Album Review: Mad Season - Above

Two decades ago it might have been Temple Of The Dog that got most of the attention as a composite group but Mad Season – Layne Staley (Alice In Chains), Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) and Barrett Martin (Screaming Trees) – were arguably the more rewarding of the two. Certainly the passage of time has treated the group better with their dark and swirling psychedelic rock still sounding as compelling as ever.

Their sole album, Above, has been given the deluxe reissue treatment, which amounts to an impressive remastering of the songs, giving them an even wider sonic spectrum and warmth plus extra tracks rescued from an aborted second album and completed with lyrics and vocals from Mark Lanegan, along with a live concert and DVD. The original album always sounded like a much needed pause for air amid the heavy rock sounds of North America in the early '90s. These songs crawl along with grace and precision, often without the surge and urgency of grunge/metal and they are all the better for it. The ghosts of Led Zeppelin and The Doors haunt many of the songs with their classic grandiose feel but they also pull back to intimate and exposed moods as on the album highlight, River Of Deceit. Elsewhere they sound like their parent groups, on I Don't Know Anything (Alice In Chains) and I'm Above (Pearl Jam), but overall Above sounds like the distinct summation of a collaborative effort.

The passing of both Staley and bassist John Baker Saunders lends Above something of a posthumous tribute feel but at its core it is the music that still stands out on this visceral, darkly-driven rock record; one of the finest in its field.