221) Madness - Absolutely

If you know nothing about music and were asked to name five UK bands after The Beatles & The Stones I reckon Queen, Spice Girls and Madness maybe would be ones that many people would name.

I was nine when this record was released and watching their videos on Top of the Tops, I couldn’t think of a better way to earn a living and in recent years they have played on top of Buckingham Palace and last year went straight in at number one in the album charts.

An excellent album doesn’t have a duff track, very few records fall into this category, and if you can find a few tracks that you love and enjoy the rest I would argue that you have made a good purchase. With fourteen tracks Madness could have maybe left a couple off here (In the Rain passes me by and Solid Gone is just not for me) but  there are three great songs on this record and others have their merit so it’s worth your time.

Anyone who has an interest in music will know Baggy Trousers and Embarrassment and for someone my age they cannot make me smile when I think of the videos, and I still enjoy the initial rush of Baggy Trousers but think Embarrassment is the better track.

The third great song for me on this record is Take It or Leave It which I love, with the sounds in the background sucking me in and Suggs phrases his vocals just right, you can see they suffered losing keyboard player Mike Barson’s songwriting when he quit a few years later and he shows he is a mean piano player on Disappear where he dominates.

All seven members of the band can write but they are distinctly Madness and Overdone showcases Lee Thompson’s sax and You Said and On the Beat Pete canter along although Suggs seems to be struggling to keep up on the later, but Chris Foreman provides an excellent guitar solo and the playfulness of the song is there for all to hear.

The record closes with the single The Return of the Los Palmas 7 which is enjoyable enough and shows their popularity that they could take an instrumental into the top ten.

An institution then and long may they continue.

7/10

GIVE IT A STREAM: Take It or Leave It