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"Rebel Heart" Reviews [continued] - thread 2


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Yes, have always thought she has the same quality - apart from the clear and lush vocals - also with the pure and true emotion she sings with. One day, people will look back who said Madonna could not sing and realize just how wrong they have been.

Right on Jan :thumbsup:

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She did? How cool! Do you remember where you read that quote?

Madonna: “Karen Carpenter had the clearest, purest voice. I’m completely influenced by her harmonic sensibility.”

Unfortunately I don't know where Madonna said this but Rolling Stones quoted M when Karen was listed as one of the greatest singers so it must be true:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/karen-carpenter-20101202

Also this is interesting:

"Publicity materials for the album said that Rain was a tribute to Karen Carpenter, possibly because of the way Madonna sings it. Madonna said of the singer: "Karen Carpenter had the clearest, purest voice. I'm completely influenced by her harmonic sensibility."

This is going to sound spooky but Rain just started playing on my iTunes shuffle while I was typing this :mellow:.

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Madonna: “Karen Carpenter had the clearest, purest voice. I’m completely influenced by her harmonic sensibility.”

Unfortunately I don't know where Madonna said this but Rolling Stones quoted M when Karen was listed as one of the greatest singers so it must be true:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/karen-carpenter-20101202

Also this is interesting:

"Publicity materials for the album said that Rain was a tribute to Karen Carpenter, possibly because of the way Madonna sings it. Madonna said of the singer: "Karen Carpenter had the clearest, purest voice. I'm completely influenced by her harmonic sensibility."

This is going to sound spooky but Rain just started playing on my iTunes shuffle while I was typing this :mellow:.

Awesome-thanks for posting that! They both have this beautiful melancholy to their voices.

Wow - that is creepy about Rain coming on while you were typing - must be true! :scared:

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So, here's my rough translation of the review published by BT, Denmark's biggest newspaper.

New album from Madonna: A mix of trash and pop gems

Madonna continues to provoke, but she is at her best when she just gives it a break and sings pop music.

Madonna's new album, Rebel Heart, is an almost criminal mix of pure trash and pure pop gems. But thanks to her the dogged determination, the 56-year-old pop diva manages to, sort of, stay on her throne.

She seems to suffer from galloping megalomania. She obviously doesn't know how to stop while the going is good; at the age of 56, Madonna still behaves like an exhausting mix of a neurotic Disney witch and a hyperactive teenager.

With a career now in its fourth decade, holding people's interest is an achievement in itself. Everybody has an opinion about Madonna as an actress, as a mother, as a film director and last, but not least, as a pop star. And songs such as "Living for Love", "Devil Pray" and "Wash All Over Me" prove that Madonna still has what it takes, although it shows only in flashes.

The sexy breakdown in "Devil Pray" should make Miley Cyrus consider leaving showbiz in favour of a career as a social and health-care assistant while "Living for Love" should make Beyoncé cry from well-founded envy. And "Joan of Arc" should make all spotty wannabes hit themselves in their heads with their diamond-encrusted microphones.

Since the very beginning of her carreer, Madonna has been good at taking inspiration from her surroundings and transforming those inputs into both provocative and stimulating hit tunes. This is one of the reasons why she has often collaborated with up-and-coming songwriters and producers, especially since the Ray of Light days.

On the one hand, this approach has once again paid off, resulting in songs such as "HeartBreakCity" and "Ghosttown". On the other hand, Madonna's self-assured blind faith in people such as Kanye West and Diplo has also resulted in some of the worst songs she has ever released. That says quite a lot. Words cannot describe how painful it is to listen to the unforgiveably bad "Iconic", which is only made even worse by Mike Tyson's presence on the track.

"Veni Vini Vici" and "Bitch I'm Madonna" are almost as embarrassing, but the worst of them all is "Holy Water". In a desperate attempt at provoking listeners, Madonna compares her own juices to holy water while proclaming, "Jesus love my pussy best".

I have no idea about that, but one thing is clear: Not even Jesus would be able to forgive such a horrible song.

Rating: 3/6

Original article (in Danish): http://www.bt.dk/musik/nyt-album-affald-og-popguld-fra-madonna

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it's clear isn't it? they are refusing to get her sense of humor. remove iconic, s.e.x, holy water, and the bitch songs and you get a 5 star album in probably almost all reviews. instead she wants to have fun too. but what I don't get is how people don't see she's just joking? it's so obvious.

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Here's one more rough translation of a Danish review, this time from the music magazine Soundvenue.

Madonna - Rebel Heart

Madonna is at her best when she lets her guard down or mixes personal and political statements. Unfortunately, Rebel Heart is a bit of a mess.

Madonna was the queen of pop in the 1980s and 1990s. For the past 15 years, however, she has spent most of the time following in the footsteps of others - and herself.

As a rule of thumb, her choice of lead single indicates her confidence in and judgement of the songs at hand. Disastrous lead singles such as "American Life", "4 Minutes" and "Give Me All Your Luvin'" were all early warnings of unfocused albums with no clear musical direction. However, whenever Madonnas has managed to choose the right lead singles, they have usually been followed up by both critically and commercially succesful albums. The lead single of Rebel Heart was "Living for Love", a more than worthy successor to house-inspired empowerment anthems such as "Vogue" and "Express Yourself", which were both released more than 25 years ago. It's probably her best single since 2005's "Hung Up".

One would assume that all of the above means that Rebel Heart is a strong album. Unfortunately not. Madonna obviously sowed the seeds of a more than solid pop album, but seems to have lost perspective of her very diverse overabundance of songs, choosing to deliver it all as one big mess rather than staying focused and hand-picking only the best songs.

She still tries too hard to imitate Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. on songs such as "Illuminati", which was produced by Kanye West, "Bitch I'm Madonna" (on which Nicki Minaj herself is featured) and the electro-reggae-inspired "Unapologetic Bitch", neither of which suits Madonna's voice or persona.

Rebel Heart is at its strongest when Madonna lets down her guard or mixes personal and political statements. Many of the ballads address her break-up with yet another young lover, but musically, these well-written songs sung in a rich lower register hit some sweet spots. Highlights include "Ghosttown" (which might as well have been recorded by Taylor Swift), "Wash All Over Me" and the title track, which was degraded to a deluxe edition bonus track for mysterious reasons.

Whether you listen to the 14-track edition or the 19-track edition, the album lacks musical cohesiveness and the sequencing seems random to such a degree that it gets disturbing at times. With a stronger focus, Madonna could have delivered a solid comeback album with 11 strong songs. Madonna still has a good sense of strong pop tunes. But combined with an overabundance of collaborators, her haphazard approach to the process of creating the album hasn't done anything good to the overall impression of the album as a whole.

Rating: 3/6

Original article (in Danish): http://soundvenue.com/musik/2015/03/madonna-138713

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Madonna: “Karen Carpenter had the clearest, purest voice. I’m completely influenced by her harmonic sensibility.”

Unfortunately I don't know where Madonna said this but Rolling Stones quoted M when Karen was listed as one of the greatest singers so it must be true:

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-singers-of-all-time-19691231/karen-carpenter-20101202

Also this is interesting:

"Publicity materials for the album said that Rain was a tribute to Karen Carpenter, possibly because of the way Madonna sings it. Madonna said of the singer: "Karen Carpenter had the clearest, purest voice. I'm completely influenced by her harmonic sensibility."

This is going to sound spooky but Rain just started playing on my iTunes shuffle while I was typing this :mellow:.

NO KIDDING i was just playing STR and Rain is on while am reading this thread!!!

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Danish reviews are full of Madonna stereotypes.

I'm glade she has included tongue-in cheek-songs on "Rebel Heart" and has refused to be put in a certain age box made by her critics and general public. They only want to see Madonna's tamed side.

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Even with these "vulgar" (which is really just 2 songs, Holy Water and S.E.X.) I feel like she's just being campy and weird, almost like a drag performance. It's not like she's making a Janet Jackson sex song. You could ALWAYS tell that woman was TRULY trying to make music for people to feel aroused by, and it was just a fail. On every level.

*waterfall noise*

​mmmmm fuckkkkk….

*soft harp*

*wind chimes*

yeah babiiii…..

*blowjob sound*

*gentle synths*

NO…NOT YETEH….

uhhhh!!!! YEZZZ…. UGHHH!!!!

​Mmmm… moist…. you make me so moist

I mean really?! (actual quotes from what I remember)

:dead:

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So, here's my rough translation of the review published by BT, Denmark's biggest newspaper.

New album from Madonna: A mix of trash :blink::semifunny: and pop gems

Madonna continues to provoke, but she is at her best when she just gives it a break and sings pop music.

Madonna's new album, Rebel Heart, is an almost criminal mix of pure trash and pure pop gems. But thanks to her the dogged determination, the 56-year-old pop diva manages to, sort of, stay on her throne.

She seems to suffer from galloping megalomania. She obviously doesn't know how to stop while the going is good; at the age of 56, Madonna still behaves like an exhausting mix of a neurotic Disney witch and a hyperactive teenager.

With a career now in its fourth decade, holding people's interest is an achievement in itself. Everybody has an opinion about Madonna as an actress, as a mother, as a film director and last, but not least, as a pop star. And songs such as "Living for Love", "Devil Pray" and "Wash All Over Me" prove that Madonna still has what it takes, although it shows only in flashes.

The sexy breakdown in "Devil Pray" should make Miley Cyrus consider leaving showbiz in favour of a career as a social and health-care assistant while "Living for Love" should make Beyoncé cry from well-founded envy. And "Joan of Arc" should make all spotty wannabes hit themselves in their heads with their diamond-encrusted microphones.

Since the very beginning of her carreer, Madonna has been good at taking inspiration from her surroundings and transforming those inputs into both provocative and stimulating hit tunes. This is one of the reasons why she has often collaborated with up-and-coming songwriters and producers, especially since the Ray of Light days.

On the one hand, this approach has once again paid off, resulting in songs such as "HeartBreakCity" and "Ghosttown". On the other hand, Madonna's self-assured blind faith in people such as Kanye West and Diplo has also resulted in some of the worst songs she has ever released. That says quite a lot. Words cannot describe how painful it is to listen to the unforgiveably bad "Iconic", which is only made even worse by Mike Tyson's presence on the track.

"Veni Vini Vici" and "Bitch I'm Madonna" are almost as embarrassing, but the worst of them all is "Holy Water". In a desperate attempt at provoking listeners, Madonna compares her own juices to holy water while proclaming, "Jesus love my pussy best".

I have no idea about that, but one thing is clear: Not even Jesus would be able to forgive such a horrible song.

Rating: 3/6

Original article (in Danish): http://www.bt.dk/musik/nyt-album-affald-og-popguld-fra-madonna

LOL :chuckle: Truly pathetic

The only embarassing thing here is this poorly written pompous review full of standadised clichè Madonna critiques. Half of them has got to do with ageist and sexist "Disney witch/hyperactive teenager" remarks. Of course. I see so many similar examples in the Italian press too (not in regards to this particular release, I mean in general as far as Madonna is concerned).

First of all I refuse to read anything where they still write "Louise Veronica Ciccone who goes by the stage name of Madonna", uhm it's been 32 fucking years, time to get the facts straight you overpaid self-important assholes!

3/6? Seriously? :rotfl:

What do they make of most pop/dance/hip hop stuff that's clogging the charts lately?

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"Louise Veronica Ciccone who goes by the stage name of Madonna"

:chuckle:

"Louise Veronica Ciccone who goes by the stage name of Madonna"

Lmao it's basic knowledge that Madonna is her real name, and they can't even get that right smh

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Turkish newspaper Hurriyet gave Madonna 4/5 stars.

They say, after her worst album MDNA she just couldnt do worse and surprisingly Madonna delivers one her best album yet.

They like the album very much, though they dont go too mucu in single reviews and ask if Madonna ever will act like her age (this one is not meant negatifly actually, but he could leave this out)

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kelebek/keyif/28377576.asp

German Newspaper Focus:

very positiv review, they like it too and claim its after Ray of light her best.

Though they critize her lyrics e.g. „Oh my god / you're so hot“.

http://www.focus.de/kultur/musik/madonna-rebel-heart-die-wiederauferstehung-der-madonna_id_4524991.html

German musik online magazin LAUT:

they didnt like the album, gave her 2/5 stars

I am not willing to translate the review, its soo negatif, calling it a trash album and no cohesiveness and so on

http://www.laut.de/Madonna/Alben/Rebel-Heart-95835

German newspaper magazine Stern:

they like the album very much, saying : The old Madonna is finally back again

http://www.stern.de/kultur/musik/madonna-rebel-heart-die-rueckkehr-der-pop-ikone-2177713.html

German newspaper spiegel:

25 reasons to love Madonna

http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/musik/madonna-rebel-heart-25-gruende-das-neue-album-zu-hoeren-a-1022003.html

they love the album very much and dont want her to stop:

reason no. 17

Lets be honest. Lady Gaga is crazy shit, Rihanna just takes her clothes off and Beyoncé is cool, but too much chestely

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Turkish newspaper Hurriyet gave Madonna 4/5 stars.

They say, after her worst album MDNA she just couldnt do worse and surprisingly Madonna delivers one her best album yet.

They like the album very much, though they dont go too mucu in single reviews and ask if Madonna ever will act like her age (this one is not meant negatifly actually, but he could leave this out)

http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/kelebek/keyif/28377576.asp

German Newspaper Focus:

very positiv review, they like it too and claim its after Ray of light her best.

Though they critize her lyrics e.g. „Oh my god / you're so hot“.

http://www.focus.de/kultur/musik/madonna-rebel-heart-die-wiederauferstehung-der-madonna_id_4524991.html

German musik online magazin LAUT:

they didnt like the album, gave her 2/5 stars

I am not willing to translate the review, its soo negatif, calling it a trash album and no cohesiveness and so on

http://www.laut.de/Madonna/Alben/Rebel-Heart-95835

German newspaper magazine Stern:

they like the album very much, saying : The old Madonna is finally back again

http://www.stern.de/kultur/musik/madonna-rebel-heart-die-rueckkehr-der-pop-ikone-2177713.html

From these German reviews, which is the most important one? I mean popular-wise.

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From these German reviews, which is the most important one? I mean popular-wise.

Well Focus, Stern and Spiegel are like the US time magazine. They are actually the important ones.

Also german newspaper Die Welt had a positive review about the album aswell.

It seems like the german media is in love with Madonna again. Just forget that laut review.

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Does anyone know when Rebel Heart becomes available on Tuesday on ITunes will the sales only have a full effect for those who are buying it as a whole rather than those who have had it pre ordered and already have the 9 tracks?

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Does anyone know when Rebel Heart becomes available on Tuesday on ITunes will the sales only have a full effect for those who are buying it as a whole rather than those who have had it pre ordered and already have the 9 tracks?

Yes. I'm trying to figure out how to cancel my pre-order so I can just complete my album instead, but I can't find the link to do that anywhere...

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Thanks! If I do "complete my album" on release day, will it count as a new sale or will it still be considered a pre-order, since I have some of the songs already? Also, will it charge me more than the current price to complete my pre-order? It's all so confusing...

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Well Focus, Stern and Spiegel are like the US time magazine. They are actually the important ones.

Also german newspaper Die Welt had a positive review about the album aswell.

It seems like the german media is in love with Madonna again. Just forget that laut review.

haha ok. Thanks for sharing!

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Whether you complete the album or pre-ordered it, it still counts as a sale- so, why would you want to cancel the pre-order?

Will the album be able to crack 70 on Metacritic? Currently at 68, with 19 reviews- MDNA had 34 reviews taken into account.

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Whether you complete the album or pre-ordered it, it still counts as a sale- so, why would you want to cancel the pre-order?

Because of this BS rule change on iTunes. M needs all the iTunes promo she can get:

https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6487769/apple-itunes-store-concerns-changes

The latest move inside iTunes addresses how pre-orders are counted. Previously, pre-orders impacted the store chart as the orders came in, as well as the day of the release, when those orders were fulfilled to customers. That usually meant a title with a large amount of preorders would be assured the No. 1 slot on the day of release, an effective marketing tool for labels which allowed them to bring attention to the album's availability by touting its No. 1 spot in the iTunes chart.

However, in the new configuration, all pre-orders are wiped clean as the clock strikes midnight on the day of the release. Consequently, that title's chart position is determined by what new sales activity takes place on the first day of its release, not all the activity it had generated through pre-orders. This move cuts down chances of landing the No. 1 spot, as the new release will have to get there solely through new purchases on the day of release.

I'm seeing 68 on Metacritic with 15 reviews, not 19.

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