When I first listened to "mad season by matchbox twenty" I felt like all the songs kind of ran together and sounded the same. After a few more runs through the album I have found that my first impressions of the album while driving down the highway were wrong. What is on this album is a CD full of interesting songs, great harmonies (far better than the first album), and wonderful lyrics. As far as the criticism that it is over produced, well, four years can do that to an album. At first I felt the horns were a mistake, but they grow on you. They give the songs a richness that wasn't present on the first album. "Last Beautiful Girl" and "Rest Stop" are very touching songs and "Black and White People" perks you much the same as "Real World" did, without rehashing the same sound. If there is only one thing to say about this album it would be that it certianly dosen't feed back the same songs that were on the first. As a die hard fan, I was a little confused when I first heard it, but upon further inspection I would have to give this album two VERY enthusiastic thumbs up. If there are any similarities between this and the first album it would be that this, like the first, is great to turn up in the car and rock rock down the highway with. I would recomend it to any pop/rock, modern/rock fan. BUY BUY BUY!

First of all,this CD is going to be my summer record.I Love it. The first three songs really get moving,with fantastic horn driven sounds blasting out your speakers.The harmonies are wonderfull.There's only a couple of songs I don't care for,"Mad Season"being one of them,but its starting to grow on me."Crutch," is unbelievable.With words like,"I think you got a piece of my heart on your face."Its ashame to let it go to waste.How does it taste?"Man,this guys in pain.Most of the songs are about being in a terrible relationship.I can relate to that. I love Matchbox twenty's style,the stopping and starting of the music,and the fast singing,almost like a rap by Rob Thomas.After playing the CD,I didn't think it could get any better untill I got to "You Won't Be Mine." The Piano starts off slow,like being at a night club,then the adventure begins,with a classic orchestration that stops without warning,back to the soft,jazzy Piano played by Rob. This song wants you to start all over again and play "Mad Season" from the begining.I haven't heard a great record like this one in ages.

I want to begin by saying that I hated Matchbox Twenty's first album. It just didn't strike any chords with me so to speak. That said, I was leary of buying the new album based solely on the one song that I had heard (ie "Bent"). I loved this particular song, but wasn't sure how I would feel about the rest of the album. I bought the cd anyway, and I am NOT disappointed. I have completely fallen for this album, and it will be permanently placed among my most listened to cd's. The album starts a bit slow, but by track number 5 things really pick up and the album is one hit after another at that point. My favorites are, If You're Gone, Mad Season, The Burn, Bent, Leave and Stop. You can not go wrong with buying this cd, I guarantee there will be at least two songs that will touch you and catch your mind as well as your ear.

Let me start out by saying how wonderful MB20 is as a group. YOSLY was superb as a starter CD, but mad season shows how much they have grown as a band. The use of orchestration in such pieces as "Rest Stop," "Bed of Lies," and "Leave" pieces that would've been good songs without it, makes the songs great. Great vocal (backup and lead) achievements in "Last Beautiful Girl," "If You're Gone," and "Black and White People," as well as great use of horns in the latter two songs.

Let me give you a basic overview of the CD:

Angry: Great starter song, but my least favorite on the album. Not to say that it's a bad song or anything, but it never really grew on me. Great backup vocals all throughout the song, though.

Black and White People: Wonderful, wonderful song, one of my favorites. Well, all of the songs on the album are my favorites, excepting "Angry" and "The Burn." WOnderful horns, as I mentioned before, as well as vocals.

Crutch: Great song, too, although the chorus doesn't really flow well with the verses. I love the verses on their own; the way ROb sings these make you feel like you are twisting around in a spiral... Also, great guitar playing by Kyle...

Last Beautiful GIrl: One of my absolute favorites. GReat backup and lead vocals all throughout... That guitar is addiciting, I tell ya... The chorus is sung VERY well.... IT make you feel like rocking back and forth with the music.

If You're Gone: Way overplayed on the radio. Many fans that I have talked to have gotten sick of the song so here's my solution: every time you here "___________" (insert name of song here), either a) turn the radio off, or b)go to a different station. Easy. But I digress. Great horns and vocals.... I also have to admire the guitar playing done by Adam.

Mad Season: One of the best songs on the album (Note: My favorite songs and the best songs aren't always the same.), and one of my favorites. Great beat, great vocals, and ROb really gets into it... It's a fun song.

Rest Stop: Very moving... this is gonna sound corny, but I almost cried when I heard this song (Stop laughing!!! I said *almost*!). The orchestration adds a twinge of sadness to the song.

The Burn: A fun little song that is a little too short for my taste... It grows on you. VOcals are great here.

Bent: Wonderful song!!!! ONe of my favs and one of the best songs on the album!!! Great chords and guitars here... Kudos. IF you got sick of the song, I pity you.

Bed of Lies: The drums blew me away!!! The different types of drums added together is amazing!! At the ends where the drums sort of fade away, you feel a sort of a emptiness. KUdos to Paul Douchette on that one. The orchestration adds to the emotion of the song. WOnderful, wonderful wonderful....

Leave: OMG!!!! Vocals, orchestration, guitar, drums, this song has got it ALL!!!! I loved it sooooo much!!!!!

Stop: Great rock-out song, wonderful wonderful wonderful wonderful!!!!!! I loved the part after the first time they sang the chorus... The vocals there were amazing.

You Won't Be Mine: When I first heard this song, I was sitting on my bed. I had heard that it was really orchestra-y, and some thought that it was a waste of time. I sat and finished the first part of the song. I was shocked. I have never heard something so wonderful. It weaves together lyrics and music in such a way that it leaves you breathless. The music went so well with the lyrics, the orchestration mixed with the piano and then drums was a gem. I fast forwarded to the only orchestartion part of the song. The music was amazing. The ending by piano gave a feeling of loneliness, of heartbreak, of a love that wasn't meant to be. The orchestration ending gave a feel of the obstacles to overcome, that it would be better. I think that the piano part was the speaker of the song's (Rob's) emotion, and the orchestra was what the person that the speaker was talking to. The orchestra part really got into the "Over the lies, you'll be strong, you'll be rich in love, etc." part. I think that this is one of the best songs on the album. I;m not sure whether I want another song like this, risking that that song would not measure up to YWBM, or whether I want to leave this song as the only one of its kind in the MB20 universe.

All in all, this album has got it made!!! I forgot to mention the lyrics, but they are so much different from YOSLY, much more personal. Thank you Rob, for letting us scrape the surface of you mind. The band blended the lyrics, music, and vocals so well that this CD deserves a 6 star rating.

Flame me, praise me, whatever: spacemonkey_114@hotmail.com

I got my copy of Mad Season this morning and am driving the people at work nuts by playing it over and over and over.

I am so glad that they band hasn't copied their previous hit songs, these songs are different, with the style we've grown to love. Most notable so far are Bent, Black and White People, Bed of Lies, but anything with Rob's lyrics and that wonderful voice of his is just amazing. The band is sharp and obviously growing as artists and there is a song for just about every mood here.