Madsen (band)

Madsen
Madsen performing at Campus Live Open Air in 2005
Background information
Origin	Priesseck, Germany
Genres	Rock, pop punk
Years active	2004–present
Labels	Universal
Website	Official website (German)
Members
Sebastian Madsen Johannes Madsen Sascha Madsen Niko Maurer
Past members
Folkert Jahnke

Madsen is a German rock band that hails from Priesseck, a section of Clenze in the Wendland. Three of the members are brothers with the surname Madsen, hence the band's name.

Their music combines elements of pop, rock, and punk together with lyrics in German. They released their self-titled debut album in 2005 and reached #23 on the German music charts. In 2006, they released their second album, Goodbye Logik. Frieden im Krieg was released in 2008 and Labyrinth in 2010.

History

The Madsen brothers began playing music at an early age. Towards the end of the 1990s, they had already been in two bands: Alice's Gun and Hoerstuatz. One group based itself upon the Hard rock genre, while the other experimented with hip hop music and crossover elements. In 2004, the band wanted to further develop their music and lyrics and choose to change their name to Madsen. They sent their demos to Universal Music, which listened and signed Madsen to a contract at the end of 2004.

The band played many local and regional shows and became local heroes of a sort in the Wendlands area. After playing before largely small audiences in 2004, the band — through publicity generated by Universal Music — received the opportunity to play before larger audiences. They have since performed in several open-air music festivals, and have made appearances on MTV and various radio stations. In April and June 2005, Madsen's first two singles appeared, and in May 2005 their self-titled debut album was released. The album peaked at #23 on the German Charts and #39 on the Austrian Charts.

In 2005, the band performed in many German music festivals, including: Rock im Park, Rock am Ring, Highfield, and Hurricane. In June 2006 Madsen performed at the Nova Rock music festival, which has boasted such performers as Audioslave, System of a Down, Green Day, Metallica, and Guns N' Roses.

Madsen spent much of late 2005 and early 2006 in the recording studio. In August 2006, they released their second album Goodbye Logik which reached #8 on German charts and #18 on the Austrian Charts.

In March 2008, the third album Frieden im Krieg (Peace in war) was released.

They preformed at Nova Rock 2009, along with such acts as Metallica, Faith No More and Nine Inch Nails.

They played their first concert in the United States on October 16, 2011 as a part of the Goethe Institute's "Do Deutsch" project. They played their first stop in Boston, Massachusetts.

On October 25 they played at Shadyside Academy in Pittsburgh, PA.

On October 27 they played at The Melting Point in Athens, Ga.

On November 1, they played at Plano Senior High School in Plano, Texas.

On November 4, they played at Empire High School in Tucson, Arizona.

On November 8, they played at Milikan High School in Long Beach, California (However Madsen is now postponing further dates due to a sustained hand injury when Niko was completing maintenance on his guitar which soon backfired due to a student named Alex having poor grammar)

On November 10, they played at San Francisco City College in San Francisco, California.

Music

Madsen's music contains elements of punk and rock, and includes sequences ranging from quiet reflection to passionate displays of emotion. Many fans say the band's lyrics are insightful and well-developed, as they reflect a wide variety of themes and subjects —- including "you, me, the world, the sky, hell, heaven, and everything else." Madsen's upbeat songs and passionate vocals are said to be a major factor in their relative success in Germany.

Madsen's style of music reminds some of a former popular German group, Tocotronic, and many music critics see the band as a new hope for the German music market.

Political views

While the band hasn't taken any specific positions on political issues, they're known for their anti-racist views. The band members can be seen wearing anti-fascistic t-shirts with slogans such as "Nazis Raus" ("nazis get out"). They also starred in the DVD film "Kein Bock auf Nazis" ("No support for nazis") along with other prominent German bands such as Die Ärzte, ZSK, Beatsteaks and Wir sind Helden.

Members

• 

  Sebastian Madsen: Vocals and guitar

• 

  Johannes Madsen: Guitar

• 

  Sascha Madsen: Percussion

• 

  Folkert Jahnke: Keyboard

• 

  Niko Maurer: Bass guitar

Discography

Albums

Madsen released their self-titled debut album on May 5, 2005. The track listing is as follows:

1. "Vielleicht" (Maybe)
2. "Immer mehr" (More And More)
3. "Die Perfektion" (Perfection)
4. "Unsichtbar" (Invisible)
5. "Diese Kinder" (Those Kids)
6. "Immer wieder" (Again And Again)
7. "Panik" (Panic)
8. "Im Dunkeln" (In The Dark)
9. "Lüg mich an" (Lie To Me)
10. "Mein Therapeut und ich" (My Therapist and Me)
11. "Wohin" (Where To)

Madsen's second album, Goodbye Logik, was released on August 11, 2006. The track listing is as follows:

1. "Du schreibst Geschichte" (You're Writing History)
2. "Ein Sturm" (A Storm)
3. "Piraten" (Pirates)
4. "Goodbye Logik" (Goodbye Logic)
5. "Ich rette die Welt" (I Save The World)
6. "Unzerbrechlich" (Unbreakable)
7. "Ich komme nicht mit" (I'm Not Following)
8. "Der Moment" (The Moment)
9. "Happy End" (Happy Ending)
10. "Ein Produkt" (A Product)
11. "Euphorie" (Euphoria)

Madsen's third studio album, Frieden im Krieg, was released in 2008. The track listing is as follows:

1. "Ja oder Nein" (Yes Or No)
2. "Nachtbaden" (Nightswimming)
3. "Nitro"
4. "Vollidiot" (Jackass)
5. "Du bist wie Du bist" (You're Being Like Yourself)
6. "Grausam und schön" (Cruel And Beautiful)
7. "Verschwende Dich nicht" (Don't Waste Yourself)
8. "Liebeslied" (Love Song)
9. "Astronaut"
10. "Kein Weg zu weit" (No Road Is Too Far)
11. "Wenn der Regen" (When The Rain)
12. "Frieden im Krieg" (Peace In War Time)

Madsen's fourth studio album, Labyrinth, was released in 2010. The track listing is as follows:

1. "Labyrinth" (Labyrinth)
2. "Mein Herz bleibt hier" (My Heart Stays Here)
3. "Das muss Liebe sein" (This Must Be Love)
4. "Zwischen den Zeiten" (Between The Times)
5. "Berlin, was willst du von mir?" (Berlin, What Do You Want From Me?)
6. "Lass die Liebe regieren" (Let Love Rule)
7. "Blockade" (Blockade)
8. "Jeder für jeden" (Everyone For Everyone)
9. "Mit dem Moped nach Madrid" (With The Moped To Madrid)
10. "Schön, dass du wieder da bist" (Good To Have You Back Here)
11. "Obenunten" (Topbottom)
12. "Sieger" (Winner)

Limited Edition Bonus Tracks:

1. "Leben" (Life)
2. "Legende" (Legend)

Singles

Year	Name	Album	Chart position
			DE[1]	AT[2]	CH[3]
2005	"Die Perfektion"	Madsen	67 04.04.2005 5 Weeks	–	–
	"Immer Mehr"		96 06.06.2005 1 Week	–	–
	"Vielleicht"		–	–	–
2006	"Du Schreibst Geschichte"	Goodbye Logik	55 14.08.2006 9 Weeks	54 11.08.2006 8 Weeks	–
	"Goodbye Logik"		–	–	–
2007	"Der Moment"		95 19.02.2007 1 Week	–	–
	"Ein Sturm"		–	–	–
2008	"Nachtbaden"	Frieden im Krieg	60 29.02.2008 2 Weeks	74 29.02.2008 1 Week	–
	"Verschwende Dich Nicht"		93 09.05.2008 1 Week	–	–
	"Liebeslied"		–	–	–

External links

• http://www.madsenmusik.de/ Official homepage (German)
• Interview with MADSEN on www.grundfunk.net
• http://www.dieperfektion.de/ Fanclub — News, Discography, Lyrics, and more. (German)
• http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=6702626

References

1. ^ Singles database at musicline.de
2. ^ Singles database at austriancharts.at
3. ^ Singles database at hitparade.ch