Wonderful (Madness album)

Wonderful is the seventh studio album by the British band Madness, released on 1 November 1999. It was the band's first studio album in fourteen years since Mad Not Mad in 1985, and also the first to feature their classic seven-piece line-up since 1984's Keep Moving. The album saw Madness reunite with their original production team, Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who had produced all of the band's previous work.

Reception
The BBC's Chris Charles said "... Wonderful finds the boys in their best form since 1981's Madness 7." Allmusic's Evan Cater gave the album 4 out of 5 stars and said "On the whole, it's a pretty successful return." In a review of the 2010 re-release, Terry Staunton of Record Collector stated that although "All the essential components are in place...something doesn’t quite gel…". Staunton thought the opening single "Lovestruck" was well done but "elsewhere there’s a niggling feeling that the band are trying too hard to replicate the sound of yore, studiously ignoring the fact that times – and the players themselves – have changed."

2010 reissue

 * Disc 1 - the original album
 * Contains the full album plus three promo videos


 * The promo videos


 * 1) "Lovestruck"
 * 2) "Johnny the Horse"
 * 3) "Drip Fed Fred"


 * Disc 2 - the bonus tracks

Personnel

 * Madness
 * Graham "Suggs" McPherson – lead vocals
 * Mike Barson – keyboards
 * Chris Foreman – guitar
 * Mark Bedford – bass
 * Lee Thompson – saxophones, guest vocals on track 6
 * Daniel Woodgate – drums
 * Cathal Smyth – backing vocals, lead vocals on track 3


 * Additional personnel
 * Jason Bruer – saxophone
 * Terry Edwards – saxophone, brass arrangements
 * Michael Kearsey – trombone
 * Jason McDermid – trumpet
 * Pablo Cook – percussion
 * The London Session Orchestra – strings
 * Gavyn Wright – orchestral and strings leader
 * Simon Hale – string arrangements, conductor
 * Ian Dury – guest vocals on track 6
 * Steve Donnelley – dobro guitar on track 5
 * Mitch – backing vocals on track 4
 * Sarah Cracknell – backing vocals on track 8


 * Technical
 * Clive Langer – production
 * Alan Winstanley – production
 * Mark Bishop – assistant engineer
 * Martin Parr – front cover photography
 * Mark Bedford – design
 * Robert Stimpson – design
 * Dani Golfieri – design assistant
 * Neil Evans – design assistant
 * 2010 reissue
 * Tim Turan – remastering
 * Martin "Cally" Callomon – art direction, design
 * Nik Rose – artwork ("re-jigging and fettling")
 * Robert Elms – liner notes