Mad Season Debut Lost Song ‘Locomotive’ With Mark Lanegan
In the midst of the '90s, the grunge rock supergroup Mad Season emerged, led by Alice in Chains' Layne Staley with Pearl Jam's Mike McCready, Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin and the Walkabouts' John Baker Saunders completing the lineup. The band released one album, 'Above,' and were working on a second disc of music that was never finished before both Saunders and Staley passed away. However, just last year McCready and Martin decided to revisit their Mad Season work and see if they could complete what was started.
The pair called in former Screaming Trees frontman and Queens of the Stone Age collaborator Mark Lanegan to lend a hand on songs that needed some vocal assistance, and now a deluxe edition reissue of 'Above,' complete with the unreleased or recently finished tracks from their second album included, is ready. One of those lost songs that Martin and McCready completed with Lanegan is a track called 'Locomotive,' and it's currently streaming online.
The title is an apt one, as the pacing of the song mirrors the chugging tempo a locomotive train makes as its pulling out of the station. Martin told Rolling Stone, "'Locomotive' is a song that best represents the direction Mad Season was going for our second, unfinished album. Mark Lanegan's lyrics and powerful voice captures that time perfectly." McCready adds, "He did an amazing job singing over this track from the elusive second Mad Season record that was to be called 'Disinformation.' 'Locomotive' hits you like one!" Take a listen to 'Locomotive' streaming at RollingStone.com here.
The deluxe edition release arrives April 2. Included on the collection is the original 'Above' CD, a second disc of the previously unreleased tracks, and a DVD that features the full concert video of the band's last performance. Fans can also look for a special double-vinyl version to arrive April 20 as part of the Record Store Day festivities.