MADONNA - MDNA (2012)

www.rimshot.com

which does not lead where i woulda thought it would

This album is not actually as unrelentingly terrible as you ppl say it is.

It does sound, however, like she went to all the trouble of throwing this amazing fabulous party - and then couldn't be bothered turning up for it.

Picks up considerably in the second half, so I'm glad I persisted with it. I Don't Give A and I'm A Sinner have been enjoyable circle rides where she stops crowing about how awesome it is Being Madonna, and gets back to the serious business of, y'know, being Madonna.

Holy shit, Falling Free.

I cannot believe the difference between the two halves of this album. Like, side 1, which is all "drugs, sex, shooting dudes in the head" is completely phoned in, like she didn't even turn up at the studio, went through the motions, etc. But then the second half, which is all "musings on life and love and ageing and the death and decay of impossible love" and then suddenly she stops phoning it in, and MADONNA turns up.

Like she's only doing the "yay, parties, clubbing!" stuff to fulfill contractual obligations, but the album tracks that come when that's out the way are subtly amazing.

It's actually pretty unrelentingly terrible.

completely forgot that this even came out

It does pick up towards the end, but after that tedious first half-hour I feel like "hey, this isn't completely crap" rather than "ok, this is a good song"

so glad this bombed in the US.

get HER!

http://www.towleroad.com/2012/08/eltonmadonna.html

By referring to Madonna as a fairground stripper, Elton has basically described 99% of all female pop singers out there today. Their shtick consists of look changes, showing a boob, showing a piece of ass, pretending to be bisexual etc etc etc. The saddest thing is that gay men have supported the careers of these women.

I honestly don't know why men who are interested sexually in men have gone and supported the careers of women who appeal sexually to men who are not like us. Strange, isn't it?

Posted by: jason | Aug 6, 2012 8:55:23 AM

Here let me just fix that up for you

The saddest thing is that gay men have supported the careers of these women.

I honestly don't know why men who are interested sexually in men have gone and supported the careers of women who appeal sexually to men who are not like us. Strange, isn't it?

Posted by: jason | Aug 6, 2012 8:55:23 AM

I listened to Hard Candy a couple months ago and it didn't seem nearly as bad as I remembered.

I don't think I've ever been more wrong, more often, more vehemently, in as many different ways, over a longer period of time, and with as many supposedly clear-eyed self-revisions as with Madonna. There was never a Madonna album I liked on first listen. I'm still suddenly falling in love with old singles I hated. It's all on an upward curve, though, so there's something pleasingly right to me about her confidence, which makes me laugh. I feel silly offering strong opinions about her music at all anymore, one way or the other (given how much I now like Hard Candy, I suspect MDNA is better than this thread's borderline consensus, but of course I'm going to think that).

I will say, I now might vote the other way on that TS: Madonna vs. Elvis thread. The not-trying/not-showing-up-to-the-studio quality discussed above strikes me as a refinement of something that was always mysteriously there (or not there) in her singing. To me it's the sound of close, fascinated, concerned attentiveness to the contours of a melody just within reach of her ability, almost child-like with wonder or conscientiousness or both, but which winds up registering emotionally as all kinds of intimacy and attitude. Or maybe that's just me. Anyway, I'm beginning to think I'd love her if she'd never released anything but the last two albums...

I am at the show in Philly right now. Her opening act is a DJ playing an hour-long set of 45-second snippets of songs while everyone just sits and watches.

Also he has played FOUR Madonna songs as well as the opening riff of "Eye Of The Tiger". This guy is the WORST and his only shot of redeeming himself is playing "If Madonna Calls" or maybe even just "Queen's English"

What hath Girl Talk wrought.

Holy shit that was so much fun.

So we found tickets for the show tonight on eBay for $35 each. Wisely skipping the opening DJ.

Two hours of Vigilant Citizen pop-celebrity Illuminati/Osiris shlock set to dubstep. Some parts legitimately great, but weird apocalyptic vibe was more off-putting WTF than ridiculously engaging. Suspect Roger Waters would like this show a lot.

More than once, gf and I turned to each other and said "is she really drunk?"

So apparently her entire next album was leaked months ahead of time?

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/news/a617162/madonnas-new-album-leaks-in-full-months-before-it-is-announced.html#~oYIxu0W7UvC4R2

well demos she was working on this summer

supposedly it got leaked because brazilian fans were getting mad she was spending too long on the album.

oh brazil

I listened to this album a few months ago for the first time since fall '12. It holds up better than I thought (the final stretch ain't bad) but no way is it other than third tier Madonna.

"bitch i'm madonna" may be her worst ever anything

well it is a sophie/diplo production

though maybe madonna causing pc music to jump the shark could prove her greatest contribution to music in a decade

I think I like MDMA nearly as much as Confessions, which means it's my 2nd favorite Madonna album since 1995.

so she's put the album up for pre-order and chucked out those songs that leaked as early downloads. 13 other tracks will come in march.

while it's probably a smart move, i don't exactly like the precedent of brazilian hacker stans being able to force the hands of their favourite artists (although considering north korean hackers seemingly managed to stop the interview's release this might prove the future).

unholy brazilian madonna fan/kim jung-un alliance will destroy western civilization

The wikipedia article says that there has been a "slurry of unexpected album content leaks". Giggle.

"devil pray" is the best thing here. it wouldn't sound too out of place on american life (save for the fact she's left kabbalistic musings behind for a hallucinatory drug trip through catholic hell). that folktronica sound is really such a comfortable fit for her in many ways, and in hindsight kind of makes me think she axed mirwais too soon.

"ghosttown" is fairly standard tedder-esque balladry (he's got a writing credit on "devil pray" but not this which feels like a mistake) but she sounds so much better vocally on it that she has in years and it makes such a difference. someone in her team needs to tell her to stay in her lower register because when she veers out of it she ends up sabatoging even potentially great material. but we've discussed this here ad nauseum.

"bitch i'm madonna" remains terrible (what the hell is that drop?!) and sophie needs to stop existing already. poor nicki getting roped in when she's already had a bad enough week.

i don't even know what the fuck "illuminati" is, but i've long expected madonna to become music's norma desmond so in a way it makes more sense than anything else here. i wish she's stop with this rebel heart nonsense and just call an album i am big, it's the charts that got small already.

Just listened to the iTunes samples. They are terrible, every one of them. I didn't like MDNA or Hard Candy either. When is it time for me to finally give up?

Oh man "Living For Love" is some awesome throwback piano-house Masters at Work shit

that was my impression, just the vocal melody uh needs work

BITCH *clap* I'M *clap* MADONNA *clap*

This btw: Madonna - Rebel Heart (2015)

"In advance of the US launch of MDNA SKIN on September 26th, Madonna partnered with The Fat Jewish (Josh Ostrovsky) for a playful, tongue-in-cheek video collaboration featuring MDNA SKIN."

:(

oh madge no

last week I went to a clubnight which was playing nothing but Madonna for five hours. It was excellent, obviously (although a DJ who took the reins at the last hour had clearly been left out the planning stage as he played songs that had already been played) but I was really surprised at how well-received the stuff from this album went down.

... "The Fat Jewish"?

never have I been so glad to be out of the loop

although maybe all this means is that this dude is going to be an omnipresent comedic force by 2020 who then morphs into an ignorable character actor

hack joke stealer on twitter is all you need to know

also ppl stopped talking abt him a few years ago so madge's ppl are def on the cutting edge here

I mean he was just in the Charli XCX "Boys" video, he didn't 100% disappear

Man, it's been nothing but crap since (and including) American Life ...

'hung up' was good

and this song from mdna was a highlight even if it could stand to have a minute lopped off

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG40yJQ2_aQ

'Hung Up' was alright, but it was undoubtedly helped a lot by that ABBA sample.

Rebel Heart was better than this but it doesn't matter.