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peter

Supreme Elitists
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Posts posted by peter

  1. No. Since day one this has been regarded as her final Warner Bros. release, intended to represent her recording career while on the label. That she's capping it off with new tracks pushes things forward, but this is going to rightfully reach way back to the Sire and Maverick recordings (all Warner Bros. subsidiaries.)

    "Crazy For You" and "Gambler" on Geffen (not under the Warner umbrella) are the only off-label single release of her career thus far which makes a compilation of this magnitude, legally, a snap to compile. These have previously been licensed many times for Warner releases.

    Well, maybe not exactly "day one" -- probably only since she and Warner Bros. announced their business relationship was dissolving. A decade ago, or whenever exactly this contract went into effect, it may not have been envisioned as her FINAL release with them (period), but the last release under that old contract. I would imagine that both parties were optimistic, when negotiating the contract that is about to be completed, that she would continue on with WB by renewing again (assuming, of course, that career was going successfully and profitably, etc.). At that time, they may have envisioned it as a GHV3. But once it became clear that Madonna was leaving for Live Nation, the scope of the project probably changed to be more like you're saying.

    I could be wrong, of course. I'm just saying, I would think WB didn't necessarily know at the time that they were entering into their final contract with her and would therefore want to make an all-expansive, career-encompassing compilation.

  2. ursa, if that wonderful Perez is counting STR,then it will be her fourth.

    He erroneously wrote that her last GH was out in 2006. Has he photographed himself wearing that dunce cap yet or what?

    And what about "You Can Dance"? If he counts STR, he should really count YCD -- which would make this #5. (But she really only has two proper 'greatest hits' collections. STR and YCD are compilations, but I wouldn't say their intent was to be a 'greatest hits' -- one aimed to collect dance mixes, one aimed to collect ballads.)

    But he's ridiculous, saying her most recent was out in 2006.

  3. I know that having a hit isn't what it's all about, and I'm not necessarily satisfied if something sits atop the charts -- there's a lot of worthless stuff that gets to the top, too. I didn't mention the fact that "4 Minutes" was a hit to defend the album necessarily -- but to answer the question of 'what good did it serve if it alienated the COADF audience and didn't collect the youth audience?' The youth audience maybe didn't bite on the whole album, but they obviously bit on "4 Minutes." And it was being played in marching band half-time shows, it got picked up for the credits of a major summer time movie... It got her some different exposure. Calling it a transition project is probably an apt observation...

    And I have to defend "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You," too -- Joe Henry had writing credits on that, too. And he's not exactly a slouch songwriter. It's one of the stronger songs on the album lyrically. It doesn't resort to rhyming 'girl' and 'world' for the umpteenth time in her career. (I say that with all the love in my heart for her and a fondness for ALL the songs in which she does it -- Material Girl, What It Feels Like for a Girl, Dance 2Night, 4 Minutes.)

    Hard Candy didn't have as much staying power for me as the usual Madonna album does, but I can still enjoy it for what it is. It's candy. It's sweet, but it eventually dissolves. In the larger picture of her career, it might not be the standout. But in a 25-year career, you'll have high points and you'll have some pet projects, etc. This album came out the year she had a lot of milestones -- turned 50; was inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame; mounted her most successful tour yet (and the most successful for a female solo artist, right?), for which this album was the launch pad. I think a lot of those tracks worked well live.

    Personally, I think the imagery (the disjointed nature of it, the uncertainty of the album name) didn't help, either. It's not my favorite album cover. There's a couple people I'd never give that album to -- not because I think they wouldn't enjoy the music, but because I'd be embarrassed to give them a CD with that cover photo. I love her always, I support her right to do what she wants and be photographed however she wants... I'm just saying she's gorgeous and sexy and there were better photos than that one.

  4. I will say that, while I did not read their comment as disrespectful of Madonna on its face, there is an implied knock or two -- as some have picked up on. I don't know that it's intended, but... Think about it. For them to say that Warner 'pushed' her down the r&b road is as much as to say, she has no control over her career or her work. She only does what the label tells her to do. That sort of flies in the face of what we like to believe about Madonna -- whether that's myth or reality. (We all know she has a history sometimes of exerting her will on single releases, etc., and she obviously doesn't always choose the most commercial or accessible. That whole 'artistic integrity' thing she conveniently relies on. I'm not saying it's all an act or anything -- it's just hard to know, always, whether it's all genuine or whether there are other factors influencing her decisions.) So, while on the surface they may not have been meaning to take her down a peg, they may have made an unintended slight by insinuating that Madonna doesn't (or doesn't any longer) call the shots creatively on her career path.

    Like it or not... Madonna has two double platinum singles: VOGUE and 4 MINUTES. I'm just sayin'. People can squawk all day about the fact that involved some young thing to hype it up and that she would have been nothing without it, but not all of JT's collabs have been equally successful. So, Madonna's ingredients are an important part of the recipe, as well. (For example, did Duran Duran's "Nite Runner" cause as much of a sensation as "4 Minutes" did? It also featured JT and was produced by Timbaland. I like it -- I'm not knocking the song, I'm just saying there was mutual benefit going on with the record. A symbiotic single.)

  5. I doubt she'd sell her apartment(s) in her building, even if she purchases the townhouse on the ES.

    She must really love this place, as she had it for around 20 years and she bought a third apartment there, less than a year ago.

    I don't pay close-close attention to the stories about Madonna's homes and real estate, but I vaguely recall what you're talking about. Wasn't there also a story (around that time) that she wanted to buy a fourth on the same floor and it would have given her the whole floor then, but the co-op board was blocking it? That's pretty rude. I mean, if your neighbor was Madonna, I think you'd be happy to keep her happy. It's not like she's a disruptive influence. Although I guess there was that one noise complaint supposedly -- and all the paparazzi that must hang around.

    Whatever, I just hope she has a place where she and the kids feel safe and at home. Everybody needs that.

  6. And also the "Get Together" sparkly dress was fabulousness of the highest order :wow: :wow: :wow:

    You know, when I first saw just still photos of it, I thought it was maybe a little too over the top. But after I watched the video of the performance(s), I thought it was beautiful -- the lines were pretty when she moved.

    If I remember right, that dress was really heavy, too... I'm not sure if she said that in an interview segment, or if I just read that elsewhere. But I think it was a pretty heavy dress.

  7. Lorraine Day

    Many thanks! :)

    I'm also glad someone 'nominated' a Testino shot. The "Ray of Light" cover came to mind for me, but it just felt a little too recent.

    Even the Mondino "Hollywood" shot -- where she's got the very blonde hair and the very red lips -- is very iconic to me, even though that's very recent.

    It is harder to judge the more recent years yet. You really do need more than one to properly represent a woman who's explored her image that much. A Meisel, a Ritts, a Mondino, a Testino, a Klein... and maybe a couple other lesser knowns -- like Lorraine Day! ;) At least, she's lesser known to me, but I'm truly grateful for that beautiful VOGUE portrait, which is the one that comes to my mind first.

  8. I agree with both of these first two suggestions. The Herb Ritts True Blue cover is very iconic, but so also is that still from the set of "Vogue." (In my mind, she was more popular in 1990 around the time of Vogue than at any other time -- but I could be wrong. The Like a Virgin days -- and even much of the True Blue phase -- was just from a time when I was too young to remember much. So, it could just be that I recall 1990 personally, whereas the mid-80s I do not remember much about music and the entertainment world.)

    Does anyone know who took that photo from the "Vogue" video, by the way? I know David Fincher directed, but surely someone else was responsible for the stills from the set.

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