Mad Season Songs Ranked
Mad Season was an American rock supergroup formed in 1994 as a side project of members of other bands in the Seattle grunge scene. The band’s principal members included guitarist Mike McCready of Pearl Jam, lead singer Layne Staley of Alice in Chains, drummer Barrett Martin of Screaming Trees, and bassist John Baker Saunders. Mad Season released only one album, Above, in March 1995. Its first single, “River of Deceit”, was a radio success, and Above was certified a gold record by the RIAA in June. The band went on a semi-permanent hiatus in 1996 due to the band members’ conflicting schedules and Staley’s problems with substance abuse. Attempts were made in the late 1990s to revive the group without Staley, and material for a follow-up release to Above had been worked on; however, the band dissolved following the death of bassist John Baker Saunders in 1999 from a drug overdose. Staley also died of a drug overdose three years later. Martin and McCready have since made two short partial reunions, one in 2012 and one from 2014 to 2015. A special edition box set containing a remastered edition of Above and various unreleased material was released in March 2013. Here are all of the Mad Season’s songs ranked.
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10. November Hotel (Above, 1995)
“These songs are real and are what is up in their world! Lane kicked to curb w/huge Heroin monkey hanging on his back! mike McCready (Pearl Jam) also was playing away from his bread and butter. The music awesome!”
9. All Alone (Above, 1995)
“This means different things to me depending on my mood. My wife left me recently, and I was alone and cleaning out our old bedroom. The bedroom was empty and this song came on. I just laid on the ground with my arms outstretched. What stogie said about the world spinning. You don’t really have to be drunk to feel like that with this song.”
8. X-Ray Mind (Above, 1995)
“This song is about fame, the good and the bad, though the lyrics just talk about the bad. When you’re famous, everyone wants a piece of you, and don’t give a damn about you.”
7. I’m Above (Above, 1995)
“I think this song is about seeing your life from above. Seeing that there are people who lie to you, people who take advantage of you. It might be about when you die and go to heaven, you see your life, and all the good shit and the bad. It could also be about a relation ship.
See more: Mad Season Albums Ranked
6. Artificial Red (Above, 1995)
“Again, this song is most likely about Layne’s battle with drugs. “Is this the way I spend my days in recovery of a fatal disease”. This part is a little heavier than the rest of the song, in his expression of fustration in fighting his battle. “0n a cloud of pink has turned to grey and I’m alone again”, indeed very similar to the lyrics in Angry Chair. He’s basically saying that he is in a constant state of sorrow and regret in his isolation.”
5. Long Gone Day (Above, 1995)
“What surprises me most about Long Gone Day the more I listen is how much unexpected instrumentation is found. No other grunge group I’ve heard records with marimbas and saxophone at the forefront. It’s a perfect juxtaposition of laid back music and very dark and personal lyrics. This is why I love Mad Season.”
4. I Don’t Know Anything (Above, 1995)
“I think it’s about an observation that the world is full of hatred, and there’s no way to fit in without losing your true self. Think about who Layne was, other than the drug addiction. He was a guy who liked to have fun, and a guy who spoke from his heart. He’s asking, “Is there a good reason for all the hatred that I’m not aware of?”
See more: Bush Songs Ranked
3. Lifeless Dead (Above, 1995)
“This is a beautifully tragic love song about their engagement and subsequent struggles. Originally they were engaged to be married sometime around 1993. At this point, they had both been using but still were deeply in love. However, as time went on Layne wrestled with getting clean while Demri continued use. By the time this song was written in 1995, Layne had made the hard decision to cut off Demri financially to try to stop her addiction and stop enabling her. Rather than stop she fully went off the deep end and moved around while feeding her addiction by going as far as selling her body. Layne was also teetering on staying clean with help from Mad Season and struggling.”
2. River of Deceit (Above, 1995)
“The A-side is ‘River of Deceit’, which is a fantastic little bite out of 90s nostalgia. In this song Layne Staley really lays down the vocals very well, and this man really has you believing every word he says, every line just drips with emotion. This is a guy who’s practiced what he preached. Not to mention the soulful guitar, bass, and drum work. This song is very 90s, and I say that in good way. Very good song, one of the best of the band’s short lived career and the grunge scene in general.”
1. Wake Up (Above, 1995)
“At about 4 minute mark.. Staley starts opening up some simple ahh’s which cut through the entire track and are overflowing with emotion. There are a lot of great vocalists that have come and gone, but Staley had a brilliantly unique vocal sound. One of my favorite voices, both in general and out of that time frame. The song is overall laid back sounding, but is not lacking in any way regarding the emotion level.”