madness :
one step beyond
absolutely
seven
the rise and fall
keep moving
mad not mad
wonderful
unfortunately i cant be objective here. 'my girl' was the first record i ever got and the love affair goes on to this day. all of these albums rate as the best of british pop music. great songs, sad songs, happy songs, party songs - madness were so much more than the singles act that viewers of 'top of the pops' would have you believe. after the youthful antics of the first couple of albums the group settled into the darker sounds of seven - best example is 'cardiac arrest/grey day tracks off seven, the music is pure madness but the lyrics have an edge that shook the rules ! with 'the rise and fall' they tried too hard, the concepts were pretty deep for a pop band, but for me this is their lost masterpiece. the flow of the lp is great and the characters each have wonderful stories. the last couple of lp's weren't their best but there are highlights which makes each release essential, for example 'victoria gardens' on keep moving and the best madness song ever 'yesterdays men' off mad not mad, which to this day sends a shiver up my spine every time i hear the opening bars…. and that was it, except for 'the madness' which didn't really work, and a side project 'nutty boys' a ska collective with two original members (chris and lee), which had to be seen live to fully appreciate
well not quite …
after many years away - they returned complete and proper to do a one off spectacular - madstock. i was there. from there they started a yearly season of tours, and then a new album.. i was a cynic to start with until i heard the tracks 'lovestruck' and especially 'johnny the horse' both were the good'ol madness we needed to return. but the pop world was stuck in a rut with girl/boy manufactured bands and 'real' bands were no longer setting the charts on fire which is a real shame as 'wonderful' is probably the madness lp that everyone should hear to see what talent these guys have when together as a whole.
i love'em