Madness - The Liberty of Norton Folgate (Album sampler) - v2

A short preview of the upcoming Madness album - "The Liberty of Norton Folgate" released on the 18th May 2009

The CD can be now pre-ordered from Play.com for £8.95 including delivery
A 42 track boxset is available to order right now at Madness.co.uk

*** Review "borrowed" from Play.com ***

Alot of people have failed to realise Madness more serious, artistic side. It has been acknowledged and praised, but many of the people who attend their gigs would mainly go for the hits. With their last album of original material, "Wonderful", coming in 1999 we saw a solid return to form and hoped they could further build on this. This wasn't the case as in between then and now we've only received one more album, a covers album called The Dangermen Sessions which was nevertheless a good listen. Since that they were sporadically recording a new album over the course of 3 years, slotting in new songs to their live sets every now and again which were well received by fans and critics alike.

This of course brings us to The Liberty of Norton Folgate. I have been waiting for this album for a very long time and like many others, was not disappointed when the digital download arrived in my inbox in December. Quite simply, a lush and lavish work of musical creativity combined with a lyrical quality that puts many of today's bands to shame.
Starting with We Are London, a smart depiction of London with references to Baker Street, Carnaby and the ear catching line, "...you can make it your own hell or heaven."

Forever Young is a wonderful slice of reggae, with the lyrics centred on a prominent horn section combined with Mark Bedford's unostentatious bass line.

I would have to agree with others who say that Dust Devil sounds better live that it turned out in the studio. Written by Lee Thompson with the hilariously naughty line, "she keeps a gizmo under her pillow" it is still quite catchy but is marred slightly by the intruding female backing vocalist in the chorus. It got some Radio 2 air time this week and was very well praised but if you want to hear it at its best, attend one of Madness' concerts this summer as it is regularly in their set now!

The Mike Barson penned Sugar & Spice tells the story of young love that has seemingly gone wrong, "Sugar and spice everything was so nice, now it's just not the same, its bitterness and pain"... so much for those upbeat, wacky nutty boys eh? I found this song to be a grower, it is certainly short and sweet and would agree in saying that many 40+ year olds could identify with it.

Clerkenwell Polka is another highly ambitious effort by Madness, with Suggs & Carl taking a somewhat joint lead on the vocals. The guitar is felt strongly throughout with the highlight coming at the end when the song descends into a delightful polka instrumental. Only criticism is that the tempo of the song is just a bit too slow.

Bingo is another reggae-esque track that shows how truly great at song writing this band is. Definitely one of the highlights of the album, telling the story of being mugged outside a tubestation. Contains possibly the best line on the album, "Oh this clown, who expects nothing for nothing, so just leave me to drown in the tears of a very happy old man..." Genius.

Rainbows tells the story of childbirth and is a typical catchy Madness song, Suggs sounding on top form throughout and contains a great harpsichord solo, something I haven't heard for a while in a Madness song.

That Close is perhaps the song that has received greatest praise from other Madness fans. A bit of a heartbreaker and has the potential to become an all time classic.
The title track itself is the most ambitious effort ever by Madness. 10 mins long & just oozes musical brilliance. It's got everything in there from eastern strings, pipes and the epitome of why they are sons of London.
MKII, Idiot Child, & On The Town are all quality songs, each showing that Madness have returned to their best, and yes quite possibly their best ever...

Category:

Music

Tags:

• madness
• liberty
• of
• norton
• folgate
• suggs
• ska
• specials
• madstock
• tone
• forever
• young
• preview
• sample
• nw5
• live
• new
• album
• single
• promo

[amusing617]

You can convert this or any youtube video to an mp3 at audiogetnow..com

[Retrogamer71]

Only vinyl I ever bought was from the

nutty boys. Only now I'm caught

'tween MP3 DL or a CD purchase.

What would the great Mr. McPherson

advise?

[Sistererica]

This is the Maddy Boys' Sgt. Pepper definitely.

[boerni1976]

they climb the highest mountain in their career, absolutely fantastic album

[rodrigoraulsuarez]

I think I'm going to buy this. Great band.

[sxboy8]

Went to see Julien Temples "Liberty of Norton" at the Coronet Notting Hill last week and it was superb....Well done Madness and Mr Temple, you given us a jewel in the Madness crown..... the concert was fab,the boxset was magic and the film is fabulously magic, a diamond has been revealed........

[nuttyboy11]

To sum up this new Madness album in two words............. ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL.........

[nuttyboy11]

NW5 will be on the cd......... Enjoy......

[swanseabaggie]

Masterpiece.

[MadEms15]

They're all bloomin' brilliant! I usually have at least one song on an album I'm not too keen on; this isn't the case with this album!