The Rise & Fall (album)

The Rise & Fall is the fourth album by the British ska/pop group Madness. This album saw Madness at their most experimental, exhibiting a range of musical styles including jazz, English music hall, and Eastern influences. NME described it at the time of its release as "The best Madness record." It has often been retrospectively described as a concept album. Although initially conceived as a concept album about nostalgia for childhood, the concept was eventually dropped, though the original theme is still evident particularly in the title track and the album's major hit "Our House." This theme was also mentioned recently when interviewed as part of T in the Park highlights, where Suggs said that all the band members were told to write about their childhood memories for the Rise & Fall (although he did say that Barson got the wrong idea, and went off and wrote about New Delhi). Although the band had previously been avowedly apolitical, the track "Blue Skinned Beast" was an overt satire on Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her handling of the Falklands War, paving the way for more political comment on subsequent Madness albums.

Though the album was never released in the USA, several tracks were later placed on the compilation Madness, including the melancholic pop of "Our House".

Contents

 [hide] *1 Track listing

• • 1.1 2010 re-release
    • 1.1.1 CD 1
    • 1.1.2 CD 2
• 2 Personnel
• 3 Chart performance
  • 3.1 Album
  • 3.2 Singles
• 4 References
• 5 External links

Track listing

1. "Rise and Fall" – 3:16 (McPherson/Foreman)
2. "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)" – 3:10 (Smyth/Barson)
3. "Blue Skinned Beast" – 3:22 (Thompson)
4. "Primrose Hill" – 3:36 (McPherson/Foreman)
5. "Mr. Speaker (Gets the Word)" – 2:59 (McPherson/Barson)
6. "Sunday Morning" – 4:01 (Woodgate)
7. "Our House" – 3:23 (Chris Foreman, Cathal Smyth)
8. "Tiptoes" – 3:29 (McPherson/Barson)
9. "New Delhi" – 3:40 (Barson)
10. "That Face" – 3:39 (McPherson/Foreman)
11. "Calling Cards" – 2:19 (Thompson/Foreman)
12. "Are You Coming (With Me)" – 3:17 (Thompson/Barson)
13. "Madness (Is All in the Mind)" – 2:53 (Foreman)

In 2009 and 2010, Madness re-released their entire back catalogue of studio albums up until 1999's Wonderful with a bonus CD and extra tracks.

2010 re-release

CD 1

1. "Rise and Fall"
2. "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)"
3. "Blue Skinned Beast"
4. "Primrose Hill"
5. "Mr Speaker (Gets the Word)"
6. "Sunday Morning"
7. "Our House"
8. "Tiptoes"
9. "New Delhi"
10. "That Face"
11. "Calling Cards"
12. "Are You Coming (With Me)"
13. "Madness (Is all in the Mind)"

Promo videos (Enhanced CD content):

1. "House of Fun"
2. "Driving in My Car"
3. "Our House"
4. "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)"

CD 2

Kid Jensen sessions

1. "Rise and Fall"
2. "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)"
3. "Calling Cards"
4. "Are You Coming (With Me)"

Bonus tracks

1. "House of Fun" - (Single)
2. "Don't Look Back" - (B-side "House of Fun")
3. "Driving in My Car" - (Single)
4. "Animal Farm" - (B-side "Driving in My Car")
5. "Riding on My Bike" - (B-side "Driving in My Car" 12")
6. "Our House" - (12" Extended Version)
7. "Walking with Mr Wheeze" - (B-side "Our House")
8. "Mad House" - ("Our House" Instrumental Mix – USA 12")
9. "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)" - (Warped 12" Single)
10. "Blue Beast" (Warp Mix) - (B-side "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)" 12")
11. "Our House" (French Mix) - (DJ Promo Single)
12. "Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)" (with Elvis Costello) - ("Tomorrow's (Just Another Day)" 12")
13. "The National Anthem"

Personnel

• Suggs (Graham McPherson) – Lead Vocals
• Mike Barson – Keyboards, Harmonica
• Chris Foreman – Guitar
• Mark Bedford (Bedders) – Bass
• Lee Thompson – Saxophones
• Daniel Woodgate (Woody) – Drums
• Chas Smash (Cathal Smyth) – Backing Vocals, Trumpet, Lead Vocals on track 13

Additional personnel

• David Bedford – String Arrangements
• Clive Langer – Production
• Alan Winstanley – Production
• David Wooley – Engineer
• Jeremy Allom – Engineer

Chart performance

Album

Chart (1982)	Peak position	Total weeks
German Albums Chart	?	?
New Zealand Albums Chart	29	3
Norwegian Albums Chart	34	1
Swedish Albums Chart	1	22
UK Albums Chart	10	22

Singles

Date	Single	Chart	Position
November 1982	Our House	UK	5
1983	Our House	US	7
February 1983	Tomorrow's (Just Another Day) / Madness (Is All in the Mind) – both songs remixed for issue as a single	UK	8