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MADAME X album reviews


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17 minutes ago, Lolo said:

Most of the high profile publications (the ones that actually listened to the album) gave a good review. Let’s not overreact. 

In Germany? The high profile newspapers gave vile reviews. The first positive review came from the Suddeutsche Zeitung. In fact, I'm sure that those German critics are feeling like idiots right now. 

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Yay Boston Globe’s that someone posted earlier is very good!  She is going to do just fine on Meta.

critically acclaimed masterpiece!

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This is a critically acclaimed album. Don't let a handful of lunatics color this. It is critically acclaimed and as fans we should be buying and streaming and not be so consumed by the usual detractors that have existed every inch of her 36 years as an artist. It is not gonna stop now. 

So moving on......

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4 hours ago, karbatal said:

So, after we finally got rid of the chart drama now we have to enter a Metacritic drama. Frankly, many fans here are only happy suffering. 

 

Of course I want to see her do well with critical acclaim but why are people here so frantic over metacritic?! The only places I ever see metacritic cited and discussed are by dumb twinks arguing in stan war threads on twitter! I’ve never heard anybody IRL say, “oh so and so has a new album but I’m not sure if I should get it. let me go see what the metacritic rating is!” It’s not like rottentomatoes!

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14 minutes ago, karbatal said:

In Germany? The high profile newspapers gave vile reviews. The first positive review came from the Suddeutsche Zeitung. In fact, I'm sure that those German critics are feeling like idiots right now. 

Süddeutsche, Focus, Welt, Zeit, Musikexpress gave a good Review. It’s as mixed as everywhere. Most of the negative stuff is from outlets who clearly haven’t heard shit and just copy paste as they please. 

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8 minutes ago, Jeby said:

This is a critically acclaimed album. Don't let a handful of lunatics color this. It is critically acclaimed and as fans we should be buying and streaming and not be so consumed by the usual detractors that have existed every inch of her 36 years as an artist. It is not gonna stop now. 

So moving on......

👏

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I think it’s important to remember that traditionally music critics have been straight male, rock-oriented, unprogressive, and anti-pop. I don’t see much of an evolution in this, other than in the way we’ve see nerds transform into hipsters because they adhere to the uniform society has prescribed and they went to the gym thanks to the tech industry’s economic clout and subsequent cultural takeover! The very notion of genre-shifting gives these people hives, and so Madonna is mostly not seen as an artist, but as a pillaging, cultural-appropriating, mediocrely talented entertainer who has simply skated over the zeitgeist as if by sheer force of narcissistic determination. These, I believe, are the assumptions of the writers of each 3/5, and some of the 4/5 reviews we have seen.

There has nearly always been a resistance to the notion that Madonna is creative and original. Instead, the only explanation for her success has to come from her deft manipulation and deceit. It’s the very essence of the patriarchy and its pernicious misogyny, and while the popular genres are no longer rock and soul, critics seem to approach Madonna as if she were still defined by another era when that was the case. 

My main point regarding critics and why I personally find them all essentially disappointing is that, as journalists, you’d expect them to seek a unique perspective on their subject. However, nearly every review is written as if based off of some version of a Cliff Notes bio born outside of context and the broader scope of investigation. This leads to a very monotonous, seemingly lazy approach to understanding the music, and most certainly to understanding Madonna herself; it’s as if the writer and reader require a revisionist history lesson in order to even begin to grasp who Madonna is and what she has done, the most irritating common thread in the collective narrative being that Madonna was once an iffy trendsetter by design, but has been assaulting the world with an uneven and mediocre output of trend-chasing albums since she was whipped into submission post-American Life. Ironically, you’d get the feeling that some of her fans agree with this narrative, thus reinforcing my theory that there are a good deal of masochists among us to have chosen to endure something they don’t actually appreciate for more than a decade! It’s as if Madonna has a requirement to be purely confessional, or limited to the naïveté of the anthemic disco-stomper. If her music and lyrics don’t address this need more obviously she has failed: she didn’t become Joni Mitchell, so how dare she pick up a guitar and write words that aren’t tantalizing, veiled confessionals; she didn’t grow grey, and become the wistful, nonchalant vagabond, writing enigmatic academic poetry like Patti Smith, and so how dare she manifest as a real sentient human being on a real human journey towards awakening and enlightenment. Oh! And we mustn’t forget that she is the only human being alive to wish to preserve her youthfulness. She should just stop investing in herself altogether beyond her past, acceptable accomplishments, and she should especially unplug from all technology because, well, she’s been old for over ten years and must stop challenging herself and the general public through this outrageous desire to invent, to innovate, to inspire and to be inspired. Otherwise, no matter how interesting it seems, it is “BIZARRE”.

Is it bizarre? Sure, it’s a narrative that deserves to be explored to a degree, but if you repeat something enough, it becomes the truth. “Madonna must fit into the quirky box now if she wants us to qualify this output”! It’s both disheartening and hysterical all at once! 

I have read very little of value that deserves to become the truth in these reviews. I can make up my own mind about what is good and bad, and Madame X is quintessentially Madonna at her best. Whether or not that is good enough for someone else doesn’t interest me much at all unless they are able to tell me why with knowledge, passion and intelligence, which is what a music critic is paid to do after all! I’m still waiting. 

 

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1 hour ago, karbatal said:

There's something off from Germanic countries. It's as if Madame X pushed any weird button or something. The only places with bad reviews have been Germany, Denmark and Sweden. Weird! 

Maybe these reviewers are strongly averse to one-eyed 'freedom fighter.' Or they feel that edm and pop-rock (especially in the vein of modern talking, michael learns to rock, and michael learns to rock) are superior to romance/latin music. -_~

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19 minutes ago, Herfaceremains said:

I think it’s important to remember that traditionally music critics have been straight male, rock-oriented, unprogressive, and anti-pop. I don’t see much of an evolution in this, other than in the way we’ve see nerds transform into hipsters because they adhere to the uniform society has prescribed and they went to the gym thanks to the tech industry’s economic clout and subsequent cultural takeover! The very notion of genre-shifting gives these people hives, and so Madonna is mostly not seen as an artist, but as a pillaging, cultural-appropriating, mediocrely talented entertainer who has simply skated over the zeitgeist as if by sheer force of narcissistic determination. These, I believe, are the assumptions of the writers of each 3/5, and some of the 4/5 reviews we have seen.

There has nearly always been a resistance to the notion that Madonna is creative and original. Instead, the only explanation for her success has to come from her deft manipulation and deceit. It’s the very essence of the patriarchy and its pernicious misogyny, and while the popular genres are no longer rock and soul, critics seem to approach Madonna as if she were still defined by another era when that was the case. 

My main point regarding critics and why I personally find them all essentially disappointing is that, as journalists, you’d expect them to seek a unique perspective on their subject. However, nearly every review is written as if based off of some version of a Cliff Notes bio born outside of context and the broader scope of investigation. This leads to a very monotonous, seemingly lazy approach to understanding the music, and most certainly to understanding Madonna herself; it’s as if the writer and reader require a revisionist history lesson in order to even begin to grasp who Madonna is and what she has done, the most irritating common thread in the collective narrative being that Madonna was once an iffy trendsetter by design, but has been assaulting the world with an uneven and mediocre output of trend-chasing albums since she was whipped into submission post-American Life. Ironically, you’d get the feeling that some of her fans agree with this narrative, thus reinforcing my theory that there are a good deal of masochists among us to have chosen to endure something they don’t actually appreciate for more than a decade! It’s as if Madonna has a requirement to be purely confessional, or limited to the naïveté of the anthemic disco-stomper. If her music and lyrics don’t address this need more obviously she has failed: she didn’t become Joni Mitchell, so how dare she pick up a guitar and write words that aren’t tantalizing, veiled confessionals; she didn’t grow grey, and become the wistful, nonchalant vagabond, writing enigmatic academic poetry like Patti Smith, and so how dare she manifest as a real sentient human being on a real human journey towards awakening and enlightenment. Oh! And we mustn’t forget that she is the only human being alive to wish to preserve her youthfulness. She should just stop investing in herself altogether beyond her past, acceptable accomplishments, and she should especially unplug from all technology because, well, she’s been old for over ten years and must stop challenging herself and the general public through this outrageous desire to invent, to innovate, to inspire and to be inspired. Otherwise, no matter how interesting it seems, it is “BIZARRE”.

Is it bizarre? Sure, it’s a narrative that deserves to be explored to a degree, but if you repeat something enough, it becomes the truth. “Madonna must fit into the quirky box now if she wants us to qualify this output”! It’s both disheartening and hysterical all at once! 

I have read very little of value that deserves to become the truth in these reviews. I can make up my own mind about what is good and bad, and Madame X is quintessentially Madonna at her best. Whether or not that is good enough for someone else doesn’t interest me much at all unless they are able to tell me why with knowledge, passion and intelligence, which is what a music critic is paid to do after all! I’m still waiting. 

 

 

This should be pinned! 

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19 minutes ago, Herfaceremains said:

I think it’s important to remember that traditionally music critics have been straight male, rock-oriented, unprogressive, and anti-pop. I don’t see much of an evolution in this, other than in the way we’ve see nerds transform into hipsters because they adhere to the uniform society has prescribed and they went to the gym thanks to the tech industry’s economic clout and subsequent cultural takeover! The very notion of genre-shifting gives these people hives, and so Madonna is mostly not seen as an artist, but as a pillaging, cultural-appropriating, mediocrely talented entertainer who has simply skated over the zeitgeist as if by sheer force of narcissistic determination. These, I believe, are the assumptions of the writers of each 3/5, and some of the 4/5 reviews we have seen.

There has nearly always been a resistance to the notion that Madonna is creative and original. Instead, the only explanation for her success has to come from her deft manipulation and deceit. It’s the very essence of the patriarchy and its pernicious misogyny, and while the popular genres are no longer rock and soul, critics seem to approach Madonna as if she were still defined by another era when that was the case. 

My main point regarding critics and why I personally find them all essentially disappointing is that, as journalists, you’d expect them to seek a unique perspective on their subject. However, nearly every review is written as if based off of some version of a Cliff Notes bio born outside of context and the broader scope of investigation. This leads to a very monotonous, seemingly lazy approach to understanding the music, and most certainly to understanding Madonna herself; it’s as if the writer and reader require a revisionist history lesson in order to even begin to grasp who Madonna is and what she has done, the most irritating common thread in the collective narrative being that Madonna was once an iffy trendsetter by design, but has been assaulting the world with an uneven and mediocre output of trend-chasing albums since she was whipped into submission post-American Life. Ironically, you’d get the feeling that some of her fans agree with this narrative, thus reinforcing my theory that there are a good deal of masochists among us to have chosen to endure something they don’t actually appreciate for more than a decade! It’s as if Madonna has a requirement to be purely confessional, or limited to the naïveté of the anthemic disco-stomper. If her music and lyrics don’t address this need more obviously she has failed: she didn’t become Joni Mitchell, so how dare she pick up a guitar and write words that aren’t tantalizing, veiled confessionals; she didn’t grow grey, and become the wistful, nonchalant vagabond, writing enigmatic academic poetry like Patti Smith, and so how dare she manifest as a real sentient human being on a real human journey towards awakening and enlightenment. Oh! And we mustn’t forget that she is the only human being alive to wish to preserve her youthfulness. She should just stop investing in herself altogether beyond her past, acceptable accomplishments, and she should especially unplug from all technology because, well, she’s been old for over ten years and must stop challenging herself and the general public through this outrageous desire to invent, to innovate, to inspire and to be inspired. Otherwise, no matter how interesting it seems, it is “BIZARRE”.

Is it bizarre? Sure, it’s a narrative that deserves to be explored to a degree, but if you repeat something enough, it becomes the truth. “Madonna must fit into the quirky box now if she wants us to qualify this output”! It’s both disheartening and hysterical all at once! 

I have read very little of value that deserves to become the truth in these reviews. I can make up my own mind about what is good and bad, and Madame X is quintessentially Madonna at her best. Whether or not that is good enough for someone else doesn’t interest me much at all unless they are able to tell me why with knowledge, passion and intelligence, which is what a music critic is paid to do after all! I’m still waiting. 

 

How incredibly well stated.

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25 minutes ago, Herfaceremains said:

I think it’s important to remember that traditionally music critics have been straight male, rock-oriented, unprogressive, and anti-pop. I don’t see much of an evolution in this, other than in the way we’ve see nerds transform into hipsters because they adhere to the uniform society has prescribed and they went to the gym thanks to the tech industry’s economic clout and subsequent cultural takeover! The very notion of genre-shifting gives these people hives, and so Madonna is mostly not seen as an artist, but as a pillaging, cultural-appropriating, mediocrely talented entertainer who has simply skated over the zeitgeist as if by sheer force of narcissistic determination. These, I believe, are the assumptions of the writers of each 3/5, and some of the 4/5 reviews we have seen.

There has nearly always been a resistance to the notion that Madonna is creative and original. Instead, the only explanation for her success has to come from her deft manipulation and deceit. It’s the very essence of the patriarchy and its pernicious misogyny, and while the popular genres are no longer rock and soul, critics seem to approach Madonna as if she were still defined by another era when that was the case. 

My main point regarding critics and why I personally find them all essentially disappointing is that, as journalists, you’d expect them to seek a unique perspective on their subject. However, nearly every review is written as if based off of some version of a Cliff Notes bio born outside of context and the broader scope of investigation. This leads to a very monotonous, seemingly lazy approach to understanding the music, and most certainly to understanding Madonna herself; it’s as if the writer and reader require a revisionist history lesson in order to even begin to grasp who Madonna is and what she has done, the most irritating common thread in the collective narrative being that Madonna was once an iffy trendsetter by design, but has been assaulting the world with an uneven and mediocre output of trend-chasing albums since she was whipped into submission post-American Life. Ironically, you’d get the feeling that some of her fans agree with this narrative, thus reinforcing my theory that there are a good deal of masochists among us to have chosen to endure something they don’t actually appreciate for more than a decade! It’s as if Madonna has a requirement to be purely confessional, or limited to the naïveté of the anthemic disco-stomper. If her music and lyrics don’t address this need more obviously she has failed: she didn’t become Joni Mitchell, so how dare she pick up a guitar and write words that aren’t tantalizing, veiled confessionals; she didn’t grow grey, and become the wistful, nonchalant vagabond, writing enigmatic academic poetry like Patti Smith, and so how dare she manifest as a real sentient human being on a real human journey towards awakening and enlightenment. Oh! And we mustn’t forget that she is the only human being alive to wish to preserve her youthfulness. She should just stop investing in herself altogether beyond her past, acceptable accomplishments, and she should especially unplug from all technology because, well, she’s been old for over ten years and must stop challenging herself and the general public through this outrageous desire to invent, to innovate, to inspire and to be inspired. Otherwise, no matter how interesting it seems, it is “BIZARRE”.

Is it bizarre? Sure, it’s a narrative that deserves to be explored to a degree, but if you repeat something enough, it becomes the truth. “Madonna must fit into the quirky box now if she wants us to qualify this output”! It’s both disheartening and hysterical all at once! 

I have read very little of value that deserves to become the truth in these reviews. I can make up my own mind about what is good and bad, and Madame X is quintessentially Madonna at her best. Whether or not that is good enough for someone else doesn’t interest me much at all unless they are able to tell me why with knowledge, passion and intelligence, which is what a music critic is paid to do after all! I’m still waiting. 

 

THIS SHOULD BE POSTED AS COMMENT UNDER EACH REVIEW, bad and good!!!

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I would like to add the following to that:

A lot of  the media are thrown by the general perception of her in our culture. It makes them second guess and/or downplay any original or positive thought they may have about her. I'm telling you this is exactly why she is very relevant. The fact that a woman evokes sucha a powerful response it makes people discredit their own thoughts. She should b taught in sociology classes, not media or communication.

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If she can achieve 7 or above from pitchfork (not out of the realm of possibility since they gave Mariah's last album 7.5) and carry through on that trajectory with a couple more, she could touch 80 on metacritic.

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Most of the reviews are indeed positive. The German press has often been a little weird with her.. first dragging her for Eurovision, then the follow up articles defending her.. same with the music.

Some are biased and havent heard the album, others simply aren't into this album's left field style (or don't want to associate it with M) I think it's riskier than AL for sure..

@acko I saw M on the frontpage of 'de tijd', so at least there's "some" (ahem) promo..

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45 minutes ago, fandonna said:

Loved this review. Mentioned her long career, but not her age, and took her contrubutions to music seriously.

Also, brilliant post @Herfaceremains 👏👏👏

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Respect to Dan Whootons full track by track review. Well im going for the radio edit review in comparison 🙄

Here goes!!! My first full listen on Madame X.

Very different, a grower and maybe a Madonna album to be respected as another good album under her belt for the future?? Musically my head is on overload as its a masterpiece with lots going on with some Mawais unusual beats to keep you from falling, very rich with super deep bases and catchy summer beats. A bit tooooo much spanish or Portugese or both and turn down this god damm autotune perhaps. But on the whole its like a different journey on each track and it takes you there musically, spiritually and easily. First full listen frankie rating 77/100. "Looking for Mercy" is my 1st choice track to have been released. Medellíne which was the 1st single is ok, prob my 6th from 15 but was definatly a better 1st single than Madonnas first single pickings in her last 2 pervious albums, bravo M. XxX

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1 hour ago, Herfaceremains said:

I think it’s important to remember that traditionally music critics have been straight male, rock-oriented, unprogressive, and anti-pop. I don’t see much of an evolution in this, other than in the way we’ve see nerds transform into hipsters because they adhere to the uniform society has prescribed and they went to the gym thanks to the tech industry’s economic clout and subsequent cultural takeover! The very notion of genre-shifting gives these people hives, and so Madonna is mostly not seen as an artist, but as a pillaging, cultural-appropriating, mediocrely talented entertainer who has simply skated over the zeitgeist as if by sheer force of narcissistic determination. These, I believe, are the assumptions of the writers of each 3/5, and some of the 4/5 reviews we have seen.

There has nearly always been a resistance to the notion that Madonna is creative and original. Instead, the only explanation for her success has to come from her deft manipulation and deceit. It’s the very essence of the patriarchy and its pernicious misogyny, and while the popular genres are no longer rock and soul, critics seem to approach Madonna as if she were still defined by another era when that was the case. 

My main point regarding critics and why I personally find them all essentially disappointing is that, as journalists, you’d expect them to seek a unique perspective on their subject. However, nearly every review is written as if based off of some version of a Cliff Notes bio born outside of context and the broader scope of investigation. This leads to a very monotonous, seemingly lazy approach to understanding the music, and most certainly to understanding Madonna herself; it’s as if the writer and reader require a revisionist history lesson in order to even begin to grasp who Madonna is and what she has done, the most irritating common thread in the collective narrative being that Madonna was once an iffy trendsetter by design, but has been assaulting the world with an uneven and mediocre output of trend-chasing albums since she was whipped into submission post-American Life. Ironically, you’d get the feeling that some of her fans agree with this narrative, thus reinforcing my theory that there are a good deal of masochists among us to have chosen to endure something they don’t actually appreciate for more than a decade! It’s as if Madonna has a requirement to be purely confessional, or limited to the naïveté of the anthemic disco-stomper. If her music and lyrics don’t address this need more obviously she has failed: she didn’t become Joni Mitchell, so how dare she pick up a guitar and write words that aren’t tantalizing, veiled confessionals; she didn’t grow grey, and become the wistful, nonchalant vagabond, writing enigmatic academic poetry like Patti Smith, and so how dare she manifest as a real sentient human being on a real human journey towards awakening and enlightenment. Oh! And we mustn’t forget that she is the only human being alive to wish to preserve her youthfulness. She should just stop investing in herself altogether beyond her past, acceptable accomplishments, and she should especially unplug from all technology because, well, she’s been old for over ten years and must stop challenging herself and the general public through this outrageous desire to invent, to innovate, to inspire and to be inspired. Otherwise, no matter how interesting it seems, it is “BIZARRE”.

Is it bizarre? Sure, it’s a narrative that deserves to be explored to a degree, but if you repeat something enough, it becomes the truth. “Madonna must fit into the quirky box now if she wants us to qualify this output”! It’s both disheartening and hysterical all at once! 

I have read very little of value that deserves to become the truth in these reviews. I can make up my own mind about what is good and bad, and Madame X is quintessentially Madonna at her best. Whether or not that is good enough for someone else doesn’t interest me much at all unless they are able to tell me why with knowledge, passion and intelligence, which is what a music critic is paid to do after all! I’m still waiting. 

 

 

1 hour ago, acko said:

I would like to add the following to that:

A lot of  the media are thrown by the general perception of her in our culture. It makes them second guess and/or downplay any original or positive thought they may have about her. I'm telling you this is exactly why she is very relevant. The fact that a woman evokes sucha a powerful response it makes people discredit their own thoughts. She should b taught in sociology classes, not media or communication.

Absolutely! :thumbsup:

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https://www.forbes.com/sites/sheilacallaham/2019/06/14/madonnas-madame-x-a-blueprint-for-multigenerational-multicultural-artistry/#718e3d4a1dbe

Interesting article...

"Madame X is, at its core, a model strategy for diversity and inclusion with Madonna the executive sponsor driving it to fruition..."

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3 hours ago, Herfaceremains said:

I think it’s important to remember that traditionally music critics have been straight male, rock-oriented, unprogressive, and anti-pop. I don’t see much of an evolution in this, other than in the way we’ve see nerds transform into hipsters because they adhere to the uniform society has prescribed and they went to the gym thanks to the tech industry’s economic clout and subsequent cultural takeover! The very notion of genre-shifting gives these people hives, and so Madonna is mostly not seen as an artist, but as a pillaging, cultural-appropriating, mediocrely talented entertainer who has simply skated over the zeitgeist as if by sheer force of narcissistic determination. These, I believe, are the assumptions of the writers of each 3/5, and some of the 4/5 reviews we have seen.

There has nearly always been a resistance to the notion that Madonna is creative and original. Instead, the only explanation for her success has to come from her deft manipulation and deceit. It’s the very essence of the patriarchy and its pernicious misogyny, and while the popular genres are no longer rock and soul, critics seem to approach Madonna as if she were still defined by another era when that was the case. 

My main point regarding critics and why I personally find them all essentially disappointing is that, as journalists, you’d expect them to seek a unique perspective on their subject. However, nearly every review is written as if based off of some version of a Cliff Notes bio born outside of context and the broader scope of investigation. This leads to a very monotonous, seemingly lazy approach to understanding the music, and most certainly to understanding Madonna herself; it’s as if the writer and reader require a revisionist history lesson in order to even begin to grasp who Madonna is and what she has done, the most irritating common thread in the collective narrative being that Madonna was once an iffy trendsetter by design, but has been assaulting the world with an uneven and mediocre output of trend-chasing albums since she was whipped into submission post-American Life. Ironically, you’d get the feeling that some of her fans agree with this narrative, thus reinforcing my theory that there are a good deal of masochists among us to have chosen to endure something they don’t actually appreciate for more than a decade! It’s as if Madonna has a requirement to be purely confessional, or limited to the naïveté of the anthemic disco-stomper. If her music and lyrics don’t address this need more obviously she has failed: she didn’t become Joni Mitchell, so how dare she pick up a guitar and write words that aren’t tantalizing, veiled confessionals; she didn’t grow grey, and become the wistful, nonchalant vagabond, writing enigmatic academic poetry like Patti Smith, and so how dare she manifest as a real sentient human being on a real human journey towards awakening and enlightenment. Oh! And we mustn’t forget that she is the only human being alive to wish to preserve her youthfulness. She should just stop investing in herself altogether beyond her past, acceptable accomplishments, and she should especially unplug from all technology because, well, she’s been old for over ten years and must stop challenging herself and the general public through this outrageous desire to invent, to innovate, to inspire and to be inspired. Otherwise, no matter how interesting it seems, it is “BIZARRE”.

Is it bizarre? Sure, it’s a narrative that deserves to be explored to a degree, but if you repeat something enough, it becomes the truth. “Madonna must fit into the quirky box now if she wants us to qualify this output”! It’s both disheartening and hysterical all at once! 

I have read very little of value that deserves to become the truth in these reviews. I can make up my own mind about what is good and bad, and Madame X is quintessentially Madonna at her best. Whether or not that is good enough for someone else doesn’t interest me much at all unless they are able to tell me why with knowledge, passion and intelligence, which is what a music critic is paid to do after all! I’m still waiting. 

 

Fantastically written with insightful observations. The words 'nail' and 'head' spring to mind! Well done!

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3 hours ago, Herfaceremains said:

I think it’s important to remember that traditionally music critics have been straight male, rock-oriented, unprogressive, and anti-pop. I don’t see much of an evolution in this, other than in the way we’ve see nerds transform into hipsters because they adhere to the uniform society has prescribed and they went to the gym thanks to the tech industry’s economic clout and subsequent cultural takeover! The very notion of genre-shifting gives these people hives, and so Madonna is mostly not seen as an artist, but as a pillaging, cultural-appropriating, mediocrely talented entertainer who has simply skated over the zeitgeist as if by sheer force of narcissistic determination. These, I believe, are the assumptions of the writers of each 3/5, and some of the 4/5 reviews we have seen.

There has nearly always been a resistance to the notion that Madonna is creative and original. Instead, the only explanation for her success has to come from her deft manipulation and deceit. It’s the very essence of the patriarchy and its pernicious misogyny, and while the popular genres are no longer rock and soul, critics seem to approach Madonna as if she were still defined by another era when that was the case. 

My main point regarding critics and why I personally find them all essentially disappointing is that, as journalists, you’d expect them to seek a unique perspective on their subject. However, nearly every review is written as if based off of some version of a Cliff Notes bio born outside of context and the broader scope of investigation. This leads to a very monotonous, seemingly lazy approach to understanding the music, and most certainly to understanding Madonna herself; it’s as if the writer and reader require a revisionist history lesson in order to even begin to grasp who Madonna is and what she has done, the most irritating common thread in the collective narrative being that Madonna was once an iffy trendsetter by design, but has been assaulting the world with an uneven and mediocre output of trend-chasing albums since she was whipped into submission post-American Life. Ironically, you’d get the feeling that some of her fans agree with this narrative, thus reinforcing my theory that there are a good deal of masochists among us to have chosen to endure something they don’t actually appreciate for more than a decade! It’s as if Madonna has a requirement to be purely confessional, or limited to the naïveté of the anthemic disco-stomper. If her music and lyrics don’t address this need more obviously she has failed: she didn’t become Joni Mitchell, so how dare she pick up a guitar and write words that aren’t tantalizing, veiled confessionals; she didn’t grow grey, and become the wistful, nonchalant vagabond, writing enigmatic academic poetry like Patti Smith, and so how dare she manifest as a real sentient human being on a real human journey towards awakening and enlightenment. Oh! And we mustn’t forget that she is the only human being alive to wish to preserve her youthfulness. She should just stop investing in herself altogether beyond her past, acceptable accomplishments, and she should especially unplug from all technology because, well, she’s been old for over ten years and must stop challenging herself and the general public through this outrageous desire to invent, to innovate, to inspire and to be inspired. Otherwise, no matter how interesting it seems, it is “BIZARRE”.

Is it bizarre? Sure, it’s a narrative that deserves to be explored to a degree, but if you repeat something enough, it becomes the truth. “Madonna must fit into the quirky box now if she wants us to qualify this output”! It’s both disheartening and hysterical all at once! 

I have read very little of value that deserves to become the truth in these reviews. I can make up my own mind about what is good and bad, and Madame X is quintessentially Madonna at her best. Whether or not that is good enough for someone else doesn’t interest me much at all unless they are able to tell me why with knowledge, passion and intelligence, which is what a music critic is paid to do after all! I’m still waiting. 

 

Fantastic post 👏👏👏

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24 minutes ago, side_streets said:

No!

It's The Variety type of review without a score.

oh... 

The variety review didn't list a score but was added as a 75 by MC. I'm expecting something similar for this?

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Okay, so I've listened to the album in its entirety and I must say I'm thoroughly impressed. What an experience! It's such a diverse and satisfying collection of songs of consistently high quality. There are so many stand out tracks - especially God Control, I Don't Search I Find, Crazy, Come Alive. and Faz Gostoso. Within the context of the album Medillin sounds even better and more danceable! I'm struggling to find any filler on the deluxe version of the album!

Let's face it - there isn't anyone else in the industry releasing albums of this calibre nowadays. To think this is the same woman who released her eponymous first album followed by Like a Virgin and to realise just how much she has grown and evolved artistically since then is breathtaking. I'm so proud of her and proud for being a fan for the last 35 years. She is a gift to us all! Bravo Madonna!👏🙏

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6 hours ago, Samo said:

I'm surprised it's that high, her worst album by far. I still remember when my paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, trashed AL and gave it a rare 1 star review

I would love to know what you consider to be her best. 🙄

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AllMusic Review by 

4/5

https://www.allmusic.com/album/madame-x-mw0003274282

Madame X is the rare album from a veteran artist that puts earlier records in a different light. Ever since the 1980s, the conventional wisdom about Madonna claimed she brought trends from the musical underground for the purpose of pop hits, but Madame X -- a defiantly dense album that has little to do with pop, at least in the standard American sense -- emphasizes the artistic instincts behind these moves. The shift in perception stems from Madonna embracing a world outside of the United States. While she's been an international superstar since the dawn of her career, Madonna relocated to Lisbon, Portugal in 2017, a move that occurred two years after Rebel Heart -- an ambitious record balanced between revivals of old styles and new sounds -- failed to burn up any Billboard chart outside of Dance singles. These two developments fuel Madame X, an album that treats America as a secondary concern at best. Madonna may address the political and social unrest that's swept across the globe during the latter years of the 2010s, but her commentary is purposely broad. Perhaps Madonna errs on the side of being a little bit too broad -- on "Killers Who Are Partying," she paints herself as a martyr for every oppressed voice in the world -- yet this instinct to look outside of her experience leads her to ground Madame X in various strains of Latinx sounds, trap, and art-pop, music that not only doesn't sound much like the American pop charts in 2019, but requires focused attention in a manner that makes the songs not especially friendly to playlisting.

Madame X has its share of colorful neo-disco numbers and shimmering chill-out tracks, but they're painted in dark hues, and they're surrounded by songs so closely cloistered, they can play like mini-suites. Case in point is "Dark Ballet," an ominous number that descends into a sinister, robotic rendition of Tchaikovsky's "Dance of the Reed Flutes" section from The Nutcracker -- an allusion that recalls not the future, but the dystopian horror show of A Clockwork Orange. Such darkness hangs heavy over Madame X, surfacing fiercely in the clenched-mouth phrasing on "God Control," but present even on the bobbing reggae of "Future." The murk does lift on occasion -- "Come Alive" gains levity from its clustered polyrhythms -- but the somber tenor when combined with fearless exploration does mean Madame X can be demanding listening. The rhythms are immediate, but the songs aren't, nor are the opaque productions. While this thick, heady confluence of cultures and sounds may demand concentration, Madame X not only amply rewards such close listening, but its daring embrace of the world outside the U.S. underscores how Madonna has been an advocate and ally for left-of-mainstream sounds and ideas throughout her career.

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