William Orbit: "Some of 'MDNA's best songs went to Chris B."
William Orbit tweeted that there was a lively MDNA debate going on over at his Facebook page this afternoon.
William Orbit first posted an audio link of the first “Ray of Light” mix he did with Madonna after they recorded the vocals and, as he put it, “went berserk with his guitar”.
He added that the guitar solo had been edited out later, because it was a little bit “unbridled”.
A Madonna fan, Madonna Express Yourself, then mentioned what a lot of other Madonna fans are thinking: the lack of promo and the way the singles have been released, especially in the UK, have prevented MDNA to reach its full potential.
William Orbit responded…
Quote:
I appreciate your analysis of the album release ‘strategy’ @Madonna Express Yourself. I wasn’t involved in its formulation in any way myself. All I will say is that certain thoughts about it that I see expressed online by committed fans such as yourself, were blindingly obvious to me from the very get go, well before the release. But I’m no Jimmy Iovine, with the ability to advocate my convictions forcefully, and as co-producer, co-writer etc am aware that it is not in my ‘job spec’.
But you won’t see me exactly jumping up and down with delight over the way that things have panned out. We were very pushed for time, due to a rather interesting and shall we just say, ‘traditional’ method of recording that the esteemed engineer Demo was partial to, and various pressing commitments that took up the artists limited time, such as perfume ranges and teen fashion contests and other such endeavours which are beyond my own limited understanding of pop star agendas.
The recording sessions for the six songs I did were hugely enjoyable for all of us. M was on form and better than ever with her singing and writing and musicality, and was having a great time. We had songs lined up that were breathtaking. You’ll hear some of them on Chris Brown’s new album, and they are the best ones, Kreayshawn’s (INCREDIBLE) new album, my own recently completed ‘Strange Cargo’ album. And some other surprising places. SNAPPED up by the artists concerned. Most of them, I believe, destined to become classics (let me know in a couple months wether you concur with that)
The team I assembled in NY for MDNA were, and are as good as it gets now. Writers and musicians and performers I picked because they take my breath away with their talent. And are totally of-the-moment in everything good that is going on in contemporary music at the moment. And usually hard to book because they are so in demand. And all of us fully committed to putting ourselves through extraordinary efforts to make MDNA the greatest album of the year.
But alas, the time wasn’t there. Great swathes of it taken up by the engineer and his assistant bouncing reverb tracks for hour after hour, night after night. Not to real tape or anything, where you could posit that there would be an advantageous sonic dividend (real tape can be magic) but all in the digital domain. A purely procedural thing. Although not a procedure I or any of my own colleagues in this game would want to squander time with.
I was just describing to a friend of mine, and whom I frequently work with Serban Ghenea (just look him up if you want to be awed) how it was done, and he thought I was kidding him!
There. I’ve said it. I did try to say it earlier but I must have not made the point with enough push, my way being to always say it with the music itself.
Over the years it’s become obvious to me that along with Madonna being the greatest pop artist of ALL time, her fan base are also the most ardent, cohesive, discerning and loyal fan base of any artist. Not saying that to blow smoke, is quite obviously true. Big respect. And long life to us all. And as you look at things in a ‘long term’ way (my way also) you always call it like you see it. And I’m with you on that too. Be honest and true, speak your heart and mind, and let the dust fall where it will.
So basically, i’d lie down in the mud if she didn’t want to get her shoes messed up (well, figuratively speaking, neither of us does a lot of Glastonbury mud tramping) it’s hard to be an effective knight when your hands are bound. I will submit to wisdoms that are possibly beyond my comprehension and that will play out to glory in the fullness of time. And get back to my own fervent canvas, and speak no more of the matter.
Oh, and if some bright spark at marketing central suggested a Hilary Clinton approach, ie, press ‘restart’ and get back in the studio for a couple weeks and do what they nowadays call a ‘re-pack’, I’d certainly put my hand up for that, whatever else I had going on. But realistically, there is only one person that could make that happen. And with the best songs in the world, and the best mixing, best ProToolsing, best team, best lyrics, best bananas, after this little screed I don’t suppose I should while away my hours staring at the phone! But i feel better for saying all that. Debt free and not beholden. The thing about having little appetite for riches and fame, and no great tower of expectations, you haven’t got anything to be taken away. And having always been an outsider, outside in the cold, It’s always clear which way the wind is blowing. I was never inside any bubble long enough to forget how the wind blows, and changes, and ebbs and gusts, and dies away completely. As before a storm. And that a beautiful bubble might yield to even a the breeze from a humble fan.
William also said the deluxe version of 'MDNA' was worth the purchase
Compared to the standard version and I hate all but one of the songs on the deluxe version.
So I'll tread lightly from now on when William says things like this.
He still sounds like he screwed up the chemistry between Madonna and William Orbit. Or maybe Orbit is just bitter.
Same thing happened with him when he was working with Britney for FF. Dr. Luke scratched his songs away and didn't gave him space to work. A producer can't make a decent job when someone is putting his finger in your work. I hope for the next album he gest the executive producer position.
This era was ****ed up from the moment GMAYL leaked.
W.E. helped too, it sucked Madonna's energy. She had too many things going around when she was doing the album.
But well... I'm glad he spoke out, maybe it'll open her eyes.
This era was ****ed up from the moment GMAYL leaked.
W.E. helped too, it sucked Madonna's energy. She had too many things going around when she was doing the album.
But well... I'm glad he spoke out, maybe it'll open her eyes.
I wish someone would sit her down and tell her that movies are NOT her thing. I think if she focused more on the music this time around it would've been different.
I wish someone would sit her down and tell her that movies are NOT her thing. I think if she focused more on the music this time around it would've been different.
I don't think Chris can pull off orbit songs, so this isn't such a huge loss.
I'd be worried if these songs were given to people like say lady gaga or beyonce or Britney even. Chris and Keyshawn? Yeah..whatever.
Orbit is entirely TEW upset that this era, mainly HIS material that he did with Madonna didn't pop off the way he wanted. He just needs to get over it.
I wish someone would sit her down and tell her that movies are NOT her thing. I think if she focused more on the music this time around it would've been different.
But the problem isn't that Madonna made a movie, I'm happy that she did, it was a something that she was really passionate about, but the the fact that she released an album when she was focused on a movie. She should had waited to release MDNA later this year when she could have put her body and soul into it, like she does with all her albums and eras.
Here is the stuff Madonna Express Yourself originally posted on FB that William Orbit was responding to, if you all want some context to his rant:
Quote:
Madonna has now released 2 singles through Interscope in the UK, both have been disastrous.'Give Me All Your Luvin' was released with many sales deemed chart ineligible, due to an unnecessary free download with pre order of the album. Based on sales of the single during this period, Madonna would have earned another UK number 1. However, the single peaked at number 39 becoming her lowest ever UK top 40 position, unheard of for a first single from a Madonna album.Physical copies of the single weren't released for weeks and were almost impossible to find. Interscope then spent time promoting 'Masterpiece' to radio, with the song A-Listed on BBCR2 and charting at number 68 - but the song failed to be promoted further or officially released as a single, adding another dismal charting for MDNA. A video for 'Girl Gone Wild' was then heavily promoted, but the single was nowhere to be seen. Despite it's March video release, the 'GGW' single failed to materialise in the UK until Friday(!!) 11th May on iTunes (guaranteeing a low chart for that week as UK charts are run Mon-Sat. Physical copies were released the week of May 14th, with promotion already been and gone for the single.Midweek chart figures show the single at number 49 in the Uk chart - which will be Madonna's lowest charting official single release ever in the UK, 'Borderline' reached 56 on it's initial run in 1984 but later climbed to number 2 on re-release. The album MDNA, despite reaching number 1 in the UK album chart on it's first week, has now disappeared out of the UK top 40 within 6 weeks! This all seems very suspicious, perhaps a way of 'Interscope' fazing out Madonna single releases. Had the singles been released on time and in line with the videos, Madonna would certainly have had further top 10 hits in the UK, which would have helped MDNA maintain chart sales. As it stands now, most people are writing off the brilliant album due to all the flop single releases. Madonna fans should demand to know what is going on and why are the releases so badly promoted. Even with Madonna's lack of promotion, the singles would stand up well on their own if 'Interscope' sorted out proper release dates instead of waiting months to release already promoted singles. They are gradually destroying Madonna's career in the UK and giving haters a reason to write her off for future releases.
