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Madame X album general discussion


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Dude, a lot of Madonna’s hardcore fans were disinterested in Hard Candy. She kind of has a point. It took me years to see the charm in HC and I’m as hardcore as you can get.

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everyone has different opinions in her music HC is one of my least favorite M albums it has a few nice songs.

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5 hours ago, Rugbyguy said:

Dude, a lot of Madonna’s hardcore fans were disinterested in Hard Candy. She kind of has a point. It took me years to see the charm in HC and I’m as hardcore as you can get.

I'm was just disappointed she said HC aged terribly as I think it has aged quite well compared to for example MDNA, and I am so tired of the concept "outdated". So when she reviews Bedtime stories she's gonna say it sounds so 90's and that True Blue sound so 80's?, those albums are children if their time.

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2 hours ago, Bat-Fan said:

I am so tired of the concept "outdated"

I hate that too.....especially in regard to dance/pop music, which tends to use the most current, often times "trendy" or even experimental (for their time) sounds. To me the disco era produced some of the best dance/pop songs ever that remain phenomenal....not one of them doesn't sound like it's from the 70's though. Idk why that should be considered a bad thing.

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1 hour ago, Kurt420 said:

I hate that too.....especially in regard to dance/pop music, which tends to use the most current, often times "trendy" or even experimental (for their time) sounds. To me the disco era produced some of the best dance/pop songs ever that remain phenomenal....not one of them doesn't sound like it's from the 70's though. Idk why that should be considered a bad thing.

I think it's telling that 70's pop and disco songs - and to an equal extent pop songs from the 80s - are the songs that get EVERYONE out on a dancefloor when they're played. Can't say the same thing about pop/dance songs from the 90's or 00's. 

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Madame X is easily one of my favorite Madonna albums of all time.  I’ve just been enjoying it all summer, not really concerning myself with what other people think, although I like popping in here and reading the nice comments from fans.  Every single song on it appeals to me, with personal favorites including God Control, Killers Who Are Partying, Crave, Crazy, Extreme Occident, I Don’t Search I Find, and Looking For Mercy.

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1 hour ago, rocknrolla said:

Hard candy if anything was ahead of it's time, since blurred lines sounded just like give it to me

Exactly my thoughts! The Pharrel tracks could have been released in 2013 and they would have been huge. I don't know, in a parallel world Madonna is not a massive flop throughout the 2010s 🙊 I root for my bitch in any case!

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On 8/14/2019 at 11:47 PM, Herfaceremains said:

Traditionally concept albums and cohesive theme-based albums have fared much better with critics. We are all subject to unconscious bias as a result of the way we were educated, and cultural and intellectual snobbery had always traditionally dictated the zeitgeist until relatively recently. I can’t say populist-driven tastes have made for a particularly impressive shift in quality and diversity, but fortunately the upside of the “democratization” of the music industry post-streaming has at least made variety accessible to those who seek it out. 

P.S. thanks @Voguerista! More a temporary sojourn than a comeback. 😉🙏🏼

I really like reading your (already two) posts!

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I want another carefree,fun music video like Medellin. I loved God control & Batuka videos.But they don't come close to Medellin's perfection. Happy,carefree Madonna is the best version of Madonna😊

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I don't find Madame X all that cohesive.  The Latin, world music, pop songs all clash with each other. But I don't mind, since Iike nearly all of them. 

For me, MX is the album I have been waiting for.  While the last few albums have had their moments -- GITM, Beat goes on, love spent, falling free  Avicii demos -- I haven't really liked more than half an album since Confessions.  THIS is the I may be 60 and radio won't touch me anymore, but I am still going to do what I want and I am still a badass album I knew she could still make. 

I am still astonished that there are 6! features here, and I LOVE them all!  I was truly expecting a hot mess, considering how much I disliked 4 minutes and GMAYL.  As well as champagne rose or whatever the hell was with Quavo.   I was pissed at Diplo for Living for Love (he has done much better), and yet I love Future!  I had always wanted a world music album from Madonna, here we go.  I had even posted in another thread how I always felt Madonna was missing a happy to be alive song in her discography.  Here's two! -- Ciao Bella and Come Alive.  I was slight anxious about two of the songs Come Alive and Crazy, since I really liked other songs with those titles and that they would be hard to measure up.  For me, they did! 

The only slight disappointment is that I don't feel transported to Lisbon listening to MX like has described in interviews.  For me, it is a pure pop album.  Which is probably what I really wanted anyway. 

Like others have said, the lack of any song charting anywhere, the album falling off the album charts in two weeks, no blockbuster tour to look forward to even, has dampened the excitement of this era.  I think Madonna herself has accepted these things, I think it took MDNA and Rebel heart to get her to this point. 

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8 minutes ago, rocknrolla said:

I don't find Madame X all that cohesive.  The Latin, world music, pop songs all clash with each other. But I don't mind, since Iike nearly all of them. 

For me, MX is the album I have been waiting for.  While the last few albums have had their moments -- GITM, Beat goes on, love spent, falling free  Avicii demos -- I haven't really liked more than half an album since Confessions.  THIS is the I may be 60 and radio won't touch me anymore, but I am still going to do what I want and I am still a badass album I knew she could still make. 

I am still astonished that there are 6! features here, and I LOVE them all!  I was truly expecting a hot mess, considering how much I disliked 4 minutes and GMAYL.  As well as champagne rose or whatever the hell was with Quavo.   I was pissed at Diplo for Living for Love (he has done much better), and yet I love Future!  I had always wanted a world music album from Madonna, here we go.  I had even posted in another thread how I always felt Madonna was missing a happy to be alive song in her discography.  Here's two! -- Ciao Bella and Come Alive.  I was slight anxious about two of the songs Come Alive and Crazy, since I really liked other songs with those titles and that they would be hard to measure up.  For me, they did! 

The only slight disappointment is that I don't feel transported to Lisbon listening to MX like has described in interviews.  For me, it is a pure pop album.  Which is probably what I really wanted anyway. 

Like others have said, the lack of any song charting anywhere, the album falling off the album charts in two weeks, no blockbuster tour to look forward to even, has dampened the excitement of this era.  I think Madonna herself has accepted these things, I think it took MDNA and Rebel heart to get her to this point. 

I wonder why Bruce Springsteen's or Cher's fans do not write their obituaries everytime that they do not chart appropriately?  Oh yeah, because kiddie bop charts do not apply to legends.

As for the tour, you shouldn't write off a tour that has not even started yet.  None of Madonna's tours have disappointed and Madame X will definitely deliver.  Madonna is always best live.  

MX is a play from the begining to the end sort of album.  Madonna's greatest albums all are.  Like a Prayer.... Erotica... Ray of Life.... American Life... Confessions... and Madame X.  

And... Madonna's discography is massive enough to absorb a few tracks that you don't care for.  She does have hundreds and hundreds of songs to enjoy.  GMAYL is not her largest jewel in her crown but she has more killer tracks than you could fit on five or six albums.  

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I know she won't chart in the US at this point, but I thought maybe in Italy, or Portugal or Brazil.  Somewhere ?  She's Madonna, she's supposed to be the exception and break the rules. (She herself says she still would like more top tens)

Oh, I am definitely not writing off the tour, I just cannot afford to go.  I think this is where the Lisbon experience will come into play, since she is bringing many of the musicians she worked with on tour.  I am just saying there are no more selling out Madson square garden in  5 minutes, or six nights,  in London, etc stats at this point.  That was exciting.  It would be very exciting to see her in a smaller setting too, however.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On 8/15/2019 at 5:21 AM, Bat-Fan said:

I tricked you into watching her? Well I am sorry about that and I wasnt the first one to mention her nor did I recommend her, I said she was funny. I agree with you it is sad any idiot can rewiev any artist. But mostly I think these "listening and review" things in general are stupid as one needs to listen to the album more than ones to get it. And after her disinterest in Hard Candy I actually have no interest in watching her again, I thought her distaste for MDNA was appropriate, especially following her love for RH but after HC she irritated me to the point of no more.. 

And I'm sorry for lashing out at you. You put me to shame with your measured ( dignified ) response. R E S P E C T.  But I do love MDNA.

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'Prince Shanghai ' - love his youtube reviews. Sometimes he's high when he does his reviews. He listens not with his ears, but with his imagination. He tries to unearth the heart of the songs . I can do it without that dope. But I love him high. 

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Madame X is right up there with Ray of Light and Confessions, IMO. I can see the magic in it because it's so different and diverse to much of what's out there at the moment, and it's an album that gets better with each listen. You know a lot of people never understood Erotica in '92, but she was ahead of the curve with that album and I can see that with Madame X as well. There's a lot of soul and emotion in Madame X, you know there was more in mind than just chart success. It's great to see M willing to take risks because she could have just gotten more safe, but she's at a place now where she can afford to take risks.

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Still listening to the album from start to finish at least once a day since it was released...can’t remember the last album of Ms I had the same experience with - music or confessions maybe...

This album is far ahead in its sonic landscape than any other pop album out there today/this year. I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t get a Grammy nomination- it was a US number 1 album so that has to be at the top of the Grammy academies criteria for shortlisting.

Does anyone know if the Grammys have ever left out a number 1 album from the all the categories of nominations ?

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20 minutes ago, Lolasmommy said:

Does anyone know if the Grammys have ever left out a number 1 album from the all the categories of nominations ?

MDNA 😂

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4 hours ago, Drowned World said:

There's a lot of soul and emotion in Madame X, you know there was more in mind than just chart success. It's great to see M willing to take risks because she could have just gotten more safe, but she's at a place now where she can afford to take risks.

Exactly! If this is a taste of the future, I'm totally ok with it. On the one hand it makes me sad that some people may not be able to enjoy the era because of any lack of commercial success. On the other hand, that (to some degree) has always been an exciting part of following the eras of a mega-star like Madonna so I do get it. It's not a total bust in that regard though, sure, no singles have set the charts alight anywhere but the album did do well in many places. I know what we're used to but I don't think we should immediately snuff at a top 5 (or number one) debut anywhere. That's HUGE for someone at this stage in their careers. The album has sold well over 400k worldwide at this point.....in a time where the lower end of the year end top 10 charts for album sales worldwide is about 900k, truly she's not doing too shabby. More importantly though, she's totally blown me away artistically this go round. Madame X has made me incredibly excited for the future. I truly think this next phase in her career is going to bring some of her deepest work yet.

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^If fans are not enjoying the era because of the lack of commercial success, they may as well tune  out Madonna and any music she has planned from here on out, cause that aspect isn't going to improve much, if at all.

I adore MX as a whole, but I haven't been listening to it as much as when it was first released. Part of that is so I don't overdo it going into the Sept. 12 show.  🙂

(A note- the 900k from that global list was for pure-album sales, and didn't include  equivalent album units.)

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Man, I gotta say... she's done it again.  Madame X is a frickin' juggernaut!  What a massive album!  There's so much here to unpack, but, it's already creeping it's way back up in my top 5.

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I like cohesiveness because to me it makes it a “body of work.” But that’s just me! I also don’t want everything to sound the same. But if you put “Skin” on the same album as “God Control” with “Mother and Father” and “Jimmy Jimmy” I would have found it messy!

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@Herfaceremains I found your thoughts really interesting, thanks for sharing.

Now that I've had time to sit with Madame X, I can say for me that while it's a very good album that I'm impressed by, Rebel Heart is THE album of the decade for me. I feel like MX is full of interesting concepts that appeal to my mind, but ultimately I connect best to music with my heart, and Rebel Heart offers more there. I also think that being able to see the tour for Rebel Heart made those songs all the more memorable, and as an Australian, it looks like I wont be able to have that opportunity with Madame X.

I am grateful to MX though because it makes me admire Madonna all the more for her to make such an unusual and quality record this far into her career.

It also really taught me that, as someone who formally treated professional album reviews as gospel, I was totally barking up the wrong tree. MY opinion counts for more than anyone else's when it comes to MY music consumption. I couldn't believe that Killers Who Are Partying would end up being my favourite MX track that sent chills down my spine when it was universally panned by every critic. That was a good lesson to learn and it has made me re-evaluate my attitude to other artists or songs that have taken a critical beating, possibly unfairly.

I have taken MX off my phone for now (I buy mp3s rather than stream) after listening to the album sequencing for months. Next time I listen to it, I will mix in some songs with other tracks of hers in a playlist (which is my favourite way of listening to music, like I'm creating a concert setlist) and it will be fun to revisit the songs after a break.

It's been fun experiencing this album with you all - thanks for all the news, rumours, insider info and opinions you've shared!

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Guest CzarnaWisnia
On 8/15/2019 at 5:12 AM, miki said:

This supposed youtube reviewer named Ajayll apparently has the audacity to judge something which she clearly does not have the brain capacity to comprehend. I know I've said a lot on the matter, yet I feel very upset that she was recommended by a forum member and loved by another.  She is  like a BULL IN A CHINA SHOP. And she does have thousands of views. In the past we had to contend with some professional music critics' biased opinions. Now any idiot can post a youtube review. And the more stupid it is, the higher the views it gets. I know I can avoid her idiocy by not watching her. I did, until I got tricked by the forum member's Bat-Fan and imakicola . SHAME ON THE BOTH OF YOU. 

Ridiculous finger-pointing mess. People are free to post whatever they want and review albums based on their preferences. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Grow up (and grow a sense of humor while at it). Who made you pope? People are free to listen only to what they like and live inside a comfy bubble. You got tricked? How old are you?

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On 8/15/2019 at 11:45 PM, KalamazooJay said:

I think it's telling that 70's pop and disco songs - and to an equal extent pop songs from the 80s - are the songs that get EVERYONE out on a dancefloor when they're played. Can't say the same thing about pop/dance songs from the 90's or 00's. 

That is somehow the biggest truth about pop music and the more time goes by the more obvious it gets. I don't want to start the discussion about "in the past music was better" vs. "we have to be open then there is still good music nowadays" but somehow there is something special about the music of 70s, 80s and some music of the 90s. I always ask myself how it will be in 20, 30 years. How many current songs will be remembered? I have teenage nephews who only listen to current pop music but I see that nothing remains. They listen to the music while it is on the charts and then it gets forgotten (with very few exceptions) because there are new "hits" everyday. It is obvious that internet and streaming totally changed the way we listen to music and how music iis done and for me it means music has turned intentionally "ephemeral". That is why  - even when I try to be positive and open towards current music - I believe there will be very few current songs that will be remembered in the future. Sorry if it doesn't fit to the discussion which was going but I totally agree with your comment

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13 hours ago, CzarnaWisnia said:

Ridiculous finger-pointing mess. People are free to post whatever they want and review albums based on their preferences. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Grow up (and grow a sense of humor while at it). Who made you pope? People are free to listen only to what they like and live inside a comfy bubble. You got tricked? How old are you?

:clap: 

Also, where did this ridiculous FAKE narrative of people not caring about Madame X just because of 'lack of commercial success' come from?

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3 hours ago, Geiger83 said:

That is somehow the biggest truth about pop music and the more time goes by the more obvious it gets. I don't want to start the discussion about "in the past music was better" vs. "we have to be open then there is still good music nowadays" but somehow there is something special about the music of 70s, 80s and some music of the 90s. I always ask myself how it will be in 20, 30 years. How many current songs will be remembered? I have teenage nephews who only listen to current pop music but I see that nothing remains. They listen to the music while it is on the charts and then it gets forgotten (with very few exceptions) because there are new "hits" everyday. It is obvious that internet and streaming totally changed the way we listen to music and how music iis done and for me it means music has turned intentionally "ephemeral". That is why  - even when I try to be positive and open towards current music - I believe there will be very few current songs that will be remembered in the future. Sorry if it doesn't fit to the discussion which was going but I totally agree with your comment

I'm mixed about the 'music's not what it what it was' argument. Every generation says that about the next generations music.

At my last works Christmas party, the guy literally played modern RnB, hip hop etc like DJ snake and or songs like Mr Brightside and the dancefloor was packed. Hardly any classics.

It's people's memories that make songs classics even if they're shit. 

However, looking at the UK charts, I do think you see a massive increase in forgettable acts from the 2000s onwards with forgettable songs so it will be interesting what lives on.

As for Madame X, I find you normally have to wait a year to find out what people really think of an album. I seem to remember MDNA being showered with massive praise on release but now we look back and see it for the messy mix it is.

I've not listened to it in a while but I'll go back to it at some point, probably when the tour starts.

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