Search - Madness :: Wonderful

Return of the Los Palmas 7

jokamachi | california | 01/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Comeback albums are tricky things. They sound either too much like a grab for former glory or they try too hard to emulate the current flavor of the day. Whatever the case, the group in question rarely pulls it off and the effort leaves fans discontented.



Fortunately, Madness is another story. Here's a band that was always on the verge of disappearing but never quite succeeded. Barson's departure after Keep Moving heralded the first ending of Madness, but then we got Mad not Mad, a lackluster album with a great Lear quote that yielded but two average singles. Then came 'The Madness,' which, not entirely true to form, served as another attempt to keep the band going. Then Madstock, a live, richter-scale revival that found its way to Cd, but again, revealed little that was new from the old masters. Again and again, Madness seemed doomed to slog along without a solid comeback worthy of their nutty fame.



But all of that changed.



Rumors of the group's demise were finally laid to rest with the release of this beautiful recording. Wonderful is what every fan hopes for when their favorite group decides to have another go at it: it echoes their former glory without retreading the tires; it covers new ground without selling out to current fads; it looks back as much as it does forward. It is aptly named and oh so enjoyable."