The Rise & Fall

The Rise & Fall is the fourth studio album by English ska band Madness, released on 8 October 1982 by Stiff Records.[1] This album saw Madness at their most experimental, exhibiting a range of musical styles including jazz, English music hall, and Eastern influences. NME described it at the time of its release as "the best Madness record". It has often been retrospectively described as a concept album.

This article is about the Madness album. For articles with similar titles, see Rise and Fall (disambiguation).

The Rise & Fall
Studio album by
Madness
Released8 October 1982 (1982-10-08)
Recorded1982
StudioAIR Studios (London)
Genre
Length43:04
LabelStiff
Producer
Madness chronology
Complete Madness
(1982)		 The Rise & Fall
(1982)		 Madness
(1983)
Singles from The Rise & Fall
  1. "Our House"
    Released: 12 November 1982
  2. "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)" / "Madness (Is All in the Mind)"
    Released: 1 February 1983

Though the album was never released in the US, several tracks were later placed on the compilation Madness (1983), including "Our House", the band's only top 10 hit in America.[2]

Content

Initially conceived as a concept album about nostalgia for childhood, the concept was eventually dropped, though the original theme is still evident particularly in the title track and the album's major hit "Our House".[3] This theme was also mentioned recently when interviewed as part of T in the Park highlights, where their lead vocalist Suggs claimed that all the band members were told to write about their childhood memories for The Rise & Fall (although he did say that their keyboardist Mike Barson got the wrong idea, and went off and wrote about New Delhi).

Although the band had previously been avowedly apolitical, the track "Blue Skinned Beast" was an overt satire on then-UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her handling of the Falklands War,[4] paving the way for more political comment on subsequent Madness albums.

The album cover photo was shot just west of Camden Town at the Primrose Hill viewpoint, looking southeast towards central London with the BT Tower on the horizon.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[6]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that "The Rise & Fall is recognizably Madness in sound and sensibility; faint echoes of their breakneck nutty beginnings can be heard on 'Blue Skinned Beast' and 'Mr. Speaker Gets the Word', the melodies are outgrowths of such early masterpieces as 'My Girl', there’s a charming, open-hearted humor and carnivalesque swirl that ties everything together." He also noted that "the rest of the record contains the same wit, effervescence, and joy, capturing what British pop life was all about in 1982, just as the Kinks Village Green Preservation Society did in 1968 or Blur's Parklife would do in 1994."[5]

The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die (2005).[7]

In an interview with Popular 1 Magazine, guitarist Kavus Torabi of Cardiacs named The Rise & Fall as one of his favourite albums.[8]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Rise and Fall"
3:16
2."Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)"
3:10
3."Blue Skinned Beast"Lee Thompson3:22
4."Primrose Hill"
  • McPherson
  • Foreman
3:36
5."Mr. Speaker (Gets the Word)"
  • McPherson
  • Barson
2:59
6."Sunday Morning"Daniel Woodgate4:01
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
7."Our House"
  • Foreman
  • Smyth
3:23
8."Tiptoes"
  • McPherson
  • Barson
3:29
9."New Delhi"Barson3:40
10."That Face"
  • McPherson
  • Foreman
3:39
11."Calling Cards"
  • Thompson
  • Foreman
2:19
12."Are You Coming (With Me)"
  • Thompson
  • Barson
3:17
13."Madness (Is All in the Mind)"Foreman2:53
Total length:43:04
2010 reissue

Personnel

Madness

Additional Personnel

  • Geraldo D'Arbilly – additional percussion
  • David Bedford – brass and string arrangements

Production and artwork

2010 reissue

  • Madness – producer on "Don't Look Back"
  • John Sparrow – producer on the Kid Jensen session
  • Mike Robinson – engineer on the Kid Jensen session
  • Miti Adhikari – engineer on the Kid Jensen session
  • Tim Turan – remastering
  • Martin "Cally" Callomon – art direction, design
  • The Stiff Art Department – original graphic design
  • Nik Rose – artwork ("re-jigging and fettling")
  • Virginia Turbett – photography
  • Gavin Martin – liner notes

Chart performance

Certifications and sales
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[18] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

References
  1. "Madness - "The Rise & Fall" on Apple Music".
  2. "CLASSIC TRACKS: 'Our House' by Madness".
  3. "Making Madness – the Rise & Fall - Classic Pop Magazine".
  4. "Making Madness – the Rise & Fall - Classic Pop Magazine".
  5. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Madness Presents the Rise & Fall – Madness". AllMusic. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  6. Considine, J. D. (2004). "Madness". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 508. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
  7. Chick, Stevie (2006). "Madness: The Rise & Fall". In Dimery, Robert (ed.). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Universe Publishing. p. 492. ISBN 978-0-7893-1371-3.
  8. Diaz, Alberto (10 January 2005). "Interview: Tim Smith and Kavus Torabi". Popular 1 Magazine. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  9. "8. Full Re-Issue Release Date Schedule From Union Square Music". Madness Central Newsletter: Issue 15. January 2010. Retrieved 1 October 2021.
  10. Augustyn, Heather (2010). Ska: An Oral History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 160. ISBN 978-0786460403.
  11. Steffen Hung. "New Zealand charts portal". charts.nz. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  12. Steffen Hung. "Madness - The Rise & Fall". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  13. Steffen Hung (15 June 2006). "Norwegian charts portal". norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  14. Steffen Hung (24 February 2012). "Swedish Charts Portal". swedishcharts.com. Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  15. "UK Singles & Albums Official Charts Company". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  16. van Slooten, Johan (2002). Albumdossier 1969-2002. Netherlands: Gottmer Becht. p. 263. ISBN 9023011066.
  17. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. 1983. Archived from the original on 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  18. "British album certifications – Madness – The Rise and Fall". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
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