In Britain, the members of Madness are stars, with five remarkably successful albums and a feature film under their belts. In the United States, however, the distinctly British flavor of Madness' sound and the cultural insularity of many of their songs have left the group with only a tiny following.

Madness may change all that. As with the band's earlier albums, the music here is spirited and immediately appealing. The melodies reflect the economy and wit of British music-hall songwriting at its best, while the rhythm arrangements maintain much of the ska feel that was responsible for the group's initial British success. But by pulling the best songs from the band's last three albums – two of which were never released in this country–this LP avoids the sort of lyrics likely to confuse an American audience.

Though Madness' music exudes enough character and personality to border on the cartoonish, the ideas are far from frivolous. From the stock buffoonery of "Shut Up" to the muddled nostalgia of "Primrose Hill," Madness offers up all of the clichés of traditional British entertainment – but with a twist, revealing the hard realities behind the soothing illusions. Although it's tempting to compare the songs here with the best of Ray Davies' reflections on God and Country, there's too much of the real world in "Our House," "House of Fun" and "Grey Day" to lump them with the post-card imagery of "Waterloo Sunset" or the hamfisted sarcasm of "Sunny Afternoon." In fact, there's so much to be gained from this album that passing it by would almost seem, well, madness. (RS 397)

J.D. CONSIDINE