Absolutely [Import, Original recording remastered]

Madness | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 5, 2000)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import, Original recording remastered
• Label: EMI Import
• ASIN: B00004SCMB
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #396,976 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #50 in Music > Alternative Rock > British Alternative > British Ska

Track Listings

1. Baggy Trousers

2. Embarrassment

3. E.R.N.I.E.

4. Close Escape

5. Not Home Today

6. On The Beat Pete

7. Solid Gone

8. Take It Or Leave It

9. Shadow Of Fear

10. Disappear

11. Overdone

12. In The Rain

13. You Said

14. Return Of The Los Palmas 7.

Editorial Reviews

UK reissue of the 1980 album from the much loved newwave/ska act, digitally remastered with special packaging. Includes CD-ROM videos for 'Bed And Breakfast Man', 'BaggyTrousers', 'Embarrassment' and 'Return Of The Los Palmas 7'.2000 release. Standard jewelcase.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite "One Step Beyond," But Almost!, September 23, 2004

By 

K. Brown "El Rudo Lucky Pierre!" (Walnut, Ca USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Absolutely (Audio CD)

I believe Madness started things powerfully with "One Step Beyond" and "Absolutely." Their vibrant spirit dwindled a bit with each release afterwards, until I hardly recognized their sound by the time "Our House" became a hit in 1983.

While "One Step Beyond" is my personal favorite release by Madness, this album comes in a very close second. The opening song "Baggy Trousers" foretells the prankster essence of the entire CD--- where "One Step Beyond" had the soul of happy-go-lucky nutzy young men, "Absolutely" brings out a rowdier, slightly brattier crew, yet still shining that innocent funboy spirit.

The songs on this CD were never hits here in the U.S.A., which means there are a lot of past & modern day ska fans missing out. The show stealer is "On the Beat Pete," the leader of the high-gear songs like "E.R.N.I.E" and "Not Home Today."

I hate to spend to much time pointing out which song rules over another on "Absolutely," only because this is a fantastic and one of the most underrated albums within the 1970s-80s ska archive. This CD is just plain fun. Give it a go!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Madness album ever?, June 12, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Absolutely (Audio CD)

When I bought Madness 1st album, I thought there was nowhere to go but down. How could they possibly improve on a debut where EVERY song was so good, it just had to be played over and over? Then I heard Baggy Trousers on the Rodney on the ROQ show and I knew they did it again. I was never really sure which album was better until I found myself playing it twice as much over the next 18 years!!! If you like the first album, you HAVE to get this one or you will be seriously denying yourself the joy and pleasure that only a truly great record can bring. By my definition, a record you can listen to over and over for 18 years and never gets old or out-dated. Buy it before its out of print forever!!!!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely... brilliant, April 14, 2010

By 

It's "Goochified" (Seattle WA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Absolutely (Audio CD)

Two more masterly remastered and expanded reissues from Madness, and once again, their new parent label Salvo does a fantastic job. Absolutely and 7 were the sophomore and junior (third) efforts from Camden Town's Nutty Boys, and instead of proving the rule that the second outing is usually nowhere near as good as the first, they disproved it by a landslide. (Quite possibly the worst mixed metaphor I've ever committed to paper... Oops, there I go again!)

Absolutely, released in late 1980, featured the singles "Baggy Trousers," "Embarrassment" (one of my top Madness tunes) and "The Return of the Los Palmas 7," and continued the band's chart reign. Bubbly, fun melodies were still to the fore, but beginning to get noticed was the melancholy subject matter. Sure, they didn't say directly that the girl got knocked up and made her family look bad in "Embarrassment," but that's clearly the story. "In the Rain," a different recording than the one that appeared prior as a B-side (though both are here), also isn't exactly chipper. Whatever--Madness still had it goin' on.

In 1981 they released 7, their third longplayer and another successful outing. More big singles here, including "Cardiac Arrest" and "Shut Up" (a lot like "Embarrassment" and another Marsh-certified goodie), kept Madness in the NME and other papers, and paved the way for eventual US success ("Our House" from the following album). They hadn't changed the formula yet, and since these two albums followed in such quick succession, nobody seemed to notice. Original label Stiff could barely keep up with these guys, nor could those of us over here who'd already discovered them despite little or no promotion from American label Sire.

Salvo's treatment of the band's catalog so far has been great... all the videos are on the corresponding CDs, bonus tracks are in abundance (Absolutely features seven bonus cuts plus a 21-song live show from London), the notes and photos of ephemera are also plentiful, and the mastering is superb. No qualms here at all! Can't wait to hear and see what they do with The Rise and Fall. Review originally appeared on [...]