Madness – Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie (Expanded Special Edition) (LP, 2 CD, FLEXI 7")
Hark back to the very beginning and the chant of “they call it madness” from the Prince Buster song that was the B-side of their first single, and while times may have changed, Madness are pumped full of more of their titular fuel than ever. After years of will-they won’t-they carry on, will they simply be content to be a high-end greatest hits live combo, they’ve pulled out all the stops for a glorious melée that takes them bouncing into the future.
The title? Well, Theatre Of The Absurd Presents C’est La Vie sounds like – good grief – a concept album yet it’s more of a wild, wacky stage show waiting to happen, kicking off with an announcement (one of a clutch throughout the album) by actor and chum Martin Freeman: “Mr Beckett, sir, it’s time, your audience awaits…”
From then on, it’s a mad cacophony of noise, tinkling keyboards, parping saxophones, neat guitar licks, harmony vocals and a bundle of effects, Madness with a glint in their eyes that takes things farther than ever before, a joyous party that is always recognisably Madness yet is never content to rely on the glories of the past.
This is their first album in seven years, and the first they’ve produced themselves. And it really is a group effort, Suggs and Mike Barson still shoulder to shoulder with guitarist Chris Foreman, bassist Mark Bedford, saxist Lee Thompson and drummer Dan (Woody) Woodgate, the line-up that did the silly walk on the cover of their 1979 debut (Chas Smash, no longer a member, joined in 1980). And it comes in a whole circus of formats and packages, not least the double-album in clear or picture vinyl.
It’s like a symphony and a stage production mixed with a movie soundtrack. There’s something devilish and Dickensian about the atmosphere, Freeman snarling suggestively like a circus ringmaster with top hat and twirling moustache. Suggs sounds barely less forbidding, growling and grimacing, shoulders heaving inside that ever-present suit.
The record kicks off proper with one of two sort-of title tracks, Suggs’ Theatre Of The Absurd, Barson’s trademark beat-defining piano drenched in a demented orchestration. The other, C’est La Vie, is classic Madness, real life seen through their wild eyes. If I Go Mad has a dancing, drum-pounding demeanour, something approaching fairground organ amid a welter of horns. There are hints of ska, not least in the dark – and rather disturbing – Baby Burglar.
While the pace never truly slackens, Hour Of Need is a near-ballad of the sort the band do so well, at first driven by plucked violins then joined by full string section. Foreman’s Run For Your Life has a near-Latin drum band beat and near-rap vocals yet is still Madness through and through. Following Freeman’s epilogue, Set Me Free seems almost reflective, a coming to the end of things.
And then, just when you think you know where you stand, we come to the final track, On My Street, like a 21st-century update on Our House, the same back roads of Camden but this time a world that seems a different place, despite the tinkling corner pub piano: “There’s Turkish drug dealers, an Irish halfway house, 10 full black bin bags blowing round the gaff, everybody’s moaning about their own birthday and everybody’s talking about getting away…” It’s a spine-tingling classic that in the old days would have been a hit single before you could say One Step Beyond.
This is breathless in its intensity, an hour-long triumph up there with anything they’ve ever done, tales of the world today united amid the brooding shadows of a Victorian musical hall stage. That’s life, that’s madness… and it truly is the Madness we know and love.
Label: BMG – 964045330
Country: Worldwide
Media Condition: Mint (M)
Sleeve Condition: Mint (M)
Sealed with Hype Sticker. Expanded special edition limited to 1500 Copies. Exclusive heavyweight Zoetrope 12" Vinyl, 2 CD's and a 7" Flexi disc in bookpack casing. Includes five new studio tracks from the original album session + seven recorded live on tour in 2023 including the bands cover of The Specials classic ‘Friday Night Saturday Morning'..