''The Method to Our Madness'' is the third studio album by the

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rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

The Lords of the New Church The Lords of the New Church were an English/American supergroup with a line-up originally consisting of four musicians from 1970s punk bands. This line-up comprised vocalist Stiv Bators (ex- the Dead Boys), guitarist Brian James (ex- the Da ...

, released in November 1984 by

I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was an American record label founded by Miles Copeland III, Jay Boberg, and Carl Grasso in 1979. I.R.S. produced some of the most popular bands of the 1980s, and was particularly known for issuing records by college rock, new wave ...

. It is also the last studio album to feature the band's original line up of

Stiv Bators Steven John Bator (October 22, 1949 – June 4, 1990), known professionally as Stiv Bator and later as Stiv Bators, was an American punk rock vocalist and guitarist from Girard, Ohio. He is best remembered for his bands Dead Boys and The Lords ...

, Brian James, Dave Tregunna and

Nick Turner Nick Turner, sometimes credited as Nicky Turner, is a drummer who briefly played with The Raincoats and became a founding member of The Barracudas. He left that band to help form The Lords of the New Church. In August 2015 he was invited to play d ...

. The album peaked at #158 on the US ''Billboard'' 200. For the 1985 US release, the album was

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

ed and strings were added to "When Blood Runs Cold". The US version omitted "Fresh Flesh" and replaced it with "S.F. & T.", the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of the "Murder Style" 12" single.The Lords of the New Church - Discography
. discogs.com. Retrieved on 28 March 2019.

Background

In 1985, singer Stiv Bators spoke on the album's musical direction, saying: "When we first got together it was a nice mixture of our different personalities. We didn't know what we were supposed to sound like, so we more or less discovered ourselves. On the second album we discovered various different styles we could do, but not in a unified direction. Now we have finally settled in a direction." Initially, the band felt very stimulated playing, writing and recording together. Their first two selfproduced albums went "really, really well," according to guitarist Brian James, but ''Method to Our Madness'' was more of a struggle. Furthermore, the band's record company,

I.R.S. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...

, wanted to use an outside producer, because the band was "losing its dynamic a bit," said James in 2007. ''The Method to Our Madness'' was produced by

Chris Tsangarides Christopher Andrew Tsangarides (17 August 1956 – 6 January 2018) was a British Grammy-nominated record producer, sound engineer, and mixer of Greek Cypriot origin. He was best known for his work with many heavy metal artists, including G ...

, who had previously worked with

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

acts like

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish hard rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. Their music reflects a wide range of influences, including blues, soul music, psychedelic rock and traditional Irish folk music, but is generally classified as hard rock or some ...

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, heavy metal, and jazz ...

and

Tygers of Pan Tang Tygers of Pan Tang are an English heavy metal band who are part of the new wave of British heavy metal movement. They formed in 1978 in Whitley Bay, England, and were active until 1987. The band reformed in 1999 and continue to record and perf ...

. The album features, among others; French jazz pianist

Jacques Loussier Jacques Loussier (26 October 1934 – 5 March 2019) was a French pianist and composer. He arranged jazz interpretations of many of the works of Johann Sebastian Bach, such as the ''Goldberg Variations''. The Jacques Loussier Trio, founded in 19 ...

, at whose Miraval Studios parts of the album was recorded; former

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English rock band, formed in London and active between 1962 and 1969. The group were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The band had two differen ...

member

Mike Hugg Michael John Hugg (born 11 August 1940) is a British musician who achieved fame as a founding member of the 1960s group Manfred Mann. Biography Hugg was born in Gosport, Hampshire in 1940. His parents condoned his jazz drumming as long as he ...

on keyboards; and the Lords' longtime session and touring keyboardist

Matt Irving Matt Irving (born Glasgow, Scotland; 16 March 1950 – 3 April 2015) was a Scottish musician (keyboards, accordion, bass guitar, vocals). Irving was the bass guitar player for Manfred Mann's Earth Band between 1981 and 1986. He featured on th ...

from

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

. The Lords' manager and label boss, Miles Copeland, makes a cameo appearance on "Method to My Madness" with a few spoken lines.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Bill Cassel wrote that ''The Method to Our Madness'' sounds more like a debut album, with the band "bursting with energy" and with a much rawer production than on their first two albums. He noted that "the aggression level stays pretty high, dipping only for a couple of ballads." Ira Robbins of ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference to ...

'' described the album as a cross between

The Stooges The Stooges, originally billed as the Psychedelic Stooges, also known as Iggy and the Stooges, was an American rock band formed in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in 1967 by singer Iggy Pop, guitarist Ron Asheton, drummer Scott Asheton, and bassist Dave ...

' ''

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'' and

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is a British-American singer, songwriter, and musician. He first achieved fame in the 1970s emerging from the London punk rock scene as the lead singer o ...

's ''

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''. He called it "the band's least distinctive - but most popular-sounding - record." In his ''

Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

'',

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

felt that the album "revealed a band treading water with stifled heavy rock routines."

Track listing

Chart positions

Personnel

Credits adapted from the album's liner notes. ;The Lords of the New Church *

– vocals * Brian James – guitar *Dave Tregunna – bass, vocals *

– drums, percussion, vocals ;Additional musicians *

– keyboards *

– piano *

Vicki Brown Vicki Brown (23 August 1940 – 16 June 1991) was an English pop, rock and contemporary classical singer. She was a member of both The Vernons Girls and The Breakaways and was the first wife of fellow singer and musician Joe Brown and mother o ...

– vocals *

Samantha Brown Samantha Elizabeth Brown (born March 31, 1970) is an American television host, notable for her work as the host of several Travel Channel shows including ''Girl Meets Hawaii'', ''Great Vacation Homes'', ''Great Hotels'', '' Passport to Europe'', ...

– vocals *Helen Chappelle – vocals *Tricia Ronane – vocals *Paola Pieroni – vocals *Tanya Landau – vocals * Miles Copeland – voice on "Method to My Madness" *Hein Hoven – string arrangements on US version of "When Blood Runs Cold" ;Technical *Chris Tsangarides – production *Andy Warwick – production assistance *Sheila Rock – photography *Graphyk – design

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Method to Our Madness 1984 albums Albums produced by Chris Tsangarides The Lords of the New Church albums I.R.S. Records albums