Snap! – The Madman's Return

I also have 1st pressing, so.... This one sounds overall good, dynamic is preserved, bass also, but highs are a bit reduced, not so airy as 1st.... Few pops on the red vinyl and circular noise on the yellow... Also the track Homeboys has an error, about 0.5sec of the silence during the song. The track Exterminate is physically squeezed at the end of the side and an average stylus wont be happy.

Visible fill issues on the first track on side A. Otherwise, there are no pops or clicks on mine. The first record is red, not orange. Same printed inner sleeve for both albums? Odd.
Not a bad pressing overall, but considering the price, you think they could have had different sleeves.

Buy in February 2023 at fnac in france. I saw here that the pressing was very good. Mine is a disaster, 10 pops slamming very hard just on the A side and lots of hits on the grooves.

I asked for a replacement, after 1 month, I receive a new copy with the exact same pops in the same place, but without traces of damage. Otherwise the sound is very weak.

The colors of the vinyl are inaccurate, the printed sleeves are torn and the sleeve tapped on the sides.

I continue, lack of originality for the inner sleeve which are the 2 identical.

Scam don't buy this.

Am i the only one who has black little spots on the pressing? Does it make my copy a rare one because of this default

The sound quality is pretty good, I'd say the mastering is just fine, a nice album to have for 90s music lovers. Other than that, cheap cardboard, cheap paper inner sleeves. Buying records in 2022 could be a whole lot more of a nice experience, but these greedy record labels are doing it the wrong way.

Sound: great sound quality and volume, no background noise at all!

Record: Record is red not orange but looks nice.

Music: the singles are iconic but the album tracks are not for me.

I have a tape with black print and fewer licensing credits on it.

MINT!

Very strong follow up album by Snap, that isn't just limited only to THE top hit. In particular, the rhythms and sound choice must get emphasized. Singer Penny Ford got replaced by Thea Austin during it's process. Also no track really falls down much in comparison with the best on here. Really good album and surely one of the best in this genre, really close getting a 5 star rating.

Track by Track Review

Madman's Return: A sinister opener with great sounds (including bubbling TB-303 synth sequences) starts it all off. Raps by Turbo B are also quite fitting to the whole mood of the song. Of course, is not a melodic track, it should certainly not be. Nevertheless, well-done and one of the tracks where the 4 rating fits just about perfectly. 4/5

Colour of Love: Relatively difficult to rate for me personally, it reminds you immediately of the songs on the first album. Sadly the raps on here are a little on the weak side for my taste. However, the mood and the female vocals fit perfectly, it is more of an atmospheric then melodic track though, but is good. 4/5

Believe In It: This song basically is about Sex. Rap of Turbo B are here again partially borderline, but there are also places where it fits very well on here, so I feel kind of mixed on the raps on this one. But the chorus and the rhythm section cut it out for me, I find them really cool. Although compositionally a quite simple song with just 2 chords, they are those that appeal to me personally. Some chords just work for me. And the electric guitar sample also fits quite well on here. 4.5/5

Who Stole It?: Focus here is not on melody, but the selected sounds - especially in the chorus - are top notch and fit incredibly well in the song, rhythm as usual quite strong. And even Turbo B brings here a strong and energetic performance 4.5/5

Rhythm Is A Dancer: What should I say about this song? It has been said just about everything. It's a classic, and it is a very strong eurodance track, next to Mr. Vain the most well known one. However, it must be said in fairness that in particular the rhythm lacks and is very simple compared to other tracks on this album. Melodic surely one of the highlights of the snap oeuvre - although melody's been covered. But pretty strongly sung by vocalist Thea Austin. This album version is a bit different in the middle section compared to the single and only contains an empty instrumental part in the middle and not the piano solo as well as the famous "I'm serious as cancer when I say rhythm is a dancer" rap part. 5/5

EX-Terminator: Instrumental with a strong driving rhythm and U96 similar vocal interjections between. I like it very much. 4.5/5

Don't Be Shy: Not a bad song but not one of my personal highlights on the album. The style clearly is reminiscent of Soul II Soul Downbeat tracks. Especially the chorus seems rather arbitrary. But still pretty solid Snap food.3.5/5

Money: To me almost slightly unfinished effect, almost like still in demo phase in some parts. The mix I like least of all tracks on the album. Again, they used the melody of Rhythm is a Dancer (or better said from the original "Car Man" by Newcleus) - this time held closer to the original sounding pretty housy. Also included is a melody of a german folk song called "Hänschen Klein" Total solid effort, but is on a smilar level to "Don't Be Shy" to me. 3.5/5

See The Light: The single version of this is one of my favorites from this band, but this album version is very(!) different than the single version and much worse as far as I'm concerned. First of all still with raps by Turbo B that seem completely out of place on here. The chorus part sung here by Thea Austin is close, sounds a little more subtle and more slowly compared to the single version. Vocally are both on a pretty similar level. The rhythm on here however also does not seem to fit all that well, I never have the feeling that a real groove is going on - it just doesn't flow. So overall I pretty much prefer the single version of this song, although liking the vocal parts by Thea Austin on here.
Btw: The chorus melody reminds me especially at the beginning of "Ultravox - Hymn", I am almost sure that Münzing / Anzilotti were inspired from it. 3.5/5

Bonus on 3rd Edition of the album
Exterminate (Endzeit 7"): Probably my favourite of all the Snap ouvre. This slightly dark and wistful Breakbeat House track is excellent and the vocals from Niki Haris accompanies it perfectly. Highly recommended for those who have a soft spot for melancholic moods. Clear 5 star rating to me. 5/5

Keep It Up: Solid track with "Eye of the Tiger" sample - nothing outstanding or exciting but still good. 3.5/5

Homeboyz: Sounds almost like a second instrumental version of "The Power (Jungle Fever Mix)" as it uses a lot of samples from it. The track is missing a bit on variety and is pretty lengthy too, still listenable. 3.5/5

Sample City V 2.01: Hobby-producers probably were happy to get these samples but for the common music listener this is quite an uninteresting track. Can't be rated really. No Rating

Groovin' big this one in the moment, and i tell you there's no much better feeling. Superb, driving hip-trance grooves, this is a classic for all times.