RECORD REVIEWS
“Mad Not Mad”
Madness
Geffen Records
The title of Madness’ fifth Ameri
can album, “Mad Not Mad,” is mis
leading. It’s true that the album is
“not mad” in that it’s not as crazy as
their earlier albums. And it’s also not
“mad” because it doesn’t show any
anger about anything that the band
might see wrong with the world.
Madness was one of the best bands
to arise out of England's ska and reg
gae revival of the late 1970’s. Unlike
some of the other bands that ap
peared at the time, the English Beat,
the Police, and UB40, Madness was
basically a fun band. While other
bands made social statements about
contemporary English society, Mad
ness’ lyrics dealt with humorous sub
jects and their music was up-tempo
and happy. Their first two albums on
Sire Records, “One Step Beyond”
and “Absolutly,” were huge hits in
England and cult favorites here.
“Madness,” their first album on Gef
fen Records, combined ska with a
pop flavor that yielded two monster
hits, “House of Fun” and “Our Hou
se.” On last year’s “Keep Moving,”
also on Geffen Records, the band be
gan to drop ska altogether in favor of
a more mainstream pop style. “Mad
Not Mad” continues the deteriora
tion of Madness.
For the most part, the album is
over-produced, over-orchestrated
and over-sythesized. The band has
stopped using their unique brand hu
mor and tries to make some kind of
serious lyrical statement. Their at
tempts at satire on “Uncle Sam” and
sentimentality on “Yesterday’s Man”
fall flat on their respective faces.
There are only three songs that are
even able to be listened to on the new
album. “Sweetest Girl” and the highly
percussive “Coldest Day” are not too
bad and recall the band’s earlier style.
“Tears You Can’t Hide” show that
when they want to, Madness can play
reggae.
The biggest problem is that the al
bum is neither funny nor fun.
by Karl Pallmeyer
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“Frank Zappa Meets
the Mothers of Prevention”
Frank Zappa
Barking Pumpkin Records
On Sept. 19, Frank Zappa spoke at
the Senate Commerce Committee’s
hearing on “porn rock.” And in
“Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of
Prevention,” he gives his musical an
swer to the question of rock
censorship as asked by the Parents’
Music Resource Center.
The PMRC, as you all should
know, was formed by a group of
women who were upset by the lyrics
being sung by artists like Prince,
AC/DC, Madonna, Sheena Easton,
Twisted Sister, Motley Crue, the Roll
ing Stones, W.A.S.P. and Donny Os
mond. These women think there
should be warning labels on albums
so young, impressionable children
won’t buy certain albums that will
cause them to become rapists, mur
derers, drug users, atheists and Dem
ocrats. These women, like most peo
ple who are upset about something,
could have written to their senators
or congressmen. But these women,
unlike most people who are upset
about something, happened to be
married to their senators or congress
men.
For the past 20 years Zappa has
been one of the most innovative and
influential figures in American mu
sic. In the late sixties Zappa and the
Mothers of Invention came out with
“Freak Out,” the first double-album
in rock history, and “We’re Only In It
For the Money,” a audio masterpiece
that satirized every aspect of sixties
society. Zappa, on his own, has writ
ten the music for ballets, orchestras,
stage plays and films as well as rock
’n’ roll albums. “Frank Zappa Meets
the Mothers of Prevention” is yet an
other masterpiece from Zappa.
First of all the title, “Frank Zappa
Meets the Mothers of Prevention,”
has to be the best album title of 1985.
If you don’t get the joke it wouldn’t
do any good for me to explain it to
you. The back cover features an ex
cellent drawing of a woman putting
the Bill of Rights through a meat
grinder — the inevitable result if we,
the people, don’t keep a close watch
on the actions of the PMRC and
other pressure groups. On the album
cover and liner notes, Zappa encour
ages the record buyers to register and
vote.
Censorship is not a new subject to
Zappa. One of his rock operas, “Joe’s
Garage,” deals with a future world
where rock music has been outlawed.
Last year’s “You Are What You Is” al
bum had several songs about the rise
of TV evangelism and its threat to
free speech. “Thing-Fish,” a musical
play released earlier this year, is a
scathing attack on Broadway, yup
pies, TV evangelists, music critics, re
ligion, racism, the prison system,
technology and Reagan’s America.
The new album begins with “We re
Turning Again,” a song that de-
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scribes the rise of the new right.
Zappa attributes this change to the
same “Plastic People” who tried to be
liberal in the sixties because it was the
fashion and are now trying to be con
servative because it has become the
fashion of the eighties.
“Yo Cats,” sung in scat-jazz style by
long-time Zappa collaborator Ike
Willis, is an attack on the senators
and congressmen who are more in
terested in getting re-elected than
protecting the rights of all people.
Side two is dedicated to a musical
impression of the “porn rock” hear
ing that is similar to Paul Hardcastle’s
“19,” John Lennon's “Revolution 9”
and Zappa’s own “Return of the Son
of Monster Magnent.” “Little Beige
Sambo” and “Aerobics In Bondage”
act as the overture and finale to the
“Porn Wars” suite.
“Porn Wars” features audio ex
cerpts from the hearing mixed in
with music performed by Zappa. It’s
funny to hear PMRC president Tip
per Gore ask Zappa about the toys his
children used to play with, or to hear
Sen. Albert Gore, Tipper's husband,
tell Zappa he’s fan of his music.
It’s not very funny, however, to
hear Sen. Ernest (Fritz) Hollings say:
“If I could find some way constitu
tionally to do away with it (“porn
rock”) I would.”
The only thing that came out of
the hearings is that the committee
hinted they might take action if the
record industry didn’t clean up its
act. Stanley Gortikov, president of
the Recording Industry Association
of America, gave in to this blackmail
and pressured the record companies
to put warning labels on albums that
may contain “offensive" material.
Zappa has put the following warning
label on his new album:
Warning/Guarantee:
This album contains material
which a truly free society would nei
ther fear or suppress.
In some socially retarded areas, re-
ligous fanatics and ultra-conservative
political organizations violate your
First Amendment Rights by attempt
ing to censor rock and roll albums.
We feel that this is un-Constitutional
and un-American.
As an alternative to these govern
ment-supported programs (designed
to keep you docile and ignorant),
Barking Pumpkin is pleased to pro
vide stimulating digital audio enter
tainment for those of you who have
outgrown the ordinary.
The language and concepts con
tained herein are GUARANTEED
NOT TO CAUSE ETERNAL TOR
MENT IN THE PLACE WHERE
THE GUY WITH THE HORNS
AND POINTED STICK CON
DUCTS HIS B USINESS.
This Guarantee is as real as the
threats of the video fundamentalists
who use attacks on rock music in
their attempt to transform America
into a nation of check-mailing nin
compoops (in the name of Jesus
Christ). If there is a hell, its Tires wait
for them, not us.
by Karl Pallmeyer
“ The Rhythmatist”
Stewart Copeland
A&M Records
Sting has been highly visible dur
ing the year. With his solo album,
“Dream of the Blue Turtles,” an
American and European tour with
his new band, his latest film, “Bring
on the Night,” about his new band,
and acting roles in “Dune” and “The
Bride,” Sting has eclipsed the popu
larity of the Police.
“The Rhythmatist,” the new album
from Police drummer Stewart Cope
land, is a study in music instead of
popularity.
“The Rhythmatist,” is Copeland’s
attempt to trace the rhythms of rock
’n’ roll back to their African origins.
The album, recorded in various stu
dios and villages during Copeland’s
trip through Africa, features tribal
drums, instruments, chants and
dances alongside 20th century elec
tronics. Copeland plays drums, per
cussion, guitar, bass, piano and syn
thesizer to add a new dimension to
the primitive sounds.
A videocasette version of the al
bum, available through mail order,
documents Copeland’s musical ex
periment with African music in much
the same way “Bring on the Night,”
documents Sting’s experiment with
jazz/pop music.
Copeland worked with lyricist Ray
Lema on the songs “Koteja (Oh Bolil-
la),” “Liberte” and “Kembra.” The ly
rics, sung by Lema, are a mixture of
African dialects and English. The
music is a similar mixture of African
and Anglo styles. Although Copeland
doesn’t sing on the album, his narra
tions for “Serengeti Long Walk” and
“African Dream” help tell the story
hidden in his music.
Copeland’s music away from the
Police includes the soundtrack for
Francis Ford Coppola’s “Rumblefish”
and the music for the San Francisco
Ballet’s production of “King Lear,”
but they, as well as “The Rhythma
tist,” are not destined to top the mu
sic charts. “The Rhythmatist” makes
the listener become a part of the mu
sical landscape. Unfortunatly most
listeners don’t like an album if it
makes them think or feel.
by Karl Pallmeyer
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