| |
Celeb News: 'MDNA' reviews
Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
|
daily mirror
Quote:
mdna review: Madonna's new album shows the young pretenders she is still a force to be reckoned with
Admittedly with all that she's been up to of late, her directorial debut w.e. And that amazing superbowl performance, i was a very worried madonna fan.
Would she be able to deliver the goods on this latest record? Especially with her eagerly awaited reunion with william orbit - the man who reignited her career at one point with the exceptional album ray of light. There was a lot riding on this being a success.
to sum up – she's nailed it. and in doing so seems to have produced one of her most personal lyrical efforts to date.
tracks including i f***ed up and best friend (featured on the deluxe version of mdna) are clear odes to her failed marriage with guy ritchie. Whilst tracks like gang bang (!) leave you wondering who exactly the star wants to shoot in the head. The lyrics screech: “bang, bang, shot you dead. Shot my lover in the head.”
one thing you need to wipe clean from your brain immediately as the album starts is the fact madonna is 53. She sounds 25. In fact, if this album was released by a pop princess then it wouldn't be out of place.
It feels centred and controlled whilst the likes of gaga and britney's latest efforts feel try-hard and sloppy in comparison.
this is one girl that still knows what she's doing and she's in control.
part of the reason for such a slick record is down to who she's worked with. As always, madonna's chosen wisely with her collaborators for this record.
William orbit is in the frame on five tracks, french electronic dj and super producer martin solveig provides the most forward thinking six tunes and ye olde faithful marco “benny” benassi does what he does best and turns madge into the dancefloor electro diva she's clearly still wanting to be.
is mdna her best work for years? In short, no. It doesn't reach out like confessions on a dance floor – but it easily surpasses american life and music.
is it an album i literally can't wait to have on my ipod following my one listen at abbey road studios. Yes.
madonna's still pushing the envelope of her superstardom and mdna is in no way a let down. It's just the next chapter in an already enthralling story. And i can't wait for you all to get involved.
 TRACK BY TRACK
girl gone wild
take her track celebration, zoop it up and make it bigger and better. It's a club track that feels young vibrant and fresh for an artist like madonna. It's techno-pop-ready-for-radio-heaven. Very benny benassi and very much one for the kids – without it feeling like a mum-of-four is singing it. Phew.
gang bang
let's get dirty and keep it mucky throughout. A stripped back filthy electro beat makes you want to get down. It's different to anything she's ever done. I especially liked the ending where she sings in a human nature stylee: “if you're gonna act like a bitch, then you're gonna die like a bitch.” and a shotgun noise kicks off. Boom.
i'm addicted
euphoric and addictive. This song needs to be played loud and for the satisfaction of a dance floor. It's heavily benny benassi and by the end you want to get up and squeal: “i'm addicted to your looooovvvvve.”
turn up the radio
why this wasn't the lead single on mdna i'm not very sure. It's a stonker of a pop song. Her vocals are finally clear (well, not as worked on) and it gave me 'the tingle'. It's ready to go and an instant madonna pop classic.
give me all your luvin'
the track that divided opinion from the start. Notably, the song sounds a lot better on speakers that can make your skin quiver through bass. But it feels far more forgettable pop compared to much of the album.
some girls
finally, an orbit song. This is probably the most cosmic of his tracks he's done with m. Her vocal is almost tinny and echoes. Bit rocky towards the end but it's an exciting introduction to a new wave orbit.
superstar
this was the one i wasn't immediately keen on – but the one that's in my head. It's lyrically very simple and definitely one that the star could pull a guitar out for to perform on tour. She sings: “ooh, la la you're a superstar/ooh la la love the way that you are.” it's a little rockier than the others and more conventional.
i don't give a
this is probably the most interesting track on this album. She's nearly rapping again, there's a hip-hop feel. It feels like the human nature of erotica – and clearly sending out messages about her marriage breakdown. She sings: “i tried to be a good girl / i tried to be your wife / i diminished myself / and i swallowed my light / i tried to become all / that you expect of me / and if i was a failure / i don’t give a …”
i'm a sinner
back to william orbit and the ray of light guitar has been found. This track immediately reminds you why madonna and orbit worked so well first time around – there's even a return to the erotica dirty whisper voice. It starts fairly slow but builds and builds to an orgasm of techno. Enjoy the ride on this one.
love spent
there's a gypsy string twang, a hauntingly high vocal and it's not instantly orbit. Later in the song you realise it couldn't be more like him. It's about giving so much love that you're spent and, like the previous song, climaxes like a beauty.
masterpiece
the theme song to w.e. Brings the tempo right back down to a chilled vibe. This is the song that makes us realise that despite most of this album making us want to dance, the star is still able to chill out and relax those dancing shoes. It really feels like the come down song that gives you a big hug.
falling free
well this one was a surprise. It made me instantly want to hear her singing it with just a guitar and a mic stand. It would be an acoustic dream. Her vocals are crisp and penetrate. It's obviously a song about letting go – but will she ever truly let go of the career she's worked so hard for?
|
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
|
attitude magazine
Quote:
4 STARS ****
There's a fun moment at the end of the video to the first single Give Me All Your Luvin’, when Madonna flings a baby doll off camera and away from her breast. It isn’t a subtle marker of starting anew with her loyal audience of gays and good-time girls, but it is comically satisfying nonetheless. Party Madonna is back and she wants us to know it.
Teaming up with producers Martin Solveig, Benny Benassi, The Demolition Crew and old hand William Orbit, MDNA is a dose of what she does best. While that may seem like just dance music, there is more to Madonna’s oeuvre than that.
Girls Gone Wild, the biggest pop stomper on the album, kicks off with a reference to Act of Contrition from Like a Prayer. The production might sound like she¹s been listening to a fair bit of Rihanna, but who’s counting. Madonna brings her own authority, creating the kind of anthemic party song that she does best, the kind where everyone from your three-year-old niece to your 60-year-old mother gets up on the dancefloor. Much of MDNA is about having fun, but despite that, this is a dark album. If Like a Prayer was her divorce record and Hard Candy suffered, one senses, from being put together as her relationship with Guy Ritchie was falling apart, then MDNA is a **** you * to her marriage, the life that came with it, and partly to herself for losing her identity in a partnership. She’s out to recapture who she is, and she has demons to slay.
The strangely titled Gang Bang sees her singing in a weird theatrical drawl about taking revenge on a lover who ruined her life. ‘Shot you dead, shot my lover in the head…I’m going straight to hell…I’ve got a lot of friends there’, she deadpans before yelling, ‘Drive bitch, die bitch!’. It’s kind of stupid, kind of amazing, kind of funny and kind of ****ed up * but gives the album one vital ingredient to Madonna¹s success that all contenders, apart from Lady Gaga, have never clued up on: drama.
The Solveig-produced I Don't Give A..., is one of the album¹s tour-de-force moments. Beginning by recounting a typical day, it becomes intensely honest, and is, as is her way, a telling-off of her critics. Love her or loathe her, Madonna has made her name by raising a middle finger to, well, just about everyone. ‘Wake up, this is your life, children on your own, gotta plan on the phone, meet the press, buy a dress, do all this to impress…do ten things at once and if you don¹t like it I don¹t give a….’ It’s here that she makes specific reference to her ex-husband. ‘I tried to be the perfect wife…I diminished myself…it swallowed me…if I was a failure then I don’t give a…’. The track builds to a genius, choral, almost Tim Burton-esque conclusion.
This strongest, most immediate section of MDNA continues with Turn Up the Radio, which begins like a delicate ballad as she pleads with the listener to stop for a moment, to get away from the world through music. It may sound trite but there¹s urgency in its simplicity. It transforms into the album’s most pounding moment, reaching a climax that threatens to blow the speakers. Some might find it unusually generic, but she makes it her own and fans will be happy to have a dancefloor filler that will shake the clubs and would happily find a slot on the next series of Glee.
One of the later highlights is Superstar, surely the sweetest song Madonna has released since Cherish. It twirls along, an open-top summer anthem, serenading a new lover with a hypnotic chorus. It¹s simple and pretty and a perfect song to sing on her summer concerts * and should definitely be a single.
MDNA ends, as recent Madonna albums do, with deep melancholia, from the Orbit-produced Falling Free, one of the saddest songs she’s ever written, through to the confessional I ****ed Up on the Deluxe Edition, accompanied by Beautiful Killer, a fun, 80s-sounding, strings-laced tribute to French actor Alain Delon.
Overall, this might not have the serious pop intensity of Confessions, it’s not as drastically new or experimental as music critics might like, but it’s fun, ****ed up, dancey and full of drama. It’s what her fans have been waiting for: a wallop enough of an album to put her back up there, at checkmate against Lady Gaga, who, despite her brilliance, doesn’t quite give you songs that are as easy to disco dance to as some of these are. Is Madonna still ‘the Queen’ as Nicki Minaj gabs at one point? On the strength of MDNA, it’s hard to argue against.
[Note to Monsters: Lady Gaga is frikkin’ amazing, too. Don¹t kill us.]
|
.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
|
telegraph
Quote:
Madonna’s new album, MDNA, was unveiled to British critics today with a playback at Abbey Road studio. Neil McCormick was there. Here is his track by track by track reaction. MDNA is released on March 27th.
1. Girl Gone Wild
A lean, sleek, electro stomper kicks proceedings off the way Madonna means to continue – with the machine tooled precision of 21st century techno-pop, balancing the twin requirements of radio friendly hooks and dance floor drive. “Girls they just wanna have some fun,” suggests our fearless leader.
Now where have we heard that idea before? This not particularly original notion is the album’s central manifesto: innocent amusement over introspection.
2. Gang Bang
Despite an unfortunate title that younger fans would be advised not to google, this is not (thankfully) some brutal sex romp. Rather, the title is a misguided attempt to distinguish itself from Sixties pop classic Bang Bang, from which Madonna borrows the central image of murdering a paramour: “Bang bang, shot you dead / Shot my lover in the head”. Sparse and atmospheric, with a stripped back electrobeat and low, drawling vocal, buoyed by bursts of sub-bass and developing into a solid techno groove, its one of the album’s odder and most interesting tracks, only sullied by Madonna’s dedication to leaving no lyrical cliché unturned. She is a fish out of water, a bat out of hell, apparently.
3. I’m Addicted
Arpeggiated synth sequences build into fizzing swells and stabs, bleeping and swooshing all the way. Very effective digital pop that will sound fantastic loud and hard on the dance floor but, like so many songs on Madonna’s 12th studio album, lyrics appear to have been added as an afterthought. Does anyone really need another song about being addicted to love, comparing the rush of hormones with narcotics? The vocal cuts and stutters, so that Madonna repeatedly declares herself to be a dick, dick.
4. Turn Up The Radio
Even in the age of the internet, it is still the radio that holds romance for our 54-year-old pop queen. Lush, shimmery keyboards frame a slow start, with Madonna seeking space from the crowd (or rather, in an effort to use every cliché available, “the maddening crowd”), before a nice, wonky synth launches a solid pop belter. Madonna finds herself “sucked like a moth to the flame” but the slamming dance floor outro should distract from lyrical banality.
5. Give Me All Your Luvin’
Is the spelling meant to distinguish it in search engines from ZZ Tops’ Gimme All Your Lovin’? Madonna’s serial appropriation of perennially overused ideas might almost be passed off as some kind of pop parlour game.
The first single is the lightest, frothiest track on the album, deliberately dinky and cute, built on a burbling eighties synth and glam slam drum pattern. Its prime purpose appears to involve Niki Minaj and MIA represent all next generation female pop stars by swearing allegiance to the Queen with the chant of “L-U-V Madonna!".
6. Some Girls
Let’s give Madonna the benefit of the doubt and assume she didn’t know the Rolling Stones already have a song called Some Girls. Anyway, you’d never find Mick and Keith shaking their stuff to a mid-tempo groove with a deep electro bass line and stabbing synths. Producer William Orbit plays tricks with Madonna’s vocals, from intimate to echoed, tinny to seductive, but the intention is apparently not to portray Madonna as some kind of every woman: “Some girls are not like me / I’d never wanna be like some girls” she rather tartly declares.
7. Superstar
Sweet and summery, with a shimmering ambience built up from a ringing guitar loop and echoing tom tom pattern that might have been constructed from Beatle drum fills. The poppy melody and “ooh la la, you’re a superstar” singalong chorus houses a lyric so clumsy its obtuseness almost sounds deliberate: “You can have the password to my phone / I’ll give you a massage when you get home”. For someone determined to keep up with the kids, Madonna’s retro references for ideal men may leave the youngsters baffled: Brando, Travolta, James Dean, Bruce Lee and Abe Lincoln (cause you fight for what’s right”).
8. I Don’t Give A
There is real energy to this Martin Solveig production. Madonna delivers a raised middle finger to the world in general, and ex-husband Guy Ritchie in particular: “I tried to be a good girl / I tried to be your wife / I diminished myself / And I swallowed my light / I tried to become all / That you expect of me / And if I was a failure / I don’t give a …” (I’ve been trying to think of an obscenity that rhymes with “me”, but maybe I am missing the point). The ending twists into a big, autotune choral coda with the drama of a techno Carmina Burana. An album highlight, though Niki Minaj’s explosive rap rather shows up Madonna’s more static delivery.
9. I’m A Sinner
With Orbit back at the controls, this is reminiscent of the uplifting thrill of Ray of Light. Constructed on a drum loop, it pulses along with a fluid almost Sixties keyboard, building to a big, declarative chugging gospel techno ride, with Madonna exultantly declaring that, like St Augustine, she wants to be saved, but not quite yet. A breakdown into a recitation of Saints (Christopher, Sebastian and Anthony all get a name check) is effective, and it ends with “ooh ooh”s cheekily reminiscent of Sympathy For The Devil. Fun.
10. Love Spent
Gypsy string loop and brief, treated Spaghetti Western banjo flourishes introduce an almost organic feel to a very synthetic, stylised album. A pop song about love and money (topics the Material Girl frequently conflates) it weaves elegant electro patterns and builds to a big, throbbing chorus.
11. Masterpiece
Sweet, gentle love song with a Spanish guitar loop, a light beat and flowing melody, filled out by synthetic strings. The theme song for her critically panned film W.E., she may have been thinking of Prince Edward when she wrote “honestly, it can’t be fun / To always be the chosen one”, but the message applies just as much to Madonna herself. For most of this album she seems determined to demonstrate that a 50-year-old mother of four can still cut it with the kids at the club. Yet, perversely, she sounds most at ease when she calms down a bit and acts her age.
12. Falling Free
The first five tracks of MDNA are all produced by hit techno teams and the results are digitally sparkling, catchy and contemporary. The second half of the album is presided over by William Orbit, and while not as immediately hook laden, there is more sonic depth and invention. But only on the album closer is there a suggestion of a musical life beyond the hit parade. With a cascading, beatless melody and poetic, free form lyrics, Madonna’s pure, dreamy vocal has her declaring herself “free to fail.” It is a song about letting go, by a woman who, most the time, seems to be holding on very tightly indeed. Although out of character with the rest of this youth-focused electro dance pop confection, it suggests that Madonna may actually have musical and emotional places to explore when she eventually tires of setting the pop pace.
|
.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
|
popjustice
Quote:
We went to listen to 'mdna' last week and after one listen decided that it was - as we tweeted - ****ing amazing.
We listened to it again this afternoon to double check. As it turns out, we were right. obviously we'll need to live with the album and like most listeners we'll form our very very final verdict many months from now, but on two listens 'mdna' is a stunning modern madonna album. it's not perfect but it its extraordinary high points are great enough to compensate for odd sequencing and occasional misfires.
if you were worried, stop worrying - there is lots here to be excited about.
TRACK BY TRACK
1
girl gone wild
it is hard to believe that someone smart enough to make this music also made the decision to release 'girl gone wild' as a single. As singles leading into albums go, this is madonna's all-time worst. But don't give up - and cross your fingers that other people haven't given up either - because what comes next is very good indeed. Also, in defence of 'girl gone wild' it does seem slightly better when you've heard the rest of the album, and the spoken word intro, in which her voice sounds a little bit like another female singer whose name we can't quite put our fingers on, is fantastic. Mind you, in terms of setting out an album's stall, 'girl gone wild' is a stall piled high with jars of human ****.
Melody: 4
lyrics: 2
sound: 6
club appeal: 6
madonnafactor: 3
2
gang bang
this throbbing electro mood piece is the album's true opening number whose sfx-laden backing rises subtly throughout the song's duration, taking in monotone, thudding robotic voices, a line about keeping enemies close, and a chorus of "bang bang shot you dead shot my lover in the head". "i made a decision i would never look back," madonna sings at one point. "so how did i end up with one eyed jack?" the track is strewn with sound effects of gunshots, spent cartridges hitting the floor, wailing sirens, police radios, and cars whizzing past, with a bowel-emptyingly seismic dubstep breakdown in which madonna drawls: "you have to die for me baby... How could i move on with my life if you didn't die for me baby? If you didn't die for me baby?" and then it crashes back in for some more chorus. And then it breaks down for a pulsating, sparse-sounding spoken word middle eight. It all gets quite camp and silly at this point. "my love is dead and i have no regrets," madonna screams. "he deserved it. And i'm going straight to hell. And i gotta lot of friends there. And if i see that bitch in hell, i'm gonna shoot him in the head again. Cos i wanna see him die over and over and over and over and over now drive bitch, i said drive bitch. And while you're at it die bitch. That's right, drive, bitch." it's over the top - it's slightly reminiscent of the hyperreal 'natural born killers' feel of - and amazing.
Melody: 3
lyrics: 7
sound: 9
club appeal: 9
madonnafactor: 8
3
i'm addicted
The pivotal point of this track is part of the clip that ****wit perez hilton had on his site yesterday, the arms-aloft arcade rave breakdown bit where madonna bellows "i need to hear your name", and any worries about the production of madonna's vocal on 'mdna' - following weedy-sounding performances on the first two singles - go out of the window with 'i'm addicted'. We love the big crashing electrowallops and the "it fits like a glove, i'm addicted to your love, i'm a dic-dic-dic-dic, i-i-i-i-i'm addicted to your love" bits, and the climax of this song is ****ing ridiculous. In the song's final minute or so the mood in the room at the playback this afternoon - full of journalists and media people - visibly altered. It looked a bit like a sight of relief.
Melody: 7
lyrics: 6
sound: 9
club appeal: 9
madonnafactor: 10
4
Turn up the radio
We've mentioned a few times - based only on the short clip that appeared in that weird sampler thing that came out last month - that it feels like 'turn up the radio' would have made a better lead single for 'mdna'. Hearing it now, in the context of the entire album, we regret to inform you that we were right all along. We take no pleasure in having been completely spot on about this. Rightness is a curse. Basically you know 'hung up', right? And you know how it had that sort of propulsive energy? And you know how it sounded nowish and classicish at the same time? And you know how it was frenetic and exciting but also elegant and smart? And you know how the lyrics were pretty simple but not offensively stupid? And you know how madonna's vocals sounded great? And blah blah ****ing blah? Well 'turn up the radio' isn't quite as good as that but where 'hung up' hit 10/10 on all counts 'turn up the radio' manages at least an 8/8. Okay so yes it includes the line "when the world starts to get you down and nothing seems to go your way" (yeah alright 'the cast of glee') and yes there's a dodgy "moth to a flame" moment, but bloody hell, this is a cracker. It seems to hurtle from 'ray of light'-flavoured beginnings to a thumping post-daft punk electrobanger main bit without a second thought. There's a great bit near the start where the music's rising in the background and madonna sings "you feel the wind on your face and your skin and it's here that i begin my..." and the song crashes in just as she sings "...story". There another bit where she's singing about making the speakers blow, and there's the subtle sound of a speaker blowing. 'turn up the radio' does exactly what you want it to do when you want it to do it. In the breakdown she sings: "i don't know how i got to this state, let me out of my cage cos i'm dying - turn up the radio, turn up the radio, don't ask me where i wanna go, we gotta turn up the radio." this is an escapist anthem about leaving wherever you're stuck, getting in a car, whacking some amazing music on the stereo and putting your foot down. In other words, it's still only when she's dancing that she feels this free (warning: Popjustice does not condone dancing and driving), and it's still music making the people come together. It captures a brilliantly teenage sensation ("only music can save my from my **** life" but) makes sense of it in a song that doesn't sound like she's trying too hard to be down with the kids. It's funny, some people think that freedom is about changing the way people around you think about life. Real life is sometimes a bit more complicated than that, and sometimes freedom is about being able to leave the ****s behind to get on with their useless lives. And that's what this song is about.
Melody: 8
lyrics: 8
sound: 9
club appeal: 10
madonnafactor: 10
5
give me all your luvin'
you've heard this one. We still don't know what to make of it. We're not that keen, but we don't hate it. 'give me all your luvin'' is proof that sometimes you can listen to something many, many times and still not have any idea whether it's any good or not. 'apols'.
Melody: 5
lyrics: 7
sound: 7
club appeal: 5
madonnafactor: 5
6
Some girls
It starts with some rave sirens and leads into a list of types of 'girls' - "some girls wanna be on top", "some girls got a filthy mouth", "some girls living for the weekend", "some girls get their freak on" and so on - before a two-stage chorus hits. Sonically it's like an updated version of 'music' era electronic sound, hard but warm at the same time with a grinding digital undertone, and the song seems to twist slightly in the middle eight with a flash of orbity guitar sounds. It's very fashionable to say that an album is 'full of singles', but the best albums always have brilliant tracks that aren't supposed to be singles and just hold the whole experience together. Nobody's ever going to say this is the album's best song, but nobody's going to take it off their customised itunes 'mdna' playlists, either. Oh don't pretend you're not going to do it. You'll be taking 'girl gone wild' off for a start. Don't lie. Yes you will.
Melody: 7
lyrics: 7
sound: 9
club appeal: 9
madonnafactor: 8
7
superstar
the 'device' in this track involves madonna comparing her 'beau' to various famous people ("you're my gangster, you're my al calone / you're my caesar, stepping into his throne"). It's all intended to be complimentary although we're not sure the bit about james dean "driving fast in your car" is going to pan out that well. Madonna also explains what she is going to do for her partner, two of these things including "give you a massage when you get home" (alright then) and "play you a song on my guitar" (no thanks love). There's a big, pretty-sounding chorus which includes the flighty hook "ooh la la you're my superstar" and the lyrically and melodically brilliant "i'm your biggest fan it's true / hopelessly attracted to you". Like a few tracks on 'mdna' it takes a long time to develop into the banger it ends up as, and it's another song whose pace is derailed by a slowed-down, dubsteppy breakdown: "you're bruce lee with the way that you move, you're travolta getting into your groove / you're james dean driving fast in your car, you're the hot track of a super-duper star / you're my superstar." the lyrical reference points in this are all quite interesting - if you consider the youth-obsessed reference collaborators of the first two singles (here's an lmfao remix! Here's nicki minaj! Here's a song that sounds like something david guetta shat out!) and how uncomfortable it all feels, 'superstar' offers a glimpse of something far more comfortable in its own skin. All the reference points ("you're like brando on the silver screen" etc) will mean very little to your average 17-year-old. We suppose the idea is that they're icons whose imagery transcends generations blah blah blah but after all the aggressive positioning of the first two singles it's great to hear madonna relaxing into this sort of song. The lyrics about being in love are a bit soppy but love makes you go a bit soppy when you're doing it right, right?
Melody: 8
lyrics: 6
sound: 9
club appeal: 8
madonnafactor: 9
8
I don't give a
This is a mid-tempo electro dub-pop sort of affair. It opens with some rapping reminiscent of 'american life' in which the demands of day-to-day life are listed ("no time for a manicure ... Got to call the babysitter ... I can take a helicopter, i don't even feel the pressure"). This gives way to a chanting "i'm gonna be okay, i don't care what the people say, i'm gonna be alright" portion and the statement "if you have a problem, i don't give a...". It's a bit on the posturing side, but then it feels like the music parts in the middle for a stark and jarring blasto of emo: "i tried to be a good girl, i tried to be your wife, diminish myself and swallow my light, i tried to become all that you expect of me, and if it was a failure i don't give a..." and then there's some "i-don't-give-a-uh-uh-uh-uh" backing vocal chanting business, and nicki minaj's arrival is heralded by a brief dubstep gloomwobble. There's a good "i'm not a businesswoman, i'm the business, woman!" line from nicki, then the track comes back in and nicki goes "there's only one queen and that's madonna, bitch", at which point the whole song gives way for a deranged orchestral choral chanting segment. The song ends on that epic note but it feels, a bit, as if the breathtaking and brilliant segment in which madonna directly references her experience of marriage is slightly tossed away in a song that, in most other areas, seems a lot less personal.
Melody: 5 (8 for the seriousface bit)
lyrics: 5 (8 for the seriousface bit)
sound: 8
club appeal: 4
madonnafactor: 5
9
i'm a sinner
'i'm a sinner' marks the point where 'mdna' kind of splits in two and william orbit takes over. There are strong 'ray of light' and 'beautiful stranger' references among this song's psychedelic stomp, with the chorus a simple "i'm a sinner, i'm a sinner, i'm a sinner i like it that way". The middle eight is great, with the music dropping out while madonna lists various religious people. It's like bible 'vogue'. "hail mary full of grace, get down on your knees and pray / jesus christ hang on the cross, died for our sins it's such a loss / st christopher find my way, i'll be coming home one day / st sebastian don't you cry let those poison arrows fly." the beat kicks back in while madonna's still going: "st anthony [something we didn't catch, we'll just hand in our journalistic badge and gun now then shall we] lost and found, thomas aquinas stand your ground." then there's a big payoff line but we couldn't figure out what she was saying which was a shame. Again there's no way this is single material, but it's a vital part of the mdnadna.
Melody: 7
lyrics: 7
sound: 9
club appeal: 4
madonnafactor: 7
10
love spent
you'll find this track somewhere between 'ray of light', 'impressive instant' and 'hung up', with some banjo business chucked in for good (?) measure, but don't get excited - we'd say this is more 'deluxe edition bonus track' than 'album track'. The best lyric here is "take me into your arms until your last breath ... Hold me in your arms until there's nothing left". Which stuck us as rather pleasant. The song does build into something quite special by the end.
Melody: 6
lyrics: 7
sound: 8
club appeal: 5
madonnafactor: 7
11
masterpiece
by this point it's about time for a breather so this propermadonnaballad pops up at just the right moment. We love this song. It's the only one on the album that sounds this conventional, but because the album's gradually been winding down from the mentalness of the opening few tracks, then through the orbit section, it doesn't feel like it sticks out too much.
Melody: 6
lyrics: 7
sound: 8
club appeal: 0
madonnafactor: 7
12
falling free
this is a really simple ballad with stripped down production: Warm synths, some strings and, after a while, some plinking piano. Again, there are direct references to the 'ray of light' era, particularly 'drowned world / substitute for love'. The best bit is a wail of "i'm fallin' free". Ends on cello.
Melody: 6
lyrics: 8
sound: 8
club appeal: 2 (could work with a massive donk stuck on it though)
madonnafactor: 5
13
beautiful killer
this is one of the songs we'll probably need to listen to a lot more before we figure out what we think about it all. The thing is, the stockholm-syndrome-meets-s&m lyrics ("can't really talk with a gun in my mouth, maybe that's what you've been dreaming about") and gun imagery (the song ends on a gunshot) put it too close to "bang bang". Maybe that's why this ended up as a bonus track, which is a shame because sonically and melodically it's good enough to be on the main album - it's a chunky belter with an insistent guitar riff reminiscent of felix's 'don't you want me' riff. There are amazing bits where madonna whispers "beautiful killer" and the song shifts gear brilliantly into a beautiful tuneful middle eight. "what happens now?" madonna asks. "i need to know how the story goes, are we together? I love you forever." and then some strings appear. Then it drops out and bangs back in as a big four-to-the-floor thunderer. All that is good. It's just those lyrics. "maybe i'll let you shoot me down," madonna sings, "cos you're a beautiful killer with a beautiful face, a beautiful killer and you won't leave a trace." we don't know if the lyrics are supposed to be exciting and sexy; like 'girl gone wild', they just feel mundane. Maybe we just need to be told what they're about. Maybe that will help it all make sense.
Melody: 7
lyrics: 3
sound: 8
club appeal: 8
madonnafactor: 7
14
i ****ed up
a beat-heavy ballad in which madonna accepts responsibility for things going **** up (technical relate terminology, use with caution) relationshipwise. "i ****ed up, i made a mistake, nobody does it better than myself," she sings in the chorus. "i'm sorry, i'm not afraid to say, i wish i could take it back but i can't." there's no reading between lines needed here - lyrics like "i blamed you when things didn't go my way" and "somehow i've destroyed the perfect dream. I thought we were indestructible..." are raw and passionate. The pace picks up with a drum 'n' bassy bit for the second verse when talking about the things they could have done ("written our names across the sky"), then in the song's final moments it slips back into the downbeat song we started off with, like a resigned shrug that it's all finally over. Megasadface.
Melody: 6
lyrics: 8 (they're a bit naff but it's good to hear madonna singing them)
sound: 9
club appeal: 2
madonnafactor: 8
15
the b-day song
this one works as a curiosity but it's a bit ropey 'tbh'. Best off as a bonus track.
Melody: 5
lyrics: 2
sound: 6
club appeal: 3
madonnafactor: 4
16
best friend
this is a great way to finish off 'mdna' - a sparsely produced, stuttering electro ballad with some questionable lines ("i miss the countryside where we used to mate and "you wrote me poetry, you had a way with words") but some incredible ones too: "maybe i challenged you a little bit too much". The chorus is great but the moment of genius comes at the very end of the song. The music stops, and madonna sings the one thing you always need to tell yourself when you're still coming to terms with the end of something brilliant. "it wasn't always perfect," she sings in complete isolation. "but it wasn't always bad."
melody: 7
lyrics: 6
sound: 8
club appeal: 0
madonnafactor: 6
17
give me all your luvin' (lmfao remix)
we can only deduce that this has been included to ensure that a pretty great album is bookended by total ****.
what does this all mean?
it's a shame 'confessions' wasn't a bit longer ago or that 'hard candy' wasn't so patchy because we'd really like to be able to say 'this is madonna's best album since confessions' and for it to mean something. We suppose it does mean something - that 'hard candy' was a bit of a blip in an all-together-not-bad run of albums from one of pop's best people. And yes we might be a bit excited by it all having just heard it a couple of times etc etc etc, but if you're going to tell us we can't get excited by a madonna album you can **** off.
|
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 5/3/2010
Posts: 26,013
|
Yas I love the deception.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 12/16/2008
Posts: 59,380
|
Awful reviews 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
|
madonnarama
Quote:
We had the opportunity to listen to the full MDNA album and wanted to share our first impressions with our readers.
How we do this? How do we review the album of the most accomplished female pop singer of all time?
Two rules : be honest and do not try to please everybody.
Some can’t be pleased.
If it’s catchy, they’ll say it’s too catchy, if it’s elaborate, they’ll find it too complicated.
First, MDNA is an album full of surprises. It’s more than just another dance record. It’s personal, dark, fun and even silly at times.
So here we go, our very own review of Madonna’s MDNA… track by track!:
TRACK BY TRACK
1. Girl Gone Wild
Strong solid start to the album, very catchy unapologetic 90s-inspired powered pop and totally in your face.
Still not convinced? Turn the volume up!
2. Gang Bang
A very dark deep house track with a little dubstep interlude dealing with murdering your lover and going to hell for it. It has Quentin Tarentino’s amazing “Death Proof” movie written all over it. William Orbit and the Demolition Crew did a tremendous job on this song which is partly spoken. Oddly there’s something sexy in this track as if it was inspired by the Erotica era. Think “Goodbye to Innocence” meets “Thief of Hearts” but way more edgy. “Bang Bang shot you dead. Shot my lover in the head… Now my lover is dead and I have no regrets.” Madonna ends the song with “Now if you’re gonna act like bitch, you’re gonna die like a bitch.”
A favorite.
3. I’m Addicted
First, people should understand that the snippet posted by Perez Hilton is the ending of the song. With its infectious beats, amazing futuristic sound and really cool lyrics about love being like a drug (“Feels like a drug and I can’t get enough”), you can’t help but end up being addicted yourself. At some point, the song even has a 90s Prodigy’s “Out of space” vibe to it.
4. Turn up the Radio
Another collaboration with Solveig and yes, the song has hit written all over it. We understand why Madonna’s Team would release it as a single. It’s very mainstream pop so people will love it for sure.
Very happy and uplifting.
5. Give me all your Luvin’
Perfect for the Super Bowl. Happy song and great first single that did extremely well considering it was leaked on the Internet, months before.
6. Some Girls
Electronic fury. You’ll either love it or hate it. The lyrics are really cool “Some girls got an attitude. Fake **** and a nasty mood”, “Some girls make a scene, shoot their mouth and talk obscene”…
7. Superstar
Madonna mentions Brando, Travolta and James Dean in what seems to be the only filler in the album. Sweet but forgettable, Madonna goes “Oooh la la you’re my superstar, oooh la la love the way that you are, oooh la la you’re my superstar, oooh la la that’s what you are.”
Oh well…
8. I Don’t Give A
This one’s Minaj’s second appearance on “MDNA” and it’s one of the best songs of the album. Penned by Madonna, Martin Solveig and Nicki Minaj, Madonna sings unapologetically about her personal life, her marriage and how she does not care about people’s judgements. The chorus goes “I’m gonna be ok. I don’t care what the people say. I’m gonna be alright I heal fast and I’ve got it right.” The ending is just powerful and amazing. Nicki Minaj says it best “There’s only one queen and that’s Madonna, bitch.”
9. I’m a Sinner
A catchy happy sexy psychedelic 60′s-inspired song in the continuity of William Orbit’s previous creations for Madonna. Think “Beautiful Stranger” meets “Ray of Light”, and believe it or not, the sound remains very fresh and new! The lyrics are fun and serious at the same time, with Madonna taking responsability for being a sinner. She cites saints (Jesus, Mary, St Christopher, St Anthony…) and talks bible.
A perfect fit.
10. Love Spent
We expected a heartfelt ballad but we got an electro-pop number that opens with a combination of banjos and violons. Madonna dabbles with vocal distortion while asking her latest male subject: “Love me like your money”.
Monstrous and addictive.
11. Masterpiece
More than just a Golden Globe winning song, Masterpiece is perfection.
12. Falling Free
This song is slightly melancholic, yet uplifting at the same time. No beat, a naked voice. Madonna sings about how liberating the power of love is. Fans will be pleasantly surprised by the quality of the vocals, for sure. This showcases Madonna’s voice at its purest. A piano, a guitar, some violins with Madonna singing “Deep and pure our hearts align. Then I’m free, I’m free of mind, I let loose, don’t need to know. We’re both free, we’re free to go”.
|
.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 9/22/2010
Posts: 12,763
|
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
|
Quote:
Originally posted by UnusualBoy
Awful reviews |
26 members (Sahn, S&M, antoan_yordanov, NaughtyDog, Dr.Cake, SixWholeYears, Belle, Panthera, cheers09, C!nful, danny.rex, Rigalo, Brooklyn2255, James L, Auren, ConnorSaysHi, LeMews, ebp112002, Julián), 16 guests.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 9/7/2010
Posts: 28,471
|
This is exciting.I hope I'll like full album.Mature modern dance Madonna.YES
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 11/8/2011
Posts: 14,458
|
Why do people read these ?
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 8/30/2011
Posts: 22,432
|
Popjustice's review makes me question their bias with how high they ranked GMAYL and its Madonnafactor. The rest has me excited. 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/24/2011
Posts: 3,702
|
Do it, babe! I made a thread for the Telegraph review and it only got 4 comments 
Quote:
|
Currently browsing: 29 members (givemethatpop, Oshiish, Squall, ausread, Sahn, KyKy, adreonp, HumanitySector, S&M, antoan_yordanov, SixWholeYears, Belle, Panthera, cheers09, C!nful, danny.rex, Rigalo, Brooklyn2255, Auren, ConnorSaysHi, LeMews, ebp112002, Julián, Jaxsin, uhton), 20 guests.
|
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 9/26/2011
Posts: 6,117
|
So awful reviews! Horrible! Bet the album's going to be a DI-SAS-TUUUUUhh!!!111!!
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 12/21/2011
Posts: 12,474
|
Turn Up the Radio sounds like a smash.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/24/2011
Posts: 3,702
|
Quote:
Originally posted by alstrom
|
Did you read them?
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 2/8/2012
Posts: 10,532
|
Yasss bring in the pressed souls and deceive them with those good reviews.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 11/2/2011
Posts: 3,532
|
Quote:
Originally posted by Clump
Popjustice's review makes me question their bias with how high they ranked GMAYL and its Madonnafactor. The rest has me excited. |
GMAYL is awesome!!!
I don't understand why people hate it so.
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 5/3/2010
Posts: 26,013
|
The girls are so transparent that they are commenting without even looking at the thread content! 
|
|
|
|
Member Since: 10/9/2008
Posts: 9,835
|
Quote:
|
Originally posted by Popjustice
'MDNA' is a stunning modern Madonna album.
|
Quote:
|
Originally posted by Daily Mirror
To sum up – she's nailed it. And in doing so seems to have produced one of her most personal lyrical efforts to date.
Madonna's still pushing the envelope of her superstardom and MDNA is in no way a let down. It's just the next chapter in an already enthralling story.
|
Quote:
|
Originally posted by Attitude Magazine
Is Madonna still ‘the Queen’ as Nicki Minaj gabs at one point? On the strength of MDNA, it’s hard to argue against.
|
Quote:
|
Originally posted by Madonnarama
MDNA is an album full of surprises. It’s more than just another dance record. It’s personal, dark, fun and even silly at times.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
