Customer Reviews
The first - the best! - By: KPA Lowe, 06 Oct 2005 
By 1976, rock music had become so saturated with pretentiousness that people started to react & a whole mass of styles developed. The British Ska revival was one, led by the Specials & Madness, adopting an authentic attitude & philosophy that echoed the ska bands of the 60s. This is encapsulatedin Madness early albums; "One Step Beyond" (1979) included. Their style was sometimes accused of not being truly reflective of traditional Ska, & their lyrics lacked the sense of protest projected by some other bands. There may be some truthin 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 & their experience of life & 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- & 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' & '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', & '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 versein 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 & instruments & the 'Lawrence of Arabia' style harmonic sequences. We are led into a military campin 'Land of Hope & Glory', which is echoed at the endin 'Chipmunks Are Go' with its army-style call & 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 tracksin earlier years.
There are some weaker tracks towards the end & 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 & the band kicks in, the energy will overtake you for the next forty minutes, & there's no stopping it.
YOU NEED THIS ALBUM IN YOUR LIFE - By: j a nutt, 28 Nov 2004 Had this album must be over 25 years ago,came accross it the other day & bought it.The first & finest album ever released by this nutty group & to be honest don't know how i've managed all these years without it.If you are between 30 & 40 you will remember this album when it was released & listening to it when you bought the old black vynal version & 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
Absolute Madness - By: , 27 Feb 2004 Why didn't I own this album before this year? Am I mad? I must be, because this album is almost as revolutionary & original as the punk explosion of the 70's.
Go & buy One Step Beyond today & have part of musical history on your cd rack.
Oh yeah the songs are really good as well. (hence the 5*)
The Best Album By One Of The Best Bands Ever - By: , 23 Mar 2001 One Step Beyond was the debute album by Madness, it was brilliant 20 years ago & still makes me smile now, I'm into the 1978 Mod/Ska Revival & 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 & many more classics.
If your new to Madness & all you know about Suggs is Night Fever & Worthington adverts then order this album now, you won't regret it
The first and finest offering from the inimitable Madness. - By: , 08 Nov 1999 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 & 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 & 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 & crowd favourite Bed And Breakfast Man will have you rocking. Tarzan's Nuts is much like One Step Beyondin its nutty off beat rhythm. Razor Blade Alley has a strong bluesy feel & Swan Lake makes you realise why classical music was composed. Rhythm & blues numbers Rockin In Ab (a flat) & Mummy's Boy show Madness' true versitility & 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, & Madness have this down to an art form. The nutty sound appears to be, on the face of it, really basic & easy to listen to. But when you look carefully at the chord sequences, drum patterns, tempo changes, & unexpected key changes, you really begin to appreiciate the skill of these seven brilliant musicians. All hail Madness. Kings of pop. Long may they reignin the charts.
