| Mad: Bad: And Dangerous To Know |
 |
| Mad: Bad: And Dangerous To Know, 1990 |
| Released |
26 March 1990 |
| Recorded |
Mountain Studios, Montreux, September-November 1989 |
| Length |
mm:ss |
| Label |
label |
| Producer(s) |
The Cross and Justin Shirley-Smith |
| The Cross chronology |
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|
Following up on Shove It with surprising alacrity is Mad: Bad: And Dangerous To Know, The Cross's sophomore album and first truly democratic effort. In the summer of 1989, the band – minus Roger, who was busy promoting The Miracle – met up at Mountain Studios in Montreux to start work on material for their upcoming album. The speed with which they worked was astounding; by the time Roger joined them in September, they had nearly an entire album written. Roger contributed two of his own songs – Final Destination and Old Men (Lay Down) – and was credited as part of the five-way band collaboration, Top Of The World, Ma, but, for the most part, Mad: Bad: And Dangerous To Know was the first genuine band project The Cross had recorded.
Not all of it was spectacular: some of the songs deal too heavily with sexual desire and lust which, given the age of some of them, was downright embarrassing at times. However, there was a more concerted effort to produce an album that was less "of its time" in terms of production qualities – from which its predecessor suffered – and more in tune with what The Cross's philosophy as a band was: simple, fun rock'n'roll. Unsurprisingly, Roger's two compositions stood out as the strongest of the bunch, though Power To Love, Liar, and Better Things were among the better songs from the other band members.
The album was titled after a description of the eccentric Lord Byron, and was wrapped in an impressive sleeve designed by Stephen Bliss and longtime Queen art director Richard Gray. Released in March 1990, sales were less than spectacular, and the album failed to chart at all, while three singles – Power To Love, April 1990; Liar, August 1990; and Final Destination, November 1990 – all performed unremarkably, with only the first title reaching the UK charts (#83). The other two were only released in Germany, a market where the band found the most success, and subsequently toured the most frequently. As a result of the general indifference regarding The Cross, EMI Records dropped them from their UK roster after the album sank without a trace, leaving the band with German subsidiary Electrola. Things would only go from discouraging to worse.
Tracklists
Credits
- Roger Taylor - lead vocals, guitar, backing vocals
- Spike Edney - keyboards, mandolin, backing vocals
- Peter Noone - bass, backing vocals
- Clayton Moss - lead guitar, lead vocals on Better Things, backing vocals
- Joshua J. Macrae - drums, percussion, backing vocals
- Produced by The Cross and Justin Shirley-Smith
- Engineered by Justin Shirley-Smith
- Recorded at Mountain Studios, Montreux
- Management: Jim Beach and Gerry Stickells
- Band co-ordinator: Martin 'The Chuckler' Groves
- Artwork and sleeve design: Stephen Bliss and Richard Gray
- Photography: Paul Rider
- Specials thanks to:
- Helmut Fest and Lothar Meinerzhagen and all at EMI Electrola, Cologne
- Jim Baker, the Big Ben Stompers, Derek and Grace, Nicki Froude, Simon Gardner, Andre Gauchat, Julie Glover, Richard Griffiths, Jacky Gunn, Mike Hill, Brian May, Roxy Meade, Simon Pinder, David Richards, Freddie Stopler and Nicki, Kaz Utsinomiya, and Vicky Vocat
- Drums by Ludwig
- Cymbals by Sabian
Charts
| Country
| Release date
| First appearance in charts
| Peak position
| Chart run
| Weeks in chart
| Additional comments
|
| UK
| March 1990
| -
| Did not chart
| -
| -
| -
|
Information supplied by Fedepeti, 24 August 2004
Singles
Promotional Material
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