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Is Music (the album) underrated?


madonnasuperfan01

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I do think it's interesting that everyone forgets about "Gone." It's one of my favorite WO tracks, and while I do slightly prefer "Easy Ride," there's a simplicity and honesty and vulnerability to "Gone" that's quite beautiful.

it was a bit of a flop in USA though..

HARDLY. Four albums into a HUGE career, it was only natural that her sales would dip a bit, especially since she was becoming more and more provocative and trends were starting to change by the end of the '80s. The album scored 3 Top 2 singles plus another Top 10 single that didn't even have a video.

At work we were discussing Madonna songs and my colleague said he loved the one she did for James Bond, so I said, yeah the album that it is on is my favourite. He asked which album was that so I said American Life, so he asked "Wasn't that her rap album?" hahahaha imagine AL is known as a rap album! :dead:

In a perverse way, I'm kind of glad there are people who think that because it makes it sound cooler than it was, and sort of wish it had been a rap album.

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I don't think it is underrated. But when people talk about Madonna's albums they usually go for her most critically acclaimed LAP, ROL; Her 80's TB, TIC, her "flopped" artistic E, AL; so Music gets lost among those giants. And I agree the shortage of singles though overshadows the album, and when people think "Madonna - Music", they think about the single more. It was truly a behemoth of a song and as her last #1 that's the first thought when thinking "Music".

I used to find the album disjointed despite the great tracks. But lately I've been loving the album and like the upbeat versus the slow guitar-y ballads. I used to skip Runaway Lover, Amazing, and Gone but now I have a new found appreciation for them. In fact, I go listen to them more over the other tracks.

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Not my cup of tea. I felt let down after ROL. Its not bad really (she is yet to make a bad album), I have favs here, but its not ROL or COADF. Those are really her monsterous last albums. Both could be listened from start to finish withought feeling the need to press fast forward...Music has those moments and I think Music was as sucessful as it was because it followed ROL.

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This album is Pure Pop Perfection. I REALLY can't stand Runaway Lover though which sets the album off a tad.

I feel the same in a way, i don't like Runaway Lover THAT much, i don't hate it but i don't really like it either. The rest is definitively pop perfection, as you said.

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I remember listening through the album with my then-boyfriend and turning to him and saying, "I think I like this even more than 'Ray of Light." I still stand by that, with those two being my favorite M albums by far.

"Music" has the requisitie killer single (title track), other pure pop fun tracks ("Amazing," "Runaway Lover"), gorgeous midtempos and ballads ("Gone," "WIFLFAG"), more alternative moments ("Paradise") and beautiful vocals all the way through. As much as I like most of M's other albums, a lot of them have issues that stand out: the often tinny vocals on "Erotica," the lack of hit single material on "American Life," "Hard Candy," and "MDNA," and the one-note quality of "Confessions."

Ultimately, IMO "Music" > "Ray of Light" simply because it's just more fun while still being artistic and honest.

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I love the album. Apart of Runaway Lover and Amazing.

I think DTM is one of her most underrated songs though . I love that track .

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Guest sambassile

Music is my 2nd fav Madonna album after ROL. My only problem with it is that it just feels too short, even though American Pie is on the version I own. If tracks from that period like Liquid Love, Time Stood Still and Be Careful (solo) were included on Music, it would've probably ended being my fav album of all time.

By the way who is a fan of Time Stood Still in here ? Isn't that a gorgeous tune? It's my heartbreak/breakup song (shy face)

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^ That's the only thing that bothers me about Music. I feel it could have been longer. As far as being underrated I do think Ray of Light before it affected how it is perceived. Music is a great album and I think its slightly underrated because it followed Ray of Light. I haven't heard many fans say they don't like it.

I am a huge fan of Time Stood Still. Sad and beautiful sounding. I absolutely love Madonna's voice on it.

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Seriously though, it's definitely overlooked by fans & non-fans alike!!! It's got that mystical, cool, electronic vibe of ROL but with more relate-able lyrics; I'd say that it's a more accessible, cohesive album actually. And lets not forget that the videos from the era were some of her best! :wow:

I love EVERY song on Music, making it the ONLY Madonna album with that distinction in my book.

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I used to always skip Did You Do It. Recently I've been letting it play though. Not sure why. It doesn't bother me as much as it used to. I often skip "Bad Girl" and "In This Life." They're just downers to me. If I'm listening to Erotica, it's usually because I want to hear some house music and Madonna talking in her scratchy voice.

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Reading this thread made me put the album on. Heard it from beginning to end. I still love it just as I did when it was first released. Not a fan of Runaway Lover and Amazing though. I don't hate them, but they don't seem to fit with the rest of the album. Like they were tacked on to make the album longer. Is that the rumor? Well, I believe it.

I remember being shocked when I heard Music (album & song) because it was the most "pop" she had been since the '80s at that point. I liked how Mirwais brought her back to the sound of the early days. I hope Madonna will find another producer like that, to bring out the best in her. The vocals and production were really well done. You can hear her vocals crystal clear. That's an issue I have with Confessions and MDNA. Her vocals are too lost in the mix. Hard Candy was a mixed bag with that.

Mirwais >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Stuart Price/Timbaland/Pharrel/Paul Oakenfold/Benny Bennasi/Martin Solveig

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Music to me has always been massively OVERATED! I only like 3 or 4 songs, and even then they aren't amazing. Music rode on ROL success. Erotica, Bedtime Stories and ROL are far, far better than Music IMO. Nobody's Perfect has to be one of the most horrendous songs Madonna has ever recorded.

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Music to me has always been massively OVERATED! I only like 3 or 4 songs, and even then they aren't amazing. Music rode on ROL success. Erotica, Bedtime Stories and ROL are far, far better than Music IMO. Nobody's Perfect has to be one of the most horrendous songs Madonna has ever recorded.

Personally I think Music is half baked.

I skip most of the tracks.

Music... Paradise... Gone.

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I looooooooove Amelican Pie. The voice is breathtakingly beautiful! Its a better song than most off Music album and its a much better song than the original. Anything from that session was magnificent!

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Guest sambassile

I looooooooove Amelican Pie. The voice is breathtakingly beautiful! Its a better song than most off Music album and its a much better song than the original. Anything from that session was magnificent!

Please i never understood the hate for American Pie. The song the best track on Music, alongside Paradise. It just gives me chills, and yes her vocals are breathtakingly beautiful indeed, very melancholic. And let us not forget it was a huge hit everywhere and she looked extra hot in the video.

In my opinion American Pie, Time Stood Still, Be Careful (solo) and Liquid Love (demo) are some of the best tracks she has ever recorded during that period. I am a huge fan of the Music album but i wish she added those tracks to it or continued in that direction rather than going folkish. I donno personally I am huge fan of William Orbit's work, he creates magic with Madonna.

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I can see why some people might think that it is underrated but I don't agree. Overlooked, yes maybe, but not underrated. It received fantastic reviews and holds the same metacritic rating of 80 (like Confessions) and the cowgirl look remains one of her best known looks thanks to the monster smash Music.

I remember that I felt let down when I bought it back in the day because ROL was such a cohesive and inspirational body of work and my expectations were just so immensely high. There are some really amazing tracks on it but as a whole, it is just a little bit unfocused, mainly because of Orbit's tracks and What It Feels Like For A Girl which neither fits into the acoustic nor the dance/electronic sounds of the first 3 tracks or Paradise and Nobody's Perfect. The fact that some editions have American Pie AND Cyberraga as the closing tracks, make it even more uneven and somehow messy. That said, I believe it is a great artistic achievement and wouldn't wanna miss it in her discography.

American Life felt much more focused, at least to me.

Unpopular opinion alert: I like to compare it to MDNA. They are not similar sound wise but MDNA feels like a collection of songs, like a Greatest Hits album. I have the same feeling when I think about the Music album.

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Music to me has always been massively OVERATED! I only like 3 or 4 songs, and even then they aren't amazing. Music rode on ROL success. Erotica, Bedtime Stories and ROL are far, far better than Music IMO. Nobody's Perfect has to be one of the most horrendous songs Madonna has ever recorded.

Blasphemy. There's no way this album is overrated.

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Guest SecretGarden

I think it's a solid album, definitely top five for me.

It's hard to look at any of Madonna's albums as overrated or underrated because even her lowest selling album still sold quite well and most of her albums are well received critically.

In terms of remembrance though, Music sure isn't as raved on about as Like a Prayer or Ray of Light nowadays but this happens to almost every artist, Pink Floyd are remembered for The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon, David Bowie for Ziggy Stardust and Low, and Madonna for Like a Prayer and Ray of Light. Sure those artists all released other amazing albums, but it seems that these days albums aren't only remembered for the music but for how culturally pertinent they were too. If Like a Prayer was released and wasn't a hit, and didn't have the Blond Ambition tour to accompany it, would it still be remembered as one of the greatest pop albums of all time? who knows but those things sure did help it.

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