The Rise & Fall
Madness
1982
Album Summary
The Rise & Fall is the fourth studio album by English ska band Madness. It was originally released on 8 October 1982, on the label Stiff. This album saw Madness at their most experimental, exhibiting a range of musical styles including jazz, English music hall, and Eastern influences. NME described it at the time of its release as "the best Madness record". It has often been retrospectively described as a concept album. Though the album was never released in the US, several tracks were later placed on the compilation Madness, including "Our House", the band's only top 10 hit in America.
WikipediaUnlistenable. Just awful. Music for uncool dads trying to prove they didn’t bit brexit, even though they did. 1/5
Madness are massively underrated (on this side of the pond). Our House is a perfect song and the whole album is wonderful. Was tempted to give it a 5, but the guy in brown-face on the album cover kept it a 4.
I've always liked Madness but only really as a passing thing for their hits and what not but as a full album this was ruddy good.
Tout le monde parlera bien sûr d'Our House, mais le tube de cet album est bien sûr Mr. Speaker, qui sera utilisé comme générique de l'animé Inspecteur Gadget. Gadget au chapeau, Gadget au point, Elastico-gadget... tout y passe. Madness réussit avec ce titre son enregistrement le plus iconique.
Just love Suggs and the Nutty Boys, their cheeky cockney music hall inspired Ska is just typically English,(Small Faces/Kinks/Blurlike) not taking themselves too seriously whilst producing some great music. Not sure this would be my choice of a Madness album for this list (I prefer their debut for it's rawness) but some great tunes on here. "Tomorrows (Just Another Day)" "Our House" "Blue Skinned Beast" and "Primrose Hill" my favourites on this one.
is that mf in the album cover in black face????? wtf dont know if ishould listen to it osea es ska nambre ya me enteré nunca se disculparon de esto ni nada y los han acusado de racismo por cosas diferentes eran muy populares entre los skinheads en uk so...
3.5/5. Dope British concept album, feels like a soundtrack to a musical. Standout Track: Tomorrow's Just Another Day, Mr Speaker Gets The Word, Our House, New Delhi
So that's where the coffee commercial got it. Anyway, this was a pretty cool album. I enjoyed every single song and would re-visit.
Was surprised when Our House played. Was not aware it was on this album. The rest of the album stayed interesting throughout
This album wasn't available in full on Spotify, so I listened to 'Madness', which shares most of the tracks. It was an interesting listen! Very creative and smoothly crafted, with insightful lyrics and complex arrangements.
The Rise and Fall is not on spotify, so I listened to the greatest htis. I heard... SKA, pianos, horns a different sound from everything else in the 80's. At times I feel like I hear wallflowers. Did i just find an 80's band to dive deeper into, or am I becoming brain washed.
Really like the experimentation with sounds in this album, didn't know this is what ska music was like
I vaguely remember ska kids liking madness back in HS. Not sure I ever heard a song. This reminds me of The Jam, another brit band that I didn't really hear until way too late.
I was waiting and hoping for my crazy Rocksteady crew. Not disappointed.
The 80s were a strange time for music, and I'm loving every second of it. Nothing but praise from me for the pioneers of modern ska.
Madness is such a great band. This album has some love time favourites, and I've definitely picked up several new favourites.
Such an underrated band. I've been listening to Madness more this year than any other year. I love their playfulness mixed with serious punk-ska beats. This is one of the bands I wish I were old enough to see live. Thankfully, YouTube exists & I can watch their videos & live performances there. Excellent album.
Love this band. Not my fav album of theirs but has some of their best songs for sure.
It's like if Avenged Sevenfold was an 80s british rock band and wrote The Wall. 4 stars.
this album shows the versatility of Madness, and it's criminal people don't know more of their songs except "Our House" and "One Step Beyond". my favorite songs were definitely "Mr. Speaker", "Blue Skinned Beast", and "Madness". would definitely listen to again.
I really liked this album. I’m a big ska fan so was familiar with Madness prior to listening, but I had never listened to a whole album. Very fun and Our House is such a good pop song!
7/10. Some good songs, some weird songs, nothing that really calls me back to it.
Pretty good listen! Our House is on this album, was not expecting that, but that sound is consistent throughout the album.
Очень понравилось. Очередной закрытый пробел. Не знал Madness вообще, пускай и слышал Our House.
I'm very familiar with Madness's singles, but I've never given their albums a listen. I really should have, because this was fun! Beyond the hit singles "Our House" and "Tomorrow's Just Another Day", highlights include "Primrose Hill" and "New Delhi".
Punk overtones and vocals interlaced with brass band, Old time piano, harmonica vibrato. Very madhouse/Tim burton/haunted mansion feel. Fun and interesting listen. Rise and fall, mr speaker, tomorrow’s just another day.
Hoppa! Weer zo'n band die ik nog een keer live wil zien. Heerlijke Britse popmuziek met bekende nummers. Dit album begint met een eentonig titelnummer, waarna het echter los gaat. Goed gespeelde muziek en melodieuze zang, wat wil je nog meer? Topper is natuurlijk "Our House", maar er staat nog veel meer leuks op zoals o.a. "Tomorrow's Just Another Day", het western-piano'tje van "Mr Speaker", "Tiptoes" en het jazz-achtig nummer "Maddness' zelf. Helaas wordt het meer up-tempo ska-sfeertje van "One Step Beyond" niet gehaald. Dit is een serieuzer album en ik mis juist dat extra beetje madness. Daarom geen volledige score voor mij. Luister dus gewoon ook even de "greatest hits" als je toch bezig bent, er is zoveel leuks van de mannen van Madness :-) ****
Not on Spotify, so I found it on the YouTube and had to watch it with M&M ads every 3 minutes. That kinda sucked but the album doesn’t. It definitely shows a growth away from the 2tone ish sound of their 1rst album One Step Beyond and bands like The Specials. Really enjoyed the arrangements of horns, especially on Primrose Hill, and the strings in other parts of the album. Of course Our House is the standout standout, but their are plenty of other good songs on here too. They still follow that jaunty and off kilter giddiness of Madness- just this time a bit more formal and “pop sensible”. I still think that “One Step Beyond” is more grabbing and probably a better album, but this one gets brownie points for straying away from the traditional ska formula.
I haven't listened to a lot of early British ska, so this was a pleasant surprise. The music fades into the background a bit while I'm listening to it, but it's consistently good. 4/5
És el disc de sublimació del pop més elegant de la banda, sense perdre encara els tocs ska dels començaments. Més tard arribarien els discos de maduresa, que tendien massa a l'ensopiment. Aquí encara conserven la flama, embolcada de lletres sobre l'Anglaterra de la seva infantesa
Eindelijk weer iets vrolijks! Daar was ik aan toe. Brings back memories van roodharige middelbare-school-klasgenoot yvo op wie ik een oogje had en die me z’n madness-cd’s leende.
J'ai passé un très bon moment en compagnie d'Inspecteur Gadget, même si j'ai trouvé la structure des pistes un peu redondante: Gogo rise and fall, gogo tomorrow's, gogo blueskinned beast. Vous l'aurez compris cet album présentait des sonorités très intéressantes.
Kolejny pik wyspiarski, ale tym razem bardziej tradycyjny i pasujacy do listy, bo plyta z 82, grupy ktora po statach spotifajowych mozna okreslic jako bande jednego przeboju, chociaz mnie samemu zarowno nazwa zespolu, jak i albumu nic nie mowila przed odsluchem, dopiero trak numer 7 uswiadomil mi, ze gdzies juz to slyszalem, bo kto nie zna tak brytyjskiego kawalka jak our house, ale jestem zdziwiony, ze plyta sluchala sie tak dobrze, a tylko jeden czy dwa traki sa z niej sluchane na lastfmie czy spotifaju i grupa wydaje sie dosc zapomiana muzycznie w porownaniu do takich specialsow, ktory tworzyli w podobym czasie i calkiem podobny gatunkowo material, chociaz ciezko tutaj o jakakolwiek klasyfikacje, bo discog mowi o popowym krazku w stylu ska, to juz bardziej 2 tone pasuje jak w na drugim albumie specialsow, ale jednak calosciowo ta plyta o wiele bardziej przypadla mi do gustu, bo ma ona na siebie jakis pomysl, tym pomyslem bedzie motyw poczatkow i koncow jak wskazuje tytul, za czym ida motywy dziecinstwa, przemijania, dekadencji, wiec nie obylo sie takze od disu na thatcherowa, pojawia sie takze motyw pajeeta znikac na traku new delhi, wiec takie niezbyt popowe motywy, za to od strony instrumentalnej jest o wiele bardziej zachowawczno, bo siedmioosobowa banda jak przystalo na okolo skawowe klimaty uzywa mocno instrumentow detych, wiec trabki i saksy sa mocno slyszalne, do tego wykorzystanie zarowno kontrabasu jak i standardowej giaty basowej jest odczuwalne, wielkim plusem jak dla mnie jest brak synthowego brzmienia, a zamiast tego piano, prawie cala plyta jest spiewana przez jednego wokaliste, to jest pana Suggsa, ktory pomimo tego, ze brzmi jak prawdziwy wyspiarz, to jednak artykuluje sie wystarczajaco czysto aby wokale byly zrozumiale o co ciezko na niektorych brytyjksich pikach, jedynie ostatni trak madness (is all in the mind) jest wykonywany przez wokal wspierajacy albumu trebacza bandy mistera Smytha, nie spodziewalem sie, ze tak mi podejdzie ten 43 minutowy krazek z gatunku 2 tonowych, na plejke wrzucam robotniczy kawalek tomorrow (just another day), wspomiany juz wczesniej madness i najpopularniejszy song zespolu, czyli our house
What a wonderfully weird album, A side is more rock, B side is more pop but always with a special psychodelic/mad edge
Great blending of genres that isn’t forced and truly comes off authentic and original, maintained from beginning to end. Great production as well.
Brilliant side A. Side B tails off a little after Our House. Tomorrow’s (Just Another Day) possibly their most underrated single.
Two-tone was a cool movement, genuinely integrated and responsible for great bands like the Specials, The Selecter and Madness. Previously on this app I stated that I didn't care for polite AC/DC, and to a degree I think the same applies to Madness. Nothing here hits the zany heights of 'One Step Beyond', 'House Of Fun' or 'Night Boat to Cairo'...but as a collection, this is really solid. I don't think a band should be penalised for spreading their wings, and here they try on a few different hats, including cocktail jazz and music hall. There are some quality tracks here too! 'Our House' is a deserved commercial behemoth, but less heralded tunes like 'Tiptoes' and 'Mr Speaker' are ace too. I feel like on this album, Madness were edging into the same territory as Squeeze - and doing it fairly successfully. Bonus points also awarded due to the fact that Suggs' speaking and singing voices are exactly the same.
our house ken ik (wie niet) maar de rest vond ik ook goed ! misschien net iets te lang. maak het korter, cut the crap en je had mss een 5. mr speaker was top
an album that grabbed my attention! i had known "our house" initially and only vaguely at that. madness kept me on my tiptoes the whole album. some jazz sounds, some reggae sounds! i came away impressed that madness didn't confine themselves to anything, really. i mean, "new delhi" brings some beautiful indian sounds and instruments to this album. the piano, the saxophone, it was all very enjoyable.
You could say it was Madness that I had never listened to the full album. Listener note, Spotify wasn't showing a lot of the tracks so I listened on youtube instead.
What a delightful display of Britishness. Got that great bank holiday feel, like Blur's Parklife, and some tantalizing carnivalesque moments.
I'd only ever heard "Our House" before but the rest of the album was pretty good too. Very 80s
"The Rise & Fall" is the fourth studio album by the English Ska band Madness. It is known as their most experimental album by also incorporating a range f other styles - jazz, English musical hall and Eastern influences. Within those, I mostly heard the musical hall category. I would say that this is also kind of in the pop category...great choruses and happier-sounding, upbeat music. It was originally conceived to be a concept album about child nstalgia. According to lead singer, Suggs, each band member was to write songs about their childhood, but not everyone did that. The album has been compared to The Kinks' "Village Green Preservation Society" and Blurs' "Parklife." I see the "Parklife" comparison. For some reason, this album was not released in the US. I'm not sure why; "Our House" was a huge song. I enjoyed pretty much every song. There is a lot going on in almost every song with these band members. "Rise and Fall" starts things off in grand fashion with sax, piano, keyboards and quickly changes to a quicker more ska-pace tempo. It then slows back down and speeds up. Nice sax solo. "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)" was the second single and has a more melancholy-pop feel. Defintely music hall influenced. Cool harmonica. Great vocals and chorus repeating the song title. The third song "Blue Skinned Beast" takes a swing at Margaret Thatcher and her Falkland's War handling. Quick and changing tempo, more in the Ska style. Great sax. Not much to say about "Our House." Love the start, the way each instrument is incorporated and especially the vocals and lyrics. "Brother got a date tonight, we cant hang around" The last song. "Madness (Is All in the Mind)" is also worth a listen, more in the jazz style. Madness was a big band in the UK and Europe overall. Not so much in the US, besides "Our House." This was my first dive into them and two thumbs up. Not a bad song and a good listen just to appeciate the activity of the band overall.
Un album muy fresco, más que algunos modernos a pesar de acusar sus 40 años. Con un clásico escondido dentro de yapa. Buena experiencia!
great ska album, also nice its a concept album thats kind of unique in being positive and human
Definitely my vibe. Very good. Didn't know I knew so many songs by these guys. Great album, on my vinyl collection wishlist.
What, Spotify doesn’t have this album?!? Very annoying. But the good thing is I’m already quite familiar with Madness. They bring consistently fun and dynamic 80s ska to the table and you have a good time listening. Lots of danceable grooves, so they made brunch fun this morning. Our House is an all-time classic fave. Love these guys!
This is super British 80's pop and I kinda liked it, especially their big hit, "Our House". 6/10.
Dansen, dansen! Maar net iets minder dan hun albums die wat meer ska zijn
Really cool album. Never heard of these guys and had no idea who the artist of Our House even was. Can't get enough of these artsy British pop bands.
Love it… (well, love most of Madness albums actually). Fresh and lyrics with a twist
Really fun album! Clever instrumentation, and a lot of great songs. Will be coming back to this one, too bad I could only find it on YouTube.
Great Album from GB's best-known SKA-Band. Not pure SKA anymore, but...well: have a listen!
I've always loved Madness for their singles but have never listened to an album. They never really struck me as an albums band but this is a beautiful work musically and lyrically. A real gem.
The guys sound like Beatles sometimes, but it's 1986. Tomorrow's (Just another day) is the coolest.
Always fun when the one famous song you know from an album is not even close to the most interesting one. Best track: Primrose Hill
I think the only Madness album I'd listened to before was a greatest hits, and I couldn't get quite get into the Ska-iness of it. This was quite refreshing however, seemed to go a bit deeper than their main hits. Definitely one to give another listen to
First 10 seconds and you know who is playing... it's definitely Madness.
Spotify link only has 2 songs. Found full playlist on YouTube page. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPjcc9Vi-9s&list=PLwTsihu-EGpB-o1DIUfRUq0O2b1VSinBY
Our House is a banger, as is Tomorrow's just another day. However feel like the only great madness album is the greatest hits, they have a lot of shit