Thinking Plague - A History of Madness (2003)

"A History of Madness" (2003) is the fifth studio album by the American avant-garde band Thinking Plague, released by the cult independent label Cuneiform Records. It is one of the most complex, dark, and compositionally accomplished records in the history of modern RIO (Rock in Opposition) and avant-prog.

The band's founder and principal composer, Mike Johnson, brought Thinking Plague's style to a virtuoso peak. The music is built on polyrhythms, irregular complex meters, atonal harmonies, and counterpoint. The album sounds like a synthesis of hard-edged guitar-driven progressive rock with serious 20th-century classical music (in the vein of Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók).

The album marks the debut of vocalist Deborah Perry. Her pure, almost academic, and at times detached performance contrasts perfectly with the dissonant, chaotic, and dense instrumental accompaniment (guitars, accordion, flute, keyboards, and a complex rhythm section).

The title "History of Madness" (a reference to Michel Foucault's work of the same name) reflects the album's overarching themes: mental disorders, the destruction of the human mind, social alienation, fear, and the systemic madness of modern society.