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Madrugada | Grit

An album that never reaches its full potential.
CD, Virgin/Virgin

Tekst: Martÿn ter Haar

Publicatiedatum: 19 november 2002

"We could steal away, but it's not like we're really going somewhere / Yeah, we could steal away / But it's not gonna happen."
Sivert Høyem is one hell of a disappointed romantic. Whereas, with The Nightly Disease, the Madrugada singer still sang songs with titles like 'Hands Up — I Love You' and 'Step Into This Room And Dance With Me,' the appropiately titled Grit starts with the conclusion that it's all useless. And the music of 'Bloodshot' — for that's the title of Grit's opener — echos those sentiments: monotonous, dark, and with an incredible amount tension, building slowly, building towards an explosion of lost ideals. "I got this bloodshot adult commitment / You know I'm far from satisfied!"

Of all the hyped "rawk" bands that are compared to the Stooges, none comes as close to the essence of that legendary Detroit band as Madrugada with 'Bloodshot,' which could well prove to be the 'No Fun' for the new century. But then the band is faced with the problem of having played their trump card in the first trick. The intensity of that track simply cannot be maintained for the duration of the entire album. And, indeed, only '7 Seconds,' a bitter accusation of an ex-lover, reaches the level of intensity of 'Bloodshot.' Those two songs are highlights in Madrugada's discography.

The other tracks have a sort of transitional feel to them. They are certainly grittier than the material of Industrial Silence and The Nightly Disease, but still aim for that epic feel — only without the unashamed lyric that made the band both popular and loathed — that's bound to fail. It's typical that the darker songs like 'Billy Pilgrim,' 'Got You,' and 'I'm Ready' are the songs that can hold up against the two standouts, whereas the more romantic material, like 'I Don't Fit' and 'Song Of Majesty,' feels like a lesser version of earlier material that's out of place.

If, however, listened to separately, the romantic songs suddenly turn out to be great, maybe even better and more mature than earlier work. It is purely the schizophrenic nature of Grit that keeps them down. Here, two great EPs, by one of the best rock bands of the moment, have been fused into one album that never reaches its full potential.