Music review: Madness, Hydro, Glasgow

Against the odds, the songs from Madness’s chart-topping new album fell somewhat flat in the unforgiving expanse of the Hydro, writes Fiona Shepherd

Madness, Hydro, Glasgow ***

Madness’s new album Theatre Of The Absurd – a chart-topper, frontman Suggs announced with some pride and perhaps a little surprise – is delivered with a dramatic flourish, with voiceover from Martin Freeman (star of the BBC’s Sherlock and The Hobbit films, among other roles) and a thread of contemporary malaise running through it. It should be tailormade for performance.

Yet somehow the unforgiving expanse of the Hydro was not friendly to this album’s ambiguous emotion, downbeat moods and nuanced arrangements. In short, your honour, the new songs fell rather flat – and all this despite acting royalty Helen Mirren and Michael Gambon appearing on the venue’s big screens to add to the drama.