Madness – Absolutely
welcome back to the Skaject folks! today we’re taking a look at the next Madness record, Absolutely!
aight Baggy Trousers is the opening track here, and while its a tad juvenile, this one’s got some good hooks no lie. the syncopation is really fun, and its just got a great energy. great start. Embarrassment shines instrumentally, but lyrically and vocally is just aight. gotta say, its wild that the bridge is so early on this track. i got no strong feelings on E.R.N.I.E. Close Escape definitely has some chunks that are developing a really fun sound, but lyrically this one doesnt do it for me. i have no idea what instrument is doing that kind of wailing sound here at the start of Not Home Today and at the bridge- it feels like a melodica or something – but man its doing a lot of tonal work, haha. ACAB, even On the Beat Pete (this songs fantastic though). i was not expecting Solid Gone to be a straight up boogie track – wild. p good too. Take It or Leave It is… fine i guess, but a bit too “accept things as they are” for me. Shadow of Fear’s a bit nicer for sure – i think one could def grow on me a lot. its spooky in a charming way. Disappear’s pleasant, with a little bit thats sinister in the chorus. i really like the vocal delivery in the choruses, but less a fan of the fake out outro, haha. Overdone’s really interesting – a much more serious track, with some fantastic sax work and a killer bridge. In the Rain’s nice. a little more serious or sincere detour. You Said is one of those like, dysfunctional might be or should be a break up song, haha. i dig this one quite a bit. closing things up, we’ve got Return if the Los Palmas 7, a mostly instrumental track. this sounds like elevator music, haha.
faves – Baggy Trousers, On the Beat Pete, You Said
dislikes –
this feels like an album of near misses, not gonna lie. a couple tracks, like Close Escape and Take It or Leave It, miss me on lyrics where they otherwise might have caught me. tracks like Solid Gone and Shadow of Fear might end up on a fave list in the future, but right now just dont quite hook me enough.
as a whole package, its not bad. Madness have a very solid sound, and their variety between silliness and a bit of sincerity is nice (though i definitely prefer when they are more silly than not, ngl). if youre a big Madness fan, you might really dig this, and i may change my view on this in the future, but for now, this was just okay.
Absolutely – 5/10
next week, we’ll be checking out the Specials 1980 record, More Specials. see yall then!
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