Mad Season

06/14/2000 8:06 PM, Yahoo! Music
Ken Micallef

Can you put the mega-platinum success of Orlando's Matchbox Twenty down to singer Rob Thomas's bad-boy good looks and homey southern drawl? Or the band's MOR ready-for-a-Phil-Collins-remake pop-song fodder? Or is it the rock anthems which blast out of the stereo with all the delicacy of the Hindenburg crashing into an airfield? While critics love to bash Matchbox Twenty it is hard to deny that Rob Thomas writes very catchy songs that have struck a collective main nerve with millions of listeners.

While Mad Season seems to be equally divided between "Can't we all just get along" brotherhood songs and forlorn breakup ballads, what sticks with you are not the lyrics but the mood each song creates. "Last Beautiful Girl" benefits from an infectious beat and a descending melody line that fills the air like good vibes after a summer rain. "The Burn" is one of the album's best songs, another bumping good groove that finds release in an uplifting chorus and introspective but positive lyrics. Again, it's Matchbox-moody, but magnificent in a big rock stadium way. (Can you see the Zippos all lit up?) Current single "Bent" is more brooding than much of the album; its serpentine melody and acoustic interlude section recalling '70s rockers like Red Ryder.

Mad Season ends with the ballad "You Won't Be Mine." Over a bluesy piano figure and pensive drumbeat, Thomas again alludes to some tragic romantic separation as strings soar and swell. The song is reprised a few moments later in the form of a hidden orchestral track, proving that Matchbox Twenty have succumbed to every rocker's dream to one day write for the New York Philharmonic.

Mad Season may not win over any grouchy critics, but the album's majestic rockers and darkly cinematic moods will find a place with the faithful who still keep the candle burning.