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(reviewed by Nick Karn)
This isn't exactly a studio album despite the deceptive title, but apparently a compilation that offers quite a few songs from the previous year's Madness Presents The Rise And Fall, an album that was never released in the U.S., and this collection really only exists to captialize on the success of the huge smash "Our House". Though I must confess that this song was the main reason I bought this, just to have a copy of that song around, that and to check out if they had other promising material. I normally don't get compilations, but this isn't a bad one as far as an introduction to their sound goes, even if the more comprehensive Complete Madness is probably a good buy, as it has eight of the same songs as this one, and there are sixteen songs there as opposed to the twelve here (though it don't have "Our House"!). But with that out of the way, the material on here seeks to answer the big question: does it actually live up to the quality of their big hit?
Well, I wouldn't quite say that, as nothing on here really comes that close to the quality of "Our House", which you might have heard. What a fantastic pop song, with funny nostalgic lyrics in the grand tradition of The Kinks, the numerous vocal melodies are some of the catchiest I've heard come out of the 80's, there's excellent use of horns, and a captivating guitar solo. But that doesn't mean the rest aren't good - unsurprisingly, the songs from that same year (1982) are among the best material this collection has to offer. "Tomorrow's Just Another Day" is more good snappy tune that showcases their quirkier style around this time as they began to abandon their ska qualities, with neat harpsichords in there, while "Rise And Fall" has a great bouncy horn and piano groove going (plus some nice pace changes and keyboard sounds to keep it interesting) and "Madness (Is All In The Mind)" is a fine venture into slow loungier territory, to name a few examples.
Anything else noteworthy? Sure there is - "Grey Day" has a fine tinge of darkness in its' worn-out chorus and bassline/bell interplay, and "Night Boat To Cairo", one of their earlier non-album singles from the late 70's that expertly demonstrates the ska revival aspect of their sound, has an excellent, almost epic, lengthy intro (well lengthy considering the song doesn't even hit 3-1/2 minutes) that keeps shifting around thrillingly. Although "Blue Skinned Beast" shows a noticeable seam between its' slow-paced verse and barroom piano chorus ('three cheers to the blue skinned beast, hip hip...'), both parts are fun (though speaking of fun, check out the well-done quirkiness of the chorus from the aptly titled "House Of Fun"). Not much else to discuss here - not many of these songs are particularly special (except for "Our House" and maybe one or two others), but all are an enjoyable sampling of a half-decent singles band. Well, except for that lame "It Must Be Love" cover version, though that may have something to do with the quality of the original song. All in all, a nice, often interesting, listen.
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