Two more sub-6 scores gone. I had originally given I Fucked Up a 7, but after listening to it again I downgraded it to a 5. As mentioned by others, it's interesting seeing Madonna strike a more apologetic stance; however, I find the song is undermined by its grating melody.
194 SCORE: 6.012 2015 PLACEMENT: 171 of 210 (5.961) HIGHEST SCORE: 10 x 1 (@torontodj) LOWEST SCORE: 1 x 1 (@Daniel_O) MY SCORE: 6/10 And we break into the 6/10 bracket... maybe with not as much fanfare as we could, but still. We're getting through them. MDNA scores a hat-trick tonight with three losses in a row. I've actually always had a soft spot for this one and thought it was one of the album's highlights. It's loaded with fun hooks, Madonna sounds... well, she sounds pitched up for one, but she also sounds like she's having fun, which is a turn up for the books considering a lot of the time on the album she sounds like she recorded her vocals chained to a radiator. I also enjoy the 60s psychedelia production; it sounds like something the Beatles would have written on LSD. I particularly enjoy the outro where she's daring all the saints to come and purify her. Don't they know Madonna has a reservation? WHADDYA MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER?! It's a bit of a silly song overall but it also doesn't make me feel like my soul is dying, which is something parts of its parent album fails at. So a cute 6/10 position feels appropriate, even with it veering slightly into Madonna Lyric Bingo at certain points. The song was performed in the penultimate act of the MDNA Tour in a performance you might have already seen since it leads into "Cyber-Raga" and was therefore provided during that elimination. Madonna is mostly stationary with a decorative guitar, but if nothing it's another look at how amazing the MDNA stage was. Maybe her most technically impressive setup, although I might be forgetting some of the intricacies of the Rebel Heart stage when saying that.
Tomorrow, the rate's eye of Sauron swings its gays (kii) in the direction of a region we haven't heard from yet, with the week ahead containing some surprises, and some eliminations that are long overdue. Good night! 194. I'm A Sinner - 6.012 195. I Fucked Up - 5.964 196 - Some Girls - 5.933 197. He's A Man - 5.924 198. Give Me All Your Luvin' (Feat. Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.) - 5.921 199. Buenos Aires - 5.894 200. Super Pop - 5.848 201. Revolver (Feat. Lil Wayne) - 5.827 202. Can't Stop - 5.77 203. Ain't No Big Deal - 5.736 204. Turn Up The Radio - 5.727 205. Best Friend - 5.721 206. Graffiti Heart - 5.697 207. Hanky Panky - 5.691 208. Love Makes The World Go Round - 5.679 209. Back In Business - 5.67 210. Pretender - 5.661 211. Lament - 5.615 212. Cyber-Raga - 5.603 213. Incredible - 5.545 214. Jimmy Jimmy - 5.521 215. Now I'm Following You - 5.497 216. Ring My Bell - 5.424 217. S.E.X. - 5.373 218. Spanish Lesson - 4.997 219. Shoo-Bee-Doo - 4.948 220. More - 4.852 221. What Can You Lose - 4.436 222. Superstar - 4.391 223. Auto-Tune Baby - 4.121 224. Cry Baby - 3.367 225. I'm Going Bananas - 3.327 226. B-Day Song (Feat. M.I.A.) - 3.000 227. Hey You - 2.976
For anyone curious, we've actually hit 6/10 songs faster than the original rate. It took 43 songs to get there in 2015, while it's only taken 33 here.
Some Girls is a guilty please of mine and once I realized the backing vocals apparently had lyrics like "got their fuck me porn star heels on" and "Like a virgin, sweet and sticky keen" it was just impossible to not stan. I never bothered that much about the mix, it makes the whole thing sound like a monstrous instrumental. Total opposite of "I'm Addicted" which you just realize she's actually singing when "All of the letters push to the the front of my mouth and saying your name is somewhere between a prayer and a shout!" I Fucked Up is cute, too bad it was buried on the "Deluxe" version (but do people really care about what's standard and what's a deluxe post... 2009? MDNA is just a hard listen, yeah). I'm a sinner exists but it's also one of the points that show the record had some... interesting ideas behind it somewhere. I like the production being a little left-field even if it's basic. Too bad that, just like most of the record, it is just forgettable.
The leaderboard is looking like an accurate depiction of the worst Madonna songs ever... I Fucked Up and Spanish Lesson sweeties, I'm so sorry!
I'm a Sinner, like nearly all of the Solveig tracks, suffers in that it hasn't aged well for me. Several of my early MDNA favorites feel redundant now. Then again I have some choice opinions where that came from!! Wait, this is Orbit isn't it. LOL
Gay Male is fine. It has a few components I like, and it's a well structured song (I love the cheer hook tbh). The video and single cover are both fantastic. It's just not in the same realm as any of her lead singles. It's a Super Bowl promo single.
For the sake of promoting conversation and for clarity, here's what is left on MDNA after tonight. When we're further into eliminations, the nightly leaderboard will also be accompanied with a list of what songs are left, but I'm not going to do that just yet for obvious reasons as we've barely just begun. 1. Girl Gone Wild 2. Gang Bang 3. I'm Addicted 8. I Don't Give A (Feat. Nick Minaj) 10. Love Spent 11. Masterpiece 12. Falling Free 13. Beautiful Killer Personally, I think that this is a pretty solid core that's been chiselled out. I am a little surprised that "I Don't Give A" is still here, purely because it's kind of in between the capital-B Basic bops and more well constructed ballads in terms of genre and energy and I didn't think it was that popular. Everything else is more or less in line with what I expected.
"Girl Gone Wild," "I Don't Give A" (?!) and "Masterpiece" were some of my lowest scores in the rate so they can all go yesterday!
