AMG Review of Total Madness: The Very Best of Madness

Stephen Thomas Erlewine
All Music Guide

Since Geffen doesn't possess the rights to the bulk of Madness's best, most influential work, Total Madness: The Very Best of Madness isn't the definitive compilation it could have been. Instead of drawing heavily on their early ska singles, Total Madness relies on the latter-day albums Keep Moving and Mad Not Mad, as well as adding three cuts from the 1983 compilation Madness, which means that only four songs -- "Our House," "It Must Be Love," "Tomorrow's Just Another Day," "One Step Beyond" -- are genuine classics. There are several hits here -- such as "Michael Caine," "Wings of a Dove," "Yesterday's Men," and "One Better Day" -- but they aren't nearly as vital as "House of Fun," "Night Boat to Cairo," or "Cardiac Arrest," three hit singles which were on Madness. As a result, Total Madness winds up being an overview of Madness in their decline, with a couple of earlier hits thrown in for good measure. On that level, it's pretty entertaining.