Madness (Sleeping with Sirens album)

Background and recording

Following the release of the band's third studio album, Feel (2013), they toured extensively worldwide in support of the album. In early 2014, the band entered the studio in Nashville, Tennessee and recorded 13 tracks with Nick Raskulinecz, however later scrapped them and recorded new material for a fourth album in Los Angeles, California. The band recorded a total of 15 new tracks with producer John Feldmann. Quinn explains, "We just planned on going to Feldmann to do 2 or 3 songs and after we got in there, I'm like, 'we're gonna re-do this whole thing." The two bonus tracks, "Parasites" and "2 Chord" were produced by Raskulinecz.

Sound and influence

Madness is a pop rock album with punk and hardcore influences. According to a review by Radio.com, the album has "empowering lyrics and anthem-like sing-along choruses" and is "massive, emotional, and speaks directly to disaffected youth and others who’ve been told they’ll never amount to anything." Due to the fact that the album's recording sessions took place throughout a time where Sleeping with Sirens were not signed to a record label and had little money, frontman Kellin Quinn said "it's always chaotic and madness and just being caught in the middle of it and figuring out who you are in the midst of all the craziness."

Release

To promote the album, the band announced the title, album art cover, and track listing on January 22, 2015 and released the single "Go Go Go" on the same day accompanied with its music video premiere on Epitaph's official YouTube channel. Prior to this, the band released "Kick Me", the album's lead single, on November 16, 2014. In support of the album, the band released a new song everyday from March 9 to March 16. "Fly" was released on March 9, "We Like It Loud" was released on March 10, "Gold" was released on March 11, "Better Off Dead" was released on March 12, and "Save Me a Spark" was released on March 13, 2015.

Commercial reception

As of August 2015, the album sold 79,200 copies.

Critical reception

The album received generally positive reviews from professional music critics. According to review aggregate Metacritic, the album received a 74 out of 100 based on 6 reviews, citing "generally positive reviews".

Radio.com editor Jay Tilles talked about the album's third single, "The Strays" in his review stating: "Of the album’s 13 songs, sixth track “The Strays” stands out like a sore thumb. With its empowering lyrics and anthem-for-the-underdogs chorus, it’s massive, emotional, and speaks directly to disaffected youth and others who’ve been told they’ll never amount to anything. “Lost and thrown away/you know we’re better than that,” sings Kellin Quinn, the band’s frontman, his voice a deceptively delicate tenor that has become one of the band’s defining sounds."

Branan Ranjanathan for Exclaim! was more negative, feeling the album lacked cohesiveness, writing: "With their latest album, Sleeping With Sirens have tried to appeal to every group that has ever taken an interest in their particular sound, creating a disorienting, cluttered set of songs that lacks any definitive direction. Over the years the band's sound has shifted from straightforward post-hardcore to something more accessible to a pop audience, but Madness is a muddled attempt at fusing both sounds within a single album."

The album was included at number 25 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list. Madness was nominated for Album Of The Year at the 2016 Alternative Press Music Awards.

Track listing

All song titles and durations were taken from iTunes Store.

Personnel