The Swedish hard rock band Madison was born in the ashes of a band called Regent which had won a talent contest in Hudiksvall on October 25th, 1981, where the first prize was the recording of a single. They recorded a 45 with the tracks “Lay Down Your Arms” and “Changes” and signed with Rixi Records before splitting up. Bass player Conny Sundqvist and guitarist Dan Stomberg joined another local act called Destiny before forming Madison. They recorded their debut album and it did not take long before they had a record deal with a Swedish record label called Marianne. After the release in 1984 the whole band decided to move to Gothenburg. After the band had split up the band members joined various other more or less well known acts.Swedish hard rock band formed in 1983. Vocalist Göran Edman recorded and/or toured with John Norum, Yngwie Malmsteen and Vinnie Vincent, while guitarist Michael Myllynen/Moon joined King Diamond for a tour and a live album.
| Diamond Mistress | Full-length | 1984 | |
| Lay Down Your Arms | Single | 1984 | |
| Demo 85 | Demo | 1985 | |
| Best in Show | Full-length | 1986 | |
| Give It Back | Single | 1986 | |
| Shine | Single | 1986 | |
| The Tale | EP | 1986 | |
| Northern Lights | Single | 1989 |
Bass, Vocals (backing)
See also: Francis Soto, Mindsplit, ex-Regent, ex-Alien, ex-Big Easy, ex-Destiny, ex-Explosion, ex-Riff Raff
Peter Fredrickson
Drums, Vocals (backing)
See also: ex-Destiny
Anders Karlson
Guitars, Vocals (backing)
Pete Sandberg
Vocals
See also: ex-Opus Atlantica, ex-Silver Seraph, ex-Midnight Sun, ex-Alien, ex-Bewarp, ex-Jade, ex-Sir Maxwell, ex-Snake Charmer
Mike Moon
Guitars (1984-1986)
See also: ex-King Diamond (live)
Past Members:
| Dan Stomberg | Guitars |
| See also: ex-Regent, ex-Ail Regal, ex-Destiny, ex-Swedish Erotica | |
| Göran Edman | Vocals |
| See also: Bleckhorn, Headless, Jayce Landberg, Roxx, Shadrane, Stratosphere, Xsavior, ex-Johansson, ex-Time Requiem, Backwood Spirit, Dark Blue Inc., Mårran, ex-Signum Regis, ex-Yngwie Malmsteen, ex-Vindictiv, ex-Brazen Abbot, ex-Goran/Dag/Dan, ex-Karmakanic, ex-Kharma, ex-Nikolo Kotzev’s Nostradamus, ex-Street Talk, ex-Swedish Erotica, ex-Vinnie Vincent Invasion | |
| Peter Åström | Vocals |
| See also: ex-Destiny | |
| Anders Möller | Vocals |
| See also: Black Ingvars, ex-Slobobans Undergång, ex-Swedish Erotica |
| Side A | |||
| 1. | Lay Down Your Arms | 05:05 | Show lyrics |
| 2. | Run Boy | 04:43 | Show lyrics |
| 3. | Sneaker | 03:24 | Show lyrics |
| 4. | Don’t Look Around | 04:04 | Show lyrics |
| 5. | Pictures Return | 05:05 | Show lyrics |
| Side B | |||
| 6. | Diamond Mistress | 04:00 | Show lyrics |
| 7. | Don’t Go | 05:32 | Show lyrics |
| 8. | Squealer | 03:51 | Show lyrics |
| 9. | Changes | 04:25 | Show lyrics |
| 10. | Turn Me Loose | 04:02 | Show lyrics |
| 44:11 |
batsival.com 
Superreallycool, October 9th, 2014.
Madison is a glam metal band out of Sweden formed in the year 1983. They were forced to break up after just two albums. This was due to the fact that despite catchy songs, they never seemed to appeal to the mainstream audiences and because they were a glam metal band, a cult following wasn’t really possible.
No one will ever take you seriously when you name your band after a girl’s NAME. I’m not sure what the thinking behind the name was, I doubt that much was done. Their name probably contributed to the overall failure of this band commercially. However, band same aside, this was a band that deserved success, as this is arguably the best glam metal album ever recorded (not that it had all that much competition).
When I picked up this album I was expecting Ratt clones (who the hell clones RATT of all bands?!). Just some simple metal about sex that had a slightly more metallic sound than the bands they were in competition with. I was half right about both things. First off, there are songs about sex here, but the lyrical palate of this band goes beyond that. They have songs about war and politics too, and this is of course a welcome difference from most bands playing glam. Secondly, this is more metallic than other glam bands, but it’s a LOT more metallic. Don’t get me wrong, this is still glam metal and never really gets heavy, but this blows the doors off bands like Poison and Cinderella. Songs like “Sneaker” and “Don’t Look Around” are metal enough that I forget they are glam until I realize how darn catchy they are.
They are very much a riff oriented band, but the band also used the bass to help propel the songs. The bass is often heard playing counter melodies or adding needed texture to long notes from the guitar. There aren’t many sing out loud choruses, but the songs are catchy none the less because of the riffs. This, once again, is one of the things that help them stand out against the wall of bands like Poison.
This is a varied album musically. There is of course the mandatory ballad in the form of “Pictures Return”. However, this is the most honest ballad I’ve ever heard from a glam metal band. It is darker than most of the bands other material, and it doesn’t feel forced, this is real emotion. The band is used for good effect, and help provide one of the catchiest ballad choruses ever. This is a ballad that rocks, and is arguably the highlight of the album.
Glam is a sub-genre that no matter what is going to be loathed by “real” metalheads, but this album shows that glam doesn’t have to suck. The album is heavy and talks about more than just sex. The pure, REAL, emotion on many of these tracks makes the whole album feel not like an attempt to sell records. It’s too bad that this band was so terrible named and had such a generic cover art. If those had been even slightly better this band would have been very popular I believe.
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