The Madman's Return Explained

The Madman's Return
Type:	studio
Artist:	Snap!
Cover:	Snap cover.jpg
Released:	24 March 1992
Recorded:	1991–1992
Length:	41:00 (original eight-track disc)
Label:	Anzilotti & Munzing Arista
Producer:	Snap!
Prev Title:	World Power
Prev Year:	1990
Next Title:	Welcome to Tomorrow
Next Year:	1994

The Madman's Return is the second studio album by German Eurodance group Snap! It contains the international massive hit "Rhythm Is a Dancer", which reached No. 1 in France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom and peaked at No. 5 in the US and Canada. The album was certified platinum in Switzerland^[1] and gold in Germany,^[2] Austria^[3] and the United Kingdom^[4] but only reached No. 121 on the US Billboard 200.^[5]

The earliest LP pressings didn't contain "Rhythm Is a Dancer". The album produced four singles; "Colour of Love", "Rhythm Is a Dancer", "Exterminate!" and "Do You See The Light (Looking For)".

Critical reception

AllMusic highlighted songs like "Rhythm Is a Dancer", "Don't Be Shy", "Believe in It", "Colour of Love", and "Who Stole It?" as "standout" tracks of the album, adding that the latter has a sound that recalls one of the group's earlier hits, "The Power". Billboard complimented new singer Thea Austin, who "does an admirable job" especially on "See the Light", and remarked that "Who Stole It?" "could break big."^[6] Arion Berger from Entertainment Weekly also highlighted "Who Stole It?", with its "fuzzy, stop-start hook". He also felt that the band "proves its talent for complex, hard-hitting dance beats" on the "eerie, futuristic" "Ex-Terminator", and "a witty warning to female gold diggers" on "Money". Berger named "See the Light" the album’s "finest moment", describing it as "lilting" and "as lush as Soul II Soul’s best work, and even the sequences of mush-mouthed rapping can’t dull its gloss."^[7] A reviewer from Melody Maker named "Colour of Love" the "highlight" of the album.^[8]

Track listing

First edition

• All music by Benito Benites & John "Virgo" Garrett III. All lyrics as noted. (Information taken from the original nine-track disc.)

1. "Madman's Return" – 4:35 (Durron Butler)
2. "Colour of Love" – 5:32 (Butler, Penny Ford, Thea Austin)
3. "Believe in It" – 5:08 (Benites, Garrett III, Austin, Butler)
4. "Who Stole It?" – 5:10 (Butler)
5. "Don't Be Shy" – 4:38 (Butler, Benites, Garrett III)
6. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" – 5:32 (Austin, Benites, Garrett III)
7. "Money" – 5:12 (Butler)
8. "See the Light" – 5:45 (Butler, Ford, Austin)
9. "Exterminate!" – 5:24 (Benites, Garrett III)
10. "Keep It Up" – 4:05
11. "Homeboyz" – 6:37
12. "Sample City" – 1:08

• On the original nine-track album, tracks 1 & 3–7 are published by Hanseatic/Songs Of Logic. Tracks 2 & 8 are published by Hanseatic/Songs of Logic/Zomba Music. Track 9 is published by Hanseatic.

Second edition

1. "Madman's Return" – 4:35
2. "Colour of Love" – 5:32
3. "Believe in It" – 5:08
4. "Who Stole It?" – 5:10
5. "Don't Be Shy" – 4:38
6. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" – 5:32
7. "Money" – 5:12
8. "See the Light" – 5:45
9. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" (7" Edit) – 3:45
10. "Ex-Terminator" – 5:24
11. "Keep It Up" – 4:05
12. "Homeboyz" – 6:37
13. "Sample City V2.01" – 1:10

Third edition (marked as such on the front cover)

1. "Madman's Return" – 4:35
2. "Colour of Love" – 5:32
3. "Believe in It" – 5:08
4. "Who Stole It?" – 5:10
5. "Don't Be Shy" – 4:38
6. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" – 5:32
7. "Money" – 5:12
8. "See the Light" – 5:45
9. "Rhythm Is a Dancer" (7" Edit) – 3:45
10. "Exterminate" (Endzeit 7") – 4:20
11. "Ex-Terminator" – 5:24
12. "Keep It Up" – 4:05
13. "Homeboyz" – 6:37
14. "Sample City V2.01" – 1:10

Personnel

• Benito Benites, John "Virgo" Garrett III – keyboards, drum programming
• Durron Butler (aka Turbo B), Thea Austin, Niki Haris (on “Exterminate”) – vocals
• Andy Plöcher, Daniel Iribarren – guitars, bass
• Bobby Sattler – woodwinds

Charts

Weekly charts

Weekly chart performance for The Madman's Return!Chart (1992–1993)!Peak
position

Australian Albums (ARIA)^[9]	70
US Billboard 200^[10]	121

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for The Madman's Return!Chart (1992)!Position

Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)^[11]	8
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[12]	30
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)^[13]	13
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)^[14]	32

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hitparade.ch: Snap!. . 4 February 2012.
2. Germany. Snap!. 27 July 2010.
3. Web site: Gold & Platin . IFPI Austria . 27 July 2010. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20090608024513/http://www.ifpi.at/?section=goldplatin. 8 June 2009.
4. Web site: Certified Awards Search . . 27 July 2010. dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130115055129/http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx . 15 January 2013.
5. Web site: [{{BillboardURLbyName|artist=the snap|chart=Billboard 200}} US Albums Positions to Snap!]. Billboard Magazine. 27 July 2010.
6. "Album Reviews". Billboard. 4 April 1992. p. 46.
7. Berer, Arion (15 May 1992). "The Madman's Return". Entertainment Weekly.
8. Push. Albums. Melody Maker. 25 January 1992. 28. 20 February 2023.
9. Book: Ryan, Gavin. Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010. 2011. Moonlight Publishing. Mt. Martha, VIC, Australia. 258.
10. Web site: Billboard 200 Chart: Week of December 5, 1992. Billboard. 12 March 2021.
11. Web site: Jahreshitparade Alben 1992. austriancharts.at. 23 October 2021.
12. Web site: Jaaroverzichten – Album 1992. dutchcharts.nl. 23 October 2021.
13. Web site: Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts. de. GfK Entertainment. offiziellecharts.de. 23 October 2021.
14. Web site: Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1992. hitparade.ch. 23 October 2021.