Cornwell, Hugh: Moments of Madness

I was very excited to hear about this album, the latest from ex-Stranglers frontman Hugh Cornwell. It is hard to believe just how long Hugh has been around, I mean The Stranglers formed around 1974 and he was in bands before that, like Emil & The Detectives with Richard Thompson.

After a run of successful albums with The Stranglers, including 10, the last Stranglers album to feature Cornwell, the artist felt the band had already done its finest work and it was time to leave. He already had a solo career which started in 1979 with his debut titled Nosferatu. Many albums followed which brings us to his 2022 release Moments of Madness.

First off, I thought the cover art, featuring a distorted image of Cornwell, matches the album title rather well and certainly had me intrigued as to what I might hear musically. And I am happy to say Cornwell has not disappointed as Moments of Madness is an excellent album.

Hugh handles most the instruments himself except for additional drum programming and percussion courtesy of Phil Andrews and harmonica on the title track provided by John Dominic. The album gets off to a fine start with the cracking “Coming Out Of The Wilderness� where Cornwell’s addictive vocals and bursts of gnarly guitar weave a whole lot of magic. With “Red Rose� Cornwell’s knack for writing a catchy melody and lyric comes to the fore, the sparse arrangement letting his quirky guitar stand front and center. A little ‘60s psychedelic pop can be heard on the highly addictive “I Wannahideinsideaya� while the slightly melancholic and dark “Looking For You� is really cool, especially Cornwell’s clean guitar and deep voice coursing through the entire track. Now we get to “When I Was A Young Man�, an energetic punk influenced rocker that reminded me of those glory days in the ‘70s when bands like The Clash and The Jam were all the rage.

I should also add Cromwell handled production and teamed with Andrews on the mixing board. Sonically, the album sounds great, tantamount to the man’s considerable talent.

Not much else needs to be said. The famed singer/songwriter delivers once again. Easily recommended.

Track Listing:
1. Coming Out Of The Wilderness
2. Red Rose
3. I Wannahideinsideaya
4. Looking For You
5. When I Was A Young Man
6. Moments Of Madness
7. Beware Of The Doll
8. Too Much Trash
9. Lasagna
10. Heartbreak At Seven

Added: April 14th 2024
Reviewer: Jon Neudorf
Score:
Related Link: Artist's Official Site
Hits: 519
Language: english

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