I am another one who loves the Erotica album, musically it's brilliant and lyrically it moves with ease and excitement. Bad Girl is perfection, Thief of Hearts, Deeper and Deeper, Where Life Begins, Rain, In This Life, Why's it so Hard are incredible.
Namo i love u but we get it already....you don't like Madonna
I think the media and Madonna's sex-a-thon in 92' ruined Erotica's run. Although I must admit I lined up at midnight to get that Sex book at HMV in NYC on 72nd street- ahh those were the days....
True on 'Why's It So Hard' as well.
Same goes for when 'Bedtime Stories' was released. people went 'uh-oh'... especially when song titles like 'Inside of me' surfaced. But if you went and listened,.. it was a song about her mother. (one of my faves on the album).
Madonna has been using double entendre since the beginning of her career ('like a virgin') and that was what made her so much fun. it meant everything to all kinds of people. people took it in so many different ways and I think she still continues that tradition with play on words.
On MDNA- In 'Addicted' she sings I'm a dic-I'm a dic- I'm ad-dic-ted. It's fun, playful and has surface and layering. Simple, yet says much about her state. She's clearly not out to be thought provoking or a create a forceful movement- just out to have more fun after a crappy divorce and heavy film schedule for a few years.
i think MDNA will fare fine and it seems it is a 'COnfessions' meets 'Ray of Light'- based on these early reviews from London....
"I am another one who loves the Erotica album, musically it's brilliant and lyrically it moves with ease and excitement. Bad Girl is perfection, Thief of Hearts, Deeper and Deeper, Where Life Begins, Rain, In This Life, Why's it so Hard are incredible."
Songanddance, that's it! I am now gonna have to play the Erotica album. That song list is perfection. and OMG! It's 20 years old!!! where has the time gone!!
Erotica is a fantastic album and was huge upon release. It came at exactly the right moment, when anybody with a libido had had enough of the anti-sex backlash of the '80s. Personally, I can't listen to it anymore and never put any of my Madonna cds (that would be all of them through Confessions) onto my iPod because I was just that over her. But, still.
Just read the Guardian overview of the new album. I see these things being characterized here as enthusiastically in love with the new album but what I read makes it sound hit or miss.
Also, it appears Madonna has discovered an exciting and brand new sound of the young people called the dubstep.
Erotica was seen as underperforming, though she was at such a peak still at that time, it's all semantics. I did go through a good year or more where I barely played any Madonna I admit--I guess it happens.
I actually kinda wish she'd stay far far away from dubstep, but meh.
The UK seems to be LOVING this album. Most say 'She slays it. SHe still proves why she's the queen' 'Most pop stars need to take note...' 'Best dance album she's ever made'...
Jesus Christ, that Billboard review is unreadable. If you're using post-freshness-date lingo of the kids and you still need to translate it in parentheses, you suck as a writer.
I'm sorry, but I don't think that Billboard review is doing the album any favors.
Gang Bang It's dark, clubby, driving, thumping and altogether sickening. (Meaning: It's fantastic, y'all.)
I agree with the "sickening" part. (Meaning: It makes me nauseous, y'all.)
Consulting our notes, the scribbles include the words "OMG," "dubstep breakdown" and "GOD THE BEAT." So yeah, it's freaking amazing.
Superstar Armed with yet another kicky dubstep bridge, Madonna also amusingly sings about how the "Superstar" subject of her devotion is "like John Travolta, getting into the groove." (Get it? She's referencing herself again -- but in a smart, cheeky way.)
Is this quote the result of what happens when you hear this album?
I'm a Sinner Mid-way through, Madonna gets inspirational and recites "Hail Mary full of grace / get down on your knees and pray" followed by "Jesus Christ hang on the cross, died for our sins it's such a loss" and so on. (Yes, there's more, but we couldn't write that fast.)
I'll get all inspirational and say "Thank God / Why the Hell are you quoting this stuff? / Jesus, please make her stop"
Love Spent The lyrics work some clever word play comparing love to money: "I want you to hold me like you hold your money / hold me in your arms till there's nothing left."
WTF? This is his example of what is "clever"?!?! I just...what? I don't know much about Special K, so maybe he's in a K hole? Are there any ravers who can shed some light on this? Perhaps a ray of light?
Does this album actually KILL BRAIN CELLS? I don't know how anyone can read that without bursting into unrestrained guffaws. I must admit, I am curious to see if the album is as ridiculously silly and contrived as this guy unintentionally makes it sound.
"What can you expect from a bunch of seitan worshippers?" - Reginald Tresilian
Jesus Christ hang on the cross, died for our sins it's such a loss
Um. Okay, I know she's been in the kabbalah cult for a while now, so I guess I can understand her completely losing her grasp on the most basic fundamental of Christianity. I guess. Except the first half of her career was based on it. But whatever.
I've decided that the Billboard review is a parody. It's literally ironic, meaning the reviewer means the exact opposite of what he's writing. Again, where is Barry Walters when we need him.
I specifically said the Billboard review. I mean, you read it. The only way to make sense of this being published (even if just online) is to see it as a parody of Madonna fangurlyboys writing in their diaries.
Simmer, people. Blboard reviews of pop/dance albums are a that inane. They don't know how to coverthat type of music so go osome weird valley girl fan-dom mode. It doesn't really mean anything one way or the other.
Keith Caulfield is actually the chief editor of Billboard and a huge Madonna fan. He used to mention her chart records on Chart Beat column all the time.
Anyway, the UK Press is eating it up.
She hasn't received this much critical acclaim for a record since 'Ray of Light', so that's exciting.
"Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing.”
~ Muhammad Ali
Is this really her best reviews since Ray of Light? I thought Confessions got pretty strong reviews. Metacritic doesn't go as far back as Ray of Light, but Confessions has a very healthy 80 score out of thirty reviews on there (as opposed to 65 for Hard Candy--Music with less reviews sampled has 80 and American Life a 60) http://www.metacritic.com/person/madonna?filter-options=music&sort_options=date&num_items=30
Nothing I've heard so far has impressed me. I'll just stick to remembering Madonna's good years, because, in all fairness, she did have more of them than most pop artists. American Idol: 20 Years of Madonna
"The gods who nurse this universe think little of mortals' cares. They sit in crowds on exclusive clouds and laugh at our love affairs. I might have had a real romance if they'd given me a chance. I loved him, but he didn't love me. I wanted him, but he didn't want me. Then the gods had a spree and indulged in another whim. Now he loves me, but I don't love him." - Cole Porter
That;s a fun recap of her first two decades, although I don't agree with all of it. Funny to think that the box set never came out, though now to cash in on MDNA WB (through Rhino) are releasing a box set of her major albums from her time with them, this month. (Of course it completely leaves out the compilations and I'm Breathless so you get a box set that doesn't include some of her biggest hits like Into the Groove and Vogue...)