Complete Madness - Madness

Track list:

1. Embarrassment
2. Shut Up
3. My Girl
4. Baggy Trousers
5. It Must Be Love
6. The Prince
7. Bed and Breakfast Man
8. Night Boat to Cairo
9. House of Fun
10. One Step Beyond
11. Cardiac Arrest
12. Grey Day
13. Take It or Leave It
14. In the City
15. Madness
16. The Return of the Los Palmas 7

Running time: 45 minutes
Released: 1982

Why did I buy this? I'm not sure.

I am shocked at the release date. I remember a number of these tunes from my childhood, yet this best-of was released when I wasn't yet two. They were clearly baked into the British psyche of the 80s.

OK, so that opening line is a little unfair. The very first chords of Embarassment remind me why I picked this up... there's a grubby but honest charm about Madness' upbeat tones. It's never ever going to touch "favourite" levels, but its good for injecting a simple small smile into a grey day. It's been trying pathetically to snow outside, so the warm brassy sounds are a nice antidote.

That these 16 old tunes are crammed into 45 minutes like sardines in a tin means the listen will fly by fast and I can move on to more considered musical selections. There is a definite element of lowest common denominator about these lads, but popular does not have to mean bad. I am actually surprised at the amount of space and time there has been in the first two songs given the sub-3 minute average running.

I don't find these tunes to be very provoking of thought or words. There's something too familiar about them I guess... a sort of comfort space that has my mind switched off. That said, as Baggy Trousers starts, I am reminded that this song formed part of my English lessons at school, some 25 years ago. OK, only one lesson, but it came out of the blue, and unfortunately I can't remember the explanation or outcomes that would make that odd anecdote more interesting. I guess with the state of my music library now, this era of Madness is the equivalent of a palette cleanser between courses of a posh meal, though one that can throw occasional surprises.

It Must Be Love is one of those tunes that is so heavily scorched into my mind through over-saturation, and cheesy though it undoubtedly is, I think it holds up pretty well. That doesn't mean an awful lot since we can be frighteningly uncritical of things that have become second nature in this way, however for my purposes this un-self-conscious and mushy track manages to bring a smile.  This ballad is followed by a bouncy number that has me thinking of The Beatles over and above the other influences, one song in particular which I cannot recall the name of (as I have never been a Beatles fan).

I have made that admission on this blog before. It's almost a crime in the UK to be a music snob but not see the Beatles as the best thing ever, though I somehow suspect that is not so true for the generation behind me in snobbery. Wait, did I just call myself a music snob whilst listening to Madness? Something doesn't add up there.

Snob cannot be the right word.

I try to avoid the term "fan" as far as possible, because fandom is not something I identify with at all. Sure, the point of this blog is to go through my music, calling out what I like, what I don't like, what surprises me, etc., and in the course of that we'll encounter several artists I value very highly, but fan carries connotations that go beyond any level of devotion that I have been able to find.

I remain surprised by how much space and time these tunes seem to have, by the by. They pack a fair bit into short runs, perhaps because the general tempo is high. The other side of that is that yes, I am finding my thoughts riffing off general themes and trends rather than specific cues in the songs, which, thinking about it, might come back to the level of subconscious familiarity, not the conscious one. What do I mean by that? I think with the tunes that I am consciously familiar with - those that I have sought out and played to death, I would be more inclined to spout off about why I am so attached to them. Here the patterns are kind of ingrained, rote, unthinking. I am not following the grooves, the melodies, the beats of the tracks, rather I am letting my mind wander off whilst old patterns unwind around me.

Yet in doing so, this is turning out to produce more words than most listens, even if fewer of them directly relate to the sounds playing out. There has been no comment on the style, little consideration of the instrumentation etc. Perhaps that is because I rather expect everyone else to have had Madness baked into them too, which will not be true for children of the 90s, or anyone not British. It seems to me that there is no point me typing out a summary though since I can link to one instead.

Ugh, I got distracted by reading the Wiki link, bad form. I pull myself away as some less familiar songs hit. Sure, the same old patterns are evident in the music but I am not sure where they are going this time. It's nice to be mildly surprised for a change though. There are some odd, but effective vocalisations on In the City, for example, that make me think of old videogame sound effects.

My typing has run out of steam, my brain run out of words. The denouement is in effect, this Madness is over. I think I will cut a couple off the end in the final reckoning, as the fun quotient dipped sufficiently to not make the tracks interesting.

Bridge over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel

Track list:

1. Bridge over Troubled Water
2. El Condor Pasa (If I Could)
3. Cecilia
4. Keep the Customer Satisfied
5. So Long Frank Lloyd Wright
6. The Boxer
7. Baby Driver
8. The Only Living Boy In New York
9. Why Don't You Write Me
10. Bye Bye Love
11. Song for the Asking
12. Feuilles-O
13. Bridge Over Troubled Water

Running time: 43 minutes
Released: 1970

A classic I was moved to pick up because... I don't know why. I have Simon's Graceland too, which I have listened to more, but I have never been a particular fan of him or the duo. I think I must have felt - at some point probably close on 15 years back - that I really ought to listen to this. Either that or it was so cheap I couldn't pass it up. I wonder what a dedicated listen will offer?

We start with the very recognisible chords of the title track - a song I have two of, since the "bonus tracks" on this disc include another recording of it. A weekend where I didn't get to a listen on Saturday, and this one is being squeezed in (today was Mother's Day here). The song is a little soporific, subdued. I don't think this is the version I am more familiar with. The melody is nice and clear, soothing, the vocal has its moments but does not inspire me. It is better when they harmonise but even then it gets a bit grandstand-y, all blow no show. I am not a fan.

The opening to the second track is more promising, Spanish guitars, but it is far less interesting once the vocals start and it devolves into a rather stereotyped style, the sound more Greek to my ears than Spanish. By the time Cecilia starts I am thinking that even at a price too cheap to pass up this is not for me. This track is far too happy-clappy for my liking, with really nothing to recommend it to me. The blusier sound of Keep the Customer Satisfied is more interesting but at the same time its basic progression is so cliched and standard that it sounds like a thousand other songs; I can't escape that feeling which rather ruins the track for me.

The plus point that offsets these whinges of mine is that each track is very different from the last. Thus far they are equally unengaging though, and I find my eye drawn to the figure waving Amazonian bugs around on the silenced TV in the background instead. I really shouldn't have it on whilst otherwise occupied; bad habit. Seems that the energy usage is not a significant factor though, to go by the reading on the smart meter.

The Boxer is another instantly recognisible track. This has a cadence and a timbre that is more pleasing, even before the chorus with its distinctive lai-la-lais. The softer tone but consistent rumble of the guitar create a nice space, and the rise and fall of the vocal fills that space, giving it shape and form to the ear that my brain translates as relaxing. I wasn't aware that it got dark though - some threatening sounds creep in between 3 and 4 minutes somewhere, but all fall out by the end. It all feels a little schizophrenic, a bit like the whole album and its inability to stick to a style or theme. Simon and Garfunkel were certainly varied to go by this. More happy-clappiness follows, definitely sounding its age - birthed in the 60s, though the album itself scraped into the 70s before arriving. There are elements of The Beatles in Baby Driver I reckon, though that particular group are one I am far from qualified to talk about.

The Only Living Boy in New York... another tune that is a step above the majority. This time next week I'll be on a plane heading in that direction, business not pleasure, though I'm going to NJ, not NY. Wrong side of the Hudson. The song stands out because... it doesn't stand out? There doesn't appear to be such a gimmick here in the way that some of the other tunes have had. This sort of style, laid back folky guitars, is more what I would have expected from this pair; maybe I like it more because it aligns to expectation. I am not so keen on the next track which makes me think of cheesy movies that don't date well, nor on the swell of crowd applause that drowns out Bye Bye Love - this is a clap-along live recording it seems with an overly jaunty guitar that just makes me a little queasy. It sounds like a precursor to Graceland (some 16 years hence at this point) in some ways though... and I would hazard that between the two, Simon worked out how to apply the effect better.

Couple of shorties, then the second rendition of the title track. Song for the Asking sounds like a lot of 70s folk that presumably followed this, which is to say its pretty bland and sad, but pleasant with it. The brightness of the guitar offsets the maudlin strings and the short and sweet nature of the song  wraps it into a more than acceptable package. The French song that is the first of the two bonuses is really dull; it is also very short but brevity is not enough to save it.

Those chords again - we're reaching the end. This is a softer opening, I prefer the vocal here and the piano-only recording. There isn't quite the grandstanding here, though the same stresses are all present. It is all just a little more understated, and we Brits love that more than brashness. It isn't all piano and voice, percussion arriving later, even if it is handmade. This version feels more authentic somehow, purer, better - or at least more to my taste. I didn't get on with a lot of this album if I'm honest, but there are a few highlights to maintain. Given that I probably got it for a pittance, that's not too bad, then.

All You Good Good People E.P. - Embrace

Track List:

1. All You Good Good People
2. You Don't Amount To Anything - This Time
3. The Way I Do
4. Free Ride

Running time: 16 minutes
Released: 1997

Ah, Embrace. To me, they were the palatable part of Britpop for a short while. I hated Oasis, thought Blur were poseurs (I have come around a bit on this, since realising Albarn's talent) and could not stand The Verve or the 101 other derivative incarnations of that movement. 

However this single hooked me, though if I remember rightly I had already liked The Last Gas and taped it off the radio. Onto cassette and everything. I can still hear All You Good Good People in my head, and The Way I Do and Free Ride bring to mind memories of lovelorn youthfulness. The other track here has no place in my memory. I liked this enough to buy the album The Good Will Out when it followed.

I suspect I will not be so quick to praise this time, however the opening chords of the single are still very pleasant. The vocal/lyric is less interesting but there is a wider arrangement or orchestration on this song that softens the edge of whining northern bleakness that I always felt followed some of the other Britpoppers around like a bad smell. That said the vocal really obscures the arrangement in places, which is a shame because the big sound is quite effective otherwise, even if the song should really end at the 4:30 mark where the first swell concludes. Instead we get a minute and a half of pointless extension with no further verse or chorus and a lead out that does not add anything or substantially change the tone. Wasted space.

You Don't Amount to Anything - This Time is... ugh. Bad piano is bad, bad vocal is worse. This is car crash stuff, complete with self-indulgent cat-strangled guitar. The Way I Do is pretty bad, too. Not a  poor man's Lennon, a destitute man's Lennon. I think I was probably too unaware to notice the mimicry at the time, but now it is so blindingly obvious and painful to sit through. And I say this as someone who is not a fan of The Beatles or Lennon in particular. Unless Free Ride is a stormer, this whole disc goes bye-bye as, I have the title track elsewhere and that is sufficiently a) OK and b) nostalgic that I would keep it.

Free Ride, then... the piano is tinny. I think it must have been recorded on an electric keyboard... or maybe my ears have gone. Probably the latter, alas. It is a bleak song and the lyric is pretty asinine but I cannot help but like the melody and the tone is reasonable.  It is a keeper, but barely; the sort of tune I do not mind popping up 1 in 15000 or so but would never go out of my way to listen to again. Actually - that sentence right there is reason enough to get rid of it. Off with it's head!

Abandoned Shopping Trolley Hotline - Gomez

Track List:

1. Shitbag 9
2. Bring Your Lovin' Back Here
3. Emergency Surgery
4. Hit On The Head
5. Flavors
6. 78 Stone Shuffle
7. We Haven't Turned Around [X-Ray Mix]
8. Buena Vista
9. Shitbag
10. Steve McCroski
11. Wharf Me
12. High On Liquid Skin
13. Rosemary
14. The Cowboy Song
15. Getting Better

Running time: 49 minutes
Released: 2000

So into proper titles now, but still flying back nearly 15 years.

The first thing I note looking down the track list is more profanity in titles; at least it is just profanity this time. Not clever but not mean spirited or offensive to me.

I remember hearing Gomez first on Later... around the time of the Mercury nod for their debut (the Mercury Prize will crop up a few times as a discovery point) and finding their evolution of Britpop more palatable than what had come before. This album, a couple of years later, was a collection of unreleased material, live recordings and B-sides from their early life. It is, therefore, quite hit and miss - more-so than albums tend to be anyway,

The opener is just an intro, then we get into an upbeat number that seems to me to be pretty typical of their more radio-friendly songs. Emergency Surgery, however, completely changes the tone (not in a good way in my book). Sparse sounds and an oddly delivered vocal line. It is an interesting combination, but not a song to really listen to. Hit On the Head continues that theme, but with a different vocalist. That's actually one of the things I liked about Gomez when I got into them, different singers for different songs (or parts of songs) because that was worked for the track.

Flavours is a hybrid of the style introduced with Emergency Surgery and the more established guitar-based sound. I actually really like this track because it shifts that latter point enough to create interest without going too far down the former route to lose musicality. It is not groundbreaking, just a good mixture of styles. 

78 Stone Wobble from Bring It On was the first Gomez song I remember hearing. I thought, at the time, that the live version here (titled 78 Stone Shuffle) instead is a superior track. Not sure whether this is just the live rendition or if there was more to it than that. However on this listen, I find myself tiring of the track pretty quickly and I cannot quite put my finger on why. I would rather it did not give way as it did though; this mix of We Haven't Turned Around I find very poor. I think that song was my favourite on Liquid Skin but the rendition here has none of the charm or easy sounds. Musically it is... challenging for my ears, and I find the vocal a lot harsher and less appropriate as a result. It is, however, much shorter. Thankfully.

So I am doing this listen as I waffle on whether to get outside and do some gardening. It looks a nice day, but I am fighting the great beast of "cannot be a***d" after what was a very busy week. I thought this would be a nice distraction.

At points it is. Buena Vista is my favourite Gomez song despite the length (I seem to be contradicting my stated preference a lot, eh?). The build, the song and the bluesy orchestration all work for me, there are echoes of Floyd in some of the playing in the first half and I find it a very easy listen. It could easily finish on a good length, but unlike some songs where the continuation feels like a bridge (or chorus) too far, the long lead out on this track feels appropriate. It helps that it is similar enough to feel at home with the opening, but different enough to sound like a change. Listening now, I think it has strands of The Stone Roses about it. The outro is too long though. The song should wind up at about the 7 minute mark, but there is still 2 minutes of less interesting wind-down to go. Yes, it is another change of tone, but it is so evidently lead-out that it may as well not be there. It does not destroy my love of the earlier part of the song though.

Unfortunately the rest of the album is very much less interesting. Shitbag actually crams a lot into its 1 minute run time, especially given the vocal does not start for 25 seconds or so; it is more pleasant than the name, but not of real interest. Steve McCroski is unpleasant, Wharf Me is too sparse for most of the track - only bursting into life sporadically. High On Liquid Skin could be interesting by construction, but frankly I find the actual musical lines uninteresting; what goes where has me paying attention but what I pick up makes me yawn. I was all set to be disparaging about Rosemary too - saying it was too slow, but I was allowing my fingers to get ahead of my ears and my memory to inform. Listening I find that my memory is a harsh critic - the tempo of the verse is fine; the vocal in the chorus could be a bit more lively though, and there is an extra minute of outro on the track that would be better excised.

The Cowboy Song is a funny little interlude before the album closes with a cover of the Beatles' Getting Better. I am not a Beatles fan, never have been; I can appreciate their role in the history of music without appreciating the music they produced as a group. In fact at the time I first heard this I did not even realise this was a Beatles cover. I think it is probably a good cover, though. At least I like the song I hear here. The structure suits the vocal talent, there's a good twang on the guitar and it closes the album well, although again the last minute could probably be removed with little loss.

Its coming up to lunchtime; gardening has been successfully delayed until after food, at least.