Review Summary: Every bit as weird as it is underrated.
Before I start this review, I’ll go ahead and admit it. I only checked this album out because I heard “Golden Brown” for the first time in a social media video semi recently and instantly fell in love with the song with no prior knowledge to the band themselves. But after hearing that song, I wanted to see what the album the song is from had to offer. And color me shocked, because the album is awesome, too. It’s got a few problems, but still. For an album that is seemingly mostly forgotten about, I was not expecting it to be this good. As a fan of New Wave and Rock, this album hits all of the right notes. It’s weird, unsettling, diverse, hooky, and fun—and I wouldn’t want it any other way. And thanks to this album, I’m now checking out the bands other albums, and I’m really impressed. But that’s enough about how I discovered the album. How is it?
Well, as previously stated, it’s awesome. It’s one of those albums that sort of requires a few repeated listens to fully appreciate the quality here, but once you do, the staying power is very strong. It’s an album that keeps the listener on their toes, and does a good job in doing so. This is mainly thanks to the band being as out there and as wacky as they can be, while also trying to relax when necessary. Though, that’s not to say this album isn’t disciplined, as there are songs here that are more contemporary: “Non Stop”, “Tramp”, “Pin Up”, and “It Only Takes Two to Tango” for example—all of which being vastly underrated. Everything else has a fun twist to them. Whether it be the ironically bouncy and almost spooky “Everybody Loves You When You’re Dead”, the insanity of “Let Me Introduce You To the Family”, the fun and almost robotic “Ain’t Nothing To It”, the hooky, and very satisfying “The Man They Love To Hate”, the aforementioned oceanic and beautifully hooky “Golden Brown”, the subdued, but still crazy “How to Find True Love and Happiness in the Present Day”, and the slow poignancy of the title track (hope you can understand French—but even if you can’t, the track is still nice, and a good closer). The album is packed with variety, and some that justifies the title of the album (La folie meaning “Madness” in French).
However, while that’s all well and good, that comes at the cost of focus, because while the album is fun, it also has no clue what it wants to be. It seems that the band were trying a bit too hard to be quirky, that the album is a mess—an enjoyable one, to be fair, but a mess, nonetheless. There’s not really a single direction the band took, so they go ahead and took them all, which results in one of the weirdest and uneven albums of the early ‘80s—and while there’s nothing wrong with being weird (as they say, it’s better to be weird and fun than to be normal and boring), the album could have benefited greatly with better focus and structuring.
Aside from that, the composition is great, the production is good and diverse, and the material is fun from start to finish. From what I’ve listened to in terms of the bands other albums so far, their excellent 1977 debut “Rattus Norvegicus” is a bit more well rounded and better. Though, because I’m still so new to the band as of me writing this review, I haven’t heard quite enough to really give this album a fair comparison. Still though, it’s hard not to at least love this album a tiny bit, as it, despite its flaws, is something real special. It may not be anything essential, but it most certainly is an underrated gem that I’m surprised not a lot of people know about, as it’s got enough wackiness and hooks to be a good part of your New Wave and/or Rock collection.
