Albums to watch

The Liberty of Norton Folgate

Madness

The Liberty of Norton Folgate

The full line-up of the veteran pop outfit reunited with their original producers for a celebration of London

ADM rating[?]

7.6

Label
Lucky Seven
UK Release date
18/05/2009
  1. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    Lord, we are truly blessed. The full line-up of Madness reunited with original producers Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley on their best batch of songs since The Rise & Fall. Add in sessions at Liam Watson's Toe Rag studios and this is truly manna from heaven.
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  2. 9.0 |   PopMatters

    Madness has gone and released an album that’s virtually flawless
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  3. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Print edition only

  4. 8.0 |   Spin

    It all looks backward unabashedly -- fitting for a band formed 30-plus years ago -- but no less resonant.
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  5. 8.0 |   The Independent

    Musically, it may be the band's most successful work
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  6. 8.0 |   The Sunday Times

    Basically, and improbably, 30 years down the line, Madness may just have made their best album yet.
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  7. 8.0 |   Daily Telegraph

    Less like chroniclers of London, than of adult life, in all its complexity, disappointment and anxiety. Lovely, lovely music, though.
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  8. 8.0 |   Uncut

    A really good album. Ambitious, tuneful, exciting, wise, and with a finale that kicks them up a level into an undreamed-of musical dimension.
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  9. 8.0 |   Evening Standard

    It's a celebration of London, which has always had a song in its heart, and you would have to be a curmudgeon of the basest type not to appreciate it.
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  10. 6.0 |   The Guardian

    The songs are wordy and disappointingly light on the knock 'em dead catchiness that was once their forte
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  11. 6.0 |   Rolling Stone

    The evocations of London street life on their first record in a decade pack in more local references than The Wire
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  12. 6.0 |   Q

    Print edition only


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Madness: The Liberty of Norton Folgate

  • Download full album for just £8.49
  • 1. Overture £0.99
  • 2. We Are London £0.99
  • 3. Sugar And Spice £0.99
  • 4. Forever Young £0.99
  • 5. Dust Devil £0.99
  • 6. Rainbows £0.99
  • 7. That Close £0.99
  • 8. MKII £0.99
  • 9. On The Town £0.99
  • 10. Bingo £0.99
  • 11. Idiot Child £0.99
  • 12. Africa £0.99
  • 13. NW5 £0.99
  • 14. Clerkenwell Polka £0.99
  • 15. The Liberty Of Norton Folgate £0.99
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