“Angry” articulates the negative fallout from bitterness (“It’s good that I’m not angry . . . It gets inside and it tears you up”). Lead singer Rob Thomas wants to heal a damaged relationship (“If You’re Gone”) and repents of deception (“Bed of Lies”). He also admits to being jaded and asks a friend for support on the CD’s first single, “Bent” (“If I fall along the way/Pick me up and dust me off/And if I get too tired to make it/Be my breath so I can walk”). Despite trials, an undercurrent of optimism exists on “Black & White People” and “You Won’t Be Mine” (the latter states, “You’ll be strong/You’ll be rich in love and you will carry on”).
A handful of mild profanities and one blasphemous use of God’s name.
This disc expresses a lot of pain, but matchbox twenty (formerly Matchbox 20) typically looks to a brighter day. No suicidal fantasies. No coping through substance abuse. No hostility towards outstretched hands. In fact, several songs wisely solicit help, if not from above. A few choice words notwithstanding, Mad Season is a marked improvement over the band’s last release, 1997’s Yourself or Someone Like You. Let’s hope that positive shift continues. In the meantime, teens partial to this musical style might want to check out CCM’s Big Tent Revival.
