), because at the time we made “Above," none of us had more than 2 or 3 albums under our belt from our respective bands. I think it had more to do with 4 guys being in the right place at the right time, and being able to express some musical-human-spiritual understandings that really transcended our youth and relative inexperience. When you listen to Layne’s lyrics, on the outside they seem like he was singing about very dark things, which of course he was. But when you listen more closely, you realize that he was saying, look within yourself, look at everything, even the darkness, and in that darkness there is light, and within that light there is truth. I think that message is as perfectly appropriate now in 2020, as it was in 1995 when my generation was still young and trying our best to express these understandings to each other. Back then, it was a difficult time to be a young person, just as it is today. And that’s why, when I remember back to being 27, I am reminded that it is the young people we need to listen to today, more than ever.
I still talk with young people all the time, at shows, on the radio, doing interviews, that sort of thing. I was also a music professor for 7 years at a small university, and my undergraduate students were mostly in their early 20s. Young people today are smart and are very socially conscious. They inherently know that we have to put certain beliefs in the garbage permanently, things like hate, racism, misogyny, homophobia, religious prejudice, or anything that makes people feel less than complete. We need to be done with that insanity for good, because those are not beliefs that will sustain our world, especially with the multiple crises we now face.
All of us in Mad Season were progressive thinkers, we were raised that way. Even though Layne and Baker are gone now, I often imagine what kind of music they might have done over the last 25 years. Mike and I still do that kind of work with our current bands and charitable projects, and in my experience, most musicians and creative people are inherently wired like that. What I love about today’s young people, is that they they understand all of this inherently, as they move toward a new kind of global awareness. We did our best when we were in our 20s, we worked with the tools that were available to us at the time, which was recorded music on clunky CDs and warped vinyl. But now we have to hand it over to the young people and let them lead the way - it really is their time now. I have no doubt they will rise to the challenge and do an even better job than we did 25+ years ago, when my generation was still young, fiery, and ready for the fight.
Love to everyone,
Barrett Martin
March 14th, 2020
Washington State
Comments
That Album has alot of meaning to me.
St. Paul 2014 • Mexico City 2015 • Philadelphia II 2016 • Ottawa 2016 • Amsterdam I & II 2018 • Wrigley Field II 2018 • Phoenix 2022
Apollo Theater 2022 • Chicago I 2023
St. Paul 2014 • Mexico City 2015 • Philadelphia II 2016 • Ottawa 2016 • Amsterdam I & II 2018 • Wrigley Field II 2018 • Phoenix 2022
Apollo Theater 2022 • Chicago I 2023
Ended up derailing my work because I was entranced a few songs in.
Absolutely a great album!
oh wow, I didn't even know the reissue from several years ago had gone oop.. vinyl be crazy lol.
The 2023 must be a glitch. I can't anything outside of Amazon of another reissue released this year.