Spotlight should have so been a full blown international single release. Would have been an easy top 10 hit back in 1988 I think. Oh, and it's a bop.
Spotlight should have so been a full blown international single release. Would have been an easy top 10 hit back in 1988 I think. Oh, and it's a bop.
What is you guys's favorite album title of her's (and least favorite)?
While this is maybe too on brand, I have to go with Madame X. It's the perfect combination of edgy, campy, and cool. And I like the backstory behind it and the fact that it's the title of an album that is a return to artistic liberation after three albums that were mostly good (Rebel Heart being great, Hard Candy being quite good, and MDNA being lackluster) but holding back to varying degrees. The title Madame X has a certain weirdness and wildness to it that signifies that return.
My least favorite title is Hard Candy. I dig the music itself and I do think the title fits, but it just doesn't have a whole lot of depth. I think the duality thing (in this case, hard versus soft) is done better by the title Rebel Heart because Rebel Heart feels so true to her whereas the title Hard Candy is just kinda blah. I'm also not crazy about Confessions On A Dancefloor as a title. Feels a bit generic (and not in a genius way like Music, which is so explicitly generic that it becomes unique) and I'm always going to be disappointed by the promise of confessions and the complete lack of them on the album.
While this is maybe too on brand, I have to go with Madame X. It's the perfect combination of edgy, campy, and cool. And I like the backstory behind it and the fact that it's the title of an album that is a return to artistic liberation after three albums that were mostly good (Rebel Heart being great, Hard Candy being quite good, and MDNA being lackluster) but holding back to varying degrees. The title Madame X has a certain weirdness and wildness to it that signifies that return.
My least favorite title is Hard Candy. I dig the music itself and I do think the title fits, but it just doesn't have a whole lot of depth. I think the duality thing (in this case, hard versus soft) is done better by the title Rebel Heart because Rebel Heart feels so true to her whereas the title Hard Candy is just kinda blah. I'm also not crazy about Confessions On A Dancefloor as a title. Feels a bit generic (and not in a genius way like Music, which is so explicitly generic that it becomes unique) and I'm always going to be disappointed by the promise of confessions and the complete lack of them on the album.
Last edited:
Yeah, the boxing theme is just as odd and old fashioned as hard candy. It is beyond me why they were trying to market this record to the dry mouth crowd born in the 1940's...
Where's the Party should have been the single from You can dance. It should have been a single instead of the Look of love. Spotlight needed to be saved as an 'incentive to get the album for a new song'.
MDNA is MDNAzing amazing once you delete Turn Up The Radio, Superstar, I Fucked Up and B'day Song and I'm willing to die on this hill.
Having been a Madonna fan all my life, I have never listened to Madame X, she was one of the key artist’s who I always bought (pre streaming) their albums but I gradually lost interest over the last few eras (though it did peak a little during Rebel Heart) until I just stopped listening. I keep meaning to give it a listen or two …
That + recording some other vocal takes and harmonies + mixing and mastering + picking better singles and that's right!
I think I Fucked Up is one of the better songs on MDNA.
I might be messy by starting another MDNA conversation with a LIST, but for me, it's pretty much:
Girl Gone Wild-Yeah, it's kinda trash, but it works and it's the catchiest song on the album by far. The chorus is addictive and it's a huge bop that is somewhat let down by generic production. The video is so overrated though. Most of it is downright trite.
Gang Bang-Kind of interesting and different, but it's too flat to justify how dumb it is.
I'm Addicted-A good song but it feels somewhat overrated in that it shines amongst some really mediocre material. MDNA chant breakdown is very cool and feels essential.
Turn Up The Radio-I would like this if Sunday Girl released it but it's beneath Madonna. Also, her vocals sound so labored and HEAVY. It needed to be breezier.
GAYLUV-Not bad but dinky and not lead single material (not really single material in general). The Super Bowl really emphasized how weak it is IMO.
Some Girls-Interesting in spots, but suffers from being a less inspired take on what She's Not Me did with more playfulness and funk. It is also one of Orbit's cheapest sounding productions.
Superstar-The melody is nice in places ("I'm your biggest fan, it's true") but this is embarrassing. It's crazy to me that she talked shit about Cherish, which is a perfect pop song, and then released that.
I Don't Give A-This song is so boring and robotic. I'm surprised it gets touted as highlight. The fact that most of the lyrics are a run down of her schedule just emphasizes what a dud it is. I only really like the choral breakdown at the end and the bit about her swallowing her light. The choral breakdown feels bonkers in a way that half of Rebel Heart was but the song is so flat overall. It also sounds horrid live.
I'm A Sinner-I guess it's technically good, but the recycled 60s psychedelic pop sound is not particularly inspiring and the vocals sound shit. So high pitched. Why?
Love Spent-A great song with an amazing shift and interesting topic (with a good lyrical execution to boot), but I do wish it sounded beefier.
Masterpiece-Okay, I get the issues people have with the production, but this a fucking beautiful song? It sounds classic and even if it did deserve to be presented better, the timeless sounding melody carries it.
Falling Free-Probably my favorite song from the project. It's just a very sonically beautiful take on Celtic sounds and the lyrics are very artful.
Beautiful Killer-Again, technically good, but I don't find it super inspiring. She sounds bored and the production could be punchier, but it's one of the better things here in terms of the bones of the song.
I Fucked Up-Despite some of the lyrics being a bit simple, I love this song. I think her voice and the production both sound great and I love the build up. I really don't get the dislike for it.
B-Day Song-This would be fun if remained an off the cuff outtake, but what the fuck were they thinking when they put it on any edition of the album? Embarrassing.
Best Friend-It was kind of cool as a tour montage, but this doesn't sound finished to me and she sounds awful on the chorus. I'm also not really a fan of the jangly sound of the production.
Last edited:
MDNA, is probably my favourite of her 2010s albums to be honest.
he/him
I think it’s going to play out like a full length DJ set by Honey Dijon, rather than a short megamix.
matthew.
Staff member
It's funny looking back at MDNA - on paper it seemed so destined to work - collaborating with Orbit again, as well as EDM heavyweights before it became the sensory assault it would become in the ensuing years, an amazing title and photoshoot (as well as a great tour, a Superbowl halftime show AND a golden globe win) - the only real letdown that era was the music itself.
Like A Prayer is her best title for me. Enigmatic, provocative, yet perfectly encapsulates the devotion she had for the people in her life as she turned 30… for her friends, lovers and her mother.
I think of MDNA as kind of the All For You of Madonna's catalog in a sense - both of them are post-divorce albums in which the artist is torn between introspection and accusation, and wanting to go out and party and do the single thing. I don't think either album gets the blend quite right. What All For You has over MDNA is a couple of KNOCKOUT songs (All For You and Someone To Call My Lover) that can hang out in the same neighborhood as her past classics. In terms of single potential, the strongest songs on MDNA are good third/fourth single options imo. But that "shut it down" lead single isn't present.
Last edited:
'MDNA' is pretty much unlistenable to me (and I'm a 'Girl Gone Wild' apologist). The rest of the album is completely devoid of character and the mastering seems to brickwall it into one constant sludgy sound. It doesn't deserve to sit alongside any of the other albums in her near faultless catalogue.
x
x