Madonna’s career approaches no one so much as Barbra Streisand in her feat of remaining an immensely popular female recording artist with unrivaled longevity. Among the obvious differences is that Streisand sprang full formed as an immensely gifted musical theater star; that is, she was not only a tremendous singer, but she could act. Cut to 20 years later, when Madonna parlayed a similarly protean ambition and a background as a trained dancer into a recording career of phenomenal commercial success.
What Madonna faces as her recording career enters its third decade is the innate challenge of maturing as a recording artist in a genre, dance pop, that is as youth driven as any in music. Her first decade came to a close with the triumphant Like a Prayer album. That record laid the gauntlet down that she was to be taken seriously as a recording artist. The ensuing decade saw her cleverly subvert her artistic ambitions with first the naughty Erotica album and photo book, and then the prim Bedtime Stories. It wasn’t until the end of the ‘90s that she made another major artistic proclamation, Ray of Light.
Her career peaked with the release of the even stronger follow up, Music. Since then, she has released what is probably her least acclaimed album, American Lif,e and more recently, the likewise unloved Hard Candy, with its would-be MILF crotch shot. Looking back, her most successful album of the decade is clearly Confessions on a Dance Floor, an astute return to her dance-oriented roots that put her melodies over any overt message.
Thus, it is discouraging to listen to her new album, MDNA, a collection that is not likely to be remembered as one of her best. While some have dubbed this her “divorce” album, even that potentially ripe topic is rendered in a bitter petulance over the insight introspective maturity would likely offer.
After only a couple of spins, I found only eight of the 12 songs worthy of repeat listening. Among the lesser offerings is “Gang Bang”, which does feature an interesting, catchy techno arrangement, but is saddled with one of her weakest lyrics. To whit: “Drive, bitch, and while you’re at it die, bitch!” Shockingly funny once, but her ill-advised voiceover only underscores the song’s funless snark.
On the other end of the spectrum is the wonderfully melodic “Beautiful Killer” (on the deluxe version), which also features one of her most appealing vocals. “Masterpiece” is likewise pretty, but loses marks for trite lyrics. “Turn Up the Radio” is also listenable, yet the overall sense is that Madonna is neither making strides lyrically nor musically. “Some Girls” is a rare example of a track that features hypnotic synthesizers that not only nicely overshadow her voice, but provide a rare moment of transcendence. Too often, the clunky rhythms are neither fresh nor appealing, and this album’s over reliance on her voice as its virtuoso instrument is ill-advised, given all the glorious synths she’s surrounded herself with in the past.
If pop music is never more youth obsessed than the present, it’s clear that treading water and guesting younger rivals like Nicki Minaj is an express train to irrelevance. Madonna would be wise to view her platform as a mature artist as an opportunity to discover collaborators like Mirwais who will augment her music and encourage her to blaze new trails instead of speed dialing the flavor of the month, if she is to remain vital. How exciting it would be to hear Madonna return to making music that bolstered her credibility first, and seemed designed to shift units second.
Wow. Great article. I Couldn't agree more. I am one of the biggest Madonna fans, but the new album is very "safe." I hated it at first, but forced myself to listen to it over 20 times, and now I really enjoy it. All in all the album has grown on me, but wouldn't any album grow on you after forcing yourself to listen to it over 20 times? Isn't that what the radio does to us- makes us love songs due to repetitive listening that we wouldn't have liked otherwise? I think it's about time she gets someone to co-write lyrics.
ReplyDeleteJust like the article mentions, only about 8 songs are listenable. Why is it that with the past 2 albums, she always picks the WORST singles to release? First she releases "Gimme Your Luvin," which is just an attempt to pull younger audiences in with "the flavor of the month" (Nicki Minaj) like the article mentions. The song wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the horrible cheerleading part- L-U-V M-A-D-O-N-N-A. It makes the song sound like an Old Navy Commercial. Then she releases "Girl Gone Wild," which is a song with a catchy beat after listening to it about 15 times, but the chorus is EXTREMELY lacking substance. This songs sounds like she popped a few Xanax and then sang it.
The best tracks in my opinion are: "Some Girls" (this should have been a single) and "Addicted to Your Love." They are the most danceable and club familiar. "Love Spent" and "Turn Up the Radio" are very listenable. "Gang Bang" is the most alternative song on the Deluxe Album, and Madonna has stated that it's her favorite song on the album. My question is, how is there no one with her in the studio advising her to cut out the cheesy part with the "Die Bitch" ending? I couldn't agree more. That song HAD such potential.
She uses Nicki Minaj again on the track "I Don't Give A" where Nicki's voice sounds less squeaky. But she should have just called in 'Lil Kim for that part. It's as if she tried to hard to gain 13 year old fans by using Nicki Minaj.
I do like the album much better than Hard Candy. Its a descent album with some great songs, but she's set such a high bar for herself that anything that isn't totally awesome can sound twice as bad. I had really high expectations for this album and I was waiting to hear a single that would be better than "Hung Up." I wanted so bad for her to have "done it again!." But, once you get over all of that, you can start to enjoy MDNA.
Hi Elieen,
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments. Glad a dedicated Madonna fan such as yourself shares similar views on MDNA. I did give it another listen, as an experiment, after Confessions on a Dance Floor and did detect a bit of similarity in the sound in particular, but as you mentioned, neither the lyrics nor the melodies are as distinctive. Safe is a great description too, since it does seem geared towards luring a younger audience, particularly fans of guests M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj, At least Madge refrains from rapping herself.
I actually appreciated the sound of "Gang Bang" but as your said, her spoken word and sung bits torpedo that track. A new album by a major recording artist should not take 15 listens to grab you. "Girls Gone Wild" does set the tone for the album, in that it is a good approximation of a great Madonna single, but it is virtually good, not genuinely great or memorable, somewhat like the album itself.
I admit to being relatively unfamiliar with Hard Candy, as the reviews turned me off. She seemed to take the opportunity to face the fact that she is in her 50s and newly single with an attempt to appear younger, as if to lure a younger beau and a younger audience. I suggest she take your advice and hire a songwriting partner to help her expand her lyrical range. I'd also like to see her experiment more with sounds and allow her voice to be mixed down a bit more.
As you said, there is nothing that approaches the brilliance of "Hung Up" despite a few strong tracks. Better luck next time?