A plaque given to Joel Katz from Atlantic Records to commemorate 1,000,000 sales of Matchbox 20’s album “Mad Season”
Joel KatzDuring my latest interview with Rob Thomas of Matchbox 20, we discussed a few upcoming anniversaries. “This year is the 20th anniversary of the first solo record,” Rob mentioned. We also talked about the 30th anniversary of the band and his recent 25th wedding anniversary.
However, we did not mention that Matchbox 20's second album, Mad Season, is now 25 years old. The band recently posted a message recognizing the milestone on Instagram.
In a handwritten note, they wrote, “Mad Season is [expletive] 25 years old. After the almost unimaginable good fortune we had with our first album, we were assured that we would have the sophomore slump with the 2nd album.”
Rob mentioned this during our talk, saying, “We had a really successful [first] record, and then everybody tells you, well, a record that successful in the first record definitely means that you’re going to have the sophomore slump, and the next record’s gonna fail.”
It didn’t fail. Their second effort, Mad Season, was hugely successful. It reached number three on the album chart and eventually sold more than four million copies in America. “Bent” is their only number one song, and it appeared on Mad Season. The album spawned a few more hits, including “If You’re Gone.”
Matchbox 20 Celebrates Many Milestones
Their note continued, "As we start our next chapter, so many years later, these milestones seem to mean more and more. Thank you to all of you for allowing us to know what that feels like."
Matchbox 20’s 2023 album, Where the Light Goes, was their last album as a band. Rob shared that the first single from his upcoming album will be released before his solo tour begins this August. He said, “Right after the tour, the [new solo album, All Night Days] will be coming out. So, I’m excited to mark the 20th anniversary with new music.”
The band’s post ends with, “As we start our next chapter, so many years later, these milestones seem to mean more and more. Thank you to all of you for allowing us to know what that feels like.”
