Mad Season is Matchbox 20’s follow-up to their embarrassingly cookie-cutter, yet commercially successful debut, Yourself or Someone Like You. Between the release of these albums, frontman Rob Thomas managed to win himself a Grammy and a degree of credibility for his songwriting collaboration with Carlos Santana on “Smooth.” Ready to be taken seriously, Rob Thomas and band released the pensive 13 tracks that make up Mad Season.
“Bent,” the first radio release, is hardly the strongest selection from the album. Listen to it and you will wonder what some clueless record executive saw in the overambitious musical arrangement that drowns out Thomas’ possibly melodic vocals.
The strongest, and longest, selection would have to be the last one. “You Won’t Be Mine” is a hefty contrast to the airy pop that made up Yourself or Someone Like You.
Matchbox 20’s inspirations are obvious from track to track, but for a band that is in the midst of redefining their sound, shifting gingerly to rock from pop, the observation is hardly a criticism. Particularly, “Crutch” and “Stop” take a cue from Live’s sound, but Matchbox injects a degree of originality with the use of horns and keyboard in the background. The opener, “Angry,” has a definite Counting Crows vibe to it, an influence and accusation that 20 just cannot seem to escape. The worst of Bon Jovi seems to be the inspiration for the power ballad vocals over organ arrangement of “Bed of Lies.”
Before you cross Matchbox 20 off your list, listen to the album’s hidden track of orchestral genius. A couple minutes after “You Won’t Be Mine,” the band takes off with Matt Serletic’s Nashville String Machine’s direction. Mad Season, a marked improvement from Yourself or Someone Like You, is a listenable compilation.   Matchbox 20’s growth on Mad Season makes the album entertaining enough.