By Hanna Wilson
Mad Season, an unfailingly memorable Seattle supergroup, started as a spontaneous idea between two friends but quickly evolved into a make-shift rehabilitation project to save some of the 90s most valued grunge artists. The band was sewn together by founder Mike McCready (guitarist of Pearl Jam) and his recruitments: Layne Staley (vocalist of Alice in Chains), John Baker Saunders (bassist from the Chicago blues scene), and members of the Screaming Trees, Barrett Martin and Mark Lanegan. Ultimately, the band’s time together was fleeting as they were torn apart by the same thing that brought them together, but their impact was nonetheless significant.
The band’s formation was quick as ever thanks to Mike McCready’s creative tenacity, which he had summoned in rehab. Merging new friends with old ones, McCready, Saunders, and Martin established a strong instrumental foundation for Layne Staley to add his captivating vocals. These spontaneous jam sessions were frequent in Seattle’s grunge scene and, more often than not, solely served as a creative break for various artists. However, Mad Season’s shared desire to be clean of any drugs is what created this mutual support network—giving them a safe environment to empathize with each other’s addiction struggles, and as a means for musical experimentation.
While sober and still bursting with creativity, the band continued to rehearse before their first live show held at the Crocodile Cafe in 1994. The majority of the songs they performed, excluding their cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “Voodoo Child,” made it onto their only record, Above. Recorded at Seattle’s Bad Animals Studio (presently known as Studio X), the album’s process took longer for Staley as he remained stuck finalizing the lyrics and vocals on some of the tracks. Staley would often operate in the studio alone, just himself and the recording technology, to better explore his potential outside of his respective band, Alice in Chains. The other members of Mad Season recall that Staley was at a very low point in his life by simply glancing at the lyrics of certain songs on Above, it was clear that he dreamed of a fresh start, rid of all agony. Philosopher Kahlil Gibran’s collection of poetry fables, The Prophet, is noted as some of Staley’s inspiration for lyrics throughout the album, but more specifically for the harrowing track “River of Deceit.” Barrett Martin voiced that it seemed as if Staley was treating Mad Season’s projects as a “spiritual mission,” since the creation of the album gave him the needed opportunity to confront his emotions and further develop his strengths as a musician.
Above was released on March 14th, 1995, and was certified Gold in just three months. Given each of the members’ classic rock and blues influences, the album’s tracks cover a vast amount of different sounds that span from deep soul-searching lyrics to exceptionally dynamic guitar riffs. The tracks “River of Deceit” and “Long Gone Day” encapsulate feelings of intense dread, whereas rattling songs “Lifeless Dead” and “Locomotive” pay homage to the intense grunge-defining sound that these musicians had coined earlier on in the 90s. Although the commercial success of Above was largely due to the exceptional reputations the band members had already built for themselves, it was their collaborative efforts, their unique blend of music capable of speaking to a wide audience, that cemented the success.
Unbeknownst to Mad Season then, they would play their final show with their original band members on April 29th, 1995, at the Moore Theatre in Seattle. There were rumours of a potential follow-up record in 1997, but the objective to treat this project as rehab was abandoned by Staley and Saunders when their relapses started taking a toll on their physical health. Saunders was incredibly keen on getting the band back together and finalizing the amassed 16 tracks they had been working on. Unfortunately, his dream never came to fruition, and on January 15th, 1999, Saunders tragically died of an overdose—one day before he was meant to meet with Martin about the band’s future. Only a few years later, on April 5th, 2002, tragedy struck the band again with the overdose and death of Layne Staley. Following these events, the possibility of another Mad Season record seemed unlikely, however, this was not the end of the band’s story.
Almost 20 years after the original release of Above, surviving band members McCready and Martin reunited to resurrect and finalize the long-lost tracks of Mad Season. The re-released “deluxe” version of the record included a remastered version of the album, a DVD of two live shows, and three new songs that were sung by Mark Lanegan. In a final attempt for closure, McCready and Martin gathered Soundgarden’s Chris Cornell, Pearl Jam members Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard, and Jeff Ament, and Guns N’ Roses’ Duff McKagan, and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra for one last heart-rending performance under the Mad Season name. The performance was incredibly cherished and released as an album in 2015, debuting at #4 on the Billboard Top Classical Crossover Albums chart.
This album has remained a constant in my life for many years. It has seen so many versions of me and has ultimately become an instinctual recommendation I offer to someone when they ask for something new to listen to. People are quick to associate this album with the demise of grunge artists we have seen wither away. Although that is an appropriate connection to make, especially considering the lyricism and overall aim of this “music as rehab” project, Mad Season approached the conversation of addiction with such sensibility that it unveiled a whole new side of hidden beauty in the seemingly wrathful genre of grunge.