Artist · chart history

Mad Season

Band Seattle United States Active 1994–1999

Mad Season formed in 1994 in Seattle, United States and was active until 1999. Mad Season has 56 chart appearances on 38 radio countdowns from 16 stations on RockLists, spanning 1995–2024. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “River of Deceit”, which appears on 22 lists with a best position of #16. The station that charted Mad Season most often is KISW (Seattle-Tacoma, WA), with 20 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 1995.

56appearances

38countdowns

8songs charted

16stations

0#1 finishes

1995–2024years

Mad Season was Seattle's grunge scene talking to itself after hours. Formed in 1994 as a side project, the band put Pearl Jam's Mike McCready on guitar, Alice in Chains' Layne Staley on vocals, Screaming Trees' Barrett Martin on drums and bassist John Baker Saunders together, and what came out was darker, slower and more bluesy than any of their day jobs, with Martin adding cello and double bass to the drift.

Their only album, Above, arrived in March 1995. "River of Deceit", the first single, was a hit on the radio, and the record went gold that June. It's a heavy, haunted thing, from the brooding "Wake Up" to the aching, mournful "Long Gone Day" and "I Don't Know Anything", with Staley's voice sounding wounded and weary throughout.

It didn't last. Clashing schedules and Staley's struggles with substance abuse put the band on ice in 1996. Later in the decade they tried to revive it with Screaming Trees singer Mark Lanegan in Staley's place and worked up material for a follow-up, but Saunders died of an overdose in 1999 and Mad Season ended with him. Staley died of an overdose 3 years later. A box set with a remastered Above and unreleased material came out in March 2013, and Martin and McCready have played together under the name twice since.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.

Songs by Mad Season on radio countdowns

#	Song	Strength	Lists	Best	#1s	Peak year
1	River of Deceit	866	22	#16	–	1995
2	Long Gone Day	490	18	#487	–	–
3	I Don't Know Anything	215	6	#523	–	–
4	I'm Above	173	5	#438	–	–
5	I Don't now Anything	20	1	#1604	–	–
6	Lifeless Dead	19	2	#904	–	–
7	Wake Up	15	1	#630	–	–
8	X-Ray Mind	0	1	#997	–	–

Albums with charting songs

Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.

1995Above5 charting songs

Every countdown appearance

Year	#	Song	Countdown
2024	630	Wake Up	The Best Opening Tracks of All Time
2023	398	River of Deceit	105.9 The X July 420 (2023)
2023	503	River of Deceit	The Current's 893 Essential Songs of the '90s
2022	406	River of Deceit	105.9 The X July 420 (2022)
2022	457	River of Deceit	KEXP Top Songs of the Last 50 Years (1972-2022)
2022	747	River of Deceit	The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s
2021	416	River of Deceit	105.9 The X July 420 (2021)
2020	389	River of Deceit	105.9 The X July 420 (2020)
2014	1885	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014)
2013	1818	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013)
2011	1757	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011)
2010	1690	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010)
2009	1650	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009)
2008	1634	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008)
2007	1623	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007)
2005	1196	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005)
2005	694	River of Deceit	99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005)
2004	1195	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004)
2004	27	River of Deceit	WBCN Grunge Top 104 (2004)
2003	1195	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003)
2002	16	River of Deceit	WFNX Top 50 Grunge Songs of All-Time (June 2002)
2002	1210	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002)
2002	555	I Don't Know Anything	KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002)
2002	598	River of Deceit	KISW Top 999 of All Time (2002)
2002	598	River of Deceit	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2002	1604	I Don't now Anything	Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002)
2001	1211	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001)
2000	1205	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000)
1999	795	I Don't Know Anything	Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	399	River of Deceit	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	487	Long Gone Day	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	903	I'm Above	The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	1204	Long Gone Day	CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999)
1999	641	River of Deceit	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999)
1999	815	I'm Above	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999)
1999	825	I Don't Know Anything	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1999)
1998	278	River of Deceit	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998)
1998	509	I'm Above	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998)
1998	583	I Don't Know Anything	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998)
1998	910	Long Gone Day	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1998)
1996	268	River of Deceit	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996)
1996	438	I'm Above	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996)
1996	587	I Don't Know Anything	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996)
1996	719	Long Gone Day	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996)
1996	904	Lifeless Dead	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1996)
1995	70	River of Deceit	Q101 Top 101 Songs of 1995
1995	49	River of Deceit	WMRQ Top 104 Songs of 1995
1995	100	River of Deceit	The Buzz Top 103 Alternative Songs of '95
1995	53	River of Deceit	Radio & Records Top 95 Songs of 1995
1995	48	River of Deceit	WDRE Top 103.9 Songs of 1995
1995	406	River of Deceit	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995)
1995	523	I Don't Know Anything	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995)
1995	674	I'm Above	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995)
1995	835	Long Gone Day	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995)
1995	906	Lifeless Dead	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995)
1995	997	X-Ray Mind	KISW Top 1000 of All Time (1995)

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