One Step Beyond

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Customer reviews

review by: date: 2005-10-06 rating:
The first - the best!
By 1976, rock music had become so saturated with pretentiousness that people started to react and a whole mass of styles developed. The British Ska revival was one, led by the Specials and Madness, adopting an authentic attitude and philosophy that echoed the ska bands of the 60s. This is encapsulated in Madness early albums; "One Step Beyond" (1979) included. Their style was sometimes accused of not being truly reflective of traditional Ska, and their lyrics lacked the sense of protest projected by some other bands. There may be some truth in this, but they seemed to do so with an attractive sense of innocence i.e., they said 'hey, this is just music, music to enjoy... there are no politics here!!! In terms of song writing, Madness were probably one step beyond most of their colleagues anyway. Lyrically, their song tend to be influenced by observations of working class Londoners and their experience of life and relationships, with many references to specific characters, local newspapers, tube stations, etc, mixed with more exotic locations i.e., Cairo, the jungle etc.

"One Step Beyond" opens with the title track- and Chas Smash demanding attention: 'hey you! Don't watch that, watch this!' He refers to Prince Buster: 'Well listen Buster........' who is obviously Madness' main hero. There are two covers of Buster songs: 'One Step Beyond' and 'Madness', a song which, of course, they eventually named themselves after. Also, 'The Prince' is obviously a tribute. Madness soon introduce their very skilful song-writing ability with 'My Girl', 'Believe Me', and 'In the Middle of the Night'. 'Night Boat to Cairo' (a regular concert encore to this date) even attempts to break the traditional pop format, with its one single verse in the middle of the track before a modulation from C-F. With this track, Madness also show-off their ability to musically depict the lyrical content of their songs, with the small-ranged chromatic melodies from voice and instruments and the 'Lawrence of Arabia' style harmonic sequences. We are led into a military camp in 'Land of Hope and Glory', which is echoed at the end in 'Chipmunks Are Go' with its army-style call and response chanting. There is a fabulous Ska rendition of the main theme from Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake', which urinates all over anything the prog rockers attempted to do with classical tracks in earlier years.

There are some weaker tracks towards the end and this, unfortunately, became a bit of a Madness trait. However, on "One Step Beyond" it really doesn't matter. From the moment Chas shouts those words and the band kicks in, the energy will overtake you for the next forty minutes, and there's no stopping it.

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review by: date: 2004-11-28 rating:
YOU NEED THIS ALBUM IN YOUR LIFE
Had this album must be over 25 years ago,came accross it the other day and bought it.The first and finest album ever released by this nutty group and to be honest don't know how i've managed all these years without it.If you are between 30 and 40 you will remember this album when it was released and listening to it when you bought the old black vynal version and believe me it sounds better now than it ever did(MUST BE PLAYED LOAD).If you can only buy one album for as long as you live this is it.BUY IT - PLAY IT - YOU WON'T REGRET IT

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review by: ryanlewisjones date: 2004-02-27 rating:
Absolute Madness
Why didn't I own this album before this year? Am I mad? I must be, because this album is almost as revolutionary and original as the punk explosion of the 70's.
Go and buy One Step Beyond today and have part of musical history on your cd rack.
Oh yeah the songs are really good as well. (hence the 5*)

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review by: halifaxmod date: 2001-03-23 rating:
The Best Album By One Of The Best Bands Ever
One Step Beyond was the debute album by Madness, it was brilliant 20 years ago and still makes me smile now, I'm into the 1978 Mod/Ska Revival and this is one of the best debut albums ever heard, I still like Madness now, but the older the record by them the more I like it.

It contains some of the classics, Night Boat To Cairo, My Girl, The Prince and many more classics.

If your new to Madness and all you know about Suggs is Night Fever and Worthington adverts then order this album now, you won't regret it


review by: date: 1999-11-08 rating:
The first and finest offering from the inimitable Madness.
A loud booming voice opens the album telling you what you are about to hear, leading into dance classic One Step Beyond. Hits My Girl and the awesome Night Boat To Cairo leave you with a huge smile on your face. A more traditional ska song, Believe Me prepares you for the fantastic bass and drum playing found on Land Of Hope And Glory (not to be confused with the brass band favourite.) 2-tone track The Prince pays tribute to Prince Buster with a song he would have been proud of. The bizarre lyrics of In The Middle Of The Night are really very amusing and crowd favourite Bed And Breakfast Man will have you rocking. Tarzan's Nuts is much like One Step Beyond in its nutty off beat rhythm. Razor Blade Alley has a strong bluesy feel and Swan Lake makes you realise why classical music was composed. Rhythm and blues numbers Rockin In Ab (a flat) and Mummy's Boy show Madness' true versitility and the album is rounded off nicely with the nutty sound of the song Madness. A true mark of genius is when, what seems like a really simple song turns out to be really complicated, and Madness have this down to an art form. The nutty sound appears to be, on the face of it, really basic and easy to listen to. But when you look carefully at the chord sequences, drum patterns, tempo changes, and unexpected key changes, you really begin to appreiciate the skill of these seven brilliant musicians. All hail Madness. Kings of pop. Long may they reign in the charts.

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