The Liberty Of Norton Folgate [CD]

Part of our Two CDs for £9 offer*

This review can be read in conjunction with the many which have already been left for the standard single music CD edition of Madness's 2009 album The Liberty of Norton Folgate. During the recording process for the album, Madness played 3 specially filmed concerts previewing much of the album at London's Hackney Empire. The new songs were met with almost unanimous praise from the Madness fans lucky enough to be present. Now you can find out why we were so impressed with the show and the songs.

The album is repackaged here with a DVD of the same title directed by legendary film maker Julien Temple. For the filming the theatre was turned into one complete film set. Character performers mingled with audience members, as did the camera crew. Madness were joined by a live string section (in the pit as is fitting for such a venue) and had a stage set enhanced by evocative back projection of images, landscapes, animations and films which illustrated the spirit of the songs.

Between songs we have a character narrative followed by Suggs and Chas Smash, out and about in shady London, taking us back to some of the periods in the history of the title track and masterpiece that is The Liberty Of Norton Folgate.

Add to that an assured performance of songs, many of which were getting their public début and you have yourself over two hours of fantastic entertainment.

If you have the music, you will enjoy the concert DVD. If you don't have the album yet, but have heard some of the glowing praise for it, buy this and put the DVD in first. That way you might, just might, be able to capture the excitement of those heady, heavy monster nights in Hackney where you had literally one chance to experience these new songs for the first and possibly only time.

Then you can put the CD in and prepare yourself to be surprised at just how good an album Madness made in their 30th year.

As a huge Madness fan from the beginning, I always felt their best period of writing music came just after their huge run of Top 10 hits, from Rise & Fall to Mad Not Mad. Since then they released a solid album of new tracks in Wonderful and covers with The Dangermen and I have to say I thought perhaps it was time for them to call it a day.

When reading the media reviews for TLONF, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well received this album has been. Now that I've heard it myself I'm absolutely delighted to see how contemporary and fresh Madness sound.

I give it a 5-star as there are only a couple of slightly weaker tracks, whilst the high points are incredible. Madness sound crisp and optimistic throughout. Lyrics and stories are sharper than ever. Highlights for me are We are London, a glorious appreciation of the ecclectic mix of cultures that make up the Capital. Fabulous harmony on this one. Forever Young has the most catchy ska brass section, reminiscent of the Two-Tone bands. Dust Devil is a ska rooted track that might not capture you first time and then gets a bit infectious after you've heard it a few times. Written by Lee Thompson and Dan Woodgate, it reminds me a lot of the best work Lee did with Chris Foreman with spin off group Crunch. That Close is very much like the style Madness had with The Sun & The Rain in tempo, with tones of Embarrassment and the chromatic scales from Shut Up. MKII provides a break with a more laid back and slower tempo. On the Town has the most delightful chorus and is the only example I know of where Madness are supported by a female vocalist. The album version's vocals are performed by Rhoda Dakar, a favourite artist admired by many during the Two-Tone era. However, on the download version they are sung equally beautifully by Amber Jolene. It's good to see they included NW5, their single from 2008, on the playlist. Beautiful violin arrangements in this version and Suggs' melancholy voice make this a standout track. They save their best to last. Clerkenwell Polka brings a real smile to the face with an East European and German Oompa beat. The arrangements Madness can put together are really quite complex and show how they have moved on musically over the years.

Then there is the finale - The Liberty of Norton Folgate. I've read that some people find this a bit long at 10 minutes but have to disagree. This track is all of Madness in one amazing journey and I love it. The song has a number of different movements and is to Madness what Bohemian Rhapsody is to Queen or perhaps what Paranoid Android is to Radiohead. A cheeky nutty sounding opening 'with a little bit of this, would you like a bit of that' leads to Suggs telling us about the early history of the liberty. The track then gives way to a Vienesse Waltz section that talks about the darker side of life in the 1800s. Halfway through the song has a quick upbeat break about life around the area nowadays, with tradesmen trying to flog you whatever they can get a few bob for. The song then has the most amazing last 3 minutes. A riproaring ethnic and uplifting tale of how life changed with immigration. You don't quite know what to listen to, as so much is going on musically. Very prominent strings lead a kind of Asian influenced tango-like rhythm that you just feel you have to get up a dance to. What's incredible is that it all holds together and works. This song is more like a modern opera in 10 minutes and Madness deserve great credit for it.

Overall I very much hope this album does better than their last two because it's in a completely different class. I'm so pleased and excited to see a band I loved in my youth produce something so original.

Most bands produce their best work on their first couple of albums, when they are young, creative, full of energy and youthfull exuberance. For thirty years. Madness, for those that truely listened, bucked that trend, although One Step Beyond, Absolutley and the associated singles could suggest otherwise. The Rise and Fall, suggested what they could offer in years to come, but in the main, like many other bands with an eye on longevity, they created good, worthy and mature pieces of work, but inevitably lost that spark. Live, Madness always produced the goods, childish, witty and energetic, appealing to a wide audience. I saw them last December at the O2 with my girlfriend,(who was more used to seeing Take That and Kylie)and she remarked that it was like a Friday night down the Dog And Duck. She was absolutely right. Looking around, it wasn't an arena filled with thirty-something Mums with their daughters and no-one else. It wasn't filled with said mother and daughters with lots of well-groomed men in tight t-shirts thrown in to the mix either. It was Friday night, pub night. There was old and young, Pearly Kings and Queens, men in suits and bowlers, students, emos', ladies that lunch (my girlfriend) old skinheads and a couple of German tourists standing behind us. This is the appeal of Madness, a broad-reaching, every-man style that no other band has. "The Liberty of Norton Folgate" encapsulates everything that Madness profess to be.
Listening to this album, you can almost pick out the 30 years of infuences. Ian Dury, The Kinks, The Specials, but it would be unfair to listen to this and attribute the sound to other bands. This is Madness, pure and simple and their greatest influence is themselves.
The album plays like a West End musical, perhaps the Our House theatrical run influenced the arrangment(?). As a whole, it is a brilliant piece of musical story-telling, like Lional Bart in his heyday. "We Are London" sets the scene and we are then taken on a tour of London and the people in it, all with a tale to tell. From the lamentation of advancing years and mistakes made (Forever Young), to the party-loving woman who refuses to grow old gracefully (Dust Devil). Teenage love (Sugar and Spice), troublesome boys (Idiot Child)and the heart-rending "On The Town". All the lyrics here are clever and astute without being pretentious and worth taking the time examine. "The Liberty of Norton Folgate" is the obvious jewel in the crown. It is, bold and brilliant and at ten minutes plus is the track to first hold your attention. It is their "Bohemien Rapshosdy" except it makes a lot more sense. Even what I considered the weaker songs "So Close" and "MKII", over time reveal themselves to be wonderful observations on long-standing friendship and the end of friendship/relationship respectivley. Now, I concede, that there isn't a weak song here.
As I said at the begining of this (cadgeing) ramble, most bands reach their pinnacle in the first two albums. Not here. This is the best thing they've done. This is the best thing anyone has done for many years. After thirty years Madness still have the quality, skill, insight and humanity to produce a work of genius. As Chris Forman said in an interview, "I tell you what, this is a good album". Mr Forman, you are so right.