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“Madness” is a track from Muse’s album-The 2nd Law. The song released in 2012 and received a Grammy nomination for best rock song. The band’s genre is considered progressive/metal or alternative/indie.
The band has a running concept throughout all of its music. Muse has a unique sound because they do not build a broad production around the vocals, they take a more “stripped-down” approach that places emphasis on vocals or instruments at different points throughout their music. “Madness” is another one of their songs that follows that formula. The concept is to use one or two vocals or instruments at a time in order to give each component a time to shine for every listener. For example, much of the song is a vocal and a drum machine, or a vocal and a guitar. Muse uses this strategy and by the end of the song they will broaden the production to generate an electronic, high-volume sound.
From a lyrical perspective, “Madness” has a clear beginning, middle and end. In the beginning the lyrics focuses on the idea of madness taking place in relationships, the second verse takes a deeper look into the relationship and raises the question is it based on true love or some kind of madness, and the final verse the vocalist realizes that by changing the expectations of the other person in the relationship-it may be the remedy for anyone who finds themselves in a toxic relationship.
The vocals are very strong and clear; they are often sung with only one or two instruments and that makes the voice standout.
“Madness” is a fan favorite that the band usually plays at all of their concerts. They also performed it on Saturday Night Live.
From start to finish, “Madness” has excellent songwriting, and great sounding vocals and instruments. The band’s unique concept is refreshing because it causes them not to sound like any other group.