HavenHigh Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Ah I don't doubt that, Masterpiece was incredibly basic, I'm glad we got the likes of Inside Out now. Not doing a dance album was a surprising but wise decision, of course it does hurt the potential singles releases, so many tracks but a lot less "obvious" singles this time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loowee Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Masterpiece>Messiah >>>>> Falling Free. FF just falls flat and drags on forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 omg reading people here dragging Falling Free and Masterpiece is worse than Rebel Heart getting bad reviews. Those two songs are my LIFE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikki Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/Interact/Blogs.aspx?articleid=14464§ionid=760 4/5 stars from gay times but I don't know if they're relevant for music reviews Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elijah Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Ghosttown feels like a classic m ballad in the veins of ltt and ys, unlike the other mentioned. I love the lyrics and the melody and the voice on masterpiece but the production was dreadful, there should ve been violins etc. not that monotone thing. It's like they were in a hurry and couldn't finish it properly. Now the ballads seem really well thought out as a whole Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HavenHigh Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 http://www.gaytimes.co.uk/Interact/Blogs.aspx?articleid=14464§ionid=760 4/5 stars from gay times but I don't know if they're relevant for music reviews Did they just review the leaks or what? Since Queen is there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocknrolla Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Even the gay times hates the sex and bitch songs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seaguy27 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Hmmm. Songs on deluxe editions are generally viewed as 'bonus tracks'...songs that are not up to par with the standard album. For example, it would've been unfair if critics took into account Fighting Spirit in their review of COAD - it's a good song but definitely not as great as the actual album. However in this case, all 19 tracks of RB should be reviewed cause they'll be missing out on songs like Best Night and Messiah (which critics would love as they expect Madge to be making songs like this now). So I'm confused why Q didn't really like the album as there's more to like than dislike when reviewing 19 tracks. Things have changed…..back then , it was just a cd with maybe a bonus song or two…. now it is expected to have a standard and deluxe version. They really do not even call them bonus songs anymore. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monkey Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 comparing Falling free & Masterpiece to ghostown and Messiah is plain wrong, because GT and Messiah are far superior and always will be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roland Barthes Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Masterpiece>Messiah >>>>> Falling Free. FF just falls flat and drags on forever. this explains ALL your other posts in Madonnanation. You're deaf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markm Posted February 23, 2015 Author Share Posted February 23, 2015 The Gay Times review was written by Johnnox who used to post here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loowee Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 this explains ALL your other posts in Madonnanation. You're deaf. Very cool and interesting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crozzauk Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I remember reading a review of Ray Of Light when it came out, where they said "it wouldn't be a proper Madonna album without at least one clunker" in reference to Shanti Ashtangi. Reviewers seem to need to accentuate the negative in order to elevate the positive. its the way most journalists write now. To praise one artist you need to drag another. In the fullness of time, people will see this record to be a great album, and one of the most solid of her career. I think the biggest problem she has is the vast abundance of quality songs she has, and trying to make them work as a cohesive record. The songs that people are highlighting as being weak - i love, and find refreshing as they are light hearted fun. Its a side of Madonna people struggle with, they want her to be serious, but i love the variety, and wouldnt change it in any way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qans1990 Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Hmm not really, to me Messiah is a Falling Free knockoff and don't forget Masterpiece. To me these 2 songs are the "preview" to Rebel Heart (the same way Bedtime Story is called as the preview to ROL) to me, who woulda expected she'd ditch most of the dance stuff and record more ballads this time? I admit that Ghosttown is more commercial but otherwise I definitely see the continuation here. I haven't heard Messiah yet, so can't comment on that part. The ballads I've heard so far, Ghosttown and Joan of Arc sound to me very very different from MDNA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest CzarnaWisnia Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 omg reading people here dragging Falling Free and Masterpiece is worse than Rebel Heart getting bad reviews. Those two songs are my LIFE. Agreed. They should instead argue which of SEX or Holy Water smells more like bacon, and leave FF and Mast. alone Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmic_system Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Did they just review the leaks or what? Since Queen is there... Queen and Autotune were part of the OFFICIAL listening session of the album. They're NOT demos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cesky Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Its nice to have a good review from the Gay Times, but I am disappointed people aren't embracing the rebel side of the album a little more. Like Unapologetic Bitch is a jam and I feel like people are automatically against it because of bitch being in the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 didn't like to much tbh....and to review demos are really pointless... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Msig Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Was the Q Magazine review posted here? If it was, sorry for the re-post: The lady protests too much on volatile 13th album You have to wait until the final track of Madonna’s 13th album, the grand, spiritual Wash All Over Me, to get a clear summary of its modus operandi: “There’s a contradiction and I’m stuck here in-between.” The title of Rebel Heart splits down the middle. On one side, Madonna has said there’s the “romantic” who still believes in love despite numerous setbacks; on the other, the “renegade” with a compulsive need to transgress and provoke. The spotlight darts between the two. It’s neat conceit but an unnecessary one because we know Madonna can fold those contradictions into a single song. On signature hits such as Like A Virgin, Like A Prayer and Justify My Love, the headline-grabbing stuff stemmed naturally from relationships. Similarly, her brilliant 2005 album Confessions On A Dance Floor collapsed the distance between the club and the confession booth. By insisting on an artificial divide, Rebel Heart intensifies the polarisation that made 2012’s MDNA such a bumpy ride. Again, it’s the romantic who delivers the goods. In recent interviews, Madonna has challenged the popular image of her as calculating and imperious – an image, let’s be honest, that she has done much to construct. Ever since she was a tenacious club-scene striver, Madonna has emphasized unstoppability and control. But Rebel Heart often strikes a more tentative note. “If this is the end then let it come / Let it flow, let it wash all over me,” she sings, ceding control for once. With similar finality, the wonderful post-apocalyptic ballad Ghosttown proposes, “This world has turned to dust / All We’ve got left is love.” On the album’s most beautiful song, Joan Of Arc, Madonna admits to being reduced to tears by the cruelty that comes with celebrity: “I can’t be your superhero right now / Even hearts made out of steel can break down.” Vulnerability is Madonna’s underused secret weapon and it gives Rebel Heart compelling emotional urgency. Range, too. On Living For Love, a kind of gospel-EDM I Will Survive, the “not gonna stop” defiance had real pain behind it. The tense, vengeful break-up song HeartBreakCity is followed by the irresistible Body Shop, a sweet eccentric garageland romance, beautifully produced by DJ Dahi and Blood Diamonds. You feel as if you’re zooming in on a complicated human being rather than an enduring megabrand. For all these reasons, when Rebel Heart is bad, it’s truly baffling. It’s almost worth opening an official inquiry into the decisions that led to B*tch I’m Madonna, where Diplo and Sophie’s ADHD production, Nicki Minaj’s say-nothing rap and Madonna’s naff, “I’m a bad bitch” declaration converge in a three-lane pile-up. Unapologetic bitch is cartoon dancehall jam. Holy Water’s thrillingly harsh Kanye beat is wasted on lyrics dums as, “Bitch, get off my pole.” Perhaps it’s down to genre mismatch. While house and disco liberate Madonna to be anything she wants, hip-hop boxes her into a persona that’s metallic, one-dimensional and, worse, boring. Not all of the agressive tracks misfire – Illuminati has fun with the conspiracy theories attached to pop stars in the barmier corners of the internet; Iconic boshes together a Mike Tyson speech, a Chance The Rapper verse and a Nero-like dubstep drop – but the harder she rams home her point the less persuasive it is. In fact, paradoxically, the queen-bee declarations make her sound insecure. Madonna should not have to tell us she’s Madonna, nor what that means. When you hit the bonus tracks, it’s worth skipping past the pointless (Veni Vidi Vici, on which Nas raps about Nas) and the joyless (S.E.X. is as blunt and flat as its title) to get to the movingly autobiographical title track, where Madonna reflects at length on her career, her motivation, and “all the things I did just to be seen”. It makes you wonder what she thinks she has to prove in 2015 with a song like Bitch I’m Madonna when she proved it all and we’ve been paying attention for years. She sounds far more confidant and fully realized on the songs that favour uncertainty and fallibility, inviting the listener to lean in. After 33 years, the “renegade” does exactly what you’d expect. It’s when Madonna is opening her heart that she really rebels against expectations. 3 out of 5 stars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justinian Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 ^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acko Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simo9jo Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 It would be nice if reviewers knew anything about music. Nowhere on the album is there a "dubstep drop." Stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vocalism Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 i think a lot of us agree with what they say, just not with the rating. I agree. I think it deserves a higher rating than 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glindathegood Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Why do these publications have to review the demos? Just review the album. The comparisons between demos and the final versions are confusing to people who may not have heard the demos such as more casual fans. And I do wish people could embrace the rebel side. Some people seem to think that because she is older she can't have fun and must just do slower heart stuff. I love the variety. Albums with too many similar songs bore me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 is this reviewer 70 yo with lack of sense of humour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazzy Jan Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Why do these publications have to review the demos? Just review the album. The comparisons between demos and the final versions are confusing to people who may not have heard the demos such as more casual fans. And I do wish people could embrace the rebel side. Some people seem to think that because she is older she can't have fun and must just do slower heart stuff. I love the variety. Albums with too many similar songs bore me. Yes agree with you totally. So silly to review demos in official reviews and I love the variety and different styles on Madonna's albums. Always a joy to see different sides to her personality and different types of song meanings and tempos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nefarious Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Its nice to have a good review from the Gay Times, but I am disappointed people aren't embracing the rebel side of the album a little more. Like Unapologetic Bitch is a jam and I feel like people are automatically against it because of bitch being in the title. Same with "Bitch I'm Madonna", some are dismissing it by saying it's arrogant/rude; clearly the irony is lost on a lot of people. It's shocking how after all these years there are still people who don't get Madonna. At this point in her career though, she has absolutely earned the right to have a song called "Bitch I'm Madonna". I mean if Beyonce can have a song where she yells "bow down bitches" . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coadf Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Same with "Bitch I'm Madonna", some are dismissing it by saying it's arrogant/rude; clearly the irony is lost on a lot of people. It's shocking how after all these years there are still people who don't get Madonna. At this point in her career though, she has absolutely earned the right to have a song called "Bitch I'm Madonna". I mean if Beyonce can have a song where she yells "bow down bitches" . . . Bitch I'm Madonna is a fun song and actually a very interesting one so it deserves to be on the record. Bow down bitches is just a plain noise although i like Beyonce. Rebel Heart is an album with absolutely no fillers. There may be some weak spots on some lyrics but it's a strong production. There is not an instant hit like in Confessions but it flows perfectly as an album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaything Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 What annoys me the most is that these publications don't recognize the catchy monster that is Unapologetic Bitch and tend to put it in the same group of songs they dislike, like SEX or Holy Water, simply because of the title. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plaything Posted February 24, 2015 Share Posted February 24, 2015 There is not an instant hit like in Confessions but it flows perfectly as an album. While I agree that it has no fillers, I don't agree that it flows perfectly. If there is one thing I would criticize, it's the flow (or non-flow). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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