While the idea of getting a bunch of established musicians together to form a 'supergroup' sounds promising, more often than not, I'm disappointed when I hear the end result. Writing music is all about feeling and being in your element and the chemistry artists have with their better known bands is natural and most of the time, 'supergroup' music sounds forced to me.

Not Mad Season, though. Just like my personal favorite supergroup Down, Mad Season could have been a band to rival the popularity of Alice in Chains and Pearl Jam among their core fans (yes I realize Screaming Trees and The Walkabouts are represented as well, but c'mon man). Unfortunately, drug addiction and the eventual passing of vocalist Layne Staley (Alice in Chains) and bassist John Baker Saunders (The Walkabouts) prohibited Mad Season from spreading their popularity beyond the fan bases of the members' established bands.

Here we are damn near twenty years after the release of their only album Above and guitarist / founding member Mike McCready (Pearl Jam) got together with producer Brett Eliason to comb through the vaults and resurrect some unfinished material (written for their second album) to be added to the deluxe reissue of Above. Screaming Trees vocalist Mark Lanegan stepped in and contributed lyrics and vocals to the unfinished material and you can stream one of the lost tracks 'Locomotive' right now at RollingStone.com.

While the tune isn't bad at all, it's definitely lacking the haunting vibe that only the late, great Layne Staley can provide.

The deluxe reissue of Above hits the shelves and the interwebs April 2 on Legacy Recordings.

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