March 17th, 2015 
James Shotwell 
Artist: Sleeping With Sirens
Album: Madness
Label: Epitaph Records
Having long secured their position atop the alternative rock genre, Sleeping With Sirens have truly outdone themselves with Madness. As the fourth full-length album from the band in just five years, the album perfectly channels the band’s numerous influences into one big, hook-heavy rock record that is as catchy as it is dynamic.
Opening with a shotgun blast of angst-laden pop rock akin to The Used’s placement of “Take It Away” at the top of In Love and Death, “Kick Me” welcomes listeners to Madness with a bang. It’s not a song that represents the album as whole, but it does a perfectly fine job of grabbing you from the jump. In less than five minutes, Sleeping With Sirens have you engaged in their latest offering, and they quickly solidify your interest with the equally infectious “Go Go Go.” That song, which will no doubt be a future single, boasts the band’s catchiest hook to date. It’s love in the fast lane, and I have a feeling fans will eat it up.
“Gold” ushers in the first of several semi-power ballads found on Madness. It’s a change of pace that seems to come a bit too soon when first listening through the album, but the song’s big sound and catchy chorus is a little too good to ignore. It also provides a new fresh sonic landscape for the band to build upon, which they make good use of on “Save Me A Spark,” as well as the sure to be future live staple “Fly.” Things then calm down once more for “The Strays,” but as soon as the opening line about “Hubcaps and ash trays” begins the melody hooks you so deep there is no use resisting the urge to hit repeat several (hundred) times. You will lose.
With several potential hits stuffed into the first half of Madness it would be easy to understand if one were to assume the back half of the record would consist largely of filler. I thought the same thing at first, and though “Left Alone” explores new sonic ground for the band I found it far less infectious than the preceding six tracks. Fortunately, “Better Off Dead” and the pre-release promotional single “We Like It Loud” quickly turn things around with two solid doses of rock goodness. “Dead” feels lyrically weak in comparison to the rest of the record, but it boasts a Warped Tour-ready accompaniment you won’t be able to shake.
The album stumbles once more when “Heroine” arrives, though it’s not for lack of trying. The song is the third or fourth to be built atop a simple acoustic melody, but this time the attempt to build towards something bigger never really pays off. In addition to this, the chorus fails to excite despite the fact vocalist Kellin Quinn’s voice sounds as good as ever. It’s not that the song is outright bad, but it doesn’t reach the high standards set by the rest of the material. The closers, however, do.
Touching on the softer side of the band’s sound, as well as the more rock-driven material, the three songs that guide fans to the end of Madness are some of the best tracks on the record. “November,” which features a piano-led melody and gorgeous vocals, kicks off the finale with the biggest ballad in the band’s catalog. You get the sensation the song is going to be considered a classic from the opening moments, and as it moves from verse to chorus and back again you feel that suspicion proven true. “Madness” delivers a different kind of ballad-like song structure, but with equally impressive results. It’s such a strange, yet good departure from “November” that you’re left with no idea what to expect with the final song, “Don’t Say Anything.” That track, which closes things on a high note, boasts another tasty slice of pop rock that is sure to keep your head bobbing along to the very end.
I don’t know that I ever doubt Sleeping With Sirens’ ability to create something great, but with each release they have proven to be a better band than I think anyone thought possible. Madness is the group’s best work to date, but in order to create it the band had to take some of their biggest risks to date. It would have been very easy for this album to be a complete misfire, but instead Sleeping With Sirens have crafted a dynamic, cohesive, and largely uplifting rock record that also happens to be a lot of fun. I have no idea where the band could possibly hope to go from here, but I do know that after this album fans new and old will be willing to follow them anywhere.
SCORE: 9.5/10
Review written by James ShotwellFollow @utgjames
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I was a little sad that you didn’t review the two tracks on the deluxe version (Parasites and 2 Chords). Personally, I feel like 2 Chords in particular had something spectacular to offer the album – it unexpectedly became one of my favourite tracks in Madness. But again, I do agree that this is my favourite album from Sleeping with Sirens so far – it’s absolutely brilliant. It reminded me exactly why they’re my favourite band and I have no idea how they’re going to top this…but I’m more than happy to buy their next album and find out for myself. (9/10)
Agreed, both 2 Chords and Parasites are excellent songs that fit right in with the rest of the album.