Mad for Sadness - Arab Strap
Mad for Sadness Image
Metascore

Universal acclaim - based on 8 Critics What's this?

User Score
tbd

No user score yet- Awaiting 2 more ratings

  • Summary: This live recording features 10 tracks, mainly consisting of material from the band's first two albums.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 7 out of 8
  2. Negative: 0 out of 8
  1. Malcolm Middleton's moody musical constructions -- sometimes punchy, sometimes hallucinatory and somnolent -- positively glisten in the live setting, and serve due notice that the most important trait of the band is its sound.
  2. This is a crisp, focused wobble through a primarily 'Philophobia'-derived set with drummer Dave Gow and bassist Gary Miller adding crucial propulsive qualities.
  3. There is just enough of a changeup in the sounds of the songs (from a variety of releases) that makes the disc worth having if you enjoy the group.
  4. You may be surprised to learn that the roadside corpse does more than twitch; it gets up and positively rumbas in places ("Girls of Summer"), while "New Birds" heaves with the same fidgety agitation that occasionally made Joy Division seem special. [#147, p.83]

See all 8 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 1
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 1
  3. Negative: 0 out of 1
  1. SteveW.
    10
    The best live album ever made from one of the best bands of the last 10 years.