Don't go for second best, baby. Put your ILM ARTIST POLL #31: MADONNA to the test.

One thing you may end up noticing is that Madonna is photographed a shit ton with her arms raised.

oof yes, booming images, keep it up

she has really great eyes

the image for 'words' will be hard to top already.

I don't remember anyone citing "The Power of Goodbye" in the other thread. Prototypical "deep single." The sonics are a warm bath.

really like how aqueous and majestic "the power of goodbye" sounds

I also forgot "I'll Remember" from my ballot, but it would have been near the bottom. I was only reminded a couple days ago by my roommate mentioning it as one of his favorite M songs. Then I had to frantically double-check that I hadn't forgotten all of her soundtrack songs for my ballot (I hadn't).

JF, great work w/ the stills - love the typeface arrangement, colors & subtle halftone pattern!

wow I forgot all about I'll Remember.

http://i.imgur.com/WMyto5q.jpg

47. "KEEP IT TOGETHER" from Like a Prayer (1989) [9 votes, 148 points]

YES

^^^

can't decide whether I prefer the single mix

Madonna sez Prince played on the album version.

I absolutely prefer the single mix but the album version is also good

I think KiT was like #21 for me :-( it really is a great song

loving these images sfm

I deliberated over KiT, I so wanted it on my ballot. Glad it made it into the 50. So good!

she made it into an amazing closing number for blond ambition

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhndzqzmstc

"I'll Remember" image should've been bearded Joe Pesci, is my only complaint

better:

http://images.larryelder.com/images/blog/TomVitale_080612.jpg

I forgot "I'll Remember" too--a convince-store staple for a few years back there. Good song.

i never paid attention to "the power of good-bye" till I heard the mashup of it and "bittersweet symphony," which remains one of my favorite examples of the form. the sonics are indeed a warm bath; that's a great description. the vocal is another matter. she sounds like she's trembling all the way through, as if the breakup she's singing about happened the morning she recorded it. she's sure of herself, absolutely sure, and yet she's not at all over it.

http://i.imgur.com/GdnmJDd.jpg

46. "DIE ANOTHER DAY" from the motion picture soundtrack Die Another Day (2002) [7 votes, 149 points]

Didn't see that one coming.

"Power of Good-bye" on my ballot (only thing to place so far).

"Keep It Together" one of very few LAP tracks to *not* make my ballot (though I really like it).

And yes! Great images!!

1) stoked 4 this
2) not stoked that it's started just as i have to leave the house and be offline til tomorrow morning
3) fantastic images
4) DIE ANOTHER DAY!!!! - happy it placed obv but SO SO SO TOO LOW

lol so happy "Die Another Day" placed

please explain the love for this song bcz idgi

I am asking genuinely

I had no idea it was well regarded until today.

i just think "Die" and "American Life" are the apex of the total awkward strangeness of the Madonna/Mirwais collaboration, with the latter edging a little too far into outright bad but the former aging pretty well

the appeal is that it sounds like a ringtone?

Die has aged/is better than AL, that's for sure, but I still think its kinda rigid and hook-free in much the same way a lot of her stuff has been in the 00's and onward.

Really curious to see if any other AL tracks will post, though I doubt it.

idgi either, they're the nadir of the awkard strangeness. blank in a bad way.

i feel ppl would like it a lot more if it wasn't tied to an awful bond film and had just been a first single for a studio album

the production is insane and "sigmund freud analyse this" is obv an all-time line

Don't love this, or even really like it much. Was surprised when it made a late push to crack the top 50.

People like "Live and Let Die" and its tied to a (marginally) worse Bond film.

xpost

American Life was the only LP from the last 15 years on my albums ballot, it's obviously kind of a fiasco but imo a really unique and interesting one, a lot of her later music has the same rigidity and blandness but without the strangeness and personal twists that made the AL era a source of fascination for me.

"die another day" was in my top three, it's completely unfuckwithable as totally bizarre-sounding experimental pop that still conveys the essence of the singer successfully and has a ton more hooks than its awkwardness should allow for

the tense, ominous intro and clip-clopping beats, strings sharp like knives, that "UH." like a full stop mid-verse, an android prickling with panicky sweat, the entire conceit that she can achieve immortality by shutting her body down - it's insane sonically and lyrically and is everything i'd want for a slightly mad pop star on top of the world

and it's so seriousfaced - like you actually believe that she does think she can achieve mortality via metaphysics, and the weird vocal treatment is her in the process of actually doing that

also: "i need to lay down"

hella fun to dance to, too

tom ewing on it: http://freakytrigger.co.uk/ft/2009/09/madonna-die-another-day/

I came around to having affection for it. I don't think it's a fiasco so much as an uneven attempt to electronify a singer-songwriter record

that's a convincing defence of it lex, makes me wish i liked the way it sounded more.

^^

liked it more at the time, think it works much better as stand alone soundtrack single than first single from album context, still think it's solid but at the time i can remember telling someone the reason britney was never gonna be another madonna is that britney couldn't even conceive of a 'die another day' while madonna could churn one out w/o breaking a sweat. then came 'toxic'. curious just how little you hear it now - it hasn't disappeared from the face of the earth like her 'american pie' remake (which was a hit fwiw), but it's not exactly 'into the groove' or 'crazy for you' either.

it's become a deep single

well there are only like three 00s singles of hers that haven't disappeared pretty quickly

the ones from Music, and Hung Up?

britney couldn't even conceive of a 'die another day' while madonna could churn one out w/o breaking a sweat. then came 'toxic'.

and then you could argue, "toxic" was hardly "die another day" lyrically, and then came blackout

madonna i hear all the time on oldies radio around here: lucky star, borderline, holiday, crazy for you, into the groove, open your heart, la isla bonita, like a prayer. very very occasionally like a virgin and dress you up.

madonna i hear all the time on ac radio around here: the above plus express yrself, cherish, vogue, take a bow, ray of light, beautiful stranger. very very occasionally this used to be my playground, rain, power of goodbye, music.

Flamenco drop.

The best kind of drop

My least favorite major single.

It sucks, but "American Life" still exists.

Oh yeah, Madonna put out music after 2001... I keep forgetting! Now I shall forget again.

Found the second greatest-hits CD at a garage sale last week, been playing it in the car. A kind of sameness creeps into the first few tracks because of the remixing. "Ray of Light" and "Beautiful Stranger" (which took some abuse in this poll) sound as amazing as ever; I think her career peaks were very early ("Holiday," "Borderline," "Into the Groove") and then later with those two songs--lot of greatness between, with some silliness, but they're the best. The one song that jumped out at me that I didn't vote for above was "Drowned World"/"Substitute for Love." I should have.

If she ever writes her memoirs--particularly of the early '80s--I'd read them.

"Beautiful Stranger" (which took some abuse in this poll)

Not enough, iirc.

At least six terrific albums, many good songs. American Life deserves reappraisal.

Ranking with CCR, Marvin Gaye, the Beatles for number of awesome singles in such a concentrated period.

CCR?

For sure.

And here's the last twenty-nine years.. Whoa.

About time!

https://superdeluxeedition.com/news/madonna-physical-deluxe-reissues-confirmed-for-2022-and-beyond/

Happy birthday, girl.

What ever happened to those deluxe editions promised?

Happy birthday, girl.

It's amazing how by toughening a few of the lyrics Madonna transformed this song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbpqItgBGdo

Wow, I really did vote "Oh Father" #1 here. It felt like a distinct possibly, having this week discovered all over again that it was the high water mark of popular music in my lifetime. Maybe. Sort of.

Maybe someday
When I look back, I'll be able to say
You didn't mean to be cruel
Somebody hurt you tooooooo

*weeps*

I’m so sad I missed this poll.

It was certainly the most fun one of these I ever hosted.

Somebody hurt you tooooooo

and such a gorgeous change from there into the chorus

i miss us, you guys <3

same

I was wondering why I commented so little in this thread but it turns out all my advocacy was in the campaigning thread.

Definitely one of my favourite ILM polls.

Bummed that I missed this poll

"a little bit of inclusion goes a long way when it comes time to truly put the undesirables in their place."

I mentioned upthread that I didn't vote for La Isla Bonita. Shocking, as it's one of my favorite songs of hers now