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Rebel Heart Reviews


markm

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Jeremy Gloff-

I’ll admit it. I kinda gave up on Madonna. HARD CANDY was okay but that MAGIC wasn’t there. MDNA felt like a mixtape with some passable Madonna songs. But the fire wasn’t there. The hunger wasn’t there. MDNA felt a little bit like Madonna on auto-pilot. I listened to the album a lot but there wasn’t that moment of breathtaking brilliance. There wasn’t that Madonna moment when you are listening and you think to yourself ONLY Madonna could have sung that.

In the past year Madonna has been teasing us on Instagram with various hashtags, song lyrics, and in-studio shots. Never had M taken us so far into the studio with her. Long before we ever heard the songs phrases like “Rebel Heart” “Unapologetic Bitch” and “Bitch I’m Madonna” were part of our vocabulary. Without having heard a note of music, this new era already had an anticipation about it that felt fresh and new. I can’t imagine an MDNA era filled with #girlgonewild hashtags, thank god.

When the demos leaked last week I listened. I’m weak. But when I heard those songs something awakened in me I hadn’t felt in a long time. My unfettered, unconditional, deep love of Madonna. Madonna the artist. Madonna the songwriter. Madonna the human being. For the first time since CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR I could relate. I always loved Madonna because her songs were about my life. And in the past, her best songs were about parts of my life I didn’t discuss out loud. Throughout my whole life I’ve had the music of Stevie Nicks and the music of Madonna to put a voice to the wild and evolving graph inside my head. In the last couple of years Stevie came back. Last week when I heard the Madonna demos, I was blown the fuck away to find that Madonna had come back too.

In these new Madonna demos the lyrics once again talked about a deeper level of thinking and intelligence. On some songs. When I heard “Borrowed Time” I cried. It was the first time I cried hearing a Madonna song since 2005. It hurts my heart how divided and confused we are as a population right now. That song reached into my guts and struck a chord. Fuck.

And some of the other songs were just fun as fuck. And they literally sounded FUN. Not forced fun. But that real unbridled carefree fun that Madonna could only evoke. The new fun Madonna songs harken back to that un-self conscious hands-over-my-head freedom I hadn’t felt in years. I’m almost 40 now. I am usually too grumpy to dance. With the new Madonna demos in my CD players I danced for the first time in years. I didn’t care if anyone was looking, even though no one was looking.

Last night Madonna officially released six songs. The new album is going to be called REBEL HEART. The cover is fucking gorgeous. And the music. It’s as cutting edge as Madonna ever was. It’s as unexpected, heartfelt, fun, provocative, and genuine as the best Madonna ever was. And the best part is that these songs don’t really throw back to a previous Madonna era. These songs are REBEL HEART era through and through.

I was added to a Facebook group by a friend from Orlando earlier in the year. During the unfolding of the new Madonna era I got to share my thoughts and excitement with all the people in the group. It’s been such a pleasure. For the last couple years I’ve felt alienated and lost at sea. Through the love of Madonna I feel connected to people in a way I haven’t in a while. For those of us who love her, she provoks the deepest parts of ourselves. I have even reconnected with old friends in this group and I am so so so thankful to the universe to have these friends back in my life to share this new, glorious era of Madonna. All six songs released last night wow me. They are perfect. She sounds the best she’s sounded since RAY OF LIGHT. The opening track “Living For Love” perfectly encompasses how I feel about life right now. I’ve been hurt. My soul has been grinded down. But fuck it, I’m gonna carry on. Hearing “Living For Love” makes me feel alive again. It makes me feel like I can fall in love again. That wild fucking passionate amazing kind of love. Laugh at me if you must, but it DOES take a Madonna song to awaken that part of myself. In a world full of murder, violence, racial divide, and stife…goddamn if I’m not certain that the love is going to prevail. Motherfucking #livingforlove FOR REAL. That Madonna song is the audio equivalent of the way I want to wrap my arms around this globe and just scream out my love for humanity.

Thank you Madonna. Thank you for taking the time in the studio. Thanks for caring again. Thanks for being fully invested. Because when you care…you make some of the best pop music that’s ever been made. It’s so reassuring to me as a musician myself to know that at 56 one can be as vital, sexy, provocative, carefree, fun, and intelligent as ever. No more feeling dead and sorry for myself at 40. There’s too much love and passion from the depth of my own rebel heart.

With REBEL HEART Madonna transcends all of her peers. She is in David Bowie territory now. A true life-long artist who makes music as good now as her first album. Maybe even better.

Madonna, I fucking love you. I love your new songs. I can’t fucking wait to hear the rest of the album in March. I’m gonna carry on.

My God this brought me almost to tears, I couldn't agree more

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Roger the fat fuck Friedman upto it's usual spreading lies

Call it Rebel Heart-break. Last week Madonna released six tracks to iTunes, hoping to circumvent a spate of demos that were illegally posted on the web. At first, all six songs lodged right into the iTunes top 10 and it looked like Madonna had a success. The plan was to release the balance of the album, called “Rebel Heart,” in March.

But now, just a few days late, five of the six songs are gone from iTunes. Only one, “Bitch I’m Madonna,” featuring Nicki Minaj, remains at a lowly number 188. The album “Rebel Heart,” which lists seven songs (for some reason “Joan of Arc” is there but you can’t hear it) is at number 38 for pre-orders.

On amazon.com things are much much worse.. “Living for Love,” which was supposed to be the lead single, is at number 529 among digital singles. Five hundred twenty nine. And the “Rebel Heart” album is at 167. Ouch!

Madonna, like other legacy artists, has not been able to sell albums in the last decade. “MDNA,” “Hard Candy,” and “American Life” were all sales disasters. New fans are not forthcoming for a 56 year old artist. Old fans only to want to hear the hits. It’s a hard fact of life for everyone, not just Madonna.

This situation with “Rebel Heart” has been a real calamity. The leaked tracks, if Madonna’s peeps didn’t leak them, should have been ignored. Most of her fans wouldn’t have known how to find them anyway. Rushing them out as official releases, nearly a third of the new album, seems to have backfired. Radio didn’t pick anything up, and core fans mostly snubbed the tracks after Madonna admonished them in an Instagram video. Maybe just releasing one track officially would have worked. But a half dozen? With no promotion? No good.

Anyway, I like Madonna’s new songs. I think they’re her best work in years. Hopefully all of “Rebel Heart” will launch properly in March and this episode will have been just a distant nightmare.

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Guest CzarnaWisnia

you should post the content here instead of just linking, it's better he does not get more clicks to his site with this story.

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Guest CzarnaWisnia

Is this the first one in which someone proves they are an imbecile by flagrantly misinterpreting lyrics?

It's actually enjoyable when someone proves that, good for a laugh. Besides, when you're supposed to review a single and take most of your space to talk about other songs or other things, it says a lot about your incapacity to do your job properly.

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Calling Hard Candy and American Life "disasters" is outrageous, with 4 millions sales each it sold as much as Beyonce's surprise album that was considered a huge success... Fuck you jealous moron... That piece of shit was fired from Forbes after calling the Mdna Tour a flop, now he spreads his lies on shitty websites...

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Just terrible that yet again, the revolting and massive Madonna hater Roger Friedman can get his Madonna bashing articles out there and also the first thing you see when you google Madonna. The damage this hack of a journalist caused for Madonna re the MDNA album release was disgusting. How on Earth, does he manage to somehow get so much attention from the media when he gets fired from every job with any media outlet he has worked at. His hatred for Madonna is well known and makes me sick that yet again, his putrid articles are going to be read by the general public.

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Disgusting and vile human being.

Just when you think you are never going to hear from him again, there he is. Just googled Madonna as I often do and the first thing I saw was that dreadful heading and article. Then noticed it was from Roger Friedman. That is what is so annoying. His article is going to be read as it gets the top priority on Google. He definitely has an agenda against Madonna that is obsessional and vicious.

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Guy Oseary can't do anything against bad articles...

But Madonna will prove them wrong when she begins the promo, their lies will be forgotten when the album begins at n1 everywhere with huge first week ;)

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It's great that she's getting good reviews for this collection. But in reading through some of them and the responses, Madonna almost always gets good reviews doesn't she? Oh and the review that mentioned MDNA felt like Madonna on autopilot was on point. That album was dreadful, I know many fans liked it but as a long time fan, I found it one disappointment after another. It was as though she was half-assing it the entire way. But now with this new album it feels like she has returned to form and I'm thrilled with it!

And how the hell is it that google will take you to this Friendman's article first? Something is weird about that! What a bastard! Did he pay google for that?

Edited by OddlyEven
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I was afraid at such negative articles during the MDNA era, not today.

Madonna was already planning big promo. If she reads those articles, she will be even more determined!

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Roger is a dried up old twat who has to write shit about M. to get the measly dollars he's paid. I believe I grazed thru his shit piece earlier and if it's the same nonsense I read, he doesn't even take into account pre-orders from fans. He's a malignant cunt who matters not.

The day madonna fails is the day madonna chooses to fail. That day is never.

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Why Madonna still matters

Earlier this week, Madonna pulled a Beyoncé by releasing six new tracks off her forthcoming album with no announcement. The move comes after the songs were first leaked, an act the singer called “terrorism” and “artistic rape.” The songs, which include the Nicki Minaj collaboration “”Bitch, I’m Madonna,” quickly rose to the top of the iTunes charts, holding the top six spots in over 20 countries.

While international success is nothing new to Madonna, it’s increasingly against the cultural narrative of her as a leftover of ‘80s detritus. While every female pop artist of the last thirty years owes her a great debt, she’s often portrayed as too old, too eager, or too lacking in the energy and depth that first made her a success. The top listing for Madonna on Urban Dictionary defines the artist as “an extremely talented marketer, who over more than twenty years has excelled in the aggressive selling of an otherwise not particularly desirable product—herself.”

Which is a pretty astonishing summary of a career once lauded as the most influential female role in pop music. Despite her critics, Madonna remains the last and best bastion of the '80s and '90s music. Largely defining the past three decades of pop music, Madonna remains the most emblematic icon for Generation X, the middle child of American culture. Squeezed between the behemoth populations of baby boomers and millennials, GenX knows they need to savor their cultural heritage—hence Madonna’s continued triumph.

Fairly or not, Generation X is often tossed between the hedonism of hair metal and the lackluster antipathy of grunge. The legacy of the 1980s as a decade is one of smarm, camp, and a plasticine devotion to novelty—and the music hasn’t fared much better. While grunge was the failed rebellion in the face of ‘80s decadence, Madonna reigned through both eras as a moralistic insurgent in the jungle.

She was subdued where metal was boisterous, delicate where hip-hop was stern, and activated where grunge was lazy. She could sit-in onNightline and debate obscenity as well as she could negotiate an interview with a drunken Courtney Love. She was the first gay icon to actually embrace gay rights and completely restructure how sexuality is talked about. To this day, she’’s been a consistent lighting rod who loves to be struck, as energized by Nicki Minaj as she is by Pussy Riot.

Which makes her a standout among ‘80s icons. While the signs of boomer nostalgia never seem to fade and millennials still hold center stage (for now), the musical icons of Generation X, to paraphrase Neil Young’s famous line, have either burnt out, faded away, or both.

Michael Jackson is dead. Chinese Democracy was released—and it sucked. The Foo Fighters are now bigger than Nirvana ever was. The bravado and aggression—the revolutionary excitement—of early rap is now fodder for Jimmy Fallon. Even heavy metal, which once shocked with Satanic allusions and sexual deviance, is more likely to host a theme cruise than remind anyone of revolt. The cultural peaks of Generation X’s lifespan are either buried or lost in the fog of ornamental relevance.

Even Prince, that mystical warrior of funk and sex, suddenly finds himself fighting the passage of time in a geezer-like manner. He and Madonna seem like natural counterparts; each focused heavily on sexuality, thinning out the borders between genders, ethnicities, and the expectations of a black or female artist. Yet his career and influence wanes as he tries (and fails) to sue his own fans for wanting to buy music in the 21st century.

And while one must strain to hear any of Prince’s original ideas survive into the pop music of today, Madonna is scattered through every major act of the last 15 years. If Madonna were to start her career today instead of in 1983, she’d appear to be a mashup of every major artist currently working: The bold iconography of Beyoncé, the feminine lightness ofTaylor Swift, the dour theatrics of Lorde, the dancefloor sensibility ofRihanna, the pipes of Ariana Grande, and the artistic extremism of Lady Gaga. Madonna’s influence on American pop music is almost smothering in its totality.

One of the biggest factors in this influence is not simply her talent but the context in which she thrived. Looking back from today, it’s hard to imagine a time when the vast majority of the top artists in the world were men. Earlier this year, Billboard celebrated a record five weeks where all of the top five artists on the Hot 100 were women. In their annual ranking of the most powerful musicians, Forbes had three female acts in the top five—with Beyoncé holding the number one spot.

As Today's Tom Sclafani once remarked, “before Madonna, most music mega-stars were guy rockers; after her, almost all would be female singers.” In 1983, Madonna entered a world dominated by Michael Jackson, The Police, and the likes of Def Leppard. This was before the golden age of R&B that would bring Whitney Houston and well after the death of disco and its divas. Sure, you had your Cyndi Lauper, your Pat Benatar, your Chaka Kahn. But Madonna reached a superstar status unrivaled by any of her female colleagues.

This means she largely built the only framework for the female pop star, fundamentally altering all that comes after her and nearly embarrassing all that came before. In this way, she’s the iPhone of pop stars: not merely succeeding in the market but demolishing and rebuilding the market in their own image.

Which is why Generation X won’t let her go. So much of ‘80s and early ‘90s culture was built on self-gratification and a tendency towards the absurd. Madonna is the only performer still standing after that torrent of selfishness, that epoch of pointless grandiosity. She’s the last lighthouse ushering GenXers in from an existential sea, offering merely the opportunity for an identity not built on the dead or disgraced.

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/why-madonna-still-matters/?tw=dd

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"This means she largely built the only framework for the female pop star, fundamentally altering all that comes after her and nearly embarrassing all that came before. In this way, shes the iPhone of pop stars: not merely succeeding in the market but demolishing and rebuilding the market in their own image."

Loved it! Great article.

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475]

Why Madonna still matters

Earlier this week, Madonna pulled a Beyoncé by releasing six new tracks off her forthcoming album with no announcement. The move comes after the songs were first leaked, an act the singer called terrorism and artistic rape. The songs, which include the Nicki Minaj collaboration Bitch, Im Madonna, quickly rose to the top of the iTunes charts, holding the top six spots in over 20 countries.

While international success is nothing new to Madonna, its increasingly against the cultural narrative of her as a leftover of 80s detritus. While every female pop artist of the last thirty years owes her a great debt, shes often portrayed as too old, too eager, or too lacking in the energy and depth that first made her a success. The top listing for Madonna on Urban Dictionary defines the artist as an extremely talented marketer, who over more than twenty years has excelled in the aggressive selling of an otherwise not particularly desirable productherself.

Which is a pretty astonishing summary of a career once lauded as the most influential female role in pop music. Despite her critics, Madonna remains the last and best bastion of the '80s and '90s music. Largely defining the past three decades of pop music, Madonna remains the most emblematic icon for Generation X, the middle child of American culture. Squeezed between the behemoth populations of baby boomers and millennials, GenX knows they need to savor their cultural heritagehence Madonnas continued triumph.

Fairly or not, Generation X is often tossed between the hedonism of hair metal and the lackluster antipathy of grunge. The legacy of the 1980s as a decade is one of smarm, camp, and a plasticine devotion to noveltyand the music hasnt fared much better. While grunge was the failed rebellion in the face of 80s decadence, Madonna reigned through both eras as a moralistic insurgent in the jungle.

She was subdued where metal was boisterous, delicate where hip-hop was stern, and activated where grunge was lazy. She could sit-in onNightline and debate obscenity as well as she could negotiate an interview with a drunken Courtney Love. She was the first gay icon to actually embrace gay rights and completely restructure how sexuality is talked about. To this day, shes been a consistent lighting rod who loves to be struck, as energized by Nicki Minaj as she is by Pussy Riot.

Which makes her a standout among 80s icons. While the signs of boomer nostalgia never seem to fade and millennials still hold center stage (for now), the musical icons of Generation X, to paraphrase Neil Youngs famous line, have either burnt out, faded away, or both.

Michael Jackson is dead. Chinese Democracy was releasedand it sucked. The Foo Fighters are now bigger than Nirvana ever was. The bravado and aggressionthe revolutionary excitementof early rap is now fodder for Jimmy Fallon. Even heavy metal, which once shocked with Satanic allusions and sexual deviance, is more likely to host a theme cruise than remind anyone of revolt. The cultural peaks of Generation Xs lifespan are either buried or lost in the fog of ornamental relevance.

Even Prince, that mystical warrior of funk and sex, suddenly finds himself fighting the passage of time in a geezer-like manner. He and Madonna seem like natural counterparts; each focused heavily on sexuality, thinning out the borders between genders, ethnicities, and the expectations of a black or female artist. Yet his career and influence wanes as he tries (and fails) to sue his own fans for wanting to buy music in the 21st century.

And while one must strain to hear any of Princes original ideas survive into the pop music of today, Madonna is scattered through every major act of the last 15 years. If Madonna were to start her career today instead of in 1983, shed appear to be a mashup of every major artist currently working: The bold iconography of Beyoncé, the feminine lightness ofTaylor Swift, the dour theatrics of Lorde, the dancefloor sensibility ofRihanna, the pipes of Ariana Grande, and the artistic extremism of Lady Gaga. Madonnas influence on American pop music is almost smothering in its totality.

One of the biggest factors in this influence is not simply her talent but the context in which she thrived. Looking back from today, its hard to imagine a time when the vast majority of the top artists in the world were men. Earlier this year, Billboard celebrated a record five weeks where all of the top five artists on the Hot 100 were women. In their annual ranking of the most powerful musicians, Forbes had three female acts in the top fivewith Beyoncé holding the number one spot.

As Today's Tom Sclafani once remarked, before Madonna, most music mega-stars were guy rockers; after her, almost all would be female singers. In 1983, Madonna entered a world dominated by Michael Jackson, The Police, and the likes of Def Leppard. This was before the golden age of R&B that would bring Whitney Houston and well after the death of disco and its divas. Sure, you had your Cyndi Lauper, your Pat Benatar, your Chaka Kahn. But Madonna reached a superstar status unrivaled by any of her female colleagues.

This means she largely built the only framework for the female pop star, fundamentally altering all that comes after her and nearly embarrassing all that came before. In this way, shes the iPhone of pop stars: not merely succeeding in the market but demolishing and rebuilding the market in their own image.

Which is why Generation X wont let her go. So much of 80s and early 90s culture was built on self-gratification and a tendency towards the absurd. Madonna is the only performer still standing after that torrent of selfishness, that epoch of pointless grandiosity. Shes the last lighthouse ushering GenXers in from an existential sea, offering merely the opportunity for an identity not built on the dead or disgraced.

http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/why-madonna-still-matters/?tw=dd

🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏

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