Mad at the World - Seasons of LoveMad at the Wor (23 tracks) +Album Reviews

Everything That's Wrong With "Christian" Music

Michael Mason | Bay Area, CA USA | 07/20/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"How can these two totally different sounds be from the same band? Artistic growth? NO. Pressure from the Christian Music Industry (which, FYI, is not controlled by Christians.)Witness MATW's eponymous first CD. Pure musical creativity, dazzling keyboard crafted techno-pop reminiscent of Tears for Fears or Dead or Alive. A rarity in the world of CCM, to be sure; the same was true of the band's second album, "Flowers in the Rain"; though a bit grittier, the synth-driven melodies were still intact.Then quite abruptly, loyal fans such as myself lay down their hard earned cash for this coaster called "Seasons of Love." Suddenly, Mad at the World became Mad at the keyboards, following the early nineties trend of Christian music: if you're not a) mellow, b)hard rock, or c) rap, don't expect the CCM business to back you. I interviewed Rose at a concert, and it was clear he was disappointed in the "direction" the band had been forced to take. So an inventive band becomes just so much mosh-pit background noise. Thanks, CCM industry, for so narrowly defining what we were allowed to listen to then.My Rating:
MATW- 5 stars, Seasons of Love- 0 stars."

A historical perspective

Neil Down | on your radio | 11/13/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This was a groundbreaking release for its time. Frontline was a brand new label that was willing to take chances on something new and different. MATW is second only to DA's "Fearful Symmetry" in the sucessful combination of innovation and artistry on those early releases.

I LOVE the fake British accents!!!

And finally just for the record, The Mad at the World is predated by The Seventy Sevens, whose first album, "ping pong over the abyss," was recorded in 1982."

Unbelievable!

David Stack | Ft. Lauderdale, FL United States | 12/21/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Between the two disk set, it blows my mind that the same group is responsible for both! My five stars go to the first disk (Mad At The World). If you like Depeche Mode, chances are you'll LOVE the first disk too. If you like Metalica, (I don't!) chances are you'll enjoy the Seasons Of Love disk. I will listen to Seasons Of Love when I want to bang my head against the wall. How did Mad At The World go from one style to a totally different one is quite disapointing. I can't get enough of their original sound!"

Great band, but does not pre-date the 77's...

i-goodies | 10/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"5 Stars for the self-titled release, fewer for the others. Please ignore the comment about "Without this band there probably wouldn't have been 77's..." Problem is, the 77's have been releasing CCM records since 1982!!! Nice try kid, learn your history."

IF YOU LIKE SYNTHPOP OR GOTH, CHECK THIS OUT!

Nivek Tek | LA, CA | 07/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was first introduced to Mad at The World by hearing some tracks on college radio many years ago! I couldn't believe that they were a Christian band! From their wild hair and make up, (borrowing some fashion and vocal tips from The Damned's Dave Vanian) to the deep, evil sounding goth vocals from Dave Rose, to the high flying synths throughout most of their debut album Mad At The World ( which by the way is the only record I'm reviewing on here, NOT Seasons of Love),. Needless to say, I was hooked, so much in fact, that I rushed out to buy their great 2ND album Flowers In The Rain. Though not as synth-driven as Mad At The World, Flowers in the Rain still kept the classic Mad At The World sound intact. On Mad At The World, you will hear many distinct elements of artists like Depeche Mode, Erasure, The Pet Shop Boys, etc..imagine if Sisters of Mercy went synthpop,and then you'll get a better idea. If you might be hung up on not liking Christian music, Mad at The World delivers their message without sounding too preachy or "in your face". I appreciated that.

On Flowers in The Rain, also highly recommended, Dave starts to imitate more well known 80's and classic new wave acts like Jimmy Somerville of the Bronski Beat with his high falsettos (at times) Morrissey of The Smiths, The Cult, etc.. It was a dumb move to package Seasons of Love with Mad At The World, it should have been packaged with Flowers in The Rain, this way it wouldn't be such a HUGE jump from Synthpop to hard rock! I see they also did it again with Flowers in the Rain & Boomerang. Oh well, you can't please all of the people all of the time. All in all, Mad At The World & Flowers In The Rain are 2 classic new wave / synthpop albums that you gotta have. Buy Mad at The World and Flowers in the Rain separately and skip the box sets and you won't be disappointed!

"

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