May 29, 2000
Mad Season By Matchbox 20
...13 wholesome, MTV-friendly, radio-friendly, inoffensive, parental-approved unit-shifters...
3 / 10
If there was ever a band that didn't need to mature any further from their adult-oriented beginnings, it was Matchbox 20 with their sincere, often overbearing US rock. Yet 'Mad Season By Matchbox 20', their second studio album, sees the band growing older in the worst possible way.
'Mad Season...' is, by their own admission, Matchbox 20's 'road album' - having spent almost two years touring since the release of their 14-million-selling debut 'Yourself Or Someone Like You'.
And it shows. Musically this is the sound of middle America at its most ugly and nauseating - 13 wholesome, MTV-friendly, radio-friendly, inoffensive, parental-approved unit-shifters thrown together in one uninspiring, but perfectly produced package. Like their debut then, just more... mature.
Matchbox 20 need to concede to the fact that there's no place in the UK for this kind of generic music-making. To be in the middle of the road is one thing. To be plodding along in concrete shoes is quite another.
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