Mad At The World

MAD AT THE WORLD (MATW) started out as a new-wave/synth-pop band along the lines of Depeche Mode.

1987 saw the release of the debut self-titled album. What a masterpiece! I really liked the synth sound that was found on this album and on the next album "Flowers in the Rain" released in 1988. Roger Rose was the main songwriter throughout MATW history.

Things changed after these two albums. Apparently MATW wanted to match the sound of their live concerts more. They found it really difficult to play the synth music live, and crowds were confused when they played their synth-pop numbers with electric guitars.

So, "Seasons of Love" (1990) had no keyboards present. The song writing was just as strong though, and the lyrics still a cut above most evangelical Christian lyrics, straightforward still, but classier. "Seasons of Love" introduced us to MATW's second period which was hard rock.

The same sound followed on "Boomerang" (1991) and "Through the Forest" (1992). "Boomerang" was notable for the song Isn't Sex a Wonderful Thing? which was actually a song about how we abuse the gift of sex from God, but Christian Bookstores misunderstood (as they often do) and the song became controversial. Randy Rose (brother to Roger and other original member) had started a solo career during this period and was starting to also contribute to some songwriting duties.

After "Through the Forest", MATW changed direction again, this time introducing a more '60's/'70's feel to the music (and no longer hard rock) on the albums "The Ferris Wheel" (1993) and "The Dreamland Cafe" (1995).

I have to confess to being a massive MATW fan and own all their releases, though they are all out-of-print and hard to find (especially the first 2 albums).

Essential Release: Seasons of Love (1990)

The 12 track download link below will provide you with tracks from all their periods and will probably hook you in, so be warned...

To download, click on link: http://rapidshare.com/files/380714855/MATW.rar.html