The only studio album by the American rock band Mad Season, released on March 14th, 1995 through Columbia Records. The album has been certified gold by the RIAA in the United States. Featuring members of Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Screaming Trees.
During the production of Pearl Jam’s “Vitalogy”, guitarist Mike McCready went into rehabilitation in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he met John Baker Saunders, In 1994, when the two returned to Seattle, they formed a side band with Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin. Immediately the trio set up rehearsal time together and began writing material. McCready then brought in friend and Alice in Chains frontman Layne Staley to round out the line-up. McCready had hoped that being around sober musicians would push Staley to get himself sober too.
“It’s hard to describe the album. Martin plays some vibes and Layne plays guitar. There’s some jazzy stuff, some blues, some arena rock. I bought a Gibson Jimmy Page double-neck for the sessions. I look like an idiot with it, but it sounds so cool.
The music for “Wake Up” and “River of Deceit” came from group rehearsals before Staley had joined. “Artificial Red” came together at the band’s show at the Crocodile Cafe in October 1994. “Lifeless Dead” and “I Don’t Know Anything” were premiered on Pearl Jam’s January 1995 Self-Pollution satellite radio show – a four-and-a-half-hour-long pirate broadcast from Seattle that was available to any radio stations that wanted to carry it
“We did all the Mad Season music in about seven days,” McCready said. “It took Layne just a few more days to finish his vocals, which was intense since we only rehearsed twice and did four shows. So this has been the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever been involved in.
Layne Staley also did the album artwork on the cover.
