Madonna Madonna (CD, Sire Records, 1983) **** Madonna Like A Virgin (Vinyl, Sire Records, 1984) ***
Madonna Like A Prayer (Vinyl, Sire Records, 1989) ****
Madonna Bedtime Stories (CD, Sire Records, 1994) ****
Madonna Something To Remember (CD, Sire Records, 1995) ***
Madonna Ray Of Light (CD, Sire Records, 1998) *****
Madonna Music (CD, Warner Bros Records, 2000) ****
Madonna American Life (CD, Warner Bros Records, 2003) ****
Madonna Remixed & Revisited (CD, Warner Bros Records, 2003) ****
Madonna Confessions On A Dance Floor (CD, Warner Bros Records, 2005) ****
Madonna MDNA (CD, Interscope Records, 2012) ***
Genre: Synth pop, pop
Places I remember: Shona Walding collection, Second hand shop, Music shop in Richmond (Nelson), Real Groovy Records, The Warehouse, Fives (Leigh-on sea),
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Holiday, Like A Prayer; Sky Fits Heaven (Ray Of light)
Gear costume: Till Death Do Us Part (Like A Prayer)
They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5
Active compensatory factors: I find myself owning quite a few Madonna albums. She's had an incredible career.
It was the Live Aid appearance from 1985 that sealed the deal for me as it showed that Like A Virgin wasn't a fluke. Instead, she was a great performer - she put on a show that day and then some - a star was born, and I was onboard! When she did Holiday I was hooked! I still love that song.
Plus, of course, she looked really cool! A full length Madonna poster that I had on my classroom wall was very popular with the boys.
That first album has some excellent songs apart from Holiday - Borderline, and Lucky Star. Of course, this being dance pop and 1983, the music leans heavily on synths and drum machines but her sheer presence transcends those production ticks. It's quite an assured start!
Her second album created a splash on NZ radio with the title track. So much so that the album went to number one! Except, I didn't initially buy a copy - mine would come many years later.
I was listening, but, being a tad music snobbish, I thought it was a kind of novelty song - done for shock value rather than something of substance. Her voice also sounded too high - kind of helium like, which meant I also avoided buying her next album - True Blue. As I said, it would take her Live Aid performance a year later to prove how wrong I'd been.
It was her fourth album that won me over (I still don't have a copy of True Blue). The video for Like A Prayer was on high rotate on TV video shows and the time was right to jump onboard. These songs finally sounded like rock songs, rather than dance songs. I bought it in 1989 and the patchouli oil fragrance is still on the inner cover.
I sat out Erotica and her Sex book (I saw a copy and it was hardcore, and decidedly unsexy it seemed to me), but I was back for Bedtime Stories, her version of Marvin's Let's Get It On. I mean by that - romance and softness replaced the hard grind of Erotica. And it was good!
The thing I like about this one is the unified vision and sound. It's great for evening listening. As is the compilation album Something To Remember, which came out the next year.
It was an interesting presentation of her softer side via a collection of ballads. It included a reworked version of Love Don't Live Here Anymore as well as three new songs and a cover of Marvin Gaye's I Want You.
Both of those albums righted the ship but then her next phase kicked off in spectacular fashion with the 5-star classic, Ray Of Light. Her voice was more mature, stronger and now an instrument of power.
Her collaborations with William Orbit resulted in a more experimental direction for this album and with Mirwais Ahmadzaï on the next one.
Ray Of Light was an important stylistic shift and started the move towards more experimental genres like ambient and Eastern flavours. Important because she never stood still for long and this pioneering spirit continued on Ray Of Light. She wasn't ever a follower - up to this point at least, she was the innovator.
There are many highlights but I always come back to a couple of songs like Frozen and Sky Fits Heaven - one of her best ever songs.
Madonna emerged in 2000 on Music with a new look - as a cowgirl! The music wasn't a deep dive into country though. Instead, the experimenting with different genres continued, effectively too for the most part. I could probably live without the vocoder effects because those kinds of gimmicks tend to age quickly.
Her version of American Pie shows she doesn't need gimmicks, although the song ends abruptly - I'd love to hear a full version of the song.
American Life is kind of Music Part 2. There are again some great moments, like Hollywood, Die Another Day and the title track and the vocoder is retained.
Madonna's Remixed & Revisited is a second compilation in my list (I've not included the straight Best of compilations). It's a seven track EP companion to American Life. Madonna's work lends itself to this remixed format and this EP provides value for money as it includes some MTV performances as well.
That includes her Like A Virgin/ Hollywood medley with Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Missy Elliot - worth the price of the EP on its own!
She was riding a real wave of commercial and artistic success and Confessions On A Dance Floor continued the momentum.
I got this while living in England and it was played a lot when we lived in Leigh-on-sea. Particular favourites are Hung Up and Sorry. Feels a lot more autobiographical in parts. The song for New York, for instance, feels like a heartfelt paean to her city.
I bought her next album - Hard Candy, but I sold it pretty quickly as it didn't do it for me. I was back on board for MDNA though.
At this point it's a little hard to see where Lady Gaga ends and Madonna starts. Certainly the harder edged dance pop of Lady Gaga has been an influence on MDNA.
This album reflects the Madonna post-divorce from Guy Ritchie in typical tough post-divorce fashion (Gang Bang is pretty nasty).
It's a good album, different in its own way to Music, Ray Of Light, and American Life, but also linked to those other albums. There weren't too many hits on the album, at the end of the day.
Where do they all belong? I haven't bothered with her last few albums, even though the response to both was positive.
Madonna continues to defy the odds, she's not getting any younger, and delivers cool dance pop into the 2010s. How long can she continue with this kind of material though? She hasn't put out an album since Madam X in 2019 so the next one should be interesting as she closes in on her seventies.
Active compensatory factors: Red Vines was my first clue that I was on to a winner with Aimee Mann. So, I bought Bachelor No. 2, then Lost In Space, and then...I was gone burger.
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