Mad Season - Above (1995)

I'm sorry but I wish I hadn't started this review now. When 'grunge' hit the big time it was annoying, too many downbeat, dressed-down guys with the same guitar sound, and of course, those who were more successful at it, i.e. Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, etc, often dabbled in side projects such as Mad Season. Fronted by the allegedly tormented and departed Layne Staley, Mad Season is a downbeat, bluesy affair which never comes to life. Picture a dingy student room of half-baked ideas, candle scent and drugs of choice and you might tap into the right mood. 'Wake Up' is a seven minute ponderer in which Staley rarely rises above a yawn and 'Long Gone Day' is a slow burning, bongo drum mood swinger that sends me into a drug-fuelled coma. Brad, Pigeonhed, Hater, Gardener, and Mad Season, were all branches from a big grunge tree, but in the case of 'Above', this was one of those vines which stooped downward, reached into the soil and buried itself. I'm sure there's a lot to be admired here but for me it grates.

5/10