Oui Oui, Si Si, Ja Ja, Da Da [Expanded Edition]

A good album with some nice tracks but won't be for all the fans

Good cd, bought for a family relative and were happy with it 👍

Following the truly magnificent `Liberty Of Norton Folgate', I have been eagerly awaiting the next release from Madness, and finally! Here it is.With their last few releases they have constantly confounded my expectations by taking new directions. There were the excellent covers on `The Dangerman Sessions Vol 1'. Then, when I was expecting Vol 2 to be released, with more of the same, they released the mighty aforementioned `Liberty', a grand concept album that just blew me away. For their latest release they seem to have changed tack again, and recorded a stunning set of songs full of introspection and looking back over their musical career, while still containing the energy, humour and distinctive 2 tone nutty sound they made famous.The album opens with `My Girl 2', a sequel to one of their best known early hits. But now instead of a relationship with his girlfriend, the singer is older, wiser, and talking about a relationship with his daughter. And so it goes, with song after song that seem very personal to members of the band, but are accessible and great to listen to. My personal favourite after a listen or two is `Death of a Rude Boy', which sounds very much like a tribute to Ian Dury (not the first Suggs has recorded - the excellent `Oranges and Lemons' on Jools Holland and Friends was also a tribute to Dury).The band were on form in the recording studio, after all these years working together they are a seamless unit, each knowing just what is required. They get right into the groove, and deliver just what they have always delivered, a damn fine set of get you up and dancing songs with wit and vigour. An excellent album, and one that will be looked on as one of their better recordings, a bright burning light even in the shadow of their previous release.5 stars, and long may they continue!

I have been a Madness fan since I bought One Step Beyond as my first LP and have loved almost everything they have released. But I have to admit I did not get Liberty of Norton Folgate, for some reason it didn't sit well with me even though everyone else regards as their masterpiece. Previous to that I thought Wonderful was probably my favourite Madness album.I didn't know about this album until I saw them advertised on Jools Holland and pre-ordered it immediately. On my first listen I was worried that there were too many references to the past - My Girl 2, Death of a Rude Boy sounding a bit Ghost Town, Never Knew Your Name a bit too like Embarrassment (at the beginning) and a great many snatches of music which reminded me too much of older pieces - but boy after a few listens this is brilliant, and in my opinion their strongest album to date. My kids all love it and after a week in the car are discussing certain songs, phrases and singing along (believe me this is unusual). It is brilliantly played, in particular by Chris Foreman and Mike Barson (although the latter has always been brilliant) and the is very well crafted as well as being great fun. Death of A Rude Boy, for me, is a bit strange in that it doesn't fit with the feel of the whole album, although I really like the song, it just seems a bit incongrous.Everyone should own this album! Oh, nice to see the range of writers too!

I began to be a true fan of Madness & follow them obsessively in 1981 at the age of 14 yrs old although i had really liked them even before that from 1979/80. It was during '81 they became my favourite band & i loved everything they did. I couldn't get enough of them. I was gutted in 1986 when they split & shed real tears of sadness as i am sure many Madness fans did. At the time we probably all thought that was it. Fortunately time proved otherwise & thankfully so. However that brings me to this album Oui Oui etc. (Yeah i'm lazy!)Here's the truth of it. I bought it & listened a few times but after that i could never bring myself to listen to it again. I can't use the words Hate & Madness in the same sentence, but lets just say i strongly dislike this album & think it is the worst album they have ever done. I personally can't find one track i like on it & it is the one album i wish they had never done. The problem lies not in the production but in the songs themselves. This is not the Madness i knew & loved all those years back. Even the Liberty of Norton Folgate was a fantastic album & i was genuinly pleasantly surprised by that album, but this follow up album is a different beast altogether & the one i dislike the most out of all of their albums. Some seem to love it judging by the reviews, but it really is a marmite album you'll either love or hate. I find very little redeeming features about it & feel they let themselves & their fans down with this sub standard release. If you like it, fine, but for everyone else, if you skip this one Madness album you truly won't be missing a great deal & will be none the worse for having done so. You decide as it's all subjective anyway, but i can't bring myself to like this album no matter how hard i try & believe me, i have tried.