Complete Madness
| Complete Madness | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Greatest hits album by | ||||
| Released | 23 April 1982 | |||
| Recorded | 1979–1982 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:24 (original) 47:24 (reissue) | |||
| Label | Stiff | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Madness chronology | ||||
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| Alternative cover | ||||
.jpg) Cover of the Virgin Records 1985 CD re-release | ||||
| Singles from Complete Madness | ||||
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Complete Madness is the first greatest hits album by the English ska and pop band Madness. It was released on 23 April 1982[1] and included Madness' biggest hits from their first three studio albums and the stand-alone singles. Complete Madness spent 99 weeks on the UK charts, peaking at number 1.
Content
[edit]This compilation includes the original 7-inch single mixes of most tracks ("House of Fun" being an exception). The vinyl and initial CD releases have shortened fade-outs for many tracks, to reduce the running time of each side of the original LP version. The first time the songs appeared in full for this compilation was on the 2003 Virgin CD reissue.
The original Australian version of the album, issued some months later than in the UK, replaces "In the City" with 13th UK single "Driving in My Car".
Music video
[edit]An accompanying video cassette was also released, containing all thirteen of the group's music videos up to that point (the twelve UK singles plus "Bed and Breakfast Man", which was a single in Canada), with specially filmed introductions to each video, together with the car commercials the band had done for Honda in Japan.
Reception
[edit]| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| Christgau's Record Guide | A−[3] |
| Record Mirror | [4] |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide |   [5] |
| Sounds | [6] |
Reviewing Complete Madness for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine deemed the compilation "thorough and thoroughly entertaining, encapsulating exactly why Madness were significant and, more importantly, how much fun their 'nutty sound' was", while also serving as "definitive proof that Madness were one of the great singles acts of their era."[2]
Track listing
[edit]The following track listing is for the original 1982 UK release (Stiff Records, HIT-TV1).
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Embarrassment" | Absolutely, 1980 | 2:59 | |
| 2. | "Shut Up" | 7, 1981 | 2:48 | |
| 3. | "My Girl" | Barson | One Step Beyond..., 1979 | 2:38 |
| 4. | "Baggy Trousers" |
| Absolutely | 2:26 |
| 5. | "It Must Be Love" | Labi Siffre | Non-album single, 1981 | 3:19 |
| 6. | "The Prince" | Thompson | One Step Beyond... | 2:27 |
| 7. | "Bed and Breakfast Man" | Barson | One Step Beyond... | 2:29 |
| 8. | "Night Boat to Cairo" |
| One Step Beyond... | 3:13 |
| Total length: | 22:24 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Original release | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "House of Fun" |
| New track | 2:47 |
| 2. | "One Step Beyond" | Cecil Campbell | One Step Beyond... | 2:17 |
| 3. | "Cardiac Arrest" |
| 7 | 2:52 |
| 4. | "Grey Day" | Barson | 7 | 3:30 |
| 5. | "Take It or Leave It" |
| Absolutely | 3:17 |
| 6. | "In the City" |
| B-side of "Cardiac Arrest", 1982 | 2:55 |
| 7. | "Madness" | Campbell | One Step Beyond... | 2:35 |
| 8. | "The Return of the Los Palmas 7" |
| Absolutely | 2:29 |
| Total length: | 22:49 | |||
Personnel
[edit]- Madness
- Graham "Suggs" McPherson – vocals
- Mike Barson – keyboards, harmonica, vibraphone, marimba, tubular bells
- Chris Foreman – guitars
- Chas Smash – vocals, trumpet
- Lee Thompson – saxophones, vocals
- Mark Bedford – bass
- Dan Woodgate – drums, percussion
- Production
- Clive Langer – producer
- Alan Winstanley – producer
Chart performance
[edit]| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart[7] | 1 |
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] | 2 |
| Dutch Albums Chart[9] | 7 |
| New Zealand Albums Chart[10] | 11 |
Certifications and sales
[edit]| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Australia (ARIA)[11] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[12] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
|
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
[edit]- ^ "Record News: Madness in abundance". New Musical Express. 3 April 1982. p. 34. ISSN 0028-6362.
- ^ a b Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Complete Madness – Madness". AllMusic. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "Madness: Complete Madness". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. p. 256. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 23 August 2025.
- ^ Nicholls, Mike (24 April 1982). "Loony tunes...". Record Mirror. p. 14.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Millar, Robbi (24 April 1982). "Nut supreme". Sounds. p. 38.
- ^ Complete Madness at Official Charts Retrieved 26 August 2016
- ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ Complete Madness at Dutch Charts Retrieved 20 June 2013
- ^ Complete Madness at Dutch Charts Retrieved 26 August 2016
- ^ "Kent Music Report No 453 – 28 February 1983 > Platinum Albums 1982 (Continued)". Retrieved 26 December 2022 – via Imgur.com.
- ^ "British single certifications – Madness – Complete Madness". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 12 March 2022.
External links
[edit]- Complete Madness at Discogs (list of releases)
