River of Deceit

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“River of Deceit”
“River of Deceit” cover
Single by Mad Season
from the album Above
B-side "November Hotel" (live)
Released 1995
Format CD single
Recorded 1994 at Bad Animals Studio, Seattle, Washington
Genre Grunge
Length 5:04
Label Columbia Records
Writer(s) Layne Staley, Mike McCready, John Baker Saunders, Barrett Martin
Producer Mad Season, Brett Eliason
Mad Season singles chronology
"River of Deceit"
(1995)
"I Don't Know Anything"
(1995)
Above track listing
"X-Ray Mind"
(Track 2)
"River of Deceit"
(Track 3)
"I'm Above"
(Track 4)
Audio sample
Info (help·info)

"River of Deceit" is the first single by grunge supergroup Mad Season, off the band's sole album, Above (1995). "River of Deceit" reached number two on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart as well as number 9 on its Modern Rock Tracks chart in 1995.

Contents

[edit] Origin and recording

The music for "River of Deceit" came out of rehearsals that the group had before vocalist Layne Staley joined.

[edit] Release and reception

Although the single was released to radio across North America, Europe, and the world, it was only commercially available in Australia.

"River of Deceit" became the most successful song from Above on the rock charts. The song peaked at number two on the Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks chart and number nine on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. It would go on to become the band's most well known song as it received substantial radio play throughout the 1990s.

[edit] Lyical meaning

Much of this song, lyrically, was inspired by The Prophet by Khalil Gibran.

[edit] Music video

The music video of "River of Deceit" is the only music video the band released. The video was directed by Josh Taft. It can be found at the end of the concert video, Live at the Moore.

[edit] Live performances

A live version of the song appears on the "I Don't Know Anything" single. A performance of the song is included on the Live at the Moore home video release.

[edit] Formats and track listing

CD (Australia)
  1. "River of Deceit" (Layne Staley, Mike McCready, John Baker Saunders, Barrett Martin) – 5:04
  2. "November Hotel" (live) (Staley, McCready, Saunders, Martin)
CD (Austria)
  1. "River of Deceit" (Staley, McCready, Saunders, Martin) – 5:04
  2. "All Alone/November Hotel" (live) (Staley, McCready, Saunders, Martin) - 15:20
    • Some copies list the second track as just "November Hotel" (without "All Alone").
Promotional CD (US)
  1. "River of Deceit" (Staley, McCready, Saunders, Martin) – 5:04

[edit] Chart positions

Information taken from All Music Guide.[1]

Year Chart Position
1995 US Mainstream Rock Tracks 2
US Modern Rock Tracks 9

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mad Season – Billboard Singles. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2007-06-11.

[edit] External links