If anyone's interested in the Japanese CD Single Collection box set, there's a copy on Discogs right now for $500 US.
That's a very good point and opens up some interesting questions. Was Madonna more of a driving force in the sound of their collaborations than previously assumed? And was the usually commercially-savvy Madonna the one responsible for pushing those albums into more experimental territory? This would be the ideal scenario for a new record. I would like to see her scale things back and do a full album with only one or two collaborators, like her earlier records. The resulting album would likely be a lot more cohesive and with fewer people involved, there would be less opportunity for leaks. Dropping a surprise album would likely also generate a lot of attention, which is good because she can't count on radio airplay anymore. I do miss the days of 40-minute, all-killer-no-filler albums, so I'm on board with that idea as well. I attended the first of the two Toronto shows and it was truly exceptional. It was great hearing her revisit songs like "True Blue", "Who's That Girl" and "Deeper and Deeper". The show was definitely looser and she seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself. I hope her future tours continue in the same spirit. I don't know if I would go quite that far, but I'm also extremely partial to both Erotica and Ray of Light. It's definitely stronger than most of her post-RoL efforts, though. And yes, the vinyl sounds much better than the CD; I just wish there had been a vinyl release that also included the extra songs from the Super Deluxe Edition, as they are all terrific. For me, possibly the best thing about the Rebel Heart era is the strength of the ballads. They'd been in short supply on the previous few records and are a great reminder of what a great and genuinely affecting vocalist she can be.
Yeah, what do folks think about this, since we've essentially come to the end here? I think especially post-ROL - perhaps even post-Like A Prayer - that she's much more dominant in the direction her records took, and that a lot of the overall sound was Madonna with various little trendy bits pasted on from the collaborators.
I wish I'd have bought lots of copies of Sex when it was at the Borders bargain bin for 3.99. Selling for way more than that nowadays.
The Madonna-Thon is back.... FINALLY! I needed *just* a bit of time off after having to suffer through 'Hard Candy', but this batch turned out to be a lot more enjoyable.... mostly! Except for, you know, Madonna's most depressing live album to date. In this video: * Sticky and Sweet Tour (live, 2010) * MDNA (2012) * The MDNA World Tour (live, 2013)
I liked "Turn Up the Radio" and the deluxe edition bonus tracks! Other than that, THIS is is only Madonna album I regret purchasing!
I actually thought this thread had ceased, as I never get a feed from this one! "Rebel Heart" is by far my favorite Madonna release since "ROL." I took some of the deluxe edition tracks, removed some of the regular edition tracks and made a great 18 track edition to listen to. The title track and "Ghosttown" are among the best pop tracks she has ever done, IMO. This sleeper album slid in and just like her debut, it's a keeper. Great bookends of quality work, showing a young woman with big dreams made them come true, and is still capable of making damn good music! Good job on this thread @aseriesofsneaks, and to the contributes of this thread. I really enjoyed your comments over the months! Thanks.
"Bitch, I'm Madonna" is a horrible, unlistenable song, though. But just an ugly stain on an otherwise good album. (But I'm not ready to make that video yet. )
Yes I second this. This thread was my favourite for quite a few months. It kind of lost steam towards the end but I think this reflects perhaps more of a lack of interest in Madonna's more recent work. I have enjoyed many discussions and opinions so thank you, @aseriesofsneaks for a great ride. We'll have to put the thread on hold until her next album...whatever that might look like! So what's your next thread idea?
Yes, it's been a great thread. Interest begun to waver after/around Hard Candy, though picked up again for a generally positive appraisal of Rebel Heart. I hope she takes the best bits of the latter as a basis for her next album. Thanks, @aseriesofsneaks for a great job.
I think that it's easy, even as a fan, to sometimes underestimate what Madonna brings to each of her collaborations. Given that her work with each major collaborator has some defining sonic characteristics, it's easy to attribute a lot of that to Pettibone or Orbit or Mirwais or Price, and to overlook the common elements. Unlike many pop artists, where the singer is responsible for the lyrics and melodies and the producer drives the overall sound, Madonna seems to have strong ideas about how she wants each record to sound and chooses her collaborators based on who can help her bring her vision to life. Her collaborators are still able to something of themselves to each project — the "various little trendy bits" you mentioned — but Madonna undoubtedly has veto power and guides the process more than is generally assumed. Looking back, there are a lot of examples of Madonna asserting her vision, such as insisting on the inclusion of the flamenco guitar on "Deeper and Deeper". Pettibone wasn't thrilled with the idea, but Madonna got her way and it's hard to imagine the song without it. Even as early as the first album, Madonna wasn't happy with Reggie Lucas' production and had Jellybean remix some of the tracks, as well as replaced the original album mix of "Burning Up" with the one used for the video on subsequent pressings. After Like a Virgin, she probably never had to hand the reins over to anyone else to the extent she did with Nile Rodgers. That said, I think I still get hung up a bit on the material she did with Mirwais. American Life is notably much less accessible that anything she'd done up to that point. Given Madonna's usual commercially-savvy instincts and Mirwais' reputation as an auteur, it's easy to attribute that album's approach more to him, although that is likely a mistake. As you mentioned earlier, she's subsequently recorded other "Mirwais"-sounding tracks on albums he wasn't involved with.
A big thank you to everyone who contributed to this thread; it definitely was a great ride! I really enjoyed the discussions and reading everyone's opinions along the way. This thread has definitely reinforced my appreciation of much of Madonna's work and helped me reappraise a few of her albums that I hadn't connected with to the same extent. I agree that the interest seemed to waver a bit with the post-Confessions material, likely partly due to the numerous live releases and that people aren't as interested in studio albums like Hard Candy and MDNA. At least we were able to end, for now, on a mostly positive note with Rebel Heart. We do have at least one more release on the horizon; Rebel Heart Tour will be out on September 15. After that, I look forward to the thread recommencing whenever Madonna's next studio album is released. As @Bobby Morrow said, let's hope she uses the best parts of Rebel Heart as the foundation for her next record. @DesertHermit: My next thread idea? Hmm... I would love to do another album-by-album thread and do have an artist in mind, although I probably won't have the time to start it for another week or two. And the days go by, like a strand in the wind...
