1994. Its been twenty years since these irreplaceable pop icons released what were in many ways pivotal albums in their careers. From exploring new themes of sexuality, freedom, empowerment and love, to exploring new innovative sounds and production techniques, this was a time for each of these girls to branch out as artists and fully divulge in their own creative control and image.
kylie minogue. The self-titled fifth album by the Australian pop princess marked quite the important step in Minogue's career. It was her first release outside of the
Stock Aitken Waterman production team and thus allowed her to expand and explore the horizon in her own artistry. What followed was a stylistic change from her previous works broadening her sound to include elements of R&B, jazz, dance, house and adult contemporary. She developed the concept of the album to fit the figure of a strong, mature woman, a position critics immediately took to. The response led to Kylie establishing herself in the pop world as well as gaining one of her most successful singles to date.
janet. Following widespread media commentary on Janet's position in the pop world being largely associated to her last name, Janet sought to take charge attempting to disassociate with her family and embrace her own creativity and image. Most notable, the broad shift into a sense of sexual freedom, emphasizing the female perspective. Indeed the resulting tracks, all of which were co-written by Jackson herself, revolved largely around the topics of love and intimacy allowing her to explore these themes in sensual ways using stylistic elements of R&B and new-jack swing. Giving the six top-ten hits that followed, as well as her then historic multi-millionaire dollar contract, Janet had crossed into the territory in which she was recognized officially as a true pop icon.
bedtime stories. After the extremely controversial album
Erotica, Madonna had wished to soften her public image, aiming for a more R&B-centered direction for her sixth album. The resulting release stemmed from similar lyrical topics of love, romance and sensuality, however this time it aimed for a more toned-down approach. The album also included various autobiographical themes, exploring Madonna's own personal views of romance as well as her confessional responses to the media backlash of the years preceding. Despite getting off to a slow start, the album allowed the pop superstar to once again regain the public eye in a positive manner, setting up the stage for the extraordinary years that would follow.
Your task, is to listen to and rate each of the following tracks from these three albums.
Rate them on a scale of 1-10 using decimals as needed and send me a private message with your scores. In the end we will find out which of these legendary girls truly owned 1994.
There is a collective total of
35 songs and you'll have until April 27 to submit your votes.
If you'd like to provide comments/commentary feel free to do so. Have fun!
I love all of the albums but I actually thought Kylie's was the best. It might be worth it to give it another try and see if it grew on you or something.
