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Guest groovyguy

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redhot

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:manson: i'm a girl and it pisses me off that most of the reviews that are so so are written by women. Do you have to be a bitter cow to be taken seriously as a music critic when you're a woman and critiquing female artist. She's so off the mark it's ridiculous.

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Guest groovyguy

Guest groovyguy

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''Girls, they just wanna have some fun!'' From the moment Madonna utters those words on MDNA, it's clear that she's trying really freaking hard to have a good time. With dance-music vets William Orbit, Martin Solveig, and Benny Benassi helming her return to the Euro-club stylings of 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madge spends nearly half the album insisting that this is the Best Party Ever, from the pom-pom-shaking ''Give Me All Your Luvin''' to the Mardi-Gras-beads-tossing ''Girl Gone Wild'' and stereo-blasting ''Turn Up the Radio.'' The album title even suggests that Ecstasy is part of Madge's DNA.

But while there are a few genuine moments of double-rainbow bliss here (check the ''whoo-ooh!'' chorus of ''I'm a Sinner''), there's also real darkness lurking under the air-popped beats. If Madonna's sending us a message, it's this: I spent all year perfecting my cartwheel for the Super Bowl, and now I'm gonna have fun, even if it kills me.

Maybe it's just that MDNA's so hell-bent on showing how much energy the 53-year-old puts into her job. Many songs recap her gold-star résumé referencing her past hits lyrically (see sidebar, right) or musically. ''Girl Gone Wild'' shares its sassy legwarmer-disco vibe with 2005's ''Hung Up,'' while ''I'm a Sinner'' reunites her with Orbit for a very cool guitar-boosted rave-up that echoes 1998's ''Ray of Light.''

But all those reminders of her work ethic can feel exhausting. On the ridiculous electro-rap ''I Don't Give A,'' she runs through her insane schedule as a celebrity supermom. Before finishing her power workout, hiring a babysitter, ''tweeting on the elevator,'' and riding a helicopter to her divorce lawyers' office, she has an epiphany: ''Wake up, ex-wife/This is your life.''

Are you listening, Guy Ritchie? Because Madonna's not done yelling at you. After revealing that she ''didn't have a prenup,'' she gets a decent gold-digger joke into the ABBA-remix-esque strains of ''Love Spent'': ''Frankly, if my name was Benjamin,'' she deadpans, ''we wouldn't be in this mess we're in.'' Less charming is the industrial thumper ''Gang Bang,'' where Madonna holds a gun to her lover's head, demanding, ''Drive, bitch!'' True, she also recorded a mea culpa — on ''I F---ed Up'' she says ''I'm sorry'' in French — but it's telling that she cut it from the album. Her apology's just as unconvincing as her Gallic accent.

So it's surprising that Madonna is at her best on the love songs. The W.E. ballad ''Masterpiece'' (which won her a Golden Globe in January) begins with Spanish guitar and a finger-snap rhythm — a refreshing break from the relentless bass throbbing. When she's singing about a guy who's as pretty as the Mona Lisa, her voice is lovely. And the synth stomper ''I'm Addicted,'' a warm ode to a crush, offers a good excuse to join in when she says, ''I need to dance.'' Elsewhere, Nicki Minaj even shows some L-U-V for Lady M, proclaiming, ''There's only one queen, and that's Madonna, bitch!'' Judging by MDNA, she may be overestimating her idol. But there's just enough dance-floor bonhomie here to get that catchphrase bedazzled on a few dozen leotards. B-

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Glindathegood Rising Star

Glindathegood

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Thanks. Elysa, the USA Today writer, is a huge Madonna fan and really gets her. She always does fantastic well written reviews of Madonna's records.

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Jessica Rabbit Newbie

Jessica Rabbit

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''Girls, they just wanna have some fun!'' From the moment Madonna utters those words on MDNA, it's clear that she's trying really freaking hard to have a good time. With dance-music vets William Orbit, Martin Solveig, and Benny Benassi helming her return to the Euro-club stylings of 2005's Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madge spends nearly half the album insisting that this is the Best Party Ever, from the pom-pom-shaking ''Give Me All Your Luvin''' to the Mardi-Gras-beads-tossing ''Girl Gone Wild'' and stereo-blasting ''Turn Up the Radio.'' The album title even suggests that Ecstasy is part of Madge's DNA.

But while there are a few genuine moments of double-rainbow bliss here (check the ''whoo-ooh!'' chorus of ''I'm a Sinner''), there's also real darkness lurking under the air-popped beats. If Madonna's sending us a message, it's this: I spent all year perfecting my cartwheel for the Super Bowl, and now I'm gonna have fun, even if it kills me.

Maybe it's just that MDNA's so hell-bent on showing how much energy the 53-year-old puts into her job. Many songs recap her gold-star résumé referencing her past hits lyrically (see sidebar, right) or musically. ''Girl Gone Wild'' shares its sassy legwarmer-disco vibe with 2005's ''Hung Up,'' while ''I'm a Sinner'' reunites her with Orbit for a very cool guitar-boosted rave-up that echoes 1998's ''Ray of Light.''

But all those reminders of her work ethic can feel exhausting. On the ridiculous electro-rap ''I Don't Give A,'' she runs through her insane schedule as a celebrity supermom. Before finishing her power workout, hiring a babysitter, ''tweeting on the elevator,'' and riding a helicopter to her divorce lawyers' office, she has an epiphany: ''Wake up, ex-wife/This is your life.''

Are you listening, Guy Ritchie? Because Madonna's not done yelling at you. After revealing that she ''didn't have a prenup,'' she gets a decent gold-digger joke into the ABBA-remix-esque strains of ''Love Spent'': ''Frankly, if my name was Benjamin,'' she deadpans, ''we wouldn't be in this mess we're in.'' Less charming is the industrial thumper ''Gang Bang,'' where Madonna holds a gun to her lover's head, demanding, ''Drive, bitch!'' True, she also recorded a mea culpa — on ''I F---ed Up'' she says ''I'm sorry'' in French — but it's telling that she cut it from the album. Her apology's just as unconvincing as her Gallic accent.

So it's surprising that Madonna is at her best on the love songs. The W.E. ballad ''Masterpiece'' (which won her a Golden Globe in January) begins with Spanish guitar and a finger-snap rhythm — a refreshing break from the relentless bass throbbing. When she's singing about a guy who's as pretty as the Mona Lisa, her voice is lovely. And the synth stomper ''I'm Addicted,'' a warm ode to a crush, offers a good excuse to join in when she says, ''I need to dance.'' Elsewhere, Nicki Minaj even shows some L-U-V for Lady M, proclaiming, ''There's only one queen, and that's Madonna, bitch!'' Judging by MDNA, she may be overestimating her idol. But there's just enough dance-floor bonhomie here to get that catchphrase bedazzled on a few dozen leotards. B-

What a stupid f*cking review. Honestly. She was perfecting her cartwheel all year??? WTF??? Geez thats the most stupid line i've ever heard.

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vocalism Rising Star

vocalism

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What a stupid f*cking review. Honestly. She was perfecting her cartwheel all year??? WTF??? Geez thats the most stupid line i've ever heard.

I think it's called hyperbole. I get her point. But I think a B- is a little low. Reviewers probably only have time to listen once or twice. The album's a grower.

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Jessica Rabbit Newbie

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I think it's called hyperbole. I get her point. But I think a B- is a little low. Reviewers probably only have time to listen once or twice. The album's a grower.

I know. Still poorly written. She sounds like she's talking about a girl she went to school with.

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Guest Little Red

Guest Little Red

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The EW reviewer is JEaLOUs...whats a B- grading mean actually?

It means it's good.

Yeah some of her remarks are way off and cynical, however she points out some weaknesses like the simplistic lyrics and that's fine.

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Guest groovyguy

Guest groovyguy

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Madonna's 'MDNA' is rocking and revelatory

By Elysa Gardner, USA TODAY

Updated 1h 45m ago

Madonna opens up to reveal inner pain and turmoil on her new album, but the dance groove never slows.

Madonna, MDNA

* * * 1/2 stars (out of four)

POP

MORE: Madonna's hits on Spotify

PHOTOS: Madonna through the years

Vulnerability isn't likely the first trait that comes to mind when you think of Madonna. The woman who titled her last studio album Hard Candy (2008) is contemporary pop's most durable alpha female, coolly courting fascination and controversy on her own terms.

Yet in some of her most beguiling songs, Madonna has opened her heart and let her defenses down a bit. Think of the pregnant teenager in Papa Don't Preach, begging for support even as she declares her resolve. Or the giddy lover pledging eternal devotion in Cherish.

Then imagine that those gals had lived a few more years, maybe married and divorced, and you'll have an inkling of the emotional wallop waiting in Madonna's most personal effort to date, MDNA, out Monday.

The album opens with single Girl Gone Wild, a breathless ode to dance-floor hedonism. "Girls, they just wanna have some fun," Madonna chirps over a thumping club groove. Several tunes share an almost defiant buoyancy; I'm Addicted and Turn Up the Radio celebrate romantic surrender, but there's a sense that what's being sought more is escape.

The standard and deluxe explicit versions of MDNA offer an early hint that we're headed for darker terrain. The second track, the pulsing, sardonic Gang Bang, describes not an orgy but a revenge fantasy, in which a woman shoots and kills a wayward and possibly abusive partner. Chanting profanely, Madonna could either be mocking a persecutor or turning the tables on him.

Anger isn't this album's defining quality, though. The songs that seem to allude to Madonna's ex, Guy Ritchie, are charged with sadness and self-doubt. Love Spent is the most stinging: "Would you have married me if I were poor?" she asks, after a bluegrass-tinged intro segues into a radiant electro-pop arrangement.

Spent is one of numerous tracks co-written and co-produced by Madonna's Ray of Light and Beautiful Stranger collaborator William Orbit, whose sonic savvy is just as keen here. I'm A Sinner has a groovy ebullience reminiscent of the latter hit, even as the lyrics again evoke a woman racing past pain. On the gorgeously ethereal Falling Free, Madonna sings of finding both grace and alienation in love.

But MDNA is no self-pity party. There's wry humor and unabashed yearning; check out the semi-confessional multi-tasker's lament I Don't Give A, co-written and featuring a rap by Nicki Minaj. And Madonna emerges, as always, a survivor,

"Nothing's indestructible," she admits on the Latin-kissed Masterpiece, but still vows, "I will not renounce all hope." And why should she, of all people?

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Raider of the lost Ark Rising Star

Raider of the lost Ark

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It becomes more and more obvious. The real negativity is coming from women. Their reviews are mostly dealing with her age and that she should start acting appropriately (but of course avoiding to say what "appropriate" actually means). She is using the term "girl" way too much (you know, for her age). She is using the term "bitch" way too much (you know, that's not appropriate and certainly not for someone her age). Madonna is described as desperate. Well, if anyone is desperate it's those women who are shitting her pants in fear that Madonna is setting the bar so high on how a 53 year old woman should look like or should act like, achievements they simply cannot compete with. The mindset of those women, many of them certainly quite intelligent and well educated, is baffling me. Instead of recognizing that her "act" might be indeed something groundbreaking they try to put her down for their own sake. What I find odd is that it's usually those women who always talk about solidarity and such are in the end nothing more than jealous bitches. And don't even get me started on the trolls that seem the have a weird attraction to all the negative articles pubslihed. The sheer amount of hate, jealousy and ignorance you find in the comment sections is unbelievable and it really makes you wonder who is actually buying Madonnas music if it's all so wrong to be a "female pop musician who turns 54 this year whose 30 year career is based on non-talent". I think most of those wannabe critics should visit a shrink. They are in serious denial obviously.

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Louise Oriole

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It becomes more and more obvious. The real negativity is coming from women. Their reviews are mostly dealing with her age and that she should start acting appropriately (but of course avoiding to say what "appropriate" actually means). She is using the term "girl" way too much (you know, for her age). She is using the term "bitch" way too much (you know, that's not appropriate and certainly not for someone her age). Madonna is described as desperate. Well, if anyone is desperate it's those women who are shitting her pants in fear that Madonna is setting the bar so high on how a 53 year old woman should look like or should act like, achievements they simply cannot compete with. The mindset of those women, many of them certainly quite intelligent and well educated, is baffling me. Instead of recognizing that her "act" might be indeed something groundbreaking they try to put her down for their own sake. What I find odd is that it's usually those women who always talk about solidarity and such are in the end nothing more than jealous bitches. And don't even get me started on the trolls that seem the have a weird attraction to all the negative articles pubslihed. The sheer amount of hate, jealousy and ignorance you find in the comment sections is unbelievable and it really makes you wonder who is actually buying Madonnas music if it's all so wrong to be a "female pop musician who turns 54 this year whose 30 year career is based on non-talent". I think most of those wannabe critics should visit a shrink. They are in serious denial obviously.

:bow::bow::clap::clap:

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It becomes more and more obvious. The real negativity is coming from women. Their reviews are mostly dealing with her age and that she should start acting appropriately (but of course avoiding to say what "appropriate" actually means). She is using the term "girl" way too much (you know, for her age). She is using the term "bitch" way too much (you know, that's not appropriate and certainly not for someone her age). Madonna is described as desperate. Well, if anyone is desperate it's those women who are shitting her pants in fear that Madonna is setting the bar so high on how a 53 year old woman should look like or should act like, achievements they simply cannot compete with. The mindset of those women, many of them certainly quite intelligent and well educated, is baffling me. Instead of recognizing that her "act" might be indeed something groundbreaking they try to put her down for their own sake. What I find odd is that it's usually those women who always talk about solidarity and such are in the end nothing more than jealous bitches. And don't even get me started on the trolls that seem the have a weird attraction to all the negative articles pubslihed. The sheer amount of hate, jealousy and ignorance you find in the comment sections is unbelievable and it really makes you wonder who is actually buying Madonnas music if it's all so wrong to be a "female pop musician who turns 54 this year whose 30 year career is based on non-talent". I think most of those wannabe critics should visit a shrink. They are in serious denial obviously.

:bow:

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axisvor

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I read today the most akward review so far regarding MDNA, in Destak newspaper, here in Brazil (it's Metro type tabloid, given for free on the streets). It says that MDNA is "a very weak album, with only one good song and this is Give me all your luvin."

I just couldn't believe!!! :lmao: I mean, it's no relevant, but how someone could possibly write this stupidity!

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Guest sasca1971

Guest sasca1971

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Roseanne Barr of all people wrote a large Vanity Fair article a dozen years ago talking about this - how women tear each other down. Men don't do the same. It's pretty ridiculous. I can tell you from personal experience that I would much rather work for a man than a woman. Women have so many insecurities in their roles that they lash out and behave terribly. That's in the corporate world - maybe in other fields that's not as true. But even women tell me they would rather work for a man. Women are their worst enemy it seems - in terms of professionalism.

:manson: i'm a girl and it pisses me off that most of the reviews that are so so are written by women. Do you have to be a bitter cow to be taken seriously as a music critic when you're a woman and critiquing female artist. She's so off the mark it's ridiculous.

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Guest sasca1971

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:clap:

It becomes more and more obvious. The real negativity is coming from women. Their reviews are mostly dealing with her age and that she should start acting appropriately (but of course avoiding to say what "appropriate" actually means). She is using the term "girl" way too much (you know, for her age). She is using the term "bitch" way too much (you know, that's not appropriate and certainly not for someone her age). Madonna is described as desperate. Well, if anyone is desperate it's those women who are shitting her pants in fear that Madonna is setting the bar so high on how a 53 year old woman should look like or should act like, achievements they simply cannot compete with. The mindset of those women, many of them certainly quite intelligent and well educated, is baffling me. Instead of recognizing that her "act" might be indeed something groundbreaking they try to put her down for their own sake. What I find odd is that it's usually those women who always talk about solidarity and such are in the end nothing more than jealous bitches. And don't even get me started on the trolls that seem the have a weird attraction to all the negative articles pubslihed. The sheer amount of hate, jealousy and ignorance you find in the comment sections is unbelievable and it really makes you wonder who is actually buying Madonnas music if it's all so wrong to be a "female pop musician who turns 54 this year whose 30 year career is based on non-talent". I think most of those wannabe critics should visit a shrink. They are in serious denial obviously.

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Guest ditaluver

Guest ditaluver

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It becomes more and more obvious. The real negativity is coming from women.

almost 90% of the negative comments of madonna on twitter are girls...younger girls saying she needs to sit her ass down.

as a woman im ashamed any of these girls cant see that madonna is the perfect example of dreams come true...and never get down...!

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