Total Madness: All the Greatest Hits & More! by Madness
Total Madness is a 2009 compilation CD/DVD album by Madness. It is principally a singles collection, though it also includes two tracks from their debut LP, One Step Beyond.... On release in the UK it reached 11# in the Official Album Charts, making it Madness's 3rd hit album of 2009 Due to licensing problems, none of the four singles that Madness released on Zarjazz Records in 1985-6 are included. The album effectively supersedes the now deleted Divine Madness collection. Total Madness should not be confused with the earlier US-only Total Madness - The Very Best of Madness.
The features list for Fab’s <i>Summertime Shootout 3: Coldest Summer Ever</i> sounds like it could have been the line-up for NYC’s most beloved annual hip-hop event, Hot 97’s Summer Jam. The first 11 tracks alone feature Meek Mill, Lil Durk, A Boogie wit da Hoodie, Tory Lanez, Jacquees, Davido, Jeremih, Ty Dolla $ign, PnB Rock, Gucci Mane and 2 Chainz. And though the project’s release date missed the concert (and even the entire season) by some months, it’s clear that summer was on the MC’s mind throughout the tape’s construction. He references it a number of times in verse and as a unifying thread—summer is bested only by a multitude of nostalgia-inducing production touchstones. (“B.O.M.B.S.”, for example, finds Fab rapping over a sample of The Alan Parsons Project’s “Sirius”—aka the intro music for the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls.) “My Mind” plays like a continuation of Meek Mill's likewise Hitmaka-produced “Dangerous”, while “Gone for the Summer” and “Insecure” feature unique interpolations of Nas’ “Take It in Blood” and The-Dream’s “I Luv Your Girl”, respectively. These vibes clearly make the most sense in the context of fending off sunrays from atop a Ferris wheel, but the key to Fab’s longevity is that he makes songs that last beyond any single season.
