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MADAME X: official reviews are in: MADAME X is a hit with the critics!


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The only M album that ever disappointed me was Confessions. Drab, uninspired, and melancholy. But different strokes for different folks, eh? The other 12 have been ace.

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23 minutes ago, elijah said:

I am not interested in that part of her really. The whole album felt (especially at first) like this joyless, angry experience with clumsy lyrics and basic melodies. However I like Easy Ride and Mother and Father. Nothing Fails is ok (a bit try hard), LP is a no. Its interesting how some performances really UPLIFTED the songs and the most striking example is NKM. The RIT performance elevated the song from one of my least favourite to one of my favourites. Of course, Madonna has no bad album, but we are talking in comparison to what followed. Maybe I really adored ROL and I wanted more of that? Could be. However she delivered with COADF, most of MDNA and RH more than enough.

Ok, are you talking about American Life the single or the album? Because you shouldn’t put the same words like “the whole album” and “angry” anywhere near each other!

Your take on AL is extremely limited and shallow. No offense. You missed the whole point!

I was still so young when I first heard it, and it didn’t take much for me to see the deeper spiritual undertones in that album. First song I heard was actually “I’m So Stupid”.  “...cuz I used to live in a fuzzy dream, and I wanted to be like all the pretty people... please don’t try to tempt me, it was just greed and it won’t protect me”. I wasn’t much into Kabbalah at that point at all, but the “it won’t protect me” part already made sense to me.

Then Love Profusion completely won me over. Nothing Fails is trying too hard? It’s one of the most laid back songs buddy! Except it drops into a climax with the choir so unexpectedly, it took my breath away when I first heard it. Again, most people associate it with Guy, but I believe M had something more spiritual in mind as well. And I just don’t understand how you can’t relate to some of the lyrics. I guess from Nobody Knows Me to Die Another Day, one cannot appreciate her message if they don’t approach them from a spiritual point of view. MDNA is one of her least albums in that sense. Maybe that’s why you liked it. I actually didn’t. 

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4 minutes ago, karbatal said:

Well, I'm sorry to announce that Madame X seems very American Life-ish: a collection of songs not made to impact radios but to send a clear message to the world. So brace yourself. 

Oh I'm here for it karby!! I'm far more open these days to what M may offer. AL was my little lesson in that!! lol Have to say though, we've heard a quarter of MX already and I'm already a bigger fan of what I've heard than AL the first time I heard it. There was NOTHING on AL (well maybe DAD) that I would've placed among the best of her career at that time but already I consider Medellin to be one of the best, most unique lead singles she's ever had. Gets better and better as time goes on!! If anything, MX feels like it's going to be more Music-ish to me......kind of all over the place (in a good way). AL was more cohesive to me but in a way, that was it's downfall because everything sounded like a damn campfire jingle to me at that time.

NOW though......AL, LP, ER, DAD even MAF....I rank among her best!!

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12 minutes ago, karbatal said:

Well, I'm sorry to announce that Madame X seems very American Life-ish: a collection of songs not made to impact radios but to send a clear message to the world. So brace yourself. 

Actually, the first several songs released from MADAME X remind me nothing of AMERICAN LIFE.  But I understand what you're saying. I agree it's probably not going to be a universally and critically acclaimed album. I do think Madonna meant MADAME X is a continuation in a certain spirit being it's a bit darker and she is tackling social and political issues.  Though, other than the AMERICAN LIFE original video and album cover, there was nothing too political about AMERICAN LIFE.

I still think the best is yet to come. 

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We all have our own preferences, but to put things into perspective: Kylie Minogue has no song that is even half as good as ACT OF CONTRITION which is an outro to the Like a Prayer album. "Gone, Gone, Gone", which is not even a B-side but merely an outtake / unreleased demo, is better than all singles ever released by Ariana Grande. That is how MAGNIFICENT the quality of Madonna's musical output is in the bigger picture 

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I donno... I became M’s fan because of American Life. Like it totally took me into this futuristic, mystical, spiritual world with its sound, lyrics and Madonna’s voice. And I was hooked. Maybe that’s why it’s my most favorite album. It wasn’t until American Life that I actually went back into her career and listened to all the other albums. My second favorite is ROL. 

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4 hours ago, alquemist said:

WTF cares about official reviews? What does normal/weird mean anyway? 

Bring on the album which will be AMAZING. Imho her work with Mirwais is the best and I‘m so in love with all the tracks so far, not only Medellín. Can‘t wait for Dark Ballet!

Agree.

I love all 4 new tracks, I listen to them much more than I listened to ANY MDNA or Rebel Heart track.

 

 

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30 minutes ago, Shaun said:

The only M album that ever disappointed me was Confessions. Drab, uninspired, and melancholy. But different strokes for different folks, eh? The other 12 have been ace.

:megamanson: BYTCH PLEASE.

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16 minutes ago, Crystal Coffin said:

We all have our own preferences, but to put things into perspective: Kylie Minogue has no song that is even half as good as ACT OF CONTRITION which is an outro to the Like a Prayer album. "Gone, Gone, Gone", which is not even a B-side but merely an outtake / unreleased demo, is better than all singles ever released by Ariana Grande. That is how MAGNIFICENT the quality of Madonna's musical output is in the bigger picture 

I think Into You or Break Free by Ariana are better than Gone Gone Gon and Kylie has better songs than Act of Contriction  But I guess the debate in this thread is getting too crazy to go in that direction :lol:

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Sometimes words are useless just listening...

Hope MX is this kind of quality in a diiferent sound...

Music

1/ Music (Madonna/Ahmadzaï) - 3:44
2/ Impressive Instant (Madonna/Ahmadzaï) - 3:37
3/ Runaway Lover (Madonna/Orbit) - 4:46
4/ I Deserve It (Madonna/Ahmadzaï) - 4:23
5/ Amazing (Madonna/Orbit) - 3:43
6/ Nobody's Perfect (Madonna/Ahmadzaï) - 4:58
7/ Don't Tell Me (Madonna/Ahmadzaï/Henry) - 4:40
8/ What It Feels Like For A Girl (Madonna/Sigworth) - 4:43
9/ Paradise (Not For Me) (Ahmadzaï/Madonna) - 6:33
10/ Gone (Madonna/LeGassick/Young) - 3:24
11/ American Pie (McLean) - 4:33

 

American life (2003)

1/ American Life (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:58
2/ Hollywood (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:24
3/ I'm So Stupid (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:09
4/ Love Profusion (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 3:38
5/ Nobody Knows Me (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:39
6/ Nothing Fails (Madonna/Sigsworth/Griffiths) - 4:49
7/ Intervention (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:54
8/ X-Static Process (Madonna/Price) - 3:50
9/ Mother & Father (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:33
10/ Die Another Day (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:38
11/ Easy Ride (Madonna/Pittman) - 5:05

 

Edited by piedmoutet
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4 minutes ago, piedmoutet said:

Sometimes words are useless just listening...

Hope MX is this kind of quality in a diiferent sound...

Music

1/ Music (Madonna/Ahmadzaï) - 3:44
2/ Impressive Instant (Madonna/Ahmadzaï) - 3:37
3/ Runaway Lover (Madonna/Orbit) - 4:46
4/ I Deserve It (Madonna/Ahmadzaï) - 4:23
5/ Amazing (Madonna/Orbit) - 3:43
6/ Nobody's Perfect (Madonna/Ahmadzaï) - 4:58
7/ Don't Tell Me (Madonna/Ahmadzaï/Henry) - 4:40
8/ What It Feels Like For A Girl (Madonna/Sigworth) - 4:43
9/ Paradise (Not For Me) (Ahmadzaï/Madonna) - 6:33
10/ Gone (Madonna/LeGassick/Young) - 3:24
11/ American Pie (McLean) - 4:33

 

American life (2003)

1/ American Life (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:58
2/ Hollywood (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:24
3/ I'm So Stupid (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:09
4/ Love Profusion (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 3:38
5/ Nobody Knows Me (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:39
6/ Nothing Fails (Madonna/Sigsworth/Griffiths) - 4:49
7/ Intervention (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:54
8/ X-Static Process (Madonna/Price) - 3:50
9/ Mother & Father (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:33
10/ Die Another Day (Madonna/AhmadzaÏ) - 4:38
11/ Easy Ride (Madonna/Pittman) - 5:05

 

Perfection. No 26 songs track listings. This is it.

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OH....and Hard Candy deserved EVERY SINGLE BIT of it's 4 STAR RATING!!!

One of the most undeserved maligned albums of her career. It's full of chewy pop nuggets. AND it's....COHESIVE!! That alone should give it 3 stars eh?? :lol:

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53 minutes ago, Kurt420 said:

What I meant by a continuation of IDI is that AL focused more on the acoustic side vs. the "dance", "techno" side of II. IDI was more on the acoustic side of things. I was REALLY hoping for an album of II's with AL hence my disappointment at the time. 

Oh, now I see what you mean. The type of music. You have a point. Though I Deserve It is super inventive with the sirens. I love this song and I always have.

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48 minutes ago, Shaun said:

The only M album that ever disappointed me was Confessions. Drab, uninspired, and melancholy. But different strokes for different folks, eh? The other 12 have been ace.

COADF is one of my favorite M albums but I'm not even mad at this....lol....COADF is treated like it's the only important album she's done in the past 15 yrs and that's just simply inaccurate. It's the same themes as AL but with a "disco" beat. She had FAR better lyrics on parts of HC, MDNA and RH. 

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The reviews have me even more excited. I'm another "American Life is my favorite album of all time" fan and so yea, I'm thrilled MX keeps getting compared! I WANT M doing weird experimental stuff, I WANT the political punches she's mostly just alluded to in the past, finally blatant. I am ready READY!!!

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1 minute ago, MichaelDieker said:

The reviews have me even more excited. I'm another "American Life is my favorite album of all time" fan and so yea, I'm thrilled MX keeps getting compared! I WANT M doing weird experimental stuff, I WANT the political punches she's mostly just alluded to in the past, finally blatant. I am ready READY!!!

Image result for madonna cheers gif

More than ever, Madonna seems to give zero fucks lately so this makes me very curious and very excited for what's to come! 

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2 minutes ago, MichaelDieker said:

The reviews have me even more excited. I'm another "American Life is my favorite album of all time" fan and so yea, I'm thrilled MX keeps getting compared! I WANT M doing weird experimental stuff, I WANT the political punches she's mostly just alluded to in the past, finally blatant. I am ready READY!!!

Sometimes Madonna's album do take a long time to resonate. Especially if you're a "younger" fan. For me I discovered her during music (obviously had heard of her before) I was 11. So music and impressive instant were my bops and I loved the whole album. American life came out on my 14th birthday so that was a blast and the deep lyrics probably went over my head but the sometimes sad feeling matched my emo closeted brain. When I went into her back catalogue ROL I felt the same as that reviewer. Now I'm 30 I understand the album and see it for the master piece it is.

No album is the same so I don't understand why people expect an album to be a continuation. 

 

Madame X is going to deliver I just know it! 

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1 hour ago, Crystal Coffin said:

It was just a sweet banter between friends. Not everything is meant to explode your blood vessels. 

I was kidding 🙂

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17 minutes ago, elijah said:

Oh, now I see what you mean. The type of music. You have a point. Though I Deserve It is super inventive with the sirens. I love this song and I always have.

The song reminded me of Sheryl Crow at the time but I did always think the sirens were pretty unique. The song has grown on me a lot over the years!

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Guest Future feat Quavo

Next one better be 7 or 8/10. Yellow metascores are for JLo

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17 hours ago, peter said:

That’s not really a review ... and to say Confessions was safe ... ok *in theory* ... but I remember reviews talking about a song like “How High?” — how, thematically, it was an existential crisis, and who really wonders if “they should carry on” with a glow stick in their mouth? Yeah, COADF in execution was daring. It wasn’t all ABBA covers. (We’re looking at you, Chair.)

I love (sarcastic) how he gives it a middle of the road rating and then says “time will tell it it holds up.” No kidding. That happens with all music, like all art. Your job is to evaluate it *now.*

And what was the scandal for Medellín. He is all over the place.

(Also, closing criticism, it was extremely unprofessional to call an album like AL “a$$” — I don’t care if you want to say something negative about it — that’s your prerogative as a critic, but do it with CLASS. USE YOUR WORDS. YOU HAVE A VOCABULARY, DON’T YOU?)

 

Thank you

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And anyone who fails to get the brilliance of AL has to go to begin with. Besides one loses all credibility when trying to back hand compliment a Madonna while at the same time elevating some of the tritest cheap payolaed shite they pass for great music nowadays

 

giphy.gif

 

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6 hours ago, eddieconan said:

Alex darus of "Alternative Press Magazine" After Madame X audition put an evaluation on each of the tracks.

eafce7d33385acde595764d1f522330e.jpg

 

MDMX Day cannot come soon enough

:inlove:  :drama:

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48 minutes ago, XXL said:

And anyone who fails to get the brilliance of AL has to go to begin with. Besides one loses all credibility when trying to back hand compliment a Madonna while at the same time elevating some of the tritest cheap payolaed shite they pass for great music nowadays

 

giphy.gif

 

 

056F305A-F022-4FB6-ACE2-8FD5308CD5D0.jpeg

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4 hours ago, Kurt420 said:

Piece of Sheffield's original ROL review from 1998:

“Sky Fits Heaven” takes its text from a Gap ad, which is at least an interesting place to seek the secrets of the universe, but “Shanti/Ashtangi,” where Madonna chants verse from the Yoga Taravali, sounds facile down here in the material world, especially since for all the faux Indian trappings it sounds like Devo’s version of “Working in the Coal Mine.” Madonna spends too much of the album slowing down the tempo in her quest for God, but God probably prefers “Into the Groove,” just like the rest of us.

Ray of Light isn’t quite the triumphant musical comeback her fans were praying novenas for. She hasn’t regained her genius for the crass, linear pop hook, and the Eighties Madonna of high-energy beats and wise-ass bravado is gone forever — that show is over, say goodbye. Instead, Ray of Light sums up the best we can expect from Madonna at this late date: overly arty, occasionally catchy, confused, secondhand, infuriating and great fun in spite of herself. She doesn’t seem to have a clear idea of what she wants to say about motherhood, other than that it’s the sort of intense experience that happens to a special person like Madonna. But that’s all it takes to get her emotions going, and passionate peaks like “Drowned World” and “Little Star” remind you that for all the years Madonna has spent chasing art, class and fashion, the reason we still care about her eccentricities is the emotion in her music; all her desperately chic decor can’t hide her rock & roll heart. We’ve all already forgotten the Sex book, the nose ring, the gold tooth. But we’ll always swoon for the lovesick Italian girl who sang “Crazy for You.” You can hear that voice on Ray of Light.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/ray-of-light-109869/

It's funny because it sounds like reading fans critiques on this board......always wishing for "the next...." (lately seems to be COADF) :lol: Does God prefer Hung Up like "the rest of us"??

 

YES to your last line...as I was reading I was thinking...it sounds like some of the overly cynical critiques here where posters think they know how and what Madonna should be. So easy to dismiss if you don't like her direction. This reviewer wants his Madonna in a box. 

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2 hours ago, Kurt420 said:

OH....and Hard Candy deserved EVERY SINGLE BIT of it's 4 STAR RATING!!!

One of the most undeserved maligned albums of her career. It's full of chewy pop nuggets. AND it's....COHESIVE!! That alone should give it 3 stars eh?? :lol:

Still fresh and fantastic a decade on. It's magnificent and a better album than COADF. I actually love all her albums. 

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2 hours ago, MichaelDieker said:

The reviews have me even more excited. I'm another "American Life is my favorite album of all time" fan and so yea, I'm thrilled MX keeps getting compared! I WANT M doing weird experimental stuff, I WANT the political punches she's mostly just alluded to in the past, finally blatant. I am ready READY!!!

I M WITH YOU

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26 minutes ago, boy skeffington said:

Still fresh and fantastic a decade on. It's magnificent and a better album than COADF. I actually love all her albums. 

i do too and MX will another jewel in that collection

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