Madness (Sleeping with Sirens album)

Madness
Studio album by Sleeping with Sirens
Released March 13, 2015[1]
Recorded June–September 2014
Genre
Length 38:04
Label Epitaph Records
Producer John Feldmann
Sleeping with Sirens chronology

Feel
(2013)		 Madness
(2015)
Singles from Madness
  1. "Kick Me"
    Released: November 10, 2014
  2. "Go Go Go"
    Released: January 22, 2015
  3. "Fly"
    Released: March 10, 2015[4]

Madness is the fourth full-length studio album by American rock band Sleeping with Sirens. The album was released on March 13, 2015 through Epitaph Records. The entire album was self-produced by Sleeping with Sirens with John Feldmann. The album is the band's first release following their departure from Rise Records in 2014. It's also the first record to feature guitarist Nick Martin (Cinematic Sunrise) who replaced former guitarist Jesse Lawson. Madness was preceded by lead single "Kick Me" as well as a string of digital singles released in the days leading up to the album's release. The album continues the band's progression to a more pop rock sound, but retains some post-hardcore influences on tracks.[2]

Background

Following the release of the band's third studio album, Feel (2013), they toured extensively worldwide in support of the album. In early 2014, the band entered the studio in Nashville, Tennessee and recorded 13 tracks with Nick Raskulinecz, however later scrapped them and recorded new material for a fourth album in Los Angeles, California. The band recorded a total of 15 new tracks with producer John Feldmann. Quinn explains, "We just planned on going to Feldmann to do 2 or 3 songs and after we got in there, I'm like, 'we're gonna re-do this whole thing."[5] The two bonus tracks, "Parasites" and "2 Chord" were produced by Raskulinecz.

To promote the album, the band announced the title, album art cover, and track listing on January 22, 2015 and released the single "Go Go Go" on the same day accompanied with it's music video premiere on Epitaph's official YouTube channel.[6] Prior to this, the band released "Kick Me", the album's lead single, on November 16, 2014. In support of the album, the band released a new song everyday from March 9 to March 16.[7] "Fly" was released on March 9, "We Like It Loud" was released on March 10, "Gold" was released on March 11, "Better Off Dead" was released on March 12, and "Save Me a Spark" was released on March 13, 2015.

Critical response

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Exclaim! 4/10[8]

Upon the release of the album's lead single, "Kick Me", the band received generally positive reviews from music critics. James Shotwell, editor for Under The Gun, spoke about the song saying "To be honest, my first thought when this song started was ‘what the hell is this madness?’ I thought I had possibly hit play on a different song by an entirely different band, but then Kellin Quinn’s vocals kicked in and things started to make a bit more sense. Sleeping With Sirens have grown in leaps and bounds since their last release, or at least it appears that way based on the punk-tinged sound heard on this track. My guess is that the addition of Nick Martin on guitar helped facilitate this evolution, but perhaps it was in the cards all along. Whatever the case, I’m suddenly quite excited to hear the album these guys have waiting for us in 2015."[9]

Radio.com editor Jay Tilles talked about the album's third single, "The Strays" in his review stating: "Of the album’s 13 songs, sixth track “The Strays” stands out like a sore thumb. With its empowering lyrics and anthem-for-the-underdogs chorus, it’s massive, emotional, and speaks directly to disaffected youth and others who’ve been told they’ll never amount to anything. “Lost and thrown away/no we’re better than that,” sings Kellin Quinn, the band’s frontman, his voice a deceptively delicate tenor that has become one of the band’s defining sounds."[10]

Branan Ranjanathan for Exclaim! was more negative, feeling the album lacked cohesiveness, writing: "With their latest album, Sleeping With Sirens have tried to appeal to every group that has ever taken an interest in their particular sound, creating a disorienting, cluttered set of songs that lacks any definitive direction. Over the years the band's sound has shifted from straightforward post-hardcore to something more accessible to a pop audience, but Madness is a muddled attempt at fusing both sounds within a single album." [11]

Sound and influence

Madness is a pop rock album with punk and hardcore influences. According to a review by Radio.com, the album has "empowering lyrics and anthem-like sing-along choruses" and is "massive, emotional, and speaks directly to disaffected youth and others who’ve been told they’ll never amount to anything."[12] Due to the fact that the album's recording sessions took place throughout a time where Sleeping with Sirens were not signed to a record label and had little money, frontman Kellin Quinn said "it's always chaotic and madness and just being caught in the middle of it and figuring out who you are in the midst of all the craziness."[13] The album showcases a similar sound from their previous studio album, Feel (2013), which according to multiple critics and reviews features a more poppier sound than the band's first two albums With Ears to See and Eyes to Hear (2010) and Let's Cheers to This (2011), which held a more pop punk and post-hardcore sound.

Pop punk is a very essential sound on the album as a whole. The album's second single "Go Go Go" and the track "Don't Say Anything" are heavily influenced by pop punk. The tracks "Kick Me" and "We Like It Loud" are heavily influenced by post-hardcore. Several other tracks such as "Fly", "The Strays", "November", "Heroine", "Gold", and the album's title track have an acoustic and pop influence and sound.

Track listing

All lyrics written by Kellin Quinn, all music composed by Sleeping with Sirens. All song titles and durations were taken from iTunes Store.[14]

No. Title Length
1. "Kick Me"   2:31
2. "Go Go Go"   2:47
3. "Gold"   3:32
4. "Save Me a Spark"   3:39
5. "Fly"   3:35
6. "The Strays"   2:58
7. "Left Alone"   3:20
8. "Better Off Dead"   3:08
9. "We Like It Loud"   2:17
10. "Heroine"   3:35
11. "November"   3:29
12. "Madness"   2:42
13. "Don't Say Anything"   3:16
Total length:
 38:04
Deluxe version bonus tracks
No. Title Length
14. "Parasites"   2:55
15. "2 Chord"   4:49
Total length:
 45:08

Personnel

Members
Production

Charts

Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 13

References

  1. ↑ Madness. Sanity. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Sleeping With Sirens Madness. Musicfeeds. Retrieved March 13, 2015.
  3. ↑ http://radio.com/2015/03/03/sleeping-with-sirens-madness-album-review/
  4. ↑ http://www.altpress.com/news/entry/stream_sleeping_with_sirens_latest_single_fly
  5. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dL0iaisYy6c
  6. ↑ http://propertyofzack.com/post/108888910613/sleeping-with-sirens-announce-madness
  7. ↑ https://twitter.com/SWStheband/status/575310784844144640
  8. ↑ Ranjanathan, Branan (March 17, 2015). "Sleeping with Sirens - Madness". Exclaim!. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
  9. ↑ http://www.underthegunreview.net/2014/11/12/single-review-sleeping-with-sirens-kick-me/
  10. ↑ http://radio.com/2015/03/03/sleeping-with-sirens-madness-album-review/
  11. ↑ http://exclaim.ca/Music/article/sleeping_with_sirens-madness
  12. ↑ http://radio.com/2015/03/03/sleeping-with-sirens-madness-album-review/
  13. ↑ http://radio.com/2015/03/03/sleeping-with-sirens-madness-album-review/
  14. ↑ https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/madness-deluxe-edition/id958326777
  15. ↑ "ARIA Australian Top 50 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. March 23, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015.