Life Before Insanity
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name = Life Before Insanity
| type = studio
| artist = Gov't Mule
| cover = Gov't Mule - Life Before Insanity.jpg
| alt =
| released = {{Start date|2000|2|15}}
| recorded = Muscle Shoals Studios, Sheffield, AL and Water Music, Hoboken, NJ
| venue =
| studio =
| genre = Blues rock
| length = 73:50
| label = Capricorn
| producer = Michael Barbiero
| prev_title = Live... With a Little Help from Our Friends
| prev_year = 1999
| next_title = The Deep End, Volume 1
| next_year = 2001
}}
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = AllMusic
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite web |url= http://www.allmusic.com/album/r464933 |title=Life Before Insanity - Gov't Mule | AllMusic |first=Michael B. |last=Smith |work=allmusic.com |year=2011 |accessdate=6 August 2011}}
|rev2 = The Atlanta Constitution
|rev2score = B{{cite journal |title=ON MUSIC |journal=The Atlanta Constitution |date=2 Mar 2000 |page=G5}}
|rev3 = Dayton Daily News
|rev3score = B−{{cite journal |last1=Simmons |first1=Carol |title=RECORDINGS IN BRIEF |journal=Dayton Daily News |date=7 Apr 2000 |page=25}}
|rev4 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
|rev4score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |last1=Larkin |first1=Colin |title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |date=2006 |publisher=MUZE |volume=3 |page=843}}
|rev5 = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
|rev5score = {{rating|3.5|5}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA339|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|first1=Nathan|last1=Brackett|first2=Christian David|last2=Hoard|date=April 6, 2004|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9780743201698|via=Google Books}}
|rev6 = Spin
}}
Life Before Insanity is the third studio album by Gov't Mule.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thestranger.com/events/26475660/an-evening-with-govt-mule|title=An Evening with Gov't Mule|website=The Stranger}} The album was released on February 15, 2000, by Capricorn Records.
The album peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard Heatseekers Album Chart.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/artist/govt-mule/chart-history/tln/|title=Gov't Mule|magazine=Billboard}}
Production
The album was produced by Michael Barbiero.{{Cite magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aREEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA55|title=Studio Monitor|magazine=Billboard|date=September 9, 2000|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|via=Google Books}} Unlike the band's first two albums, Life Before Insanity utilized both overdubbing and multiple guest musicians.{{cite journal |last1=Sculley |first1=Alan |title=POWER TRIO GOV'T MULE PACKS ITS OWN POTENT KICK |journal=The Morning Call |date=11 Aug 2000 |page=D14}} It was the last album recorded with founding member Allen Woody, who died in August 2000.{{Cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/1123486/allen-woody-govt-mule-bassist-dies/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804204952/http://www.mtv.com/news/1123486/allen-woody-govt-mule-bassist-dies/|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 4, 2020|title=Allen Woody, Gov't Mule Bassist, Dies|website=MTV News}}
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."{{Cite web|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2000-03-03/76085/|title=Gov't Mule Life Before Insanity (Capricorn)|website=www.austinchronicle.com}} The Washington Post thought that the album "recalls the vintage blues-rock of the early Allman Brothers Band and Clapton's Cream."{{cite news |title=GOV'T MULE "Life Before Insanity" Capricorn |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPcap/2000-03/10/105r-031000-idx.html |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=6 April 2021}}
Track listing
All songs by Warren Haynes unless otherwise noted.
{{Track listing
| total_length =
| title1 = Wandering Child
| note1 = Haynes, Matt Abts
| length1 = 6:05
| title2 = Life Before Insanity
| note2 = Haynes, Danny Louis
| length2 = 6:12
| title3 = Bad Little Doggie
| note3 = Haynes, Abts, Allen Woody
| length3 = 3:48
| title4 = Lay Your Burden Down
| note4 = Haynes, Michael Barbiero
| length4 = 5:27
| title5 = Fallen Down
| note5 =
| length5 = 6:58
| title6 = World Gone Wild
| note6 =
| length6 = 6:17
| title7 = Tastes Like Wine
| note7 =
| length7 = 6:57
| title8 = I Think You Know What I Mean
| note8 =
| length8 = 4:55
| title9 = Far Away
| note9 =
| length9 = 5:54
| title10 = No Need to Suffer
| note10 =
| length10 = 8:20
| title11 = In My Life/If I Had Possession Over Judgement Day
| note11 = Haynes, Robert Johnson
| length11 = 12:48
}}
Personnel
- Warren Haynes – guitar, slide guitar, vocals
- Allen Woody – bass, mandolin on "Life Before Insanity", electric upright bass on "Tastes Like Wine", rhythm guitar on "I Think You Know What I Mean", fretless bass on "Far Away", dulcitar on "In My Life"
- Matt Abts – drums, djembe, ashika on "In My Life"
=Additional personnel=
- Michael Barbiero – glockenspiel on "Far Away"
- Hook Herrera – harmonica on "Bad Little Doggie" and "I Think You Know What I Mean"
- Ben Harper – vocals and lap steel on "Lay Your Burden Down"
- Johnny Neel – organ, Wurlitzer piano and background vocals
=Production=
- Michael Barbiero – producer, engineer, mixing
- Ray Martin – mixing, additional engineering
- Warren Haynes – mixing
- Brodie Hutcheson – mixing, additional engineering
- Dan Jurow – additional engineering
- Greg Calbi – mastering
- Mark Pagliaro – guitar, bass, mandolin, amp, tech
- Daniel Saratec – drum, percussion tech
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{cite AV media notes
|title = Life Before Insanity
|title-link = Life Before Insanity
|others = Gov't Mule
|year = 2000
|type = CD liner
|publisher = Capricorn
|id = 314 546 489-2
|location = Atlanta, GA
}}
{{Gov't Mule}}
{{Warren Haynes}}
{{Authority control}}