Mad Season

My pain is self-chosen
At least so the prophet says
I could either burn
Or cut off my pride and buy some time
A head full of lies is the weight
Tied to my waist
The river of deceit pulls down
The only direction we flow is down
Down, oh down
      -"River of Deceit" by Mad Season

Good things come about in serendipitous ways. I wouldn't have perceived the idea of being high on some divine melancholic melodic grunge on a tuesday afternoon. It was the beginning of Mad season!

Mad Season, it seems,is an english term for the time of the year when psilocybin mushrooms aka shrooms are in full bloom. And man! listening to Mad season is as close you ll get to being super high on shrooms in full bloom.

The formation of the band left me wondering how different influences within a group make music so much different. AiC and MS(forget apping for a while),though has come out with only one album have made top class music, but they are ever so different in spite of Layne staley being the common factor. It's not difficult for an AiC stalwart to recognise this difference;even for a lay ear maybe. You can play these games where one makes a band of one's own from certain favourites and wonder how their music would be. Let's say I tag Jerry Cantrell with Chris Cornell and Tom Morello of Audioslave. Hard to imagine.

For a really absorbing blend of music listen to "Long Gone Days" from their only album "Above". Some magical Saxophone pieces by Skerik, a seattle based artist and refreshing percussion in place of drums.

I don't need to convince people to listen to MS. That would be the most redundant thing ever!! Kickin myself for discovering MS so late.

Mad Season is:
Layne Staley (AiC) - Vocals (R.I.P)
Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) - Guitar
Barrett Martin (Screming Trees and Skin Yard) - Drums
John Saunders - Drums (R.I.P)

Guest apps:
Mark Lanegan (Screaming trees) - Vocals
Skerik - Saxophone and percussion