Madonna: Erotica POLL

rain, w/ deeper and deeper and erotica trailing behind

― la senora (surm), Monday, 19 April 2010 02:54 (3 years ago) Permalink

thief of hearts was my childhood favorite, of course

― la senora (surm), Monday, 19 April 2010 02:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

I won't do it. I just can't do it. This album is too close to pick one.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Monday, 19 April 2010 02:59 (3 years ago) Permalink

I know we've done this one before, because I proclaimed my (unpopular) hatred of boom-cha-boom-cha house music's infiltration of Top 40 radio in the very early '90s.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 19 April 2010 03:07 (3 years ago) Permalink

And YOU started it: Put Your Hands All Over My Poll: The Madonna "Erotica" Poll

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 19 April 2010 03:09 (3 years ago) Permalink

This album needs to be polled at least once a year.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Monday, 19 April 2010 03:10 (3 years ago) Permalink

I see I voted "Fever" last time, so I'll have to vote for a different track this time around.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Monday, 19 April 2010 03:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

"Bad Girl," song and video.

― clemenza, Monday, 19 April 2010 03:18 (3 years ago) Permalink

My polls should be called Thief of Memory.

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 19 April 2010 03:22 (3 years ago) Permalink

I know we've done this one before, because I proclaimed my (unpopular) hatred of boom-cha-boom-cha house music's infiltration of Top 40 radio in the very early '90s.

Yeah you were a flaming jerk on that thread. (Actually, I thought you were a troll at the time but apparently that was incorrect.) Which is odd because I've never seen you act that way again. Your hatred of house was reaching Ger-like proportions. Has it subsided any?

Anyhoo, meant to vote for "Deeper" in the last poll so I'm doing it now.

― Kevin John Bozelka, Monday, 19 April 2010 03:26 (3 years ago) Permalink

I can't explain it. I enjoy music of all kinds, from all continents and peoples, but the construction and hallmarks of turn-of-the-'90s house music sparks a visceral reaction in me that turns me into an instant asshole. That's why I'm staying out of this thread... uh, starting now.

― Johnny Fever, Monday, 19 April 2010 03:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

Sometimes I'd like to hope that knowing house like I do makes me a little more tolerant of those who live, I dunno, Creed. Sometimes it's just in your DNA and there's no reason to reason it away.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Monday, 19 April 2010 03:31 (3 years ago) Permalink

Obv, the justifiable reason to dissent from the praise for this album is to hone in on Madonna's ostensible opportunism, but I guess I'd bet she was into the scene enough that's sort of a hollow argument.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Monday, 19 April 2010 03:32 (3 years ago) Permalink

Rain

― iago g., Monday, 19 April 2010 03:36 (3 years ago) Permalink

"Did You Do It?" should be in the poll! (though I wouldn't vote for it). It's unfairly despised. After a whole album where Madonna shows us her perceptions of sex - taking on a whole series of sexual personae and situations - it's interesting that the angle is flipped for the only time ever and we get Madonna's perception of how people perceive having sex with her. Maybe it's unnerving then that she's portrayed in the most objectified and degrading terms (but I guess she's trying to make a point with that, which fits in with the rest of her message on Erotica.). It also sets up a great contrast that makes her total retreat into herself and her need for pregnancy all the more potent and understandable in the following/closing track. And as a bonus: she's referred to as Campbell's soup (wtf).

― nevermind312, Monday, 19 April 2010 04:47 (3 years ago) Permalink

More interested in ranking em:

Deeper & Deeper
Bad Girl
Waiting
Erotica = Where Life Begins = Secret Garden
Thief Of Hearts = Rain = Fever = Bye Bye Baby
Why's It So Hard
Words = In This Life

― Tim F, Monday, 19 April 2010 08:03 (3 years ago) Permalink

deeper and deeper
bad girl
erotica
secret garden
in this life
waiting
where life begins
bye bye baby
fever
rain
words
thief of hearts
why's it so hard?

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Monday, 19 April 2010 08:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

Fever
Erotica
Where Life Begins
Deeper and Deeper
Bad Girl
Words
Secret Garden
Rain
Thief of Hearts
Waiting
In This Life
Why's It So Hard
Bye Bye Baby

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 17:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

bad girl is so bad/good

― la senora (surm), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 17:22 (3 years ago) Permalink

ppl ranking thief of hearts way too low.

― la senora (surm), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 17:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

' you fucked it up '

― la senora (surm), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 17:26 (3 years ago) Permalink

lololol

― la senora (surm), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 17:26 (3 years ago) Permalink

The line between unbelievably great and not so good, for me, falls between "In This Life" and "Why's It So Hard."

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 17:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

Why's It So Hard
Words = In This Life

― Tim F

Ok this just shattered my globe. Tim F, how can someone with such unfailingly exquisite taste prefer "Why's It So Hard" to "Words???" Some facts are in order:

"Words" dances; "Why's It So Hard" does not
"Words" slashes; "Why's It So Hard" plods
"Words" has ear-bending Orientalist sonics, a rap, and a typewriter; "Why's It So Hard" eschews gimmickry (a bad thing in pop music)
"Words" has decent lyrics; "Why's It So Hard" has freakishly godawful ones, quite possibly the very worst in her career
"Words" is one of the better unsung songs on the album; "Why's It So Hard" is easily the worst and should never be sung
"Words" could generate a nifty student paper utilizing Speech Act Theory; "Why's It So Hard" generates embarrassment for Madonna's good intentions
"Words" is not crappy; "Why's It So Hard" is

Tim F, please to explain and help me put my globe back together. kthxbyexoxoxo

― Kevin John Bozelka, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:21 (3 years ago) Permalink

"Words" is one of her Great Singles That Never Were.

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:24 (3 years ago) Permalink

see?

― Kevin John Bozelka, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:25 (3 years ago) Permalink

But I like "Why's It So Hard" too. I'm a sucker for that early nineties shufflebeat, and that keyboard sound.

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:27 (3 years ago) Permalink

Deeper and Deeper - probably my second favorite Madonna song after Into The Groove.

― Moodles, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:37 (3 years ago) Permalink

Here's how I'd rank them:

"Deeper and Deeper"
"Thief of Hearts" (surm waaay otm; y'all are gay disco/Madonna fans yet you rank this so low??)
"Words"
"Bye Bye Baby"
"Fever"
"Erotica"

Then it stops being disco and a serious nosedive results

"Rain"
"Bad Girl"
"Did You Do It?"
"Secret Garden"
"Where Life Begins"
"Waiting"
"In This Life"
Stephen David Heitkotter
those Jandek spoken word albums
white noise
"Why's It So Hard"

― Kevin John Bozelka, Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

actually i'm relistening now and i have no idea why i put "thief of hearts" so low!

YOU'LL DO IT YOU'LL TAKE IT
YOU'LL SCREW IT YOU'LL FAKE IT
UNDO IT YOU'LL BREAK IT
YOU'RE OVER YOU CAN'T TAKE IT

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 18:56 (3 years ago) Permalink

thank you! you of all people!

― la senora (surm), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 19:08 (3 years ago) Permalink

i think i confused it with "where life begins", which should be lower

tbh i quite love every song on this album apart from "why's it so hard" (so hideous) so a low placement isn't that meaningful

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 19:10 (3 years ago) Permalink

honestly the only one of the fast songs I'm not crazy about is the title track.

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 19:15 (3 years ago) Permalink

the bassline tho! love that bassline.

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 19:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

"Where Life Begins" starting to emerge as underrated.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 19:57 (3 years ago) Permalink

can we talk about Bye Bye Baby?

― la senora (surm), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 20:29 (3 years ago) Permalink

Great bass on that too.

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 20:32 (3 years ago) Permalink

had ever seen the Deeper and Deeper video until now. this song is so good.

― la senora (surm), Wednesday, 21 April 2010 21:43 (3 years ago) Permalink

Why's It So Hard and Words are both cringeworthy in parts but I kind of like the reggae-house vibe of the former. "Words" I used to think was one of Madonna's worst songs ever lyrically but I like it now more than I used to (also this was before her lyrics completely jumped the shark at the beginning of the 00s).

― Tim F, Thursday, 22 April 2010 05:33 (3 years ago) Permalink

I picked Secret Garden because the production + her metaphor for wanting a child makes the song great. Since I know more about her personal life than I should it makes the song all the more poignant for me.

― lilsoulbrother, Friday, 23 April 2010 02:04 (3 years ago) Permalink

surm i love thief of hearts a lot, too. is there consensus that she's singing about herself?

― horseshoe, Friday, 23 April 2010 02:41 (3 years ago) Permalink

does it matter? If you say she is, then she is.

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 April 2010 10:54 (3 years ago) Permalink

"Rain". "It Used To Be My Playground" is better than anything on this album though.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 23 April 2010 12:58 (3 years ago) Permalink

Yes, in that there is no song that exists with that title.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Friday, 23 April 2010 14:58 (3 years ago) Permalink

Well "This Used To Be My Playground". A wonderful melodic ballad that is and remains the best Madonna/Shep Bettibone moment.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 23 April 2010 15:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

And also the best Madonna song between the "Like a Prayer" and "Ray Of Light" albums, no less.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 23 April 2010 15:36 (3 years ago) Permalink

Interesting. I wonder how this revelation might turn this conversation.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Friday, 23 April 2010 16:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

so does everyone agree this is Madonna's best album? (apart from Geir obv)

― nevermind312, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:10 (3 years ago) Permalink

I don't; for me it's either True Blue or Ray of Light.

― HI DERE, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:11 (3 years ago) Permalink

Mine are:

Erotica
Madonna
Like a Prayer

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:12 (3 years ago) Permalink

i don't think it's her best either. tbh i think that's kind of an over-inflated standpoint.

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

FIGHTIN WORDS

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:13 (3 years ago) Permalink

Madonna is my #3, definitely.

― HI DERE, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:16 (3 years ago) Permalink

my 2 favorites are Madonna and Like a Virgin.

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:17 (3 years ago) Permalink

I think Like A Virgin has the biggest gulf in quality between the singles and the album tracks.

― HI DERE, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:22 (3 years ago) Permalink

i enjoy the buzz-y fluff of Shoo-Bee-Doo and Stay, and all the other trax are golden, non-smashes included (Over and Over, Angel). plus all the remixes of Angel are awes

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:28 (3 years ago) Permalink

"Angel" was a top 5 single...?

― HI DERE, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

but obv, i know what u mean. i think the bubbly nothing sort of sound to some of the trax is one of my favorite things about the album, actually.

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

yea but it doesn't compare to Material Girl, Dress You Up, the title track or Love Don't Live Here Anymore in terms of modern-day popularity or overall recognizability, if i'm not mistaken.

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:31 (3 years ago) Permalink

Well nothing compares to "Material Girl" in terms of modern-day popularity, considering that is still what Madonna gets called.

― HI DERE, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:32 (3 years ago) Permalink

if Madonna would somehow have swapped "Shoo-Bee-Doo", "Pretender" and " "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" for "Into The Groove", "Crazy For You" and "Gambler" then the album would have been 1000 times better at least.

― nevermind312, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:34 (3 years ago) Permalink

i would venture to guess that a lot of ppl would be far more familiar with Like A Virgin, Dress You Up or even Love Don't Live Here Anymore more readily than they would know Angel. but maybe that's just the ppl i happen to know.

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:35 (3 years ago) Permalink

Actually, I don't know too many (straight people) who regard Erotica as anything other than one of her worst. Geir is sadly not alone.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:37 (3 years ago) Permalink

And one of the reasons I think it's her best probably has something to do with the fact that I don't like most of her other albums much beyond the singles.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:37 (3 years ago) Permalink

I'd guess her worst is Something To Remember, which ironically I can't remember a single song from.

― HI DERE, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:38 (3 years ago) Permalink

i thought that was just a collection of her ballads or something?

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:38 (3 years ago) Permalink

Yep, those songs all sounded like stuff she did before.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:38 (3 years ago) Permalink

xp :)

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:38 (3 years ago) Permalink

ha no wonder I don't remember anything from it; I was looking at the singles off of it on Wikipedia and going "wtf are these songs"

― HI DERE, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:40 (3 years ago) Permalink

Evita is clearly her worst, if that counts.

― nevermind312, Friday, 23 April 2010 18:43 (3 years ago) Permalink

basically what i was trying to say is that i think Like A Virgin seems like it has more fillers than it actually does. when you actually look at the tracklist, most of the songs were either huge or very solid.

― la senora (surm), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:44 (3 years ago) Permalink

hard candy is her worst by...a fair distance

― لوووووووووووووووووووول (lex pretend), Friday, 23 April 2010 18:44 (3 years ago) Permalink

heard a smooth jazz cover of "fever" at work last week.

― kclu, Friday, 23 April 2010 19:02 (3 years ago) Permalink

(followed by renditions of "songbird" and "please please please let me get what I want")

― kclu, Friday, 23 April 2010 19:03 (3 years ago) Permalink

heard a smooth jazz cover of "fever"

That's why I love the Erotica version so much. It's just a 100 percent aggressive desecration of the original's musicality but inverts its sexual chemistry into a whole 'nother Kinsey pinpoint. Equal and opposite type thing.

― who's always getting head from the commissioner (Eric H.), Friday, 23 April 2010 19:17 (3 years ago) Permalink

I think Like A Virgin has the biggest gulf in quality between the singles and the album tracks.

otm.

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 April 2010 19:30 (3 years ago) Permalink

I'm not too crazy about True Blue's album tracks either. LAP has a couple of album tracks as good as its singles.

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 April 2010 19:31 (3 years ago) Permalink

there was a good long while where "White Heat" was my favorite song on True Blue

― HI DERE, Friday, 23 April 2010 19:46 (3 years ago) Permalink

Come on baby, MAKE MY DAY

― nevermind312, Friday, 23 April 2010 19:48 (3 years ago) Permalink

My Top 3 Madonna are:
Like a Prayer
Ray Of Light
Like a Virgin

Honorary mentions also to "Music", "Madonna", "True Blue" and "Confessions On a Dancefloor", all of them great albums.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 23 April 2010 22:04 (3 years ago) Permalink

I'm not too crazy about True Blue's album tracks either

They aren't all good "Scooby Doo" being quite horrible even), but "Surrender" is one of my favourite tracks on that album.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 23 April 2010 22:05 (3 years ago) Permalink

No wonder the typical RYM poster is stuck in the early 90s btw. You have to be stuck there to think positive of "Erotica". It is extremely of its time. A time that is now luckily long gone and hopefully will never return. The early 90s were one of the worst ever eras for music. Absolutely horrible.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 23 April 2010 22:06 (3 years ago) Permalink

What copy of TB do YOU own?

xpost

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 April 2010 22:19 (3 years ago) Permalink

What copy of TB do YOU own?

Aren't they all alike? Except for the remaster (which is the one I own) sounding better and containing a couple 12 inch mixes in addition?

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 23 April 2010 22:20 (3 years ago) Permalink

what are "Scooby Doo" and "Surrender"?

― Throwing Muses are reuniting for my next orgasm! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 23 April 2010 22:22 (3 years ago) Permalink

Hmm... Sorry. Read that as "Like a Virgin".

As for TB album tracks, I do like "Jimmy Jimmy". But the rest were a bit weaker, surely.

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Friday, 23 April 2010 22:23 (3 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

― System, Sunday, 2 May 2010 23:01 (3 years ago) Permalink

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

― System, Monday, 3 May 2010 23:01 (3 years ago) Permalink

why's it so hard to poll one another?

― cool and remote like dancing girls (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 3 May 2010 23:02 (3 years ago) Permalink

deeper and deeper really is am amazing song

― la senora (surm), Monday, 3 May 2010 23:03 (3 years ago) Permalink

Shoulda voted "Where Life Begins."

But then "Fever" wouldn't have gotten a vote.

Man, this album.

― will live out his days in gloomy batchelorhood (Eric H.), Monday, 3 May 2010 23:04 (3 years ago) Permalink

hehe i would have such a good time with the 2 of u with gin and tonics and this album

― la senora (surm), Monday, 3 May 2010 23:05 (3 years ago) Permalink

so basically the same results as last time.

― nevermind312, Monday, 3 May 2010 23:06 (3 years ago) Permalink

WHY ISN'T BAD GIRL HIGHER THAN RAIN?

― nevermind312, Monday, 3 May 2010 23:06 (3 years ago) Permalink

BC RAIN IS EPIC

― la senora (surm), Monday, 3 May 2010 23:07 (3 years ago) Permalink

What a fantastic scenario, surm!

― will live out his days in gloomy batchelorhood (Eric H.), Monday, 3 May 2010 23:28 (3 years ago) Permalink

RAIN IS EPIC

If you're a photographer, it may be......

― Tied Up In Geir (Geir Hongro), Tuesday, 4 May 2010 02:47 (3 years ago) Permalink

I feel like "Waiting" is definitely the most underrated track on this album. The post-"Justify My Love" production suits Madonna's (then) sultriness so well (plus the drums on this are beautiful) and for what seems like an understated, part-spoken-word track it's actually overloaded with so many different hooks. The way the generic lyrics fit together is just masterly as well, like the "don't go breaking my heart like you said you would / baby you're no good / but I love you like no other lover ever could" bridge - all the internal rhyming. And when the piano chords come in! And the ticking clock!

― Tim F, Sunday, 16 May 2010 11:14 (3 years ago) Permalink

point taken. her voice! so husky

― i fake it so real, i am beyonce (surm), Sunday, 16 May 2010 14:54 (3 years ago) Permalink

kind of an understatedly perfect representation of the album's sound

― i fake it so real, i am beyonce (surm), Sunday, 16 May 2010 14:55 (3 years ago) Permalink

Juzwiak for the defense:

http://gawker.com/5953385/madonnas-pussy-is-the-temple-of-learning-erotica-at-20

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 20 October 2012 17:53 (7 months ago) Permalink

What sucks about it is I can't listen to the album now.

― the ones that I'm near most: fellow outcasts and ilxors (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 20 October 2012 18:10 (7 months ago) Permalink

Wait, as in you can't right this second or...

― Ned Raggett, Saturday, 20 October 2012 18:17 (7 months ago) Permalink