Madness - Total Madness: The Very Best of Madness

Excuse us for caring, but there are a few things shamefully wrong about this long overdue salute to the immortal Nutty Boys. For starters, any self-respecting Madness package should open with "One Step Beyond," not end with it. And a meager 12 tracks (43 minutes) from the hugely prolific ska/pop kings of the early '80s is a tad miserly. To justify the title, Geffen could have made stronger efforts to license gems like "Baggy Trousers," "Night Train to Cairo," and "Embarrassment" from Sire. The liner note ode by Dicky Barrett of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones is small compensation. --Jeff Bateman Amazon.com

I'm mad for Madness, but...

This is a terrible retrospective which, without any other knowledge of the band, would lead many to conclude that Madness were little more than a crappy New-Wave band. Everyone knows "Our House." I'm glad "One Step Beyond" made the list. How come no "Night Boat to Cairo" or "House of Fun"? Pass this up, and just get the first album instead. February 24, 2008

Half Mad is not Mad Enough

This Collection of Madness goes a long way towards proving that these "nutty boys" were a terrific singles band, but it is too skimpy to give it a beefier rating. From the opening bellow of "One Step Beyond" to the inspirational "Wings of a Dove," there really isn't a dud in the bunch. Even with these little nuggets of radio gems (sadly, hardly any of them US charters), it is easy to underestimate the influence of Madness. I recall one Saturday morning in college as the dorm TV was on, and a cereal commercial had a bunch of little kids doing that "One Step Beyond" dance/walk during the Saturday cartoons.

Which meant that, despite meager American success for "Absolutely" and "One Step Beyond..." (enough so that Sire dropped them and the next two albums came out on Stiff as imports), there were a lot of eyes on these seven young Brits. Their mix of pop, R'n'B, goofy personalities and - of course - ska made them irresistible to those exposed.

However, it was a peppy piece of nostalgia that finally broke Madness stateside. "Our House," with memories of growing up, caught the fancy of American ears and went top ten. It also helped that Geffen records, determined to prove they were an "artists record label," put considerable effort at breaking the Madness album, cobbling tracks from the first four albums (two of which had not even been released in the US), and even sneaking the cover "It Must Be Love" into the top 40.

Pop thrills, nonetheless. BUT...not having the coming of age classic "Baggy Trousers" or "House Of Fun" is reason to skip this. If you want to dig deeper, "Ultimate Collection" has all the goodies. October 2, 2007

GREAT STUFF

My wife Lissbeth could not stop dancing to this CD. She absolutely love it. She said " I can't stop dancing!!!" July 14, 2005

You Don't Need This

The best of Madness has a lot more than just this 12 songs. I don't have this CD but from the short song list I know there are better Madness CDs, for starter look for Madness Ultimate Collection, there are 19 songs in it, not complete yet, but better than this.
Note for casual listener, In Business Box Set contain interview/commentaries between each song, very annoying.
Five stars for the band, 3 for the lack in quantity. November 6, 2001

For the casual fan.

If you are only familiar with Madness' few U.S. hits ("One Step Beyond" "Our House") this is probably the collection for you. The CD captures the basics of the sound this group put out and the influences they have had on many other bands, (Mighty Mighty Boaatones, No Doubt, Smashmouth) is evident even on this limited set. As you can read in the other reviews, this was a band that deserves a much more complete compilation. Hopefully, this CD will make you want more Madness. If not, this is a good addition for anyone who might want to broaden their musical taste to include one of the best ska bands ever. October 9, 2001

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