MDNA Press Reviews

[davejr.]

If that is an example of a "bad" review of MDNA then this is the album of the year. The woman obviously worships Madonna.

i second the motion...i think all in all,it was not as bad as i expected..perhaps she had a bad day...

[Supernatural]

So has MIA been deleted off B-Day Song? The reviews seem to make no mention of her....

she does backing so it hasn't stood out to many reviewers.

[Nessie]

Poor excluded ignored fired MIA...

[Nikki]

mia is still on i believe.

[Vetiver]

after the video teaser of BDay song it would be pretty much weird and out of place taking MIA out of the song ... There are NO regrets ... i hope so

[dollhouse]

So has MIA been deleted off B-Day Song? The reviews seem to make no mention of her....

no, it she has been mentioned that she's sounding better on BS than on GMAYL..

[Guest HaveASit]

WHAT ABOUT THIS ONE?

The queen of pop is back, and this time with an album that screams 'I’m ready to dance' - introducing, MDNA.

MDNA is out 26 March 2012

If you thought Madonna was past it, a recent appearance at the Super Bowl would’ve made you think twice. Now, with the release of MDNA you’ll never think that way again. Back in the arms of Ray of Light producer William Orbit, a 53-year-old Madonna has come out fighting.

If you liked the ‘dancefloor pop’ on Confessions on a Dancefloor, you are guaranteed to love this. Yes it is girly pop, but instead of a reinvention this time MDNA is an album full of what Madonna does best – track after track of floor-filling music that outshines her chart devotees.

Pairing up with stars of the moment Nicki Minaj and M.I.A with her first single release ‘Give Me All Your Luvin’ was a shrewd move, and unlike most singles it truthfully paves the way for the rest of the album.

‘I’m Addicted’ and ‘Superstar’ both pack a punch, while it’s no surprise that the William Orbit produced tracks including ‘I’m a Sinner’ are much more ‘dance’ than dancefloor.

Of course there’s the homage to W.E. in the form of the Golden Globe winning soundtrack ‘Masterpiece’ and the slow ‘Falling Free’ but these are the closest to ballads that the album gets.

But you’ll have to buy the deluxe album to gain an insight into the heart of Madonna - ‘I F***ed Up’, an ode to her failed marriage to Guy Richie. For a minute the real queen of pop is revealed, and then just as quick she’s gone again.

WTF?????

http://www.redonline.co.uk/reviews/music-reviews/madonna-mdna-review

Edited March 9, 2012 by Matheus

[dollhouse]

A somewhat negative review. By Eva Barlow who writes for Q Mag

http://eve-barlow.tumblr.com/post/19003767113/madonna-does-not-amaze

Madonna Does Not Amaze

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Well, before I deliver both (eventually) I have to get something off my chest: Madonna is the Don, The Boss, The Dude, Her Majesty of Everything. Nobody in this universe can touch her. If I read another preamble or review about her latest album MDNA that builds context around Madonna’s place in a world that now contains Lady Gaga or compares her vocal pop abilities with those of Britney Spears, I am done with that person. Deleted.

There is categorically no need whatsoever to talk about Madonna in relation to Lady Gaga, Britney, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Kylie, Kitty Batshit Brucknell, or anyone else with a vagina, a chart song and a sense of drama. People have said it before and I will rip them off and say it again: None of these women would know how to put one hip in front of the over if it weren’t for Madonna. The popstars that have succeeded (as in “come chronologically after”) Madonna do not form part of Madonna’s Sphere. They are tiptoeing around her world, grateful of being given the limelight for a minute while the “Queen of Pop” has been momentarily distracted doing whatever she does to chill out (Ryvita snacks and/or 21-year-old dancers… Madge FTW).

Just because popstars have Being A Woman in common, doesn’t mean they have anything to do with Madonna’s job. (I don’t imagine fans of Paul Weller would be impressed if his latest was judged according to “where the Modfather sits” with post-Weller products such as Miles Kane or Kasabian. Music fans would not be impressed because THAT WOULD BE EXTREMELY RUDE, and pointless. Weller isn’t sitting with his guitar thinking about what Liam Gallagher’s peddling in Pretty Green. Similarly, Madonna isn’t downloading Rosetta Stone: Advanced German because Lady Gaga has Rilke tattooed up her arm.) Madonna is not thinking about all the “others”; they weren’t there when she started her career and they likely will not be there when she finishes it (insert large IF she finishes it). When asked what she thought of Lady Gaga a few months ago by Graham Norton Madonna’s response may as well have been: “[shrug]…[rolls eyes]… Whatever.” If you’re going to put MDNA in “context”, get it right: when Madonna sits down to write a new album, the only person “Madonna” ever has to compete with is… MADONNA.

And imagine that - you’re Madonna about to make a new album. The facts: You’ve sold 300 million records since 1979; You are still only 53; You have built a career on outdoing yourself; You have more fans than the Americas have people; You were responsible for ’80s pop hits like Get Into The Groove, Like A Virgin and Papa Don’t Preach; You got naked – really naked – on coffee tables; You are responsible for Ray Of Light; You made (upper case) Music; You own Like A Prayer; Confessions On A Dancefloor was something YOU did… I could just throw words around like “Frozen” (ZOMG), “Cherish” (amazarama), “Sorry” (multilingual!), “VOGUE” (FFS!) all day long and you’d get only one pixel of the picture. It must be exciting but also terrifying being as successful as Madonna because - frankly - what the hell do you do next? Who do you allow in? Is it a risk even opening your mouth again to do an Ocado order in case you speak a sentence less poignant than “Beauty’s where you find it”? For Madonna, it’s enough trying to deal with herself. So let’s consider Madonna in light of Madonna please.

Which brings me to the point of the day: is MDNA any good? I will start with the bad news. I’m not sure I was in the same room as everyone else at the Madonna MDNA listeners party (at Abbey Road Studios, *wees with excitement*). All the cliched talk in the papers and blogs about an hour following the playback was of a “Return to form” blah-blah-blah… Not since Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris has there been such overuse of that phrase. And, btw, Midnight In Paris was charming, funny and intelligent but it was NOT a return to form. “On form Woody Allen” is Manhattan, Annie Hall, Hannah And Her Sisters… To say Midnight In Paris was in the same vein is not only wrong, it’s an insult to his best work. I suppose in this respect (and in this respect only) Madonna is just like Woody Allen; a visionary who continues to create (thank GOD) but is in a post-apex stage of their career, their fans desperate to re-live the golden age, like a Manchester United supporter dying to see a less acclaimed side win the Treble. When you consider Ray Of Light or Immaculate Collection or Music or Confessions On A Dancefloor and then you listen to MDNA, you are no longer in the same ballpark. Nobody should be asking if it’s a good album by modern pop standards. That’s not the question Madonna’s asking. Is it a “great” album by Madonna standards? No. Well… it depends on which half of the album you listen to.

I am sorry to have to say this but MDNA was a frustrating experience. Members of the press heard the Deluxe Edition of MDNA, which was a 12-track album followed by a further four tracks. The beginning of MDNA (and when I say “beginning” I mean the “first seven or eight tracks”) are simply not Madonna. They could be anyone because Madonna’s voice has been drowned out by pulsating, flat, uninteresting European thuds (incorporated with hints of dubstep break-it-downs to keep things “current”). The lyrical couplets are inexcusable. Madonna is reduced to the cheerleader her faceless dancers portray in Gimme All Your Luvin’ (Lourdes probably has more to say in her brain). Worse still, Madonna (being a sophisticated 53-year-old goddess) doesn’t sound like she’s having a good time. She doesn’t sound confident. It’s as though she’s given a platform to Benny Benassi and Martin Solveig - two (not especially “with it”) European dance producers – and not remembered her own part.

Opening track Girls Gone Wild nods to Madonna’s last “GREAT” record Confessions On A Dancefloor but it’s just a nod. (Note: I’m wildly suspicious of the numerous people I’ve met who think that album is anything less than astonishing). In reailty, the track is a bit meh. And by that I mean that there were electro-rock singles by Bodyrockers (I Like The Way You Move) and Bodyrox (Yeah Yeah) years ago that serve the same purpose and are more catchy. Gang Bang follows as a far heavier, murder on the dancefloor-type belter that picks up the attitude (it wouldn’t be hard though given Girls Gone Wild’s “Girls just wanna have fun” message) with lyrics like “Bang bang, shot you dead/Shot my lover in the head”. You might not pick these lyrics out, however, given the constant distraction of the sound of a samurai sword being unsheathed (I’m glad Madge listens to These New Puritans in the gym). To be honest, this song might grow on me with another listen, the next time I need to fill a 15-minute session on the crosstrainer. Third track I’m Addicted (or as I might dub it I’m Totally Addicted To Bass) sounds like Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto and Justice (also ATB circa 1999) playing Pacha, Madonna’s vocal drowned out again by big phat beats like a tiny particle getting lost in the Tron Grid. By the fourth track, Turn Up The Radio, my new MDNA notepad reads “bored.com”. It’s clear that Madonna is not making waves anymore, she’s chasing them. That would be fine if the songs were good… BUT WHERE ARE THE SONGS? If I wanted to have my head pummelled by this sort of music (which I do often) I would listen to Plastikman. Madonna is not only looking to other’s conquered territory, she’s not learning anything from it.

Give Me All Your Luvin’ – the first single – is not the buoyant lead single we are used to hearing from Madonna. (Which is probably why she’s since rush-released Girl Gone Wild). It’s followed by the first track produced by William Orbit – Some Girls – which sheds some light on Madonna, The Control Freak. Orbit sounds nothing like himself. He sounds like he’s been told: “I’m doing an album with Benassi and Solveig dude, so try and do what they do, yeh?” What is the point? At this stage in the proceedings I’m dying to hear any real melody… the Tetris theme tune would do. But no. Track 7 is Superstar where melodies finally come to the fore but they are too saccharine for even Justin Bieber. I Don’t Give A (do we fill this bit in?) is the first moment that is truly interesting. It is the most intriguing song on MDNA. The lyrics allude to the breakdown of her marriage to Guy Ritchie, Nicki Minaj steals the limelight with a far superior rap to the one on Gimme All Your Luvin’ and it genuinely sounds unique. But right now I’d take an amazing pop song over “unique”.

So where are we? Track 9. TRACK NINE. Now for the good news; it is all uphill from here. Four absolutely stunning tracks produced by William Orbit at long last show why we’re still listening to Madonna. I’m A Sinner should be a major single. It’s a total change of gear, there is an immediacy to its simplicity, and ABOVE ALL, it’s confident – Madonna knows exactly what she’s doing and she KILLS IT. Love Spent is an update on Orbit’s Balearic mid-’90s euphoria, where strummed acoustic guitar meets the disco vibes of Confessions… Masterpiece, of course, a moving piece of cinematic balladry has already won a Golden Globe. It’s here that I realise something: when you go back to the drawing board there are basic elements required from a song – lyrics, melody and rhythm. The only thing MDNA cared about up until Track 9 was a beat. On Track 12 Falling Free, these three elements of songcraft align in (gushing hyperbole alert) the most sensational Madonna moment of the past 10 years.

Some more good news… The 4 tracks on the deluxe edition are brilliant (or comparatively brilliant). And what’s seriously WEIRD is that these are four tracks in the vein of the first half of MDNA that are BETTER than the the first half of MDNA (SERIOUSLY MADGE WHAT THE ACTUAL F?!?!?). I could remove tracks 3,4 and 7 and insert Fucked Up, B-Day Song and Best Friend immediately (I am not a qualified A&R though) and I’d have an MDNA that is lyrically better, far more sophisticated and FUN (with a capital F-U-N).

So considering all of this (Jeez, I do go on) in a world of Madonna versus Madonna, MDNA by Madonna is not an album that can stand up against the Great Madonna albums of which Confessions On A Dancefloor was the last (it really was - I listened to it from start to finish last night and it is complete, futuristic and relentless so piss off all you haters). Yes, we all know the rules - Madonna makes a belter every second album. BUT… MDNA as reviewed by most members of the press as a four star “return to form” is a three star album of two halves, one half of which had the potential to complement the brilliance of the other half had Madonna brought someone in (me) who could have told her to put the bonus Deluxe tracks on the proper LP.

Saying all this, if the Superbowl performance (a blueprint in live pop shows) is anything to go by the tour will be amazing. And I am most definitely going. Twice. Also, some of the bouncier tracks are great pre-party uppers and she looks better than anyone will ever look (or has ever looked). Madonna remains astonishing but we needn’t get carried away with ourselves. Let’s “be honest” about MDNA, for our own sake and more importantly for Madonna’s. Madge only knows she’s earned that level of respect.

Another ageist biatch. Take your your Confessions and and eat it you talentless writer cougar. She obviously needs to purchase Something to Remember instead of MDNA.

[loomer]

So I had a look in the grotty copy of The Sun that someone left behind on the train, and that CUNT Gordon Smart of all people loves the album it seems. One minor spoiler detail I read was it was to have dubstep... not a surprise at all, now normally this may incite accusations of late bandwagon jumping, but really this is the PERFECT time for Madge to make a comeback as with the current climate dance is pop, she opened the doors for the others now they're opening doors for her.

It's not the same as Lard Candy when there were still the remnants of hip hop around, now anything is fair game. Very interesting time. I'm sure someone reported this already but just thought I'd say so anyway.

[markm]

MTV review

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1680816/madonna-mdna.jhtml

Madonna's MDNA: Swallowing It One Pill At A Time

MTV News takes a look at why Madge's upcoming album is a drug worth taking.

By Jocelyn Vena

Madonna wants us to dance the heartbreak away on MDNA. The record, set to drop on March 26, has some of the finest musical moments we've heard from the pop legend in the last few years, recalling the finer songs and themes she explored on Ray of Light and Confessions on a Dance Floor.

It's clear that Madge had her heart broken, most likely by her former hubby and British auteur, Guy Ritchie. She explores the pain of life post-divorce on many of the songs on the album, and most of the time, it works perfectly. Madonna really understands heartbreak and she understands even better how it can empower someone to be a better person.

While all the buzz seems to be about "I Don't Give A" and the bit too on-the-nose confessions she makes about her divorce (where she even sings about falling off a horse), her anger is even darker on the William Orbit-produced "Gang Bang."

Sparse at times and always punctuated by a pulsing beat, it's incredibly hard. It's the type of record you'd expect to hear at some after-hours club that your really edgy friend knows about. It's about falling completely in love and falling more deeply into hate when it's over. Serving as a pop-song revenge fantasy, Madonna sings, "And I'm going straight to hell/ And I've got a lot of friends there/ And if I see that b---- in Hell/ I'm gonna shoot him in the head again/ Cause I wanna see him die/ Over and over and over."

On the disco-tinged "Love Spent," Madge sings about feeling like nothing more than a bank to a former lover (she did have one very costly breakup from Ritchie), and on the remorseful, melodic "Best Friend," she admits, "Your picture's off the wall, but I'm still waiting for your call/ And every man that walks through the door/ Will be compared to you."

"Superstar" is light and airy, recalling some of the singer's highlights from the '80s. The mid-tempo's production, which comes courtesy of Hardy "Indiigo" Muanza, certainly helps distract from some of the sillier lyrics that have Madonna comparing her boy toy to famed dudes like Al Capone and James Dean.

If anyone was wondering why she called the album MDNA, all they need to do is look to "I'm Addicted," the super club-thumping track full of bleeping noises, spare moments and then big chugging ones, which are filled out with loopy instances. It's about letting go and loving someone completely: "Now that your name/ Pumps like blood in my veins/ Pulsing through my body, lighting my mind/ It's like MDNA and that's OK." MDNA, of course, is also known as ecstasy, giving the track the perfect metaphor for love on the dance floor.

While most of the album addresses the highs and lows of falling in love, "Some Girls" is all about Madonna proclaiming her awesomeness. Another Orbit jam, it's a crunchy, robotic, thumping anthem that puts Madonna right in the center of female empowerment. "I'm not like the rest," she proclaims, as if anyone would ever question that. "Some girls are second best." On the chorus, she declares, "Some girls are not like me/ I'm everything you've ever dreamed of/ I got you begging please."

One of the highlights is "Turn Up the Radio," which sounds like it was born to be this summer's feel-good anthem. It's bright, happy and fun, all about letting go of the past. Over Martin Solveig's sunny production, Madge sings, "It was time I opened my eyes/ I'm leaving the past behind/ Nothing's ever what it seems/ Including this time and this crazy dream."

She's not wrong to be that confident on this album. She's certainly in the groove. And the album is full of strength, but it's also her vulnerability that rounds it out. If fans thought link type="content" id="1678478">"Give Me All Your Luvin' " and "Girl Gone Wild" are what this era is all about, they are only seeing pieces of the MDNA puzzle, that's only completed when listening to the album from front to back. In the end, this album is a drug worth taking.

[mad4mad2]

MTV review

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1680816/madonna-mdna.jhtml

Madonna's MDNA: Swallowing It One Pill At A Time

MTV News takes a look at why Madge's upcoming album is a drug worth taking.

By Jocelyn Vena

Madonna wants us to dance the heartbreak away on MDNA. The record, set to drop on March 26, has some of the finest musical moments we've heard from the pop legend in the last few years, recalling the finer songs and themes she explored on Ray of Light and Confessions on a Dance Floor.

It's clear that Madge had her heart broken, most likely by her former hubby and British auteur, Guy Ritchie. She explores the pain of life post-divorce on many of the songs on the album, and most of the time, it works perfectly. Madonna really understands heartbreak and she understands even better how it can empower someone to be a better person.

While all the buzz seems to be about "I Don't Give A" and the bit too on-the-nose confessions she makes about her divorce (where she even sings about falling off a horse), her anger is even darker on the William Orbit-produced "Gang Bang."

Sparse at times and always punctuated by a pulsing beat, it's incredibly hard. It's the type of record you'd expect to hear at some after-hours club that your really edgy friend knows about. It's about falling completely in love and falling more deeply into hate when it's over. Serving as a pop-song revenge fantasy, Madonna sings, "And I'm going straight to hell/ And I've got a lot of friends there/ And if I see that b---- in Hell/ I'm gonna shoot him in the head again/ Cause I wanna see him die/ Over and over and over."

On the disco-tinged "Love Spent," Madge sings about feeling like nothing more than a bank to a former lover (she did have one very costly breakup from Ritchie), and on the remorseful, melodic "Best Friend," she admits, "Your picture's off the wall, but I'm still waiting for your call/ And every man that walks through the door/ Will be compared to you."

"Superstar" is light and airy, recalling some of the singer's highlights from the '80s. The mid-tempo's production, which comes courtesy of Hardy "Indiigo" Muanza, certainly helps distract from some of the sillier lyrics that have Madonna comparing her boy toy to famed dudes like Al Capone and James Dean.

If anyone was wondering why she called the album MDNA, all they need to do is look to "I'm Addicted," the super club-thumping track full of bleeping noises, spare moments and then big chugging ones, which are filled out with loopy instances. It's about letting go and loving someone completely: "Now that your name/ Pumps like blood in my veins/ Pulsing through my body, lighting my mind/ It's like MDNA and that's OK." MDNA, of course, is also known as ecstasy, giving the track the perfect metaphor for love on the dance floor.

While most of the album addresses the highs and lows of falling in love, "Some Girls" is all about Madonna proclaiming her awesomeness. Another Orbit jam, it's a crunchy, robotic, thumping anthem that puts Madonna right in the center of female empowerment. "I'm not like the rest," she proclaims, as if anyone would ever question that. "Some girls are second best." On the chorus, she declares, "Some girls are not like me/ I'm everything you've ever dreamed of/ I got you begging please."

One of the highlights is "Turn Up the Radio," which sounds like it was born to be this summer's feel-good anthem. It's bright, happy and fun, all about letting go of the past. Over Martin Solveig's sunny production, Madge sings, "It was time I opened my eyes/ I'm leaving the past behind/ Nothing's ever what it seems/ Including this time and this crazy dream."

She's not wrong to be that confident on this album. She's certainly in the groove. And the album is full of strength, but it's also her vulnerability that rounds it out. If fans thought link type="content" id="1678478">"Give Me All Your Luvin' " and "Girl Gone Wild" are what this era is all about, they are only seeing pieces of the MDNA puzzle, that's only completed when listening to the album from front to back. In the end, this album is a drug worth taking.

Well 2 excellent reviews out the 3 most important in music that being Billboard and MTV and Now just waiting for RS.

[mad4mad2]

MTV review

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1680816/madonna-mdna.jhtml

Madonna's MDNA: Swallowing It One Pill At A Time

MTV News takes a look at why Madge's upcoming album is a drug worth taking.

By Jocelyn Vena

Madonna wants us to dance the heartbreak away on MDNA. The record, set to drop on March 26, has some of the finest musical moments we've heard from the pop legend in the last few years, recalling the finer songs and themes she explored on Ray of Light and Confessions on a Dance Floor.

It's clear that Madge had her heart broken, most likely by her former hubby and British auteur, Guy Ritchie. She explores the pain of life post-divorce on many of the songs on the album, and most of the time, it works perfectly. Madonna really understands heartbreak and she understands even better how it can empower someone to be a better person.

While all the buzz seems to be about "I Don't Give A" and the bit too on-the-nose confessions she makes about her divorce (where she even sings about falling off a horse), her anger is even darker on the William Orbit-produced "Gang Bang."

Sparse at times and always punctuated by a pulsing beat, it's incredibly hard. It's the type of record you'd expect to hear at some after-hours club that your really edgy friend knows about. It's about falling completely in love and falling more deeply into hate when it's over. Serving as a pop-song revenge fantasy, Madonna sings, "And I'm going straight to hell/ And I've got a lot of friends there/ And if I see that b---- in Hell/ I'm gonna shoot him in the head again/ Cause I wanna see him die/ Over and over and over."

On the disco-tinged "Love Spent," Madge sings about feeling like nothing more than a bank to a former lover (she did have one very costly breakup from Ritchie), and on the remorseful, melodic "Best Friend," she admits, "Your picture's off the wall, but I'm still waiting for your call/ And every man that walks through the door/ Will be compared to you."

"Superstar" is light and airy, recalling some of the singer's highlights from the '80s. The mid-tempo's production, which comes courtesy of Hardy "Indiigo" Muanza, certainly helps distract from some of the sillier lyrics that have Madonna comparing her boy toy to famed dudes like Al Capone and James Dean.

If anyone was wondering why she called the album MDNA, all they need to do is look to "I'm Addicted," the super club-thumping track full of bleeping noises, spare moments and then big chugging ones, which are filled out with loopy instances. It's about letting go and loving someone completely: "Now that your name/ Pumps like blood in my veins/ Pulsing through my body, lighting my mind/ It's like MDNA and that's OK." MDNA, of course, is also known as ecstasy, giving the track the perfect metaphor for love on the dance floor.

While most of the album addresses the highs and lows of falling in love, "Some Girls" is all about Madonna proclaiming her awesomeness. Another Orbit jam, it's a crunchy, robotic, thumping anthem that puts Madonna right in the center of female empowerment. "I'm not like the rest," she proclaims, as if anyone would ever question that. "Some girls are second best." On the chorus, she declares, "Some girls are not like me/ I'm everything you've ever dreamed of/ I got you begging please."

One of the highlights is "Turn Up the Radio," which sounds like it was born to be this summer's feel-good anthem. It's bright, happy and fun, all about letting go of the past. Over Martin Solveig's sunny production, Madge sings, "It was time I opened my eyes/ I'm leaving the past behind/ Nothing's ever what it seems/ Including this time and this crazy dream."

She's not wrong to be that confident on this album. She's certainly in the groove. And the album is full of strength, but it's also her vulnerability that rounds it out. If fans thought link type="content" id="1678478">"Give Me All Your Luvin' " and "Girl Gone Wild" are what this era is all about, they are only seeing pieces of the MDNA puzzle, that's only completed when listening to the album from front to back. In the end, this album is a drug worth taking.

Well 2 excellent reviews out the 3 most important in music that being Billboard and MTV and Now just waiting for RS.

[dollhouse]

somebody said RS were impressed too..

[HolidayGuy]

Did MTribe just copy the credits that ran in Billboard's article? Or did it actually transcribe them? Just trying to figure out if Orbit actually has a producer credit on the track. This contradicts it:

http://www.madonnalicious.com/images/extra/2012/mdna_playback_madonnalicious3.jpg

[Shane]

Is this amazing, or what? Almost unanimous good reviews! Even the two or three "bad" ones are not really bad. I don't remember this level of across the board praise since Music?!

[nightcutter]

...Including this time and this crazy dream."

At least it's not fuzzy.

[HolidayGuy]

Looks like MTribe just took the credits that appeared in the Billboard article. Guess we'll wait for clarification.

[Littlebastard]

Is this amazing, or what? Almost unanimous good reviews! Even the two or three "bad" ones are not really bad. I don't remember this level of across the board praise since Music?!

In all fairness the somewhat negative ones seem written by 13 year old girls. LOL

[acko]

The fact that I'm not very fond of the singles,but in love with the snippets and then these GREAT REVIEWS makes me SUPER excited.

This album will have a lot 2 explore

I liked HArd CaNdy when all was siad & done, but there wasn't much 2 connect with...

This album on the other hand will b the new BIBLE.

I love that MTV write up!

[Apples388]

The fact that I'm not very fond of the singles,but in love with the snippets and then these GREAT REVIEWS makes me SUPER excited.

This album will have a lot 2 explore

I liked HArd CaNdy when all was siad & done, but there wasn't much 2 connect with...

This album on the other hand will b the new BIBLE.

I love that MTV write up!

Same here! (But I have to admit I do like "Girl Gone Wild" and will probably shake my azz to it if it comes up in da clubz and of course I absolutely adore "Masterpiece," schmaltzy lyrics and generica production included)

But LOVE SPENT, I'M ADDICTED and GANG BANG really are SONGS OF LIFE

[acko]

Same here! (But I have to admit I do like "Girl Gone Wild" and will probably shake my azz to it if it comes up in da clubz and of course I absolutely adore "Masterpiece," schmaltzy lyrics and generica production included)

But LOVE SPENT, I'M ADDICTED and GANG BANG really are SONGS OF LIFE

"Want you to take me like you took your money"

"Guy has never contributed towards the running of the family and his son's schooling."

[horn]

A somewhat negative review. By Eva Barlow who writes for Q Mag

http://eve-barlow.tumblr.com/post/19003767113/madonna-does-not-amaze

Madonna Does Not Amaze

Do you want the good news or the bad news? Well, before I deliver both (eventually) I have to get something off my chest: Madonna is the Don, The Boss, The Dude, Her Majesty of Everything. Nobody in this universe can touch her. If I read another preamble or review about her latest album MDNA that builds context around Madonna’s place in a world that now contains Lady Gaga or compares her vocal pop abilities with those of Britney Spears, I am done with that person. Deleted.

There is categorically no need whatsoever to talk about Madonna in relation to Lady Gaga, Britney, Katy Perry, Rihanna, Kylie, Kitty Batshit Brucknell, or anyone else with a vagina, a chart song and a sense of drama. People have said it before and I will rip them off and say it again: None of these women would know how to put one hip in front of the over if it weren’t for Madonna. The popstars that have succeeded (as in “come chronologically after”) Madonna do not form part of Madonna’s Sphere. They are tiptoeing around her world, grateful of being given the limelight for a minute while the “Queen of Pop” has been momentarily distracted doing whatever she does to chill out (Ryvita snacks and/or 21-year-old dancers… Madge FTW).

Just because popstars have Being A Woman in common, doesn’t mean they have anything to do with Madonna’s job. (I don’t imagine fans of Paul Weller would be impressed if his latest was judged according to “where the Modfather sits” with post-Weller products such as Miles Kane or Kasabian. Music fans would not be impressed because THAT WOULD BE EXTREMELY RUDE, and pointless. Weller isn’t sitting with his guitar thinking about what Liam Gallagher’s peddling in Pretty Green. Similarly, Madonna isn’t downloading Rosetta Stone: Advanced German because Lady Gaga has Rilke tattooed up her arm.) Madonna is not thinking about all the “others”; they weren’t there when she started her career and they likely will not be there when she finishes it (insert large IF she finishes it). When asked what she thought of Lady Gaga a few months ago by Graham Norton Madonna’s response may as well have been: “[shrug]…[rolls eyes]… Whatever.” If you’re going to put MDNA in “context”, get it right: when Madonna sits down to write a new album, the only person “Madonna” ever has to compete with is… MADONNA.

And imagine that - you’re Madonna about to make a new album. The facts: You’ve sold 300 million records since 1979; You are still only 53; You have built a career on outdoing yourself; You have more fans than the Americas have people; You were responsible for ’80s pop hits like Get Into The Groove, Like A Virgin and Papa Don’t Preach; You got naked – really naked – on coffee tables; You are responsible for Ray Of Light; You made (upper case) Music; You own Like A Prayer; Confessions On A Dancefloor was something YOU did… I could just throw words around like “Frozen” (ZOMG), “Cherish” (amazarama), “Sorry” (multilingual!), “VOGUE” (FFS!) all day long and you’d get only one pixel of the picture. It must be exciting but also terrifying being as successful as Madonna because - frankly - what the hell do you do next? Who do you allow in? Is it a risk even opening your mouth again to do an Ocado order in case you speak a sentence less poignant than “Beauty’s where you find it”? For Madonna, it’s enough trying to deal with herself. So let’s consider Madonna in light of Madonna please.

Which brings me to the point of the day: is MDNA any good? I will start with the bad news. I’m not sure I was in the same room as everyone else at the Madonna MDNA listeners party (at Abbey Road Studios, *wees with excitement*). All the cliched talk in the papers and blogs about an hour following the playback was of a “Return to form” blah-blah-blah… Not since Woody Allen’s Midnight In Paris has there been such overuse of that phrase. And, btw, Midnight In Paris was charming, funny and intelligent but it was NOT a return to form. “On form Woody Allen” is Manhattan, Annie Hall, Hannah And Her Sisters… To say Midnight In Paris was in the same vein is not only wrong, it’s an insult to his best work. I suppose in this respect (and in this respect only) Madonna is just like Woody Allen; a visionary who continues to create (thank GOD) but is in a post-apex stage of their career, their fans desperate to re-live the golden age, like a Manchester United supporter dying to see a less acclaimed side win the Treble. When you consider Ray Of Light or Immaculate Collection or Music or Confessions On A Dancefloor and then you listen to MDNA, you are no longer in the same ballpark. Nobody should be asking if it’s a good album by modern pop standards. That’s not the question Madonna’s asking. Is it a “great” album by Madonna standards? No. Well… it depends on which half of the album you listen to.

I am sorry to have to say this but MDNA was a frustrating experience. Members of the press heard the Deluxe Edition of MDNA, which was a 12-track album followed by a further four tracks. The beginning of MDNA (and when I say “beginning” I mean the “first seven or eight tracks”) are simply not Madonna. They could be anyone because Madonna’s voice has been drowned out by pulsating, flat, uninteresting European thuds (incorporated with hints of dubstep break-it-downs to keep things “current”). The lyrical couplets are inexcusable. Madonna is reduced to the cheerleader her faceless dancers portray in Gimme All Your Luvin’ (Lourdes probably has more to say in her brain). Worse still, Madonna (being a sophisticated 53-year-old goddess) doesn’t sound like she’s having a good time. She doesn’t sound confident. It’s as though she’s given a platform to Benny Benassi and Martin Solveig - two (not especially “with it”) European dance producers – and not remembered her own part.

Opening track Girls Gone Wild nods to Madonna’s last “GREAT” record Confessions On A Dancefloor but it’s just a nod. (Note: I’m wildly suspicious of the numerous people I’ve met who think that album is anything less than astonishing). In reailty, the track is a bit meh. And by that I mean that there were electro-rock singles by Bodyrockers (I Like The Way You Move) and Bodyrox (Yeah Yeah) years ago that serve the same purpose and are more catchy. Gang Bang follows as a far heavier, murder on the dancefloor-type belter that picks up the attitude (it wouldn’t be hard though given Girls Gone Wild’s “Girls just wanna have fun” message) with lyrics like “Bang bang, shot you dead/Shot my lover in the head”. You might not pick these lyrics out, however, given the constant distraction of the sound of a samurai sword being unsheathed (I’m glad Madge listens to These New Puritans in the gym). To be honest, this song might grow on me with another listen, the next time I need to fill a 15-minute session on the crosstrainer. Third track I’m Addicted (or as I might dub it I’m Totally Addicted To Bass) sounds like Swedish House Mafia, Tiesto and Justice (also ATB circa 1999) playing Pacha, Madonna’s vocal drowned out again by big phat beats like a tiny particle getting lost in the Tron Grid. By the fourth track, Turn Up The Radio, my new MDNA notepad reads “bored.com”. It’s clear that Madonna is not making waves anymore, she’s chasing them. That would be fine if the songs were good… BUT WHERE ARE THE SONGS? If I wanted to have my head pummelled by this sort of music (which I do often) I would listen to Plastikman. Madonna is not only looking to other’s conquered territory, she’s not learning anything from it.

Give Me All Your Luvin’ – the first single – is not the buoyant lead single we are used to hearing from Madonna. (Which is probably why she’s since rush-released Girl Gone Wild). It’s followed by the first track produced by William Orbit – Some Girls – which sheds some light on Madonna, The Control Freak. Orbit sounds nothing like himself. He sounds like he’s been told: “I’m doing an album with Benassi and Solveig dude, so try and do what they do, yeh?” What is the point? At this stage in the proceedings I’m dying to hear any real melody… the Tetris theme tune would do. But no. Track 7 is Superstar where melodies finally come to the fore but they are too saccharine for even Justin Bieber. I Don’t Give A (do we fill this bit in?) is the first moment that is truly interesting. It is the most intriguing song on MDNA. The lyrics allude to the breakdown of her marriage to Guy Ritchie, Nicki Minaj steals the limelight with a far superior rap to the one on Gimme All Your Luvin’ and it genuinely sounds unique. But right now I’d take an amazing pop song over “unique”.

So where are we? Track 9. TRACK NINE. Now for the good news; it is all uphill from here. Four absolutely stunning tracks produced by William Orbit at long last show why we’re still listening to Madonna. I’m A Sinner should be a major single. It’s a total change of gear, there is an immediacy to its simplicity, and ABOVE ALL, it’s confident – Madonna knows exactly what she’s doing and she KILLS IT. Love Spent is an update on Orbit’s Balearic mid-’90s euphoria, where strummed acoustic guitar meets the disco vibes of Confessions… Masterpiece, of course, a moving piece of cinematic balladry has already won a Golden Globe. It’s here that I realise something: when you go back to the drawing board there are basic elements required from a song – lyrics, melody and rhythm. The only thing MDNA cared about up until Track 9 was a beat. On Track 12 Falling Free, these three elements of songcraft align in (gushing hyperbole alert) the most sensational Madonna moment of the past 10 years.

Some more good news… The 4 tracks on the deluxe edition are brilliant (or comparatively brilliant). And what’s seriously WEIRD is that these are four tracks in the vein of the first half of MDNA that are BETTER than the the first half of MDNA (SERIOUSLY MADGE WHAT THE ACTUAL F?!?!?). I could remove tracks 3,4 and 7 and insert Fucked Up, B-Day Song and Best Friend immediately (I am not a qualified A&R though) and I’d have an MDNA that is lyrically better, far more sophisticated and FUN (with a capital F-U-N).

So considering all of this (Jeez, I do go on) in a world of Madonna versus Madonna, MDNA by Madonna is not an album that can stand up against the Great Madonna albums of which Confessions On A Dancefloor was the last (it really was - I listened to it from start to finish last night and it is complete, futuristic and relentless so piss off all you haters). Yes, we all know the rules - Madonna makes a belter every second album. BUT… MDNA as reviewed by most members of the press as a four star “return to form” is a three star album of two halves, one half of which had the potential to complement the brilliance of the other half had Madonna brought someone in (me) who could have told her to put the bonus Deluxe tracks on the proper LP.

Saying all this, if the Superbowl performance (a blueprint in live pop shows) is anything to go by the tour will be amazing. And I am most definitely going. Twice. Also, some of the bouncier tracks are great pre-party uppers and she looks better than anyone will ever look (or has ever looked). Madonna remains astonishing but we needn’t get carried away with ourselves. Let’s “be honest” about MDNA, for our own sake and more importantly for Madonna’s. Madge only knows she’s earned that level of respect.

Bitch obviously hates Madge.

She spent 6 full paragraphs trashing Madge before she actually started to review the album itself.

And it's obvious that she's not a fan of European music.

[Apples388]

It wasn't always perfect but it wasn't always bad.

"This song is about being an emotional retard. God knows I've known a few of those."

"Of course I still love her. But she's retarded too."

[Narendra Sen]

It would be a real shame if Interscope (or whoever is handling the promo for this album) does not promote the future singles PROPERLY. Based on the reviews, the masses NEED TO KNOW that the QUEEN OF POP's album is out there and is brilliant. The album and the singles could be hits.

[Roland Barthes]

I wonder if the album will have a sticker or a feature in the credits mentioning it harvests a golden globe winner song

[Guest groovyguy]

Falling Free 5:12

Written by Madonna, Laurie Mayer, William Orbit, Joe Henry

Produced by Madonna and William Orbit

http://www.facebook.com/WilliamOrbit

am THRILLED to see Laurie Mayer's name there.

Such beautiful composition of "Falling Free"(www.facebook.com/laurie.mayer.composer)

[Gutten]

Another ageist biatch. Take your your Confessions and and eat it you talentless writer cougar. She obviously needs to purchase Something to Remember instead of MDNA.

She sounds like a fan to me. Because she's not impressed with MDNA doesn't make her a hater or agist.

[Guest groovyguy]

MTV:

...the album is full of strength, but it's also her vulnerability that rounds it out. If fans thought "Give Me All Your Luvin' " and "Girl Gone Wild" are what this era is all about, they are only seeing pieces of the MDNA puzzle, that's only completed when listening to the album from front to back. In the end, this album is a drug worth taking.

[Nikki]

She sounds like a fan to me. Because she's not impressed with MDNA doesn't make her a hater or agist.

she doesnt seem to be able to get go of the music that already happened. classic rayoflighters syndrom (not to shade those fans, its also my fav album )

[Littlebastard]

You have read the review? She may be a fan but its very poorly written.