MADAME X album reviews

[Pablo94]

Some of these negative reviews  feel like it’s been written by someone who read a couple of other reviews rather than listen to the record, as they offer no real insight just rehash the usual tropes. That Hollywood Reporter review is really poorly written, it reads like a post on a fan forum.

[side_streets]

4 minutes ago, Ai Papi Si. said:

sounds like it was written to impress a college professor or something. 

oh well, if we wanna stoop to the Stan war level, it doesn't count for Metacryptic so NA NA NA

That Jellybean part killed me!

[bardo]

10 minutes ago, side_streets said:

The Hollywood Reporter has published their review.

It is terrible, even one of their journalists distanced himself from it

I will paste it here. Don't give them clicks. If you have Twitter account, you can call them out.

Luckily, it doesn't count.

PS. The last sentence is hilarious. 

 

Madonna is back with a true head-scratcher in Madame X, her 14th album, rounding out her fourth decade as a pop star. Musically, it’s a mess and represents her trying to meld the sounds of Lisbon, Portugal, her home the past several years, with influences as far-flung as Latin, trap, disco and seemingly any other cultural trinket she picked up at World Market. It also features some of the stupidest lyrics you’re likely to hear this year.

The net experience is like hanging out with your aunt who’s trying to impress you by doing ecstasy, telling you about her sex life and pretending she’s woke. Basically: what no human wants to hear right now.

For anyone who remembers the period where Madge pretended to have a British accent and dabbled in Eastern mysticism, this is the logical extension of the cultural confusion that has defined this century for the sexagenarian pop star. Madonna has struggled the past decade — with identity politics, social media stunts (remember the rollout of Rebel Heart?) and simply making music that has any resonance with contemporary audiences.

The new record features a Ritalin-addled melange of vibes that often feel like Rihanna leftovers. We get the pop singer teaming up with young rappers like Quavo and Swae Lee, with pretty forgettable results. For production duties, she's enlisted a grab bag of producers, but even Mirwais, who helped keep her career going on Music and Confessions on a Dancefloor, can’t rekindle any of those albums’ sense of fun or poppy concision. And Diplo’s services behind the boards do little to move the needle — though his presence, as one of 21st century pop’s most recognized pilferers, feels apt.

Apparently, this is a concept album in which Madonna assumes the role of Madame X, whom she described to the Today show as "a spy.”

“She's a secret agent. She travels the world. She changes her identity. She sleeps with one eye open. And she travels through the day with one eye shut. She's actually been wounded. So she's covering up one of her eyes," the artist said.

There is definitely something The Spy Who Shagged Me-esque about this whole get-up (with a dash of Billy the Puppet doll from the Saw franchise). It's a persona that amounts to little and feels like a completely arbitrary, unnecessary reinvention.

As for the songs themselves, their titles give you a pretty good indication of what you’re in store for. In “Extreme Occident,” Madonna sings, “I went to the far right / Then I went to the far left / I tried to recover my center of gravity” and speaks to how she’s taken loosely from various Asian cultures. There's not an ounce of self-awareness.

And then there are tracks with names like “God Control,” which you know are going to be brutal. “God Control” goes from trap to bouncy disco to children’s choir spouting out the ridiculous chorus, “We lost God control.” It’s a six-plus-minute odyssey ending in a flitter of Madonna whispering, “wake up, wake up, wake up.”

On “Killers Who Are Partying,” she hits perhaps a career low as she sings, “I’ll be Africa if Africa is shot down / I will be poor if the poor are humiliated / I’ll be a child if the children are exploited / I know what I am / and I know what I’m not / I’ll be Israel if they’re incarcerated / I'll be Native Indian if the Indian has been taken.” What is she trying to say, exactly? In what way is Israel "incarcerated"? How can she be “Native Indian” or “Africa”? Is Africa being “shot down”? The sense of confused self-importance and entitlement are hard to shake off on an album riddled with moments like this.

There are a few hopeful bits sprinkled throughout, but they don’t last long. She does a decent Wendy Carlos impression on “Dark Ballet.” And when the bassline for “I Don’t Search I Find” drops, there’s a ray of light: It almost sounds like the Aphex Twin collaboration that never happened, and even though it’s a clear rip-off of “Vogue,” it’s the closest thing here you can actually imagine human beings dancing to. But then, during a breakdown, she regrettably sings: “It’s our gypsy blood / We live between life and death.” Guh.

Who is this album for? It feels like another piece of Madonna’s journey of cultural appropriation, tailored to satisfy her own fleeting interests above all. At 15 songs, and nearing an hour running time, it’s exhausting. Madonna’s voice has never been her strong suit, and here the vocals are drenched in Auto-Tune and other effects so that it barely registers as Madonna for most of the album.

Madame X is so brazen and confident that you almost have to admire it. Almost. If only it weren’t also so grueling, shaggy and oversaturated with cringe. But what does a new album for Madonna really need to accomplish besides providing the pretext for a tour and other branding contracts? She was a pioneer of the 360 deal, after all.

Why can’t Madonna get back together with Jellybean and record a freestyle album? Is that too much to ask?


 

how embarrassing. 

[side_streets]

Just now, bardo said:

how embarrassing. 

Totally. Aren't they serious publication? 

[TXIII]

How could it be a rip off of vogue if she made vogue? Trash. NEXT!

[Dindi]

His idea of good music is a reunion with Jellybean...really???? Lmfao

Seriously, where do they get these “critics” from?

[nicholasyund]

All white men who feel threatened. Same old story. Fuck them 

[side_streets]

7 minutes ago, Dindi said:

His idea of good music is a reunion with Jellybean...really???? Lmfao

Seriously, where do they get these “critics” from?

From Pitchfork

https://pitchfork.com/staff/jonny-coleman/

[Samo]

5 minutes ago, nicholasyund said:

All white men who feel threatened. Same old story. Fuck them 

Wow racist much?  Some of her harshest critics are women too and black, gay, bisexual, straight, Latino etc

 

Madonna gets criticized by everyone across the board.  The SJW brigade drags her the most lately, not a little t of straight white men in that group, if they are they're "woke" and "extremely liberal"

 

So they claim

[nicholasyund]

It’s not racism if it’s my own race. Sorry I was just generalizing, was reacting to narrow minded thinking 

[Samo]

4 minutes ago, nicholasyund said:

It’s not racism if it’s my own race. Sorry I was just generalizing, was reacting to narrow minded thinking 

It's OK but Madonna gets hate from ALL groups, always has .  My liberal family, especially the women in it, CAN'T STAND her

[nicholasyund]

Just now, Samo said:

It's OK but Madonna gets hate from ALL groups, always has .  My liberal family, especially the women in it, CAN'T STAND her

Yea I guess I didn’t consider that. My bad I’m sorry again. 

[Jairo]

Madame X is already the 3rd most discussed album of 2019 on Metacritic

[xtaticboy82]

Highest user rating out of the 10! 9.1 

Fuck the critics.

[SheldonCooper]

This album is too complex and layered to review it after only 1 listen which these “critics” do at best so i’m throwing them all out the window.  

The album is the best this year so far hands down.  

[acko]

Isn't Pitchfork like a hipster blog collection? Why is it so important?

I only care about the classic music publications, and papers that are basically
institutions.

[acko]

El Pais

La locura le sienta tan bien

A la Madonna de 'Madame X' no le sobran elementos ni ideas, por muy descabelladas que muchas de ellas sean

En diferentes fases de su carrera, Madonna se ha dedicado a hacer lo que le decían, a hacer lo que le apetecía, a hacer caso a cualquiera que pasara por ahí, a no hacer caso a nadie, a enseñar a los que no sabían y a creer estar enseñando algo a quienes sabían más que ella. Ha hecho historia y ha hecho el ridículo. Todo, eso hay que otorgárselo, siempre con un empeño olímpico. Hay más relato en cada uno de sus discos que en la carrera completa de muchos cantautores o celebrados contadores de historias.

Esta vez, la de Detroit se ha dedicado a algo que resulta bastante contracultural en su devenir musical, un camión que en los últimos años bajaba ligero, descargado de expectativas, a toda velocidad rumbo a un ocaso que se adivinaba tan doloroso como predecible. En un giro inesperado de guion, su álbum número 14 es una chifladura maravillosa sin ninguna línea argumental reconocible. Casi nada de lo que hay aquí debería funcionar y casi todo lo hace. En vez de pillar una idea, como tantas veces hiciera en el pasado, ya fuera para reivindicarse, rejuvenecerse, politizarse o apropiarse de la penúltima moda, en Madame X, la autora de Like a prayer se dedica a decir que sí a cualquier cosa que pasa por su cabeza, por la calle, por el mundo, por Instagram, por Lisboa, por Cabo Verde, por Jamaica, por Colombia, por Detroit...

En Dark ballet se le va la pinza de forma absolutamente fabulosa. Es su Bohemian Rhapsody. Una balada que podría recordar a los momentos clase de yoga de Ray of Light, pero que, de golpe, introduce un solo de piano con fragmentos del Cascanueces de Chaikovski que parece tocado por un James Rhodes hasta arriba de croquetas. Luego vuelve, luego se va, luego se acaba. Más que una canción es un accidente de tráfico, pero uno de esos con los que vivían fascinados y empalmados los personajes de Crash de JG Ballard. Algo parecido sucede en God control, un tema de supuesta protesta política en la que ella y Mirwais, el tipo que la ayudó a facturar Music, pensaron que era buena idea mezclar más piano, coros búlgaros, ritmos disco, rap de fiesta de final de curso, guiños a Frozen, doble de queso, piña.... Tras seis escuchas, servidor aún no es capaz de saber si le gusta o no. Lo contrario sucede con los dos cortes siguientes. En Future, junto a Quavo, de Migos, se marca un tema dancehall que es una barbaridad. Sencillo y directo suena un poco a Rihanna cableada y lleva la huella del mejor Diplo, el que entra en el estudio con la bragueta subida. En Batuka se hace acompañar de la Orquestra de Batukadeiras, un colectivo afroportugués que otorga un ritmo marcial a una cosa que podría ser una mezcla entre Gwen Stefani y Carlinhos Brown y que termina en algo, de nuevo, fresco y rico. Pero si existe un corte de este Madame X que realmente desafía todas las leyes de la razón —y a estas alturas ya llevamos un puñado que podrían luchar por ese trono de acero— ese es Killers who are partying. Si ahora mismo llegara alguien a contarle que Madonna ha hecho un fado con toques de trip hop en el que denuncia todos los males que le han sucedido a la humanidad desde la II Guerra Mundial cantado en inglés y portugués, es muy probable que prefiriera arrancarse las orejas antes que escucharlo. Pues Killers…, a pesar de lo ridículo de su letra, es una de las cimas musicales de la Madonna de los últimos 25 años. En serio. ¡En serio!

Pero no todo son flores en este jardín en el que se ha metido la Ciccione. En I rise se le va con el autotune y cita a Jean Paul Sartre; justo estaba el límite. Extreme occident es un fraude a sí misma. Lo mismo sucede con I don’t search I find, donde se da un homenaje a su yo de los noventa y, claro, rodeada de tanto tema cargado de contenido, suena anémico. Porque Madonna en este disco es también Ariana Grande sin gorgoritos (Crave), la Diana Ross del sur de Londres en (Crazy) o la última sensación de baile funk (Faz gostoso, junto a la brasileña Anitta).

Hay pocos álbumes que contengan tantas canciones con una historia, tantos temas sobre los que haya algo que decir y algo que pensar como este Madame X. Tal vez le sobran minutos, pero no le sobran elementos, ni ideas, por muy descabelladas que muchas sean. Si se le perdonan los momentos en que su autora cree que ver la CNN desde su sofá de su mansión lisboeta ya la valida para tener una opinión sobre el mundo —su discurso es algo así como si las ideas de Noam Chomsky contadas por Steve Bannon—, el largo es tremendamente satisfactorio.

Madonna ha sido la vecina sexy, la prima confidente, la amiga lista, la amiga guapa, la líder de la banda, el icono de varias épocas, una promesa, un recuerdo… Ahora parece que ha optado por ser algo así como la loca de los gatos. En el sentido más aspiracional del termino, obviamente.

[smirnoff_ice]

Is the El Pais review good? 

[acko]

2 minutes ago, smirnoff_ice said:

Is the El Pais review good? 

I don't speak Spanish, but I think so... @Ai Papi Si. @karbatal @ULIZOS

[sotos8]

https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/06/14/madonnas-madame-x-album-number-1-on-itunes-thanks-to-ticket-bundling-for-now-until-fans-try-to-figure-it-out

 

Madonna’s “Madame X” is number 1 on iTunes and on Amazon’s digital music chart thanks to ticket bundling. Every fan who bought a ticket to Madonna’s live show this fall automatically got a download of “Madame X.” The RIAA counts these downloads as sales. Madonna’s pulled this trick before to get a number 1 chart debut for a new recording. Then in the second week, sales drop 80% or more.

This time things may get trickier. “Madame X” is a really bad album, worse than usual in Madonna’s post-career releases. There are no dance songs on “Madame X,” but there’s a lot of political mumbo jumbo. Madonna, like Michael Jackson as he got older, thinks she can save the world. So she sings Hallmark politics about the left and the right, out to please everyone and achieving nothing.

From the sound of “Madame X,” Madonna actually has no ideas. At least when she sang about sex, she was defiant. That always came through. But back then Madonna didn’t have six children- four under the age of 13– who would sing along with her records. Now that  she does, it’s a different game. Platitudes are now her business. They’re not even witty, there’s no wordplay.

But then it’s not just that the songs have no coherence lyrically. There’s also just a mess. Many of them are interrupted by strange digressions. “The Nutcracker Suite” pops up in one of them.The songs stop and start. On Wikipedia, her PR says she tried to make a record like “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Whaaaat? The problem, of course, is that unlike Freddie Mercury, Madonna is not a composer. She doesn’t write music. It’s unclear if she writes lyrics, really.

Oh for the days when Madge just worked with real songwriters. They did the heavy lifting, and she presented it in her own form. That’s how we got “Like a Prayer” and “Like a Virgin” and “Vogue.” But she can’t do that now. She can’t expose herself to a collaboration. So she sticks to Mirwais, who’s been there for her during the post-hit period, quietly trying to fashion a whole album out of thin air. I guess you could say they’ve done it again

[hasta]

The album has a score of 72 on Metacritic as of now.

[Kurt420]

4 hours ago, Jairo said:

Madame X is already the 3rd most discussed album of 2019 on Metacritic

Oh good lord.....I just can't take Metacritic seriously after seeing this screen shot....lol. 

From the looks of what's scored highest, I think I may prefer Madonna to have a lower overall score. Yay for the user rating though....at the end of the day that's what matters.

 

[elijah]

wow, how much garbage in 3 paragraphs. Plus iTunes doesn't count the bundles, but whatever...

[Nikki]

5 minutes ago, Kurt420 said:

Oh good lord.....I just can't take Metacritic seriously after seeing this screen shot....lol. 

From the looks of what's scored highest, I think I may prefer Madonna to have a lower overall score. Yay for the user rating though....at the end of the day that's what matters.

 

Ariana has some of the worst music in the industry today. (aside from "god is a woman" of course). rapping about buying fake hair and just being the typical submissive doll. it's teen music. definition of generic and the template of bad top40 radio. I can't imagine any of those mature reviewers listening to that album and enjoying it. 

[CalinB]

6 minutes ago, sotos8 said:

https://www.showbiz411.com/2019/06/14/madonnas-madame-x-album-number-1-on-itunes-thanks-to-ticket-bundling-for-now-until-fans-try-to-figure-it-out

 

Madonna’s “Madame X” is number 1 on iTunes and on Amazon’s digital music chart thanks to ticket bundling. Every fan who bought a ticket to Madonna’s live show this fall automatically got a download of “Madame X.” The RIAA counts these downloads as sales. Madonna’s pulled this trick before to get a number 1 chart debut for a new recording. Then in the second week, sales drop 80% or more.

This time things may get trickier. “Madame X” is a really bad album, worse than usual in Madonna’s post-career releases. There are no dance songs on “Madame X,” but there’s a lot of political mumbo jumbo. Madonna, like Michael Jackson as he got older, thinks she can save the world. So she sings Hallmark politics about the left and the right, out to please everyone and achieving nothing.

From the sound of “Madame X,” Madonna actually has no ideas. At least when she sang about sex, she was defiant. That always came through. But back then Madonna didn’t have six children- four under the age of 13– who would sing along with her records. Now that  she does, it’s a different game. Platitudes are now her business. They’re not even witty, there’s no wordplay.

But then it’s not just that the songs have no coherence lyrically. There’s also just a mess. Many of them are interrupted by strange digressions. “The Nutcracker Suite” pops up in one of them.The songs stop and start. On Wikipedia, her PR says she tried to make a record like “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Whaaaat? The problem, of course, is that unlike Freddie Mercury, Madonna is not a composer. She doesn’t write music. It’s unclear if she writes lyrics, really.

Oh for the days when Madge just worked with real songwriters. They did the heavy lifting, and she presented it in her own form. That’s how we got “Like a Prayer” and “Like a Virgin” and “Vogue.” But she can’t do that now. She can’t expose herself to a collaboration. So she sticks to Mirwais, who’s been there for her during the post-hit period, quietly trying to fashion a whole album out of thin air. I guess you could say they’ve done it again

Obviously we all got a hard disk with our tickets, which is not distributed by Apple Music/iTunes LOL. How these people can state things the average person is aware of as untrue I don't know. But this is a BS publication, so we should not post this garbage here.

[sotos8]

[acko]

Please delete that Roger Friedman thing, I ask the Mods to have his content banned from the forum.

Also I would like his name 2 b automatically masked as R**** *******n

He is sucha pathetic little unfuckable weasel of a man.

Thank u 4 listening,

A concerned customer.

[rodials]

46 minutes ago, acko said:

I don't speak Spanish, but I think so... @Ai Papi Si. @karbatal @ULIZOS

It’s a very good review!

There is funny/controversial points though:

- He/she is not sure if likes or doesn’t like God control.

- Definitely likes Dark Ballet, future and think that “Killers” is one of her best songs from the last 25 years.  

- Says that “I don’t Search” and Extreme Occident are low point. 

- Compares Crave to Ariana’s Song and talks good of the multiple styles on it.

There is a statement that I disagree: it is said that she thinks that can talk about the problems of the World based on what she sees from CNN laying on her coach in her Lisbon Mansion...

 

47 minutes ago, acko said:

I don't speak Spanish, but I think so... @Ai Papi Si. @karbatal @ULIZOS

I

[rodials]

29 minutes ago, Kurt420 said:

Oh good lord.....I just can't take Metacritic seriously after seeing this screen shot....lol. 

From the looks of what's scored highest, I think I may prefer Madonna to have a lower overall score. Yay for the user rating though....at the end of the day that's what matters.

 

Carly Rae second?!!!? WTF!

[lasky]

27 minutes ago, acko said:

Please delete that Roger Friedman thing, I ask the Mods to have his content banned from the forum.

Also I would like his name 2 b automatically masked as R**** *******n

He is sucha pathetic little unfuckable weasel of a man.

Thank u 4 listening,

A concerned customer.

Yes.... pls bar his name on display from the forum.... he's foul and he smells!!! He ate rubbish for lunch and dinner thus all his work smells utter rubbish and rotten.. just like a pile of dung.