Description
The self-titled debut album by the American synth-rock band Mad at the World was released on Frontline Records in 1987. The basic tracks were recorded by Dave Hackbarth at 3-D Studios in Costa Mesa, with vocals recorded by Dave Jahnsen at Asylomar Studios in Huntington Beach, California. The album was produced, written, and arranged by band member Roger Rose. Featuring lead vocals, keyboards, guitar, percussion, and drum programming by Roger Rose; as well as vocals, drum programming, and percussion by brother Randy Rose and guitar and percussion by Mike Pendleton.
Released in 1987, Mad At The World’s debut was a bit of an enigma. The band fronted by Roger Rose was based on the west coast of the USA and yet their synth rock sound owed more to the musical innovations that had happened in the UK in the first part of the ’80s. Indeed Rose’s strangulated anglicised vocal delivery sounded thoroughly British and seemed to land somewhere between Billy Mackenzie, Tony Hadley and David Bowie. The results were pleasing and pioneering on the Christian music scene of the era. Rose who was also a drummer ensured that the songs had hard hitting rhythm tracks and interesting keyboard arrangements including some early sampling. Standouts included «No More Innocence» with its ethereal and slightly spooky intro which soon gives way to a ferocious driving groove and the futuristic «Easy Way Out». I have to confess I’ve always had a soft spot for «All The Lonely Sheep» which even to this day manages to make the hairs on the back of my neck go up. It’s a fantastic production, epic track and is topped by Roger Rose’s greatest vocal performance on the album. I’ve always considered this album to be a bit of an underrated gem. [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, May 2011]
> Apple Music (https://music.apple.com/us/album/mad-at-the-world/388531986)
LP tracklist:
Side One
A1. “Living Dead” – 3:28
A2. “All The Lonely Sheep” – 5:50
A3. “I Want To See Heaven” – 4:25
A4. “No Room Left” – 4:05
A5. “Taking The Easy Way Out” – 3:50
Side Two
B1. “No More Innocence” – 5:00
B2. “It Can’t Rain Forever” – 5:00
B3. “Here We Go Again” – 3:28
B4. “Dry Your Tears” – 4:10
B5. “Mad At The World” – 3:55
Note: Simultaneously released on cassette, 12-inch vinyl LP, and CD by Frontline Records, with two bonus tracks featured on the cassette as well as the CD edition; “Bad Motives” and “Chance Of Luck”. Mad at the World and Seasons of Love were later re-issued on one CD as a part of KMG’s Classic Archives Music Value Pak series.
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