“Madness were the greatest British pop band of the 1980s, and this is their greatest pop album.” – David Quantick

Union Square Music’s 30^th Anniversary Madness reissue campaign continues with 7, the band’s third album, and the one which is generally considered to have cemented the band’s position in the canon of truly great British pop acts.

Containing singles ‘Cardiac Arrest’, ‘Shut Up’ and the epic dub masterpiece, ’Grey Day’, ‘7’ showcases Madness’s unique ability to fuse their inherent nuttiness with the sense of melancholy and foreboding that gives their music its edge and depth. Also included as a bonus track and promo video is the massive standalone single ‘It Must Be Love’.

Reviews

It’s an anomaly that Madness can be considereda knees-up Slade-type British pop institution when their songs so regulalry touch on the grim things in life; in the case of 7, you get terminal illness, a heart attack, burglary, drug addicted rent boys and alienation in song form. But as in the case of Grey Day, a disconnected  doom-reggae skank of frightening intensity for a Number 4 hit, the hip-shaking pop sundtracks are ebullient enough to maintain balance, with abundant chemistry and writing talent in evidence - see sax manLee Thompson’s surreal Benny Bullfrog and Pac-A-Mac and Suggs’s lovelorn Missing You (all co-writes) for range. An apt mid-point  between teh Beano-like splendour of One Step Beyond and Absolutely and the more grown-up moves of their later albums, the extras include B-sides, a lively Richard Skinner radio session, some genius pop promo vids and bang-on sleevenotes by David Quantick.

Ian Harrison - Mojo