SpaCeMonKeY UK

Madness - The Liberty of Norton Folgate (2009)

Madness's ninth studio album, and a great success it is too! Finally the Madness album Madness fans were waiting for. It's a bit of a concept album and sounds like, hmm, well, like London. It's a weird thing to say but you'll know what I mean if you've listened to it. When I first listened to it I didn't think it was amazing. It's not like it contains instantly catchy 'singles'. But the more you listen to it the more you appreciate its genius. The title track, 'The Liberty of Norton Folgate', is impossible to describe. It certainly takes you on a journey.

There are a lot of songs on here that I love, 'Sugar and Spice', 'Forever Young', 'NW5'... It's weird because the songs aren't necessarily super catchy but they really work as an album. I'd really recommend that you buy the whole thing as a proper album and listen to it all the way through, don't pick and mix songs and don't shuffle them! That's the thing about concept albums, I suppose! This could be one of their best albums. Original material, the original line-up, and the polish and confidence that comes with being in the business for 30 years. :D

Labels: 2009, Album Project, Madness, The Liberty of Norton Folgate

Madness - The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1 (2005)

This is a bit of a weird album since it's pretty much all cover versions. It's a ska album, but it's a lot more polished than their early more ska albums. I have to admit there are some songs on here that I don't really like (not as Madness covers, anyway), such as 'Israelites'. But there's some good stuff on here, too. 'Shame and Scandal' really grows on you after a while, and I like 'Rain' (perhaps the least ska song on the album). It's a bit of fun I suppose but I think most Madness fans were hoping for a proper Madness album, not an album of cover versions.

Labels: 2005, Album Project, Madness, The Dangermen Sessions

Madness - Wonderful (1999)

Album Project Update! Madness's seventh studio album, 'Wonderful' (1999). The band got back together! This was the first Madness album I bought when it came out, since I was a bit young to buy the others in the 80s. :) I really loved this record, 'Lovestruck', 'Johnny the Horse' and 'The Wizard' are all real sing-along fun. '4am' was also on Suggs's 1995 album 'The Lone Ranger'. I think, possibly, I like that version better. (That album is pretty, good, incidentally!) All in all, this is a real return to form for the band, full of energy, and with their ska roots showing (unlike 'Mad Not Mad'!). If you recognise anything off of it it's likely to be 'Lovestruck'. But, really, if you like Madness you should own this album.

I should perhaps also mention that there were numerous projects undertaken by members of Madness during their 'split', including an album by 'The Madness', which was basically Madness without Mark Bedford, Daniel Woodgate and Mike Barson. That album was released in 1988 and featured a song I like very much, 'I Pronounce You'. It is still quite 80s, and not quite Madness, but it's well worth a listen if you can get hold of it!

Labels: 1999, Album Project, Madness, Wonderful

Madness - Mad Not Mad (1985)

Album Project update! Madness's sixth studio album, 'Mad Not Mad' (1985), the only one not to feature Mike Barson. Though I like some of the songs on here, some of them really aren't that 'mad'. For instance, 'Burning the Boats' is almost completely electronic. The only thing that makes it sound like Madness is Suggs singing on it. It's very 80's, very... polished. I've always liked 'White Heat', but I guess the most famous song on here is 'Uncle Sam'. Or maybe 'Yesterday's Men'. Or 'Sweetest Girl'. All of which charted in the Top 40. This album has a lot of songs on it that seem to be about goodbyes. Perhaps they made it knowing it was to be their last album for more than 10 years...

Labels: 1985, Album Project, Mad Not Mad, Madness

Madness - Keep Moving (1984)

Album Project update! Realised I never finished posting about Madness albums, and since they've released a new one I thought I should get on with it! 'Keep Moving' (1984) was their fifth studio album. If 'The Rise & Fall' was a bit more experimental, this is a bit more polished, less ska, more mainstream perhaps. The only song on it you're likely to have heard is 'Michael Caine'. But that's actually a song I'm not so keen on, I've never figured out why. I like 'Victoria Gardens' a lot, for equally unknown reasons. The album has a song on it about a boy who hides in a fridge and gets trapped. It's the last album to feature Mike Barson until their 1999 comeback album - he wasn't part of the lineup for 'Mad Not Mad'. Hmm... I'm pretty much out of facts now. :) Though I like the enthusiasm of their earlier albums, this is probably one of the albums I've listened to more. They're much more grown up. Much more accomplished in what they're doing. But not quite as much fun...

Labels: 1984, Album Project, Keep Moving, Madness

And another Album Project Update - 'The Rise and Fall' (1982). Pretty definite that you'll know 'Our House' on this one. And probably 'Tomorrow's Just Another Day'. There are still plenty of slightly sinister songs on here, despite the jollity of 'Our House'. I really like 'New Delhi', which is very strange. Perhaps a bit more experimental than previous Madness albums. :)

Labels: 1982, Album Project, Madness, The Rise and Fall

Album Project update! Have now listened to 'Seven' (1981). I guess the song you're most likely to know from this album is 'Cardiac Arrest', a song about a man having a heart attack. And maybe 'Grey Day'. It's another pretty edgy album, when you listen to the words. For instance, 'Mrs Hutchinson' is a song about a misdiagnosed patient who meets a terrible end. Plus 'The Opium Eaters' is a great instrumental piece.

Labels: 1981, Album Project, Madness, Seven

Album Project Update! 'Absolutely' (1980). The Madness of this album is largely the same as their debut. Full of energy but surprisingly accomplished for their age. Everyone knows 'Baggy Trousers'. 'Embarrassment' is an interesting song since it deals with the rejection of Lee Thompson's sister, who's discovered to be pregnant with a black man's child. You'd hope that things have changed a lot in the 31 (yikes!) years since the song was written. Overall I don't think I like this album quite as much as their first... But it's still great!

Labels: 1980, Absolutely, Album Project, Madness

As the next stage in my Album Project I've decided to listen to all the Madness albums. It's a bit cheating maybe since I have listened to them all quite a few times before. But I thought it'd be good to listen to them again. Started with 'One Step Beyond...' (1979). You can tell the band's young and full of energy. It's hard to picture them like that really, if you're familiar with them now. It has a couple of songs that they didn't write (including 'One Step Beyond', the title track). It's a really strange mixture (I've always liked their version of 'Swan Lake') with lots of amusingly observed songs, most of which have a slight air of menace. One of my favourite Madness songs is on this album, namely 'Night Boat to Cairo'. It's a brilliant debut album.

Labels: 1979, Album Project, Madness, One Step Beyond