10 More Perfect Grunge Albums With No Bad Songs
1. Mad Season: Above (1995)
Mad Season only released one record, but it was indicative of the interaction and camaraderie of the Seattle scene. Pearl Jam's Mike McCready got sober in 1993. During his stay in rehab he struck up a friendship with bassist John Baker Saunders. The two decided to make music together to exercise their sobriety. Saunders hoped that by including Layne Staley (Alice In Chains), it might encourage him to kick his own habit.
The project didn't have had the desired effect of getting Staley sober, but it did result in one of the more tender and beautifully evocative records from the '90s grunge scene. The album starts off with Wake Up. Pretty soon it's clear this is a very different side of the genre. McCready's guitar skips through a series of lush blues licks, showing his affinity for Hendrix, while dialling everything back to ballad speed.
Staley's lyrics shamelessly lay bare his struggles with addiction - without any crashing grunge guitars to hide behind, it's one of his most vulnerable performances. The seven minute tracks is just the start, however. The album contains a wealth of sounds unexpected from a group of grunge rockers.