Life Before Insanity

Last updated
Life Before Insanity
Gov't Mule - Life Before Insanity.jpg
Studio album by
Gov't Mule
ReleasedFebruary 15, 2000 (2000-02-15)
Recorded Muscle Shoals Studios, Sheffield, AL and Water Music, Hoboken, NJ
Genre Blues rock [1]
Length73:50
Label Capricorn
Producer Michael Barbiero
Gov't Mule chronology
Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends
(1999)		Life Before Insanity
(2000)		 The Deep End, Volume 1
(2001)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [2]
The Atlanta Constitution B [3]
Dayton Daily News B− [4]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Spin 6/10 [7]

Life Before Insanity is the third studio album by Gov't Mule. [8] The album was released on February 15, 2000, by Capricorn Records.

Contents

The album peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Heatseekers Album Chart. [9]

Production

The album was produced by Michael Barbiero. [10] Unlike the band's first two albums, Life Before Insanity utilized both overdubbing and multiple guest musicians. [11] It was the last album recorded with founding member Allen Woody, who died in August 2000. [12]

Critical reception

The Austin Chronicle wrote that "having Ben Harper cameo with Haynes on 'Lay Your Burden Down' is a guitarist's dream, but while the song rolls along, it never takes off—never reaches the pairing's potential." [13] The Washington Post thought that the album "recalls the vintage blues-rock of the early Allman Brothers Band and Clapton's Cream." [1]

Track listing

All songs by Warren Haynes unless otherwise noted.

No.TitleLength
1."Wandering Child" (Haynes, Matt Abts)6:05
2."Life Before Insanity" (Haynes, Danny Louis)6:12
3."Bad Little Doggie" (Haynes, Abts, Allen Woody)3:48
4."Lay Your Burden Down" (Haynes, Michael Barbiero)5:27
5."Fallen Down"6:58
6."World Gone Wild"6:17
7."Tastes Like Wine"6:57
8."I Think You Know What I Mean"4:55
9."Far Away"5:54
10."No Need to Suffer"8:20
11."In My Life/If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day" (Haynes, Robert Johnson)12:48

Personnel

Additional personnel

Production

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References

  1. 1 2 "GOV'T MULE "Life Before Insanity" Capricorn". The Washington Post. Retrieved 6 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Smith, Michael B. (2011). "Life Before Insanity - Gov't Mule | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 6 August 2011.
  3. ↑ "ON MUSIC". The Atlanta Constitution: G5. 2 Mar 2000.
  4. ↑ Simmons, Carol (7 Apr 2000). "RECORDINGS IN BRIEF". Dayton Daily News: 25.
  5. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 3. MUZE. p. 843.
  6. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (April 6, 2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   9780743201698 – via Google Books.
  7. ↑ "Reviews". SPIN. SPIN Media LLC. March 6, 2000 – via Google Books.
  8. ↑ "An Evening with Gov't Mule". The Stranger.
  9. ↑ "Gov't Mule". Billboard.
  10. ↑ "Studio Monitor". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. September 9, 2000 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Sculley, Alan (11 Aug 2000). "POWER TRIO GOV'T MULE PACKS ITS OWN POTENT KICK". The Morning Call: D14.
  12. ↑ "Allen Woody, Gov't Mule Bassist, Dies". MTV News. Archived from the original on August 4, 2020.
  13. ↑ "Gov't Mule Life Before Insanity (Capricorn)". www.austinchronicle.com.
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