I'm burning up, burning up for your VOTES! — ILM Artist Poll #31 is Madonna

WHAT?

my favourite LAP deep cut for so very long was "act of contrition"; as a jewish kid i was enthralled and mystified by all the strange catholic liturgical muttering, and i love the image of madonna rejected at the gates of heaven, screaming at god, expecting entrance based solely on her namesake.

WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER?!?!

Prince on guitar too.

i could at least identify with her chutzpa tho <3

Yeah, that "I have a reservation... I *have* a *reservation*... WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER???" transition is amazing and circa 8 year old me thought very clever as well.

it never struck me until recently how joyous and unpretentious those singles from the first album are. a large part of Madonna's success obviously has to do with how adaptive she has been and how readily she embraces change, but if i look at her career as a whole, it kind of sits uncomfortably with me; the uncompromising desire to keep her brand relevant and up to the minute every step of the way strikes me as symptomatic of an overall confused identity rather than a depth and variety that i can tap into for endless spoils. i think at some point i was intrigued by Madonna because there were so many sides of her, but only because of that, and not because i ever thought the songs consistently held up. the pure expressions of the very early stuff are thankfully there for me to enjoy, but her departures and evolution from that point leave me cold basically, save a few excellent singles along the way. look forward to voting in this, regardless :)

i suppose it's partly because we're living in a pop world she helped create, but it's weird to even think of Madonna as being someone who chases trends and covets relevance, when compared to the way so many contemporary stars now jump bandwagons constantly Madonna seems pretty dignified and self-possessed

even something like Hard Candy, while i can knock who she chose to work with and when and the underwhelming results, it seems like she did it on her terms, because she felt like it

Until the last six or seven years, I never thought of Madonna chasing trends. Like Bowie, she spotted something cool burbling just enough under the surface to explore it, or was prescient enough to see where pop would go for a couple years.

The closest approximation to a Low in her career is Erotica.

well, it's true that the climate was different back then and she was chasing or establishing trends over a longer and more gradual span of time. these days, i think it's almost aggressive; there is a general sense among popular artists that to stay relevant they need to change their image and approach or embrace variety in sounds from single to single, from public appearance to public appearance. responses are very impulsive and short-term in this day and age with the public more likely to be demanding and dictate terms than sit back and observe a phenomenon unfold at its own speed.

never listened to Hard Candy, but assumed that it may well have been a belated response to what was current in the charts at the time. if it was just something she genuinely felt like doing, power to her. gotta respect that.

"true blue" would've been fourth best on out of the blue

Debbie Gibson would not have done awesome dance sign-language in the video and she would have worn that stupid hat and she would have been all earnest and made it SUCK.

She has NOT sailed a thousand ships or kissed a thousand lips.

In the end, Madonna wanted the middle of the song to have a flamenco guitar strumming big-time."

oh so M was entirely responsible for the greatest pop moment in my lifetime, good 2 know

(tim and prolego otm)

haha lex otm. i remember reading shep telling that story a few years ago (only in that telling he says he argued strongly against the guitar) and thinking 'thank you madonna'. and then when the strings come back in, o man.

sang 'borderline' at karaoke tonight

Huge fan of "Borderline." It starts out sounding the epitome of piffle, but it builds to much more.

"Did You Do It" seems the obv choice for the most dispensable song on Erotica.

"Borderline" is a great, great song that only suffers because of its proximity to a bunch of greater songs

^^^obviously wrong

The coolest thing abt this poll may be that I genuinely have no idea ow the results are gonna go.

from the v first note borderline is obviously just from another planet

I can only presume "Like a Prayer" wins, but yeah, I could just as easily see it outside the top 5.

xp: That is true of every single from her first album

yea pretty much

my boyfriend was in a cab the other night and thought a cathedral was pretty, so he says to the cabby, that's a pretty church. and the cabby goes, you think that's a pretty church? and blasts Like a Prayer thru the streets of Brooklyn

out of everything on her first album "everybody" is mad underrated - that bassline! o_O

I think the underrated song on her first album is "Physical Attraction"

I hope "Like a Prayer" doesn't win.

xp me too altho i think it's been getting more love lately, i've noticed it referenced much more. it punches you in the gut with that refrain.

I'd very much like to see something other than "Like a Prayer" finish first. For me, it's her "Losing My Religion"--didn't like it when it came out, have never changed my mind. Yet both are considered masterpieces by friends and critics whose opinions are generally in line with my own.

I like Like a Prayer, but not Losing My Religion...that's me, though. Fence straddler.

only when i'm polling can i feel this free, at night i cast my votes where no one else can see...

xxxp Physical Attraction is magic. every song on the first album (except "I Know It") deserves a vote.

clemenza otm as usual. Holiday and Into the Groove should take this

actually it's looking like "Open Your Heart" may take it, if we note enthusiasm.

live to tell is going all the way. mark my words.

if i vote it'll never have the chance to go very far :)

Not many people are voting in the sub-polls, btw. At this point, not even enough to really share any meaningful results. Consider voting in the sub-polls!

Man I like Like A Prayer but unless something MAJOR happens between now and me casting my ballot it's not gonna make my 20

this is fucking impossible. what kind of monster would create such a poll

I'd be very happy with "Open Your Heart" as #1, and "Live to Tell" as #2. Or swapped, but I'd rather an uptempo song be first.

HALLO! xp

:D

i could live with into the groove being number one. live to tell number two.

When I made the push for Open Your Heart early in the thread, I sort of thought it was one of her forgotten hits. It made me all warm inside to see how much other people love it too.

Album tracks for your consideration:

Till Death Do Us Part
Love Song
Waiting
Thief of Hearts
Words
Forbidden Love
Love Tried To Welcome Me
Sanctuary
Swim
Skin
Sky Fits Heaven
Impressive Instant
Amazing
Paradise (Not For Me)
Let It Will Be
Forbidden Love

hay imagine if True Blue was #1

feel "hung up" is going to do really well due to being most ppl's token vote for some post-90s representation

stop!

x-post

IMAGINE IT, SCOTT.