Many of the box sets announced this year have been pretty nuts, in some way, shape or form. But none have been quite as nutty as this one: a career-spanning box by those nutty boys in Madness.
The long-running British ska band, whose large handful of U.K. hits like "Our House" and "One Step Beyond" have filled dance floors the world over, has had an exceptionally busy few years with their catalogue, offering nearly all their discography, from their early hits on Stiff Records to their late-'90s comeback Wonderful on the Virgin label, as generously expanded multi-disc editions through U.K. label Salvo Music.
Salvo's work culminates with A Guided Tour of Madness, a four-disc package featuring three discs of hits and notable album cuts and B-sides (including one new-to-CD track, "Le Grand Pantalon") along with a video recording of the group's Madstock reunion performance in 1992 (which has only seen release on an out-of-print videocassette).
A Guided Tour of Madness is in U.K. shops on September 19. You can order this box at Amazon U.K. and read the track list after the jump.
A Guided Tour of Madness (Salvo, 2011)
Disc 1
- The Prince
- Madness
- Mistakes
- Bed and Breakfast Man
- One Step Beyond
- The Young and the Old
- Deceives the Eye
- My Girl
- Believe Me
- In the Middle of the Night
- Night Boat to Cairo
- On the Beat Pete
- Not Home Today
- Baggy Trousers
- Disappear
- You Said
- Embarrassment
- Take It or Leave It
- The Return of the Los Palmas 7
- Grey Day
- Tomorrow's Dream
- Mrs. Hutchinson
- Shut Up
- Sign of the Times
- It Must Be Love
- In the City
- Cardiac Arrest
Disc 2
- House of Fun
- Don't Look Back
- Primrose Hill
- Driving in My Car
- Calling Cards
- Blue Skinned Beast
- Our House
- Madness (is All in the Mind)
- Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)
- Wings of a Dove
- March of the Gherkins
- Keep Moving
- The Sun and the Rain
- Samantha
- Prospects
- One Better Day
- Michael Caine
- Victoria Gardens
- Yesterday's Men
- All I Knew
- I'll Compete
- Uncle Sam
Disc 3
- Waiting for the Ghost Train
- The Wizard
- The Communicator
- Lovestruck
- Elysium
- Drip Fed Fred
- Saturday Night, Sunday Morning
- Johnny the Horse
- Sarah's Song
- Girl Why Don't You?
- Lola
- I Chase the Devil a.k.a. Ironshirt
- Shame & Scandal
- You Keep Me Hanging On
- NW5
- Forever Young
- That Close
- Dust Devil
- On the Town
- Sugar and Spice
- Le Grand Pantalon
Disc 4: DVD - Madstock 1992
- One Step Beyond
- The Prince
- Embarrassment
- My Girl
- The Sun and the Rain
- Land of Hope and Glory
- Grey Day
- Razor Blade Alley
- It Must Be Love
- Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)
- Take It or Leave It
- Shut Up
- Driving in My Car
- Bed and Breakfast Man
- Close Escape
- Wings of a Dove
- Our House
- Night Boat to Cairo
- Madness
- Swan Lake
- House of Fun
- Rockin' in A♭
- Baggy Trousers
- The Harder They Come
Disc 1, Tracks 1-2, 4-5, 8-11 from One Step Beyond... (Stiff, 1978)
Disc 1, Track 3 was the B-side to "One Step Beyond..." (Stiff BUY 56, 1978)
Disc 1, Tracks 6-7 from Work Rest and Play EP (Stiff, 1980)
Disc 1, Tracks 12-19 from Absolutely (Stiff, 1980)
Disc 1, Tracks 20-24 and 27 from 7 (Stiff, 1981)
Disc 1, Track 25 from non-LP single (Stiff BUY 134, 1981)
Disc 1, Track 26 was the B-side to "Cardiac Arrest" (Stiff BUY 140, 1982)
Disc 2, Tracks 1-2 from non-LP single (Stiff BUY 146, 1982)
Disc 2, Tracks 3 and 5-9 from The Rise & Fall (Stiff, 1982)
Disc 2, Track 4 from non-LP single (Stiff BUY 153, 1982)
Disc 2, Track 10 from non-LP single (Stiff BUY 181, 1983)
Disc 2, Tracks 11-12 and 14-18 from Keep Moving (Stiff, 1984)
Disc 2, Track 13 from non-LP single (Stiff BUY 192, 1983)
Disc 2, Track 19 and 21-22 from Mad Not Mad (Zarjazz, 1985)
Disc 2, Track 20 was the B-side to "Yesterday's Men" (Zarjazz JAZZ 5, 1985)
Disc 3, Track 1 from Utter Madness (Zarjazz, 1986)
Disc 3, Tracks 2-8 from Wonderful (Virgin, 1999)
Disc 3, Track 9 from Our House: The Original Songs (Virgin, 2002)
Disc 3, Tracks 10-14 from The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1 (Live and Intensified, 2005)
Disc 3, Track 15-2o from The Liberty of Norton Fulgate (Lucky Seven, 2009)
Disc 3, Track 21 from digital single (Salvo, 2011). Previously unreleased on CD.
Disc 4 previously released as Polygram Video 086 014-3 (U.K.), 1992. Previously unreleased on DVD.
Tom says
Oh, great - another box set I want to buy this fall!
I admit, Salvo does a great job on their sets! They never disappoint.