Madame X album general discussion

[HolidayGuy]

In GC, she explained that it's like her lips are wired together, though that won't stop her from speaking. In DB, the distorted Nutcracker section, I dunno, just seems like it's meant to sound scary- because what happened to Joan of Arc indeed was scary, eh?

[Jazzy Jan]

13 hours ago, promise to try said:

I love her voice as it is, I love it when she just sings, as she did in jimmy fallon´s show with summertime...Vocoder it´s ok for some moments in some songs, but all the time in most of them...that´s my only complain for this fabulous album. Anyways, I´m sure she will stop using them so much in the next albums, she will get bored of it

Yes.  Same here.  I think Madonna has one of the most beautiful, clear and emotional voices ever.  Adore her voice and have never understood why some say she is not a good singer. 

I understand that others do love the vocoder effects and respect their views but to me personally,  I don't like them and think they are overdone a lot on Madame X album on some songs.  

[Nikki]

16 minutes ago, Jazzy Jan said:

Yes.  Same here.  I think Madonna has one of the most beautiful, clear and emotional voices ever.  Adore her voice and have never understood why some say she is not a good singer. 

I understand that others do love the vocoder effects and respect their views but to me personally,  I don't like them and think they are overdone a lot on Madame X album on some songs.  

I agree, though I love the weird vocal edits with the nutcracker.. it's done well there because it's supposed to be so weird and fucked up..

but I really don't like it in "I don't search I find", for example.. it's such a good song so it's a shame.. and I hope we won't have to hear the wonderful live sounds ruined by some autotune choices.. that's where M's perfectionism hurts her (imo), because she always likes to sound like the album version, especially when there's vocal effects..

the tour is gonna have a more live feel with great musicians in a theater, so let's hope she isn't gonna ruin that by altering her voice

[Guest Katypatra]

37 minutes ago, Nikki said:

I agree, though I love the weird vocal edits with the nutcracker.. it's done well there because it's supposed to be so weird and fucked up..

but I really don't like it in "I don't search I find", for example.. it's such a good song so it's a shame.. and I hope we won't have to hear the wonderful live sounds ruined by some autotune choices.. that's where M's perfectionism hurts her (imo), because she always likes to sound like the album version, especially when there's vocal effects..

the tour is gonna have a more live feel with great musicians in a theater, so let's hope she isn't gonna ruin that by altering her voice

I didn’t notice autotune In I Don’t Search... Lol

to me they’re most prominent in Batuka and Come Alive, but I actually like it because it makes her sound super laid back. 

[rocknrolla]

To me, the most autotune is extreme occident and future. 

[Jazzy Jan]

7 hours ago, Nikki said:

I agree, though I love the weird vocal edits with the nutcracker.. it's done well there because it's supposed to be so weird and fucked up..

but I really don't like it in "I don't search I find", for example.. it's such a good song so it's a shame.. and I hope we won't have to hear the wonderful live sounds ruined by some autotune choices.. that's where M's perfectionism hurts her (imo), because she always likes to sound like the album version, especially when there's vocal effects..

the tour is gonna have a more live feel with great musicians in a theater, so let's hope she isn't gonna ruin that by altering her voice

Nikki, this is just me and I know most don't care, but I HATE that distorted nutcracker voice.   It freaks me out - and not in a good way !  Reminds me of a deranged ventriloquist doll gone evil. 

It is weird as I loved the effects in Music and Impressive instant but have never liked any other vocal effects in Madonna songs. 

 Interesting though because others love them.  As we always say, variety and different opinions on songs is part of being a Madonna fan and that is a great thing. 

[cocolino]

8 hours ago, HolidayGuy said:

In GC, she explained that it's like her lips are wired together, though that won't stop her from speaking. In DB, the distorted Nutcracker section, I dunno, just seems like it's meant to sound scary- because what happened to Joan of Arc indeed was scary, eh?

Ok, I see what you mean. Thank you!   I also love the voice effects on these two particular songs.

Edited July 23, 2019 by exciter

[HolidayGuy]

I don't know if that's the intent with the DB vocals, but it's one way to look at it anyway. The effects on the non-Nutcracker sections could be similar to the reasoning for GC.

[Shaun]

13 hours ago, rocknrolla said:

To me, the most autotune is extreme occident and future. 

Where does she use autotune in Extreme Occident?

[dylanciccone_]

9 minutes ago, Shaun said:

Where does she use autotune in Extreme Occident?

It's not autotune but just a way of sharpening the vocals. I remember when the trailer dropped people were complaining about the "the thing that hurt the most" being tuned to death but if it some vocal touch up it isn't jarring or heavy as other tracks. Her vocals on EO are haunting and poignant.

[Miphiwart]

Do you guys think that the autotune in KWAP at 2:18 is on porpuse?

Also in Batuka

at 0:46 - 0:50 I think you can hear the echo from the previous frase between the cuts. 

[Drowned World]

14 hours ago, Katypatra said:

I didn’t notice autotune In I Don’t Search... Lol

to me they’re most prominent in Batuka and Come Alive, but I actually like it because it makes her sound super laid back. 

I agree. On I Don't Search, you can hear her natural voice in the chorus.

[boy skeffington]

I always loved the distortion of her voice (and her natural voice also) on the MUSIC album and this album is its sibling to me. They created a sound and it's clear Madonna and Mirwais wanted to create the tension that voice altering creates. I love it. I still think there's plenty of gorgeous Madonna vocals on MX. No one records Madonna's natural voice better than Mirwais. 

[Flip The Switch]

56 minutes ago, boy skeffington said:

I always loved the distortion of her voice (and her natural voice also) on the MUSIC album and this album is its sibling to me. They created a sound and it's clear Madonna and Mirwais wanted to create the tension that voice altering creates. I love it. I still think there's plenty of gorgeous Madonna vocals on MX. No one records Madonna's natural voice better than Mirwais. 

This x 1000

[Anne]

So the VMA's nominations have been announced and she hasn't got any of them. I thought she at least would have had one on the minor categories, like for the Latin one with Medellín or Video with a message for God Control since she teamed with MTV for the release of the Medellín video. 

[Kurt420]

Voice distortion or not, her voice on EO and LFM in particular make me melt. I find it to be some of the best she's ever done. Also, love the way she uses her voice on KWAP. For me, really, it's her vocal inflections that make that song! If she didn't do that right, it COULD come across as cringe to me on some parts but she totally delivers. To me, that's ALWAYS been one of her biggest talents....she knows how to use her voice to fit the song style/lyrics. Not many can do that. You look at the "big voices" and they are capable of singing one way. For what Madonna lacks in acting on screen, she more than makes up for in song. Such a versatile and underrated vocalist.

[Jairo]

1 hour ago, Shaun said:

Where does she use autotune in Extreme Occident?

Of course it has autotune. Even Mirwais said it during his interview with News of Madonna:

Quote

Some people say you make intensive use of vocoding/autotune and even go as far to say that M cannot sing without this. What do you say to them?

Nothing at all. It’s an esthetic choice. Listen to “Extreme Occident” her voice transcends naturally. Nobody bothers Kanye West or Travis Scott about autotune because it’s their choice. Sometimes we talk about it, whether to use it or not but she’s the one who decides. It’s her record.

 

https://www.news-of-madonna.com/MADAME-X-MADONNA-AND-I-MIRWAIS-HIS-EXCLUSIVE-INTERVIEW_a1136.html

[boy skeffington]

11 minutes ago, Kurt420 said:

Such a versatile and underrated vocalist.

More so than the voice distortion, it's her phrasing and pacing on the Starrah tracks that really represent a very different type of singing and song from Madonna. It takes getting used to but I actually love it and think it hugely benefits MX and makes the album uber-contemporary. It reminds me of how Pharrell pushed her to sing different on the HC tracks. They are a new sounding Madonna and proves to me her relentless pursuit of modern and different as it relates to creating songs and using her voice in a melody. Sometimes I think she is very much "bored" with her voice or wants to sound different. 

As a songwriter and as a vocalist, she is unmatched in the pop world. 

[Kurt420]

4 minutes ago, boy skeffington said:

More so than the voice distortion, it's her phrasing and pacing on the Starrah tracks that really represent a very different type of singing and song from Madonna. It takes getting used to but I actually love it and think it hugely benefits MX and makes the album uber-contemporary. It reminds me of how Pharrell pushed her to sing different on the HC tracks. They are a new sounding Madonna and proves to me her relentless pursuit of modern and different as it relates to creating songs and using her voice in a melody. Sometimes I think she is very much "bored" with her voice or wants to sound different. 

As a songwriter and as a vocalist, she is unmatched in the pop world. 

YES!! You said it perfectly! 

[headonfire]

20 minutes ago, Anne said:

So the VMA's nominations have been announced and she hasn't got any of them. I thought she at least would have had one on the minor categories, like for the Latin one with Medellín or Video with a message for God Control since she teamed with MTV for the release of the Medellín video. 

Not surprised, really! Never expected MTV to nominate a 60 year old brilliant female artist when their target audience are mindless braindead tweens. 

VMAs aren’t worth shit today, and have barely any cultural significance, so pay no mind. Their only function is promo and PR, however to a dwindling audience because no one tunes in to watch it.

[Shaun]

@Jairo wasn’t that an example of a song where she does not use it? Wasn’t that Mirwais’ point? That she uses it on some tracks, and there are other tracks with her natural vocals? Not sure if I interpreted his comments incorrectly, though. Very possible.

[Guest Katypatra]

1 hour ago, Shaun said:

@Jairo wasn’t that an example of a song where she does not use it? Wasn’t that Mirwais’ point? That she uses it on some tracks, and there are other tracks with her natural vocals? Not sure if I interpreted his comments incorrectly, though. Very possible.

No, you interpreted it correctly. Mirwais specifically said “listen to Extreme Occident, her voice transcends naturally”! Meaning not all of the songs he did with her have autotune. And then when he says that no one bothers other artists for their use of autotune, he obviously refers to other songs Madonna did where she chose to have it. Anyways, all I hear in Extreme Occident is her voice being mastered, but there’s no autotune. 

[stevo208]

1 hour ago, Katypatra said:

No, you interpreted it correctly. Mirwais specifically said “listen to Extreme Occident, her voice transcends naturally”! Meaning not all of the songs he did with her have autotune. And then when he says that no one bothers other artists for their use of autotune, he obviously refers to other songs Madonna did where she chose to have it. Anyways, all I hear in Extreme Occident is her voice being mastered, but there’s no autotune. 

I didn't think EO had auto tune to be honest.

[Eltacubo]

Does anyone know what these photo or videoshoots were for?

[rocknrolla]

No one else hears the auto tune in EO?  Her voice sounds very processed to me 

[Alejandrogr]

What about this pic she posted months ago? https://www.instagram.com/p/BwUe1FQBY_E/?igshid=fln6gxplmn13

[Guest Katypatra]

58 minutes ago, rocknrolla said:

No one else hears the auto tune in EO?  Her voice sounds very processed to me 

Processed simply means mastered. Autotune is a completely different thing. And honestly, she doesn’t sound all that different from her live vocals. Madonna sings live very well and hits pretty high notes. Of course they’ll process her voice for the CD quality, but there’s no vocoder in EO like in DB or autotune like in Batuka or Come Alive. 

[Camacho]

I love vocal effects. Veronica Electronica forever!

[Eltacubo]

37 minutes ago, Alejandrogr said:

What about this pic she posted months ago? https://www.instagram.com/p/BwUe1FQBY_E/?igshid=fln6gxplmn13

Yes exactly. Is this for a music video? 

[rocknrolla]

17 minutes ago, Katypatra said:

Processed simply means mastered. Autotune is a completely different thing. And honestly, she doesn’t sound all that different from her live vocals. Madonna sings live very well and hits pretty high notes. Of course they’ll process her voice for the CD quality, but there’s no vocoder in EO like in DB or autotune like in Batuka or Come Alive. 

That's weird I don't notice anything in come alive really.   

For me, she sounds very unnatural in extreme occident, whatever is going on.