Mad Season

by

Matchbox Twenty

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When I first listened to "mad season by matchbox twenty" I felt like all the songs kind of ran together and sounded the same. After a few more runs through the album I have found that my first impressions of the album while driving down the highway were wrong. What is on this album is a CD full of interesting songs, great harmonies (far better than the first album), and wonderful lyrics. As far as the criticism that it is over produced, well, four years can do that to an album. At first I felt the horns were a mistake, but they grow on you. They give the songs a richness that wasn't present on the first album. "Last Beautiful Girl" and "Rest Stop" are very touching songs and "Black and White People" perks you much the same as "Real World" did, without rehashing the same sound. If there is only one thing to say about this album it would be that it certianly dosen't feed back the same songs that were on the first. As a die hard fan, I was a little confused when I first heard it, but upon further inspection I would have to give this album two VERY enthusiastic thumbs up. If there are any similarities between this and the first album it would be that this, like the first, is great to turn up in the car and rock rock down the highway with. I would recomend it to any pop/rock, modern/rock fan. BUY BUY BUY!

I was a huge MB20 fan after their 1996 release, and I thought it had to be in the top 10 albums of the 90s with Nevermind, Ten, Dirt, and Superunkown. After I heard "Bent" a month ago on the local radio station, I had really high expectations for "mad season by matchbox Twenty". Here's the bottom line: this album appeals to a much narrower audience than YOSLY. That album was bought by people anywhere from grunge and metal fans, through people who buy the top 40 albums that the "mix" stations are playing, and even by soft rock fans. Anyone who is a big metal and grunge fan who bought YOSLY for Long Day, Push, Argue, and Busted, but couldn't stand Back 2 Good, Cody, and Hang, here's my message: DON'T BUY IT! If you liked the last album because of its variety between hard and moderate rock, you'll probably like it okay. If you liked the last album especially for Back 2 Good, Cody, and Shame, because of their heartfelt lyrics and soft music, you'll love this album even more.

Songs like "Bent", "Angry", "Crutch", and "Stop" are the best for metal fans who were waiting for more "Long Day"s and "Busted"s. For people who liked the varitety of the last album, this album stays on the Shame and Hang-ish side of the spectrum for a lot of the album, so you'll like it okay, just don't expect a lot of standard modern rock elements. If you liked Shame and Hang a lot, you may not be crazy about Bent, but this album is for you! Buy it.

BOTTOM LINE: I think they could have done a better job to keep their general audience satisfied by making more tracks like "Bent" and "Angry", but if they are going to be obsessive about being a "more mature band", then they can do so, but the sales of their next album may not quite be record breakingS