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Life Before Insanity
Studio album by Gov't Mule
Released	February 15, 2000 (2000-02-15)
Recorded	Muscle Shoals Studios, Sheffield, AL and Water Music, Hoboken, NJ
Genre	Blues rock
Length	73:50
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
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Atlanta Constitution	B
Dayton Daily News	B−
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide
Spin	6/10

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

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

Production

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

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." The Washington Post thought that the album "recalls the vintage blues-rock of the early Allman Brothers Band and Clapton's Cream."

Track listing

All songs by Warren Haynes unless otherwise noted.

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

1. ^ "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.

External links

• Life Before Insanity (CD liner). Gov't Mule. Atlanta, GA: Capricorn. 2000. 314 546 489-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

• Gov't Mule albums
• 2000 albums
• Capricorn Records albums