Song: "Slip Away"
Artist: Mad Season
Album: "Above" Deluxe Edition
Year: 2013
Place Of Origin: Seattle, Washington
Years Active: 1994 - 1999
WHAT I THINK THE SONG IS ABOUT:
Here's what the song's writer, Mike McCready, had to say about "Slip Away". "Slip Away,' which I wrote, was kind of my feeling at the time how [Mad Season] was slipping away. The guitar solo at the end of that, you can hear the pain that's in that. That's my pain of how this whole thing was all falling apart when Baker and Layne were dying... Mark [Lanegan] put lyrics to that and they mean something different now... but I'm getting a little deep in to what the lead is. You'll listen to it and you'll hear pain." Life is hard. Especially when you lose people that were close to you along the way.
MAD SEASON DISCOGRAPHY (Full length albums only):
1995 - Above (Columbia Records)
CURRENT STATUS OF MAD SEASON:
After Pearl Jam was finishing up the touches on their "Vitalogy" album, their guitarist Mike McCready entered an alcohol and drug rehab in Minnesota where he met bassist John Baker Saunders. After they cleaned up, the two returned to Seattle intent to work on new music with each other. They recruited Screaming Trees drummer Barrett Martin and began working on songs. McCready reached out to Layne Staley of Alice In Chains to be the band's lead singer. The band actually booked a live show before they even had any songs! One of the jams from that night eventually became their song "Artificial Red". Initially, the band called themselves The Gacy Bunch, a play on the Brady Bunch and the serial killer John Wayne Gacy. Soon the band renamed themselves Mad Season and released their debut album "Above" through Columbia Records. "Above" was released in March of 1995 and by June of that year had already been certified gold! The album peaked at #24 on the Billboard 200 charts. The album had two singles, "River Of Deceit" which reached #2 on the Mainstream Rock charts, while "I Don't Know Anything" peaked at #20. Mad Season also contributed the song "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier" to the John Lennon tribute album "Working Class Hero". The band's April 29, 1995 show at Seattle's Moore Theatre was recorded and released as a DVD called "Live At The Moore". Eventually, the band members all went back to their main gigs. McCready with Pearl Jam, Staley with Alice In Chains, Martin with the Screaming Trees and Saunders joined The Walkabouts. In 1997, McCready and Martin tried to revive Mad Season but Saunders and Staley were both delving deeper into addiction. Mark Lanegan, lead singer of the Sreaming Trees, contributed some vocals to the "Above" album and with Staley's blessing, was asked to join Mad Season as their new lead singer. The band had actually began working on new tracks but were going to change their name to Disinformation. In January of 1999, John Baker Saunders died of a drug overdose essentially ending Mad Season. In April of 2002, Layne Staley had passed away from a drug overdose as well. In May of 2012, McCready and Martin performed some Mad Season songs at the Showbox Theatre in Seattle with Jeff Rouse of Loaded on vocals and Rick Friel of The Rockfords on bass. McCready and Martin also worked on a Deluxe Edition of Mad Season's only album "Above". The package included the album "Above", a cd of "Live At The Moore" plus several unreleased live tracks as well as three unreleased Mad Season songs which Mark Lanegan laid down vocals for. Those tracks were "Locomotive", "Black Book Of Fear" and "Slip Away". On January 30, 2015, McCready and Martin were joined by Guns N Roses' Duff McKagan on bass and Soundgarden's Chris Cornell on vocals at a show called "Sonic Evolution". The band performed live, backed by the Seattle Orchestra at Seattle's Benaroya Hall. In 2016, McCready, McKagan and Martin announced that they were working on some new material. This resulted in three new songs. "Freedom Song" and "Tears For The West", which featured vocals by Jaz Coleman and "All Things Fade Away" with vocals by Ayron Jones. While Mad Season's roots were in grunge, the band also infused some blues and jazz elements into their sound. The band essentially died in 1999 when Saunders died. And, even though there were some partial reunions after Staley passed away, I think the guys have retired the Mad Season moniker out of respect. Even the new project with McCready, Martin and McKagan is under the name The Levee Walkers. When McCready created Mad Season he had hoped that playing with guys that were sober would help everyone clean up. Unfortunately, there was no help for Saunders and Staley. The Mad Season album "Above" definitely left a mark however. And "River Of Deceit" is arguably one of the best songs to come out of the 90's era of music. In my mind, it stands up in any era of music. It's that damn good! If you grew up loving Alice In Chains, Temple Of The Dog, Mother Love Bone, Soundgarden and Candlebox, then Mad Season should definitely occupy space in your cd rack! Or Iphone, it is 2019 after all!!
TEN MAD SEASON SONGS YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT:
1. River Of Deceit
2. Wake Up
3. I Don't Know Anything
4. Lifeless Dead
5. Black Book Of Fear
6. Slip Away
7. I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier (John Lennon cover)
8. I'm Above
9. Artificial Red
10. Locomotive
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