Friday, 7 August 2009
Million Dollar Bill
No, it's not Tarzan, that's actually my new cleaning lady Whitney Houston's new single. Maybe 5am with no sleep is the wrong time to hear this, but all I am saying on first go is that she will need to claw her way back with some lethal remixes.
Thursday, 6 August 2009
I Feel It, It's Coming
Spot the brief clips from the binned Holiday promotional video. I don't quite understand why Hollywood is picked on so much here as, to me (despite the Rita Hayworth wig and mirrors), this is when she was starting to look a bit ropey before her fantastic Hung Up re-emerging. This might not be official, yet does appear to boast some exclusive footage and sophisticated 'Madonna's hair is now yellow' effects. 2:55 features my very favourite Madonna image; that of from her Truth Or Dare documentary wherein Madonna shakes her head sideways with frantic 180 degree swoops as she dances in a club loving the powerless attention from all angles.
Madonna's Greatest Hits
Madonna (1983) - 4/5
The wistful melancholy of Holiday is a lifelong commitment and I love that Madonna understands its lasting appeal.
Like A Virgin (1984) - 5/5
Fundamentally the most exciting Madonna album; the steady-streaming of jewl-like productions lock together a sound to match the not quite yet hard boiled iconic image. The tumbling ballad Stay is a lusty gauntlet of panic and self-restoration. Still wet and fresh.
Fundamentally the most exciting Madonna album; the steady-streaming of jewl-like productions lock together a sound to match the not quite yet hard boiled iconic image. The tumbling ballad Stay is a lusty gauntlet of panic and self-restoration. Still wet and fresh.
True Blue (1986) - 5/5
Her pop marvel overflows on every second here and sadly overtook Cyndi Lauper who I think should have made an album more like this. Jimmy Jimmy for the albums most overlooked track, but Where's The Party makes her sound unstoppable. La Isla Bonita, Live To Tell and Open Your Heart are simply perfect.
Her pop marvel overflows on every second here and sadly overtook Cyndi Lauper who I think should have made an album more like this. Jimmy Jimmy for the albums most overlooked track, but Where's The Party makes her sound unstoppable. La Isla Bonita, Live To Tell and Open Your Heart are simply perfect.
Like A Prayer (1989) - 5/5
Matching the ease of its predecessor with haunting and humble theatricality: Oh Father collects dust and only gets better through the years; whilst Pray For Spanish Eyes and Till Death Do Us Part secure this as among my top 3 Madonna albums (picking a favourite is like choosing from an orphanage, why limit yourself?).
Erotica - 4/5
A couple of songs too many stop this being a cold-blooded masterpiece; only Madonna could make people think she is a gymfreakslutbitchlesbianskank when there is an obvious internal affliction spurting the ejaculation of revenge on Words, and dignity-bluffing disregard of Thief of Hearts. Such a brain-pain is cleansed thoroughly on the lush outpouring of Rain (which perhaps influenced Kylie's Put Yourself In My Place) and the stark pre-Latoya AIDS anthem In This Life. Madonna's wide-on for Lady Miss Kier was still evident on Deeper & Deeper. Madonna was truly on her own with this record: it's just the reaction we all want after all.
Matching the ease of its predecessor with haunting and humble theatricality: Oh Father collects dust and only gets better through the years; whilst Pray For Spanish Eyes and Till Death Do Us Part secure this as among my top 3 Madonna albums (picking a favourite is like choosing from an orphanage, why limit yourself?).
Erotica - 4/5
A couple of songs too many stop this being a cold-blooded masterpiece; only Madonna could make people think she is a gymfreakslutbitchlesbianskank when there is an obvious internal affliction spurting the ejaculation of revenge on Words, and dignity-bluffing disregard of Thief of Hearts. Such a brain-pain is cleansed thoroughly on the lush outpouring of Rain (which perhaps influenced Kylie's Put Yourself In My Place) and the stark pre-Latoya AIDS anthem In This Life. Madonna's wide-on for Lady Miss Kier was still evident on Deeper & Deeper. Madonna was truly on her own with this record: it's just the reaction we all want after all.
Bedtime Stories (1994) - 3/5
Solid work here, if a little safe. Sporadically beguiling, her tantric pace works best on the opening Survival. Don't Stop is a good focal point as to why it might divide opinion - elegant Vogue-like synths spread wide but there is nothing gripping about it beyond its shiny, nudging appeal. Her gentle approach truly reaches its peak on the ballad Take A Bow, oozing romance with vocals smoother than KY. It lacks a thumping, giddy up moment, and ballads such as Love Tried To Welcome Me sound like trapped wind.
Solid work here, if a little safe. Sporadically beguiling, her tantric pace works best on the opening Survival. Don't Stop is a good focal point as to why it might divide opinion - elegant Vogue-like synths spread wide but there is nothing gripping about it beyond its shiny, nudging appeal. Her gentle approach truly reaches its peak on the ballad Take A Bow, oozing romance with vocals smoother than KY. It lacks a thumping, giddy up moment, and ballads such as Love Tried To Welcome Me sound like trapped wind.
Ray of Light (1998) - 5/5
The one that had to be extra special. When Candy Perfume Girl's telephone-dialling guitar sounds go quiet before things erupt, after the sunken piano wilderness middle 8, it is a violent open gas flame. The mirror sharp Sky Fits Heaven pulses and throbs until her angelic chorus makes it an outer body experience.
The one that had to be extra special. When Candy Perfume Girl's telephone-dialling guitar sounds go quiet before things erupt, after the sunken piano wilderness middle 8, it is a violent open gas flame. The mirror sharp Sky Fits Heaven pulses and throbs until her angelic chorus makes it an outer body experience.
Music (2000)- 4/5
Madonna gives the visceral appeal of her debut an inadvertent second go and truly surpasses it - celebrating feeling like a piece of meat on the dancefloor, the sexual connection between social classes is articulated as 'the boigeouise and the rebel'. The writhing highlight is the skin-shedding Impressive Instant, and only the Orbit nonstarter Runaway Lover isn't welcome. The This Used To Be My Playground singer faces up to her sham of a marriage as she sings I Deserve It (as a ballad) and Gone.
Madonna gives the visceral appeal of her debut an inadvertent second go and truly surpasses it - celebrating feeling like a piece of meat on the dancefloor, the sexual connection between social classes is articulated as 'the boigeouise and the rebel'. The writhing highlight is the skin-shedding Impressive Instant, and only the Orbit nonstarter Runaway Lover isn't welcome. The This Used To Be My Playground singer faces up to her sham of a marriage as she sings I Deserve It (as a ballad) and Gone.
American Life (2003) - 4/5
Up close and personal, like being stuck in the recording booth with her, but perhaps only to hold up the organic cranberry candles she flatly ordered through sign language. Love Profusion and Intervention are refined ballads with frail vocals that sound wrinkled as she trembles for support.
Up close and personal, like being stuck in the recording booth with her, but perhaps only to hold up the organic cranberry candles she flatly ordered through sign language. Love Profusion and Intervention are refined ballads with frail vocals that sound wrinkled as she trembles for support.
Confessions On A Dancefloor (2005) - 4/5
Half disco massacre, half Britney rejects. The glossy, slick discotheque antioxidants did not always stay consistent, but Hung Up, Forbidden Love, Push, Jump and Get Together all released the key ingredients.
Half disco massacre, half Britney rejects. The glossy, slick discotheque antioxidants did not always stay consistent, but Hung Up, Forbidden Love, Push, Jump and Get Together all released the key ingredients.
Hard Candy - 3/5
Gratifying Madonna's body of work with cheap implants gave her a curious appeal - these songs are not strong enough as a whole collection in itself, but individually going under the microscope they show some life lurking way beneathe the surface. Incredible had the only classic Madonna vocal, deep and smudged sounding, before turning into a mini kaleidoscopic-disco version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Heartbeat sounds like Gaga's Paprazzi. Shrill and ill-sounding, her vocals sound like cancer. The hidden gem Devil Wouldn't Recognize You stands up surprisingly strong as her first immaculate, properly impeccable ballad since Power of Goodbye a whole decade earlier.
Gratifying Madonna's body of work with cheap implants gave her a curious appeal - these songs are not strong enough as a whole collection in itself, but individually going under the microscope they show some life lurking way beneathe the surface. Incredible had the only classic Madonna vocal, deep and smudged sounding, before turning into a mini kaleidoscopic-disco version of Bohemian Rhapsody. Heartbeat sounds like Gaga's Paprazzi. Shrill and ill-sounding, her vocals sound like cancer. The hidden gem Devil Wouldn't Recognize You stands up surprisingly strong as her first immaculate, properly impeccable ballad since Power of Goodbye a whole decade earlier.
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