material_boy

I stand by my ranking from this summer, with the exception that I'm moving from "Rebel Heart" from the second tier to the first (though still keeping it at four overall): PERFECT: Music Like a Prayer Ray of Light Rebel Heart EXCELLENT: Erotica Like a Virgin True Blue Madonna Bedtime Stories GOOD: Confessions on a Dance Floor (I'm Breathless) MEH: American Life Hard Candy MDNA

Best single in more than 10 years for me -- best single since "Music!" "LFL" might be in my all-time top five singles list. LIFT ME UP UP UP UP! We need a matador smiley face. I would paste it five times right now.

"Trust No Bitch" is FIERCE! I absolute love it.

Yeah, I always play new albums non-stop when they're first released and love them -- then after the newness wears off, I realize whether I actually like it or not. I haven't listen to a new album this much since "Ray of Light" / "Music." Definitely top four album if I was ranking her greatest -- behind "LAP," "ROL" and "Music."

Well, I guess I would OK, this is one change I'd probably have loved -- a 30-plus track double album with "Queen," "Never Let You Go," "Two Steps Behind Me," "Tonight," "Tragic Girl," "Trust No Bitch" and some others would have been phenomenal

Karbs and I are on the exact same page. RH era is fucking perfect. Only thing I'd change is the leaks. Oh, and I wouldn't want her to be sick during Ellen week so that we'd have gotten another performance

LOVE it. This is one that should have been on the album.

That "Like a Prayer" got ZERO Grammy nominations proves this award is useless. Rolling Stone declared it was as close to art as pop music gets -- and these fucks can't even toss it a nomination. Only thing Grammys are good for is positive buzz. "ROL" and "Music" got a chart bump for their nominations / shows, but it shouldn't matter a whit to fans whether or not it won a damn one.

People get it wrong because we have no idea what the contract actually says. Short of Wikileaks posting a copy of the actual contract, we can only go by what the press reports about it -- and press reports are often contradictory. Various press reports since RHT was announced have said or speculated that this tour will conclude her Live Nation deal, like this one or this one.

Living for Love Body Shop Beautiful Scars Hold Tight Inside Out

+1 "Heaven" is nowhere near album ready. "Queen" sounds like a finished track, though -- and a wonderful one at that.. Can't imagine why the kept it off the super deluxe version. It was already at 24 tracks. Why not one more?

Which version of the demo? Didn't at least a few make it to the internet?

Music Ray of Light Like a Prayer Rebel Heart Erotica True Blue Like a Virgin Madonna Bedtime Stories Confessions on a Dance Floor American Life Hard Candy MDNA 1 - 3: Perfect. They're among my favorite albums of all time. I listen to these albums from beginning to end frequently, and listen to the singles and choice album cuts even more frequently. I have never tired of them and probably never will. I don't expect any other album from Madonna or any other artist to be as good as these three albums are for me. 4 - 9. Excellent. I list to these album fairly often, and listen to the singles and choice album cuts frequently. The order of which I love these albums changes frequently, depending on my mood. For example, I'd probably put "Bedtime Stories" at or nearer the top of this group if I'd just broken up with someone. I'd put "Madonna" or "LAV" at or nearer the top if I was in a dancing mood. Right now, "Rebel Heart" seems firmly established at the top of this group of albums. That may change with age, but -- unlike "MDNA" -- I find myself liking this album more, not less, months after its release. I don't care for some of "Rebel"'s songs at all -- "Iconic," for instance -- but, with 24 tracks to choose from, I created a playlist and cut all the songs that I didn't like and ended up with a 19-track album. That's just phenomenal. 10. OK / Good. "Confessions" is the hardest album for me to rank. It has some very high highs -- songs like "Hung Up," "Get Together," and "Forbidden Love" are simply transcendent and rank among the greatest songs of her career. But much of the album is forgettable -- "How High," "Isaac" -- and is also home to a couple of real stinkers ("I Love New York," "Push.") 11 - 13. Not great. I have listened to these albums from beginning to end very few times since their release and only like a handful of tracks. "American Life" is a dour mess. I've never liked it, even upon its release. It stands at the top of this grouping of albums for having the most good tracks on it -- "Intervention" is simply wonderful, it's hands-down the best song on any of these three albums and ranks surprisingly high on my all-time favorites list. But other than that, "Easy Ride," "Nobody Knows Me" and "Nothing Fails" are really the only songs on here that I like. I liked "Hard Candy" for maybe a week after its release, then quickly lost interest. Timbaland dominated the 00s and his stuff sounded tired and played out by the time this album came along. It doesn't help that his work here sounds like his B game -- none of his tracks are as good as what he did on "FutureSex/LoveSounds" or "Loose." Pharrell had some good stuff -- I still love "Heartbeat" -- but he also gave us crap like "Spanish Lesson" and "Incredible." "MDNA" is just forgettable. Nothing here is truly awful -- well, except for "Gimme All Ur Luvin'" -- but there's nothing here that I care to listen to either.

"Cherish" was high on Billboard's recurrent airplay charts for years. I still hear it in grocery stores. Also, I misread that Ellen website teaser that I posted -- "Take a Bow" is not confirmed. Jet lag. Everyone can yell at me for getting their hopes up.