Label: Columbia
Year: 1995
Home: Seattle, Washington
Members: Layne Staley ~ vocals/rhythm guitar
Mike McCready ~ guitars
John Baker Saunders ~ bass
Barrett Martin ~ drums/double bass/cello/marimba/vibraphone
Everybody knows the grunge supergroup Temple Of The Dog, though technically it was recorded before Pearl Jam made it big, but the one album by the equally potent grunge supergroup Mad Season - made after all involved had become big - has seemed to have slipped off the radar. It featured guitarist Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, frontman Layne Staley of Alice In Chains, drummer Barrett Martin of the Screaming Trees, & bassist John Baker Saunders who had played with Howlin' Wolf's guitarist Hubert Sumlin. For many, the inclusion of Layne is enough to warrant interest. The band was formed when Saunders & McCready met in rehab in 1994. Mad Season released this one album, before inevitable drug issues got in the way ... which makes a long sad story very short. After Layne's death they transformed into Disinformation with Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, who co-wrote a song here & sang on some songs that would appear as bonus tracks on re-issues of this album. Saunders death in 1999 brought the band to a close, before Disinformation could record a formal debut, though the remaining members have had some informal reunions on stage. I should mention that the bands these members were involved with, even Saunders, can all count me as a fan, so I'm totally biased going into this. Kurt killed himself when I was a junior in high school living over an hour north of Seattle. I had a lot of friends traumatized by this, so grunge was my childhood. I was too young to go to the bars, but the music was & remains an intrinsic part of my life. Mud Honey even played at my alma mater, Western Washington University - home of the Death Cab For Cutie & the Posies, who might have been in a class of mine - for the freshman orientation, while Bikini Kill & Sleater Kinney I saw in a converted lounge before the later went truly national. I still love the music as much as ever, & believe grunge was the last great music movement, & maybe the last hurrah before home studios, pro-tools & the internet. So, my bias aside, what does a whose who of grunge sound like? The answer is: it both hints at all the bands involved, but also completely & shockingly different. I do need to post a warning to curious listeners. You may love Alice In Chains or Screaming Trees or Pearl Jam, but this might not be your thing. 'Shockingly different' was a deliberately chosen phrase. On the other hand, you might not care for grunge at all, but find this album fascinating & addicting. Mad Season is thus an enigma. Where their peers Temple Of The Dog had a lot in common with the grunge sound, this really doesn't feel like grunge but instead has hints of grunge. It absolutely is not what I would expect from all involved. That's neither a bad nor good thing, but really depends on what you are looking for musically. I shall detail further. You can hear the melodic guitars & interesting rhythms that weaved through the Screaming Trees & Pearl Jam, but you won't mistake this for either band. Layne's voice is undeniably distinct, & these are mostly his lyrics, but he's not trying to imitate Alice In Chains. This album features a stripped back sound that none of those bands has ever had, or maybe just for a passing moment in a song or for one gimmicky song on an album. Mad Season ropes you in softly, & with rope made of tissue paper, versus pounding you on the head out the door. There is no mad rush like an Alice In Chains album has. The whole album is dreamy, floating & simplistic in its composition. Actually, the instruments almost have too much breathing room, as it often sounds improvised or like a jam with no real direction. The best comparison would be a Doors concert where the group is improvising through a contemplative Jim Morrison moment. That might be the best description of opener "Wake Up" where Layne pours out his meandering poetry, which sounds like poetry & not a typical song, over guitars that slowly roll out almost like an improvisation that is trying to take things extra slow. When things go up a notch for the guitar break its still pretty low key, like a drug trip that might be comparable to a bluesy Jimi Hendrix solo. There's very little polish here. The whole experience is raw & an emotional parade. It feels like an honest & real album, a real rarity. Its demons on display, not the next chart topping hit in the making. It sounds so different than the highly technical Alice In Chains you have to wonder if the inner Layne was stifled lyrically in that band, which says a lot given how dark some of those lyrics were. This is helped by the one thing that gets criticized: this album meanders. Songs don't feel like here's the verse, then the chorus, then the refrain. It has more in common with the Doors "The End" & "The Unknown Soldier," where the chorus is more a familiar point to regroup to than the big sing-a-long moment, yet without the big climaxes that Jim's songs had. Yet, there's so much nakedness here lyrically that at times the meandering quality is a triviality. On the other hand, the 55 minutes can feel a bit long depending on one's mood when listening. It ends on an instrumental that personally dragged too much for my tastes. Rule of thumb: come to this not looking to rock, but instead to sit in a dark room in the rain with a glass of wine & maybe something to smoke. Its been said that Layne was reading The Prophet by Kahlil Gabran while writing & recording this, & felt like he was a on a spiritual mission. Having read the book, it absolutely feels that way.
