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William Orbit's Thoughts on MDNA


karbatal

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Let's face it. She's old and ageing quicker by the day - this is a very significant factor for a pop artist. She isn't flavour of the month anymore and she knows that she has a shelf life so she's cashing in on her brand while she can hence she has her finger in so many pies right now. It's all downhill from here on. Her focus is on the contracts, the money and creating a spectacle...but not necessarily on the quality or the detail.

The truth.

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I've always thought that about the shelf life. She's doing as much as she can (like very dance/youth albums) while she still can and trying to fit it all in soon. Though perhaps that's also the problem.

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So it's all about the money. Got it.

Sadly it is. It baffles me that some fans are happy that she earns 500 million this year if that means that the album is half good. I mean, if we were to inherit some of that money, it's easy to celebrate but as fans... what do we care if she earns 90 millions from a perfume if it's true that she didn't spend enough time in the record studio?

Maybe i'm too old and don't grasp this new music business :lol:

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Sadly it is. It baffles me that some fans are happy that she earns 500 million this year if that means that the album is half good. I mean, if we were to inherit some of that money, it's easy to celebrate but as fans... what do we care if she earns 90 millions from a perfume if it's true that she didn't spend enough time in the record studio?

Maybe i'm too old and don't grasp this new music business :lol:

I don't have a problem with the quality of the album (safe for a handful of songs, the album is excellent) and I don't have a problem with her non-music-related projects. The only thing that bothers me is that she chose to promote the perfume and the movie INSTEAD of the album. Couldn't she have released those months ahead or after the release of MDNA? I have this feeling that the album got lost in the W.E/TOD shuffle. The SB was a great opportunity that wasn't taken proper advantage of (they released MDNA almost 2 months after the fact :manson: yeahokthankyouverymuch). The tour? I don't know, I don't see it as promotion (although techically, it is) but maybe that's just me.

It feels like the fans are the only ones who know about the existance of this album, which is a shame, since it's one of her best works.

Oh well. Coulda shoulda woulda.

Bring on the tour.

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@Kurt

Fans are revising their initial praise because the album hasn't held for them without the rose colored glasses of newness.

Or maybe it's because since obviously some people are sort of obsessed with Madonna and listen to the record over and over, they become bored with it. Obviously, if you listen to any record non stop you get a little bored with it and it's not as fresh and exciting as the first couple of times you heard it. I still love MDNA and think it's a great pop record, but I don't just listen to it, I listen to a lot of other new music too.

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end of the day - touring is where the money is to be made these days...

Yeah poor Madonna, she's a hard working middle class woman who has 4 kids to maintain, and the amount of millions she has in her bank account is not enough.

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Sadly it is. It baffles me that some fans are happy that she earns 500 million this year if that means that the album is half good. I mean, if we were to inherit some of that money, it's easy to celebrate but as fans... what do we care if she earns 90 millions from a perfume if it's true that she didn't spend enough time in the record studio?

Maybe i'm too old and don't grasp this new music business :lol:

I don't think fans are necessarily happy that she's going to make $500 million dollars this year, I don't really care. However, I can see why she's doing what she's doing when I look from her perspective. Back when album sales were where it's that's where her attention was, it's not now. Looking from a purely fan perspective then yes, I'd love to see the bitch on every chat, talk, award show out there talking about the album and it's creation and then work on the tour after the sales are sustained, then tour, then onto the next era....you know, like it used to be. :) However, that's not how it is and fans can either shit or get off the pot when it comes to Madonna and her methods these days because it's probably never going to be like that again.

Bottom line is she made a quality album....who cares whether it took her 2 days, 2 weeks or 2 years. It's good, that's all that matters. If I recall, LAP followed a very similar recording process where she started the album in July or Aug 1988 and released it in March 1989. She started MDNA in July 2011 and it was released March 2012. And as we all know Madonna is pretty much perpetually "working on an album" as she writes, jots, journals all the time and a lot of that stuff ends up as song lyrics when it comes time to sit down and get down to business of putting songs together etc. I highly doubt the first lyric for MDNA was written in July of last year...probably many years ago.

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Yeah poor Madonna, she's a hard working middle class woman who has 4 kids to maintain, and the amount of millions she has in her bank account is not enough.

Hey...whether you make $10,000 a year or $10,000,000 a year.....I'm sure most can attest, when you make more you need more. Granted she'll never be starving on the streets type poor but she has a lifestyle to maintain and we have no idea how her money is distributed.

I don't see why it's hard for fans to understand...even putting the money aspect aside. If you were a performer, would you rather do tons of interviews, one off performances on cheesy award shows in hopes that it will boost your album sales 25% more than what it would be if you did nothing at all. OR would you rather put all your energy into YOUR own show YOUR vision. IDK....I think that would be far more fun than doing a performance on AI by their rules and having some fake banter with J.Lo afterward.

I get the impression that most of the big money is to be made in touring these days is kind of a win win for Madonna. She NEVER was the promo whore type of artists....she had some eras where she promoted more than others but when you break it all down and look at the big picture over the last 30 years, her "traditional" promo has been minimal. In the 80's just her music videos and her stepping onto the street were enough promo, then in the 90's her outrageousness was enough promo. It really wasn't until the last 10-15 years that she started showing up on Regis and Kelly every 3 months and talking to HSN about childrens books. So, I've always got the impression she enjoyed performing on HER stage, in front of HER fans on tour more than any of the other bullshit. Just so happens that's where all the money is made these days. Lucky her right? ;)

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I've always thought that about the shelf life. She's doing as much as she can (like very dance/youth albums) while she still can and trying to fit it all in soon. Though perhaps that's also the problem.

She's been making very mature albums since the 90s. The music scene in pop culture is reverting back to the 80s: the junk food sound of the 80s where everything was vapid. I blame LG of course, but Madonna going back there to keep it up to date is depressing. She was on a journey with AL. Yes I will bring up forever—rejected by the based and the establishment but has a cult following within the base and outside of the base for serious music lovers.

Hope the next album has no commercial aspirations at all: it'll turn out to be the album everyone truly wanted. Not this—late Janet Jackson phase of her recording career.

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Or maybe it's because since obviously some people are sort of obsessed with Madonna and listen to the record over and over, they become bored with it. Obviously, if you listen to any record non stop you get a little bored with it and it's not as fresh and exciting as the first couple of times you heard it. I still love MDNA and think it's a great pop record, but I don't just listen to it, I listen to a lot of other new music too.

The technical and the artistic are bound in how the listeners appreciates the recording over the long term. MDNA isn't an album I could just press play and appreciate. I have two physical discs to jump between when I want to hear the tracks I have a preference for. Erotica still has the best flow to me of any Madonna album and I don't care for Where Life Begins or Waiting.

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She's been making very mature albums since the 90s. The music scene in pop culture is reverting back to the 80s: the junk food sound of the 80s where everything was vapid. I blame LG of course, but Madonna going back there to keep it up to date is depressing. She was on a journey with AL. Yes I will bring up forever—rejected by the based and the establishment but has a cult following within the base and outside of the base for serious music lovers.

Hope the next album has no commercial aspirations at all: it'll turn out to be the album everyone truly wanted. Not this—late Janet Jackson phase of her recording career.

Are you saying Madonna's 80's music is vapid? Regardless, that's a very general statement to make. There were lots of "profound" musical releases in the 80's. Pop music has always been on the more fluffy side of things though hence the reason albums like AL and Erotica didn't fully connect to the masses the way some of her others did. Another thing, without all those Like A Virgins (which is deeper than given credit), Into The Grooves, Angels, Causing A Commotions, True Blues and Lucky Stars of the 80's, Madonna would never have had the opportunity to go "outside the box" with the two albums you love. She earned her right to make a couple left of center albums. However, I find it funny that fans think because she HAS made those type of albums in repertoire that she PREFERS to make THOSE types of albums but doesn't ALWAYS because she has the big man breathing down her neck screaming "hits hits hits!". I think like her fans, she likes variety and I think she's in different moods when making different albums and that all comes out in the work. At the end of the day though, she started out as a dance/pop artist with a song called Everybody that had anything but deep lyrics and she will most likely bow out with an easily accessible pop/dance song rather than an American Life.

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Are you saying Madonna's 80's music is vapid? Regardless, that's a very general statement to make. There were lots of "profound" musical releases in the 80's. Pop music has always been on the more fluffy side of things though hence the reason albums like AL and Erotica didn't fully connect to the masses the way some of her others did. Another thing, without all those Like A Virgins (which is deeper than given credit), Into The Grooves, Angels, Causing A Commotions, True Blues and Lucky Stars of the 80's, Madonna would never have had the opportunity to go "outside the box" with the two albums you love. She earned her right to make a couple left of center albums. However, I find it funny that fans think because she HAS made those type of albums in repertoire that she PREFERS to make THOSE types of albums but doesn't ALWAYS because she has the big man breathing down her neck screaming "hits hits hits!". I think like her fans, she likes variety and I think she's in different moods when making different albums and that all comes out in the work. At the end of the day though, she started out as a dance/pop artist with a song called Everybody that had anything but deep lyrics and she will most likely bow out with an easily accessible pop/dance song rather than an American Life.

My attitude about 80s Madonna: she was a singles' artist. Her albums didn't become sharper until Erotica. I don't believe all of her songs then were vapid throwaways unlike the (some) stuff she did for MDNA. The left of center recordings made me feel Madonna was branching out and making the kind of music that didn't limit her to her past glories in the 80s and early 90s.

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Sadly it is. It baffles me that some fans are happy that she earns 500 million this year if that means that the album is half good. I mean, if we were to inherit some of that money, it's easy to celebrate but as fans... what do we care if she earns 90 millions from a perfume if it's true that she didn't spend enough time in the record studio?

Maybe i'm too old and don't grasp this new music business :lol:

That's subjective. I don't see MDNA as "half good". I think it's a great album over all. Furthermore, I was under the impression that most fans were on board that this IS one of her best albums. That all said, I know some fans do not like the album as much as others. That's expected of any artist. Also, I don't think "some fans" are really concerned about the money. Though, I try to look at it from Madonna's perspective... as an artist. I mean after all, she's the type of artist that wanted to become wealthy and famous. A lot of entertainers strive for that. Considering the state of the music industry, if I was in Madonna's shoes, I definitely would be focused on touring not making silly appearances that really isn't going increase much sales to the album. Furthermore, the time one spends on an album does not necessarily reflect on the QUALITY of the album. Some of the greatest albums were made in a short amount of time.

In the end, how much she earns, whether she charts high or low or the promotion or lack of promotion she does shouldn't be OUR concern. That all should be Madonna and her teams concern. We should just enjoy the music and stop worrying about the acceptance by the general public. It really seems to me that's what many fans are too wrapped up with. I'm sure the die hard Bob Dylan fans aren't whining about his lack of popularity these days, yet that doesn't stop them from enjoying his new albums and any sort of touring he does.

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Well, i doubt that Bob Dylan's fans would be very happy if he released GMAYL as first single :lol: Just kidding, i get what you mean, and i think you are right. I said that the album is "half good" because i think that at least 5 songs are incredibly weak compared to the fantastic songs that are included there.

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Well, i doubt that Bob Dylan's fans would be very happy if he released GMAYL as first single :lol: Just kidding, i get what you mean, and i think you are right. I said that the album is "half good" because i think that at least 5 songs are incredibly weak compared to the fantastic songs that are included there.

Well, I think over all the album has been received positively among fans and most critics. (Keep in mind, many of the "critics" aren't even fans and I couldn't care less what they think). Certainly, there are fans who probably dislike the album more than you, but I'm sure there are many more who like the album as a whole if not most of the songs.

I like GMAYL. Certainly not her best song, but I think it suited the purpose it was intended. I think some fans are too focused on the single choices when for the most part, those are chosen to simply resonate with a general audience. If it was up to die hard fans, they would pick songs "I'm Addicted" and/or "Gang Bang" as singles, but in truth, they wouldn't connect well with the general population and that's what singles are supposed to do. This is why most artists try to stick with more safe and radio friendly songs as singles. Though, I really don't think it matters for Madonna anymore because current pop radio isn't her audience anymore. That's where most single success is measured unfortunately.... top 40 and hot 100. Though, I've accepted that of Madonna because I knew this day would come. I knew that no matter how great her album, it most likely would not jive with the general public.

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Hey...whether you make $10,000 a year or $10,000,000 a year.....I'm sure most can attest, when you make more you need more. Granted she'll never be starving on the streets type poor but she has a lifestyle to maintain and we have no idea how her money is distributed.

I don't see why it's hard for fans to understand...even putting the money aspect aside. If you were a performer, would you rather do tons of interviews, one off performances on cheesy award shows in hopes that it will boost your album sales 25% more than what it would be if you did nothing at all. OR would you rather put all your energy into YOUR own show YOUR vision. IDK....I think that would be far more fun than doing a performance on AI by their rules and having some fake banter with J.Lo afterward.

I get the impression that most of the big money is to be made in touring these days is kind of a win win for Madonna. She NEVER was the promo whore type of artists....she had some eras where she promoted more than others but when you break it all down and look at the big picture over the last 30 years, her "traditional" promo has been minimal. In the 80's just her music videos and her stepping onto the street were enough promo, then in the 90's her outrageousness was enough promo. It really wasn't until the last 10-15 years that she started showing up on Regis and Kelly every 3 months and talking to HSN about childrens books. So, I've always got the impression she enjoyed performing on HER stage, in front of HER fans on tour more than any of the other bullshit. Just so happens that's where all the money is made these days. Lucky her right? ;)

Oh I'm absolutely pro-tour, I think it's a great part of her career and I agree that she enjoys it more than doing tv interviews and stuff, but when some fans make comments like "The money is on the tour anyway" or "she's gonna make millions with this tour", those aren't valid reasons to only focus on tours, and when people say that the albums is only an excuse to tour, sorry but that's just unacceptable for me.

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Well, i doubt that Bob Dylan's fans would be very happy if he released GMAYL as first single :lol: Just kidding, i get what you mean, and i think you are right. I said that the album is "half good" because i think that at least 5 songs are incredibly weak compared to the fantastic songs that are included there.

That song should've never been recorded, period. :lol:

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Oh I'm absolutely pro-tour, I think it's a great part of her career and I agree that she enjoys it more than doing tv interviews and stuff, but when some fans make comments like "The money is on the tour anyway" or "she's gonna make millions with this tour", those aren't valid reasons to only focus on tours, and when people say that the albums is only an excuse to tour, sorry but that's just unacceptable for me.

I agree it would be a sad day when Madonna were touring ONLY for the money and not because she truly enjoyed the experience of being on stage and connecting with her fans. Somehow though, I don't think that "high" will ever get old to her. Fans can say what they will about the execution, themes etc of S&S but SHE was on point, she still had that same joyful glow and obvious love for performing on stage in 2008 that she had in 1985. To me it's always been evident that she's at "home" on the stage, she seems absolutely comfortable, very natural and not awkward in the least (ok...maybe a little with the guitar at times but you know what I mean) :). Compare that to her stiffness when acting or her awkwardness in interviews at times. Didn't she recently say that being on stage and performing is the favorite of all her "jobs"?

As far as albums being an excuse to tour. To me she's always been dramatic, so to an extent I'm sure she has visuals for her songs in mind during their creation often times anyways. Music has always seemed more of a platform for her to use to be able execute her vision on stage or in video, books etc. Think how well Sex/Erotica/BOE/Girlie Show go together for example. So, it seems to me not too much has changed as far as her process and intent goes in that area.

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She's been making very mature albums since the 90s. The music scene in pop culture is reverting back to the 80s: the junk food sound of the 80s where everything was vapid. I blame LG of course, but Madonna going back there to keep it up to date is depressing. She was on a journey with AL. Yes I will bring up forever—rejected by the based and the establishment but has a cult following within the base and outside of the base for serious music lovers.

Hope the next album has no commercial aspirations at all: it'll turn out to be the album everyone truly wanted. Not this—late Janet Jackson phase of her recording career.

Well I dunno about THAT :bad:

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Well I dunno about THAT :bad:

Cult following is a stretch, I mean she's the most famous woman on the planet, yes including that dried up whore with her diamond jubilee coming up.

But she had quite the status 'till COAD. from ROL onwards she was über-cool appealing 2 a unique demographic, unlike any other act that statistically

should have been an oldies act at that point her career. They played the fuck out of her records on alternative radio here, even AL was voted among the 10 best

albums of the year by that crowd. Not that it means anything, but it was definitely remarkable. Anyway, since the pink leotard she gradually lost all of that.

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You know, I wish I could like AL cause I wanted her to do an uncommercial album more than anything, but I just can't. :no: I know that some non-fans pick it out as their fave Madonna album but I don't think there's that many is there?

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You know, I wish I could like AL cause I wanted her to do an uncommercial album more than anything, but I just can't. :no: I know that some non-fans pick it out as their fave Madonna album but I don't think there's that many is there?

I love the sparseness of the sound...very Gainsbourg if he were alive 2day. :fag:

As far as her & Mirwaïs r concerned, i think it's the closest she (they) ever got 2 truly creating her own sound. Kinda like Prince when he put synth lines where

horn sections would normally go. U hear it & u know it's him. For that reason alone I adore it.

P.S. I don't c/hear what's so 'uncommercial' about it.

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You know, I wish I could like AL cause I wanted her to do an uncommercial album more than anything, but I just can't. :no: I know that some non-fans pick it out as their fave Madonna album but I don't think there's that many is there?

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I love the sparseness of the sound...very Gainsbourg if he were alive 2day. :fag:

As far as her & Mirwaïs r concerned, i think it's the closest she (they) ever got 2 truly creating her own sound. Kinda like Prince when he put synth lines where

horn sections would normally go. U hear it & u know it's him. For that reason alone I adore it.

P.S. I don't c/hear what's so 'uncommercial' about it.

:inlove: :inlove: :inlove: :inlove:

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P.S. I don't c/hear what's so 'uncommercial' about it.

Hmm.. well it seemed a bit more IDGAF experimental and not about appeasing people and getting on the radio. For Madonna's standards it seemed different.

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