Madonna - The MUSIC Album (released Sept 19th 2000)...Discussion...

[Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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Now I havent played the album in full for a few months now...i was persuaded by the recent discussion on the Madonna AT on here of her revisiting her "Punk" style and pushing it into a new direction and i was reminded of her style for the Music era...the kinda Country style meets Cyber-Punk vibe which i adored in her opening segment of the Drowned World Tour the year after.

ANd then i found a demo with William Orbit for the song "gone"...beautiful song anyway but so different melodically...and i have no revisited it on the album.

And i cannot help but feel...Music is such an underrated/overlooked masterpiece of an album that I feel always gets sandwiched between the acclaim/commercial success (Music sold almost as much with 16 million copies) of Ray Of Light and the controversy/hysteria of American Life a couple years later...people i think forget Music is like the "bridge album" in some ways...the marriage of swooning Discotecha and Trance/Ambience music with Country/Bluegrass/Acoustic influences....

Also i feel that as an album it kinda paints a different picture to how it actually IS/sounds like...the lead song nd title track is perhaps the most fun/catchy/infectious and predominantly "light/anthemic" song on the album...the other 9 songs (i do not count her cover of American Pie) i fee tap into her darkness, insecurities of her marriage to Ritchie, her new English lifestyle/routines, her birth of Son Rocco, complications with that and of course her journey from Spirituality to her inner core in Pop music too...and it paints a very schitzo piece of work (something she will do differently for almost al lthe wrong elements 12 years later on MDNA) where each song has a different vibe/sound/message creating an album that maintains that "journey" aspect of her best albums/conceptualised pieces but also a coverage/compilation of different elements too.

I just anted to know other peoples views on it...i mean until Confessions On A Dance Floor, Music was her fastest selling album worldwide (4 million in 10 days) and critically also it did garner a lot of praise...but within time it seems to have gotten more maligned and even with her darker/taboo/underrated masterpeices Erotica, Betime Stories and American Life now gaining acclaim, Music seems to have lost that and I just wonder why...

Anyways here is the album for a reminder

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Gm-iLUmDDA

and her Promo Tour in the UK at Brixton

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DM02mDdBTQ

Fave songs - Impressive Instant, Nobodys Perfect, Paradise (Not For Me), gone, What It Feels Like FOr a girl, Amazing, Dont Tell Me.
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Comments

  • elasticloveelasticlove Posts: 18,254
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    There were complications with Rocco?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Yeah with his birth....it is what she wrote Intervention about for American Life...which is why i presume (although nothing has been confirmed obviously) i reckon that is why thinvs got torn a bit with her and Ritchie...she obviously wanted more kids and adoption and working for a good cause...maybe to "earn" her right to have more children is why we have Mercy and David Ciccone :cool:

    But you can sense that struggle and fulfillment on Paradise lyrically and in delivery...its a dark beauty...and i guess too on nobodys perfect and gone too :) So bittersweet.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 716
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    Well I haven't really listened to the album in full but the lead single is pretty pants. It lacks that 'spark', it drags on and the video hasn't hasn't been remotely funny since 2001.

    But then again most of her 21st Century stuff hasn't been that great with Hollywood, Hung Up, Sorry, Four Minutes and Miles Away being the only singles worth listening to.

    Ray of Light was her arguebaly her 'last' great piece of work and nothing can beat the sublimeness of 'Frozen'
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    No necessarily HandsClean...Music, American Life and COnfessions On A Dance FLoor are three of the greatest albums ever in so many ways with their variation....In fact critics have also very much showcased this input too....Music musically as an album is so diverse and is worht a lsiten :) the title track itself was intended to be innocent catchy fun and the fact that it got to the top of the charts everywhere meant the world thought so too ;) just wish she had more number 1s post Music Stateside but alas...can still happen.
  • CoreenBaconskinCoreenBaconskin Posts: 596
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    I bought this because I heard Impressive Instant in a shop and was like WOAH - WTF was that! Especially the bit where she has a nervous breakdown in the middle.
    I think its the best thing she's ever done but the rest of the album feels a bit maudlin to me so I dont listen to it much. Then again that might be because I was going through a very maudlin stage in life!
  • RetroMusicFanRetroMusicFan Posts: 6,673
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    I bought this because I heard Impressive Instant in a shop and was like WOAH - WTF was that! Especially the bit where she has a nervous breakdown in the middle.
    I think its the best thing she's ever done but the rest of the album feels a bit maudlin to me so I dont listen to it much. Then again that might be because I was going through a very maudlin stage in life!

    II is a weird but brilliant song and I love the 'singy singy singy' bit in the middle.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    I bought this because I heard Impressive Instant in a shop and was like WOAH - WTF was that! Especially the bit where she has a nervous breakdown in the middle.
    I think its the best thing she's ever done but the rest of the album feels a bit maudlin to me so I dont listen to it much. Then again that might be because I was going through a very maudlin stage in life!

    Makes sense...but that reminds me...Impressive Instant should have been the third single!!! :mad: With What It Feels Like... in 4th i feel...but Warner effed her over :mad:
  • CoreenBaconskinCoreenBaconskin Posts: 596
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    Makes sense...but that reminds me...Impressive Instant should have been the third single!!! :mad: With What It Feels Like... in 4th i feel...but Warner effed her over :mad:

    Well they screwed up there - i think it could have been massive. Trance was everywhere at the time if memory serves me right.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Yeah she was hot on it there with Mirwais...glad they collaborated two years later for the American Life album....but damn Impressive Instant gives ya chills...and i loved the opening segment on her shows when she performed it all Cyber-Punky and grimey and epic!
  • CoreenBaconskinCoreenBaconskin Posts: 596
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    And for the record I would like it to be known I too like to singy singy singy like a bird on a wingy wingy wingy.
  • NeonopticNeonoptic Posts: 583
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    Who remembers playing 'Don't Tell Me' for the first time and thought there was something wrong with their CD? :p
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Neonoptic wrote: »
    Who remembers playing 'Don't Tell Me' for the first time and thought there was something wrong with their CD? :p

    YESS!!! :eek::o
  • Gigi4Gigi4 Posts: 3,631
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    HandsClean wrote: »
    Well I haven't really listened to the album in full but the lead single is pretty pants. It lacks that 'spark', it drags on and the video hasn't hasn't been remotely funny since 2001.

    But then again most of her 21st Century stuff hasn't been that great with Hollywood, Hung Up, Sorry, Four Minutes and Miles Away being the only singles worth listening to.

    Ray of Light was her arguebaly her 'last' great piece of work and nothing can beat the sublimeness of 'Frozen'

    Surprised you think Music is pants. I always thought that was one of her most recent singles that connected with the general public, rather than just her hard core fans. Music whether you like it or not had a fresh sound, not just run of the mill dance stuff. Music was quite a big hit in the US, much more popular there than Hung Up.
    I wouldn't say this is my favourite Madonna record. It sort of lacks the iconic quality of ROL, LAP or even Confessions. But I like it a lot. I like the variety of the different sounds, with mixing acoustic guitars in. I really like What it Feels for a Girl. The sound of the record is definitely more edgy and innovative than her recent work. I kind of wish she could bring some of the Music sound, still electronic and dance based but not as mainstream as HC and MDNA.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Gigi4 wrote: »
    Surprised you think Music is pants. I always thought that was one of her most recent singles that connected with the general public, rather than just her hard core fans. Music whether you like it or not had a fresh sound, not just run of the mill dance stuff. Music was quite a big hit in the US, much more popular there than Hung Up.
    I wouldn't say this is my favourite Madonna record. It sort of lacks the iconic quality of ROL, LAP or even Confessions. But I like it a lot. I like the variety of the different sounds, with mixing acoustic guitars in. I really like What it Feels for a Girl. The sound of the record is definitely more edgy and innovative than her recent work. I kind of wish she could bring some of the Music sound, still electronic and dance based but not as mainstream as HC and MDNA.

    Here here, kinda like AMbience/Dance ELectro Punk style.....album 13 please come a knockin! :cool:
  • Gigi4Gigi4 Posts: 3,631
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    Here here, kinda like AMbience/Dance ELectro Punk style.....album 13 please come a knockin! :cool:

    Yes, I think the trick for her on the next record is to find the balance between something interesting but still being accessible and melodic. Too mainstream is boring, but at the same time Madonna is about pop music and melody that you can sing along with and relate to so she shouldn't go too avant garde either. It's kind of hard to reach that happy medium but I think that's what she needs to do on the next record.
  • Hav_mor91Hav_mor91 Posts: 17,183
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    I find it bland there is no reason as to why it just isn't an album that i feel clicks with me. There are moments of utter brilliance Impressive Instant, Nobody's Perfect, What It Feels Like and whilst i love the funky cybertronic feel of it i feel it was a personal experiment that got lucky. By which i mean she was going to tour but ultimately ended up recording music then touring. I also feel the opposite to you JP that on release it was lauded and praied but as time has gone on its merits have worn thin and it doesn't hold up. It's a decent enough album but sandiwhiched between ROL and AL its a little bit fluffy.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Gigi4 wrote: »
    Yes, I think the trick for her on the next record is to find the balance between something interesting but still being accessible and melodic. Too mainstream is boring, but at the same time Madonna is about pop music and melody that you can sing along with and relate to so she shouldn't go too avant garde either. It's kind of hard to reach that happy medium but I think that's what she needs to do on the next record.

    I reckon the od "odd" song would be great and kooky...like Impressive Instant on here and Paradise (Not For Me) and that Baroque feel of Till Death and Words etc....i reckon she can definitely do it and utilise it.

    Listening to Australian bands atm...Sneaky Sound System and Cut Copy and i think MAN if Madonna touched upon these Punky Dance/Electrofunk vibes and with genuine raw vocal and great melodies and absolute euphoria man we can be on to another masterstroke of an album...we all know she has it in her to make something truly defining again :)
  • Gigi4Gigi4 Posts: 3,631
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    I reckon the od "odd" song would be great and kooky...like Impressive Instant on here and Paradise (Not For Me) and that Baroque feel of Till Death and Words etc....i reckon she can definitely do it and utilise it.

    Listening to Australian bands atm...Sneaky Sound System and Cut Copy and i think MAN if Madonna touched upon these Punky Dance/Electrofunk vibes and with genuine raw vocal and great melodies and absolute euphoria man we can be on to another masterstroke of an album...we all know she has it in her to make something truly defining again :)

    Yes, I think that's what's interesting about her albums is she will have a few really weird out there songs and some more accessible stuff. Even on MDNA she has songs like Gang Bang and Falling Free which aren't typical pop songs. But when I said don't go too avant garde, I was talking about the overall feel of the album. There are so many artists that I used to like such as Bjork and PJ Harvey that went too far in that direction and lost what made them great. I'm not too familiar with those Australian bands, I will have to check them out. I was really looking forward to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album after the great single Sacrilege, but sorry to say the album as a whole let me down a little bit. I really need to find that truly great album that rocks my world. So far the best albums this year are Kate Nash and the Joy Formidable. Paramore's album was also pretty good.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Gigi4 wrote: »
    Yes, I think that's what's interesting about her albums is she will have a few really weird out there songs and some more accessible stuff. Even on MDNA she has songs like Gang Bang and Falling Free which aren't typical pop songs. But when I said don't go too avant garde, I was talking about the overall feel of the album. There are so many artists that I used to like such as Bjork and PJ Harvey that went too far in that direction and lost what made them great. I'm not too familiar with those Australian bands, I will have to check them out. I was really looking forward to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs album after the great single Sacrilege, but sorry to say the album as a whole let me down a little bit. I really need to find that truly great album that rocks my world. So far the best albums this year are Kate Nash and the Joy Formidable. Paramore's album was also pretty good.

    Oh yeah THAT avant garde....i prefer early of both too Bjork until 2001 anyhow and PJ i like her earlier stuff more than last decade :D...Yeah i love Madonnas left-of-centre approach to sonvs and themes...even on COADF within its commerciality lies some darker themes that i adore...and even in some of the flufier aspects of Hard Candy you have an element of the unsettling too :D which i dig :D....So yeah i think we need more of that...a new reinvention to really showcase to the world...we havent had that on HC or MDNA....COADF is the last truly iconic reinvention she has done (leotards, jackets, bangs, discoball spacecrafts) its time to kick it to the next level and i think she knwos that...hense her recent tour kicking it up there :) So yeah i really think M can merge and push.

    And i reccommend Sneaky Sound System so much and Cut Copy (basically an Aussie Friendly Fires...so retro Disco/Synth Pop....like a mariage between the FF boys and Depeche Mode kinda too)...both ironically have Madonna, Depeche Mode, Blondie as influences...and goldfrapp too...and Sneaky Sound Sstem toured with Prince for a bit last year too i believe :) worth a check out!

    Also "Spike" Stent produced both of the SSS albums :) and Stuart Price has remixed some of Cut COpys songs :)....loadsa links there ;)

    And agreed i have heard it and wont be buying....Yeah Yeahs Yeahs is a no no no from me unfortunately :(

    Daft Punk is where i am heading next month :D
  • Gigi4Gigi4 Posts: 3,631
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    Daft Punk is where i am heading next month :D

    Yes! Isn't it funny how we always like the same stuff. I love Daft Punk's single. I can't wait for the album. I will definitely have to check out those Australian bands you mentioned. Yes, and I agree Madonna needs that iconic reinvention where the image and the music go together to tell a story.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Gigi4 wrote: »
    Yes! Isn't it funny how we always like the same stuff. I love Daft Punk's single. I can't wait for the album. I will definitely have to check out those Australian bands you mentioned. Yes, and I agree Madonna needs that iconic reinvention where the image and the music go together to tell a story.

    Frightfully queer dahling! ;):cool: love it though...its like when you meet someone who loves the same show(s) as you and you throw endless quotes and refs at them :D haha!

    Yeah Random Acess Memories may be their opus album...like what M did with COADF they are gonna do with RAM :cool: Bringing back the old skool and the Studio 54 and pushing it to the futurrrrre! love it.

    And yeah i think you will dig them...SNeaky Sound System is like the Australian goldfrapp with a dollop of Noisettes in there (dont worry not too much like Noisettes i mean vocal style really) and Cut Copy are like Friendly Fires/Foster The People kinda vein :cool: And as i say...their influences rawck!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Gigi4 wrote: »
    Yes! Isn't it funny how we always like the same stuff. I love Daft Punk's single. I can't wait for the album. I will definitely have to check out those Australian bands you mentioned. Yes, and I agree Madonna needs that iconic reinvention where the image and the music go together to tell a story.

    Yeah totally (sorry forgot to mention this bit lol)...COADF had the balance of great music acclaimed by majority of fans and critics alike (strangely cool Kate Bush Aerial also had the same response the same year/month AWESOME!) and in terms of promo she was everywhere for a year and a half across the era from Live 8 - the end of her Japanese shows in 06/Jump single release the radio played her endlessly/TV played her alongside Beyonce, Britney, Christina, Justin, gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas as Pop competition in that time period and regularly on top too (of course!) EVERYONE knows the videos (well the first two really with the storyline) the album was her second highest grossing/selling of the decade (12 - 15 million just behind Music with 15/16 million) everywhere....the thing that was mising from HC was lack of promo therefore lack of circulation...the problem with MDNA was lack of everything worldwide bar SUperbowl and the world tour in the media of course....next era we need killer music, killer imagery, a storyline of sorts across the music/imagery and circulation...
  • Gigi4Gigi4 Posts: 3,631
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    Yeah totally (sorry forgot to mention this bit lol)...COADF had the balance of great music acclaimed by majority of fans and critics alike (strangely cool Kate Bush Aerial also had the same response the same year/month AWESOME!) and in terms of promo she was everywhere for a year and a half across the era from Live 8 - the end of her Japanese shows in 06/Jump single release the radio played her endlessly/TV played her alongside Beyonce, Britney, Christina, Justin, gwen Stefani, Black Eyed Peas as Pop competition in that time period and regularly on top too (of course!) EVERYONE knows the videos (well the first two really with the storyline) the album was her second highest grossing/selling of the decade (12 - 15 million just behind Music with 15/16 million) everywhere....the thing that was mising from HC was lack of promo therefore lack of circulation...the problem with MDNA was lack of everything worldwide bar SUperbowl and the world tour in the media of course....next era we need killer music, killer imagery, a storyline of sorts across the music/imagery and circulation...

    In MDNA's defense, there actually was a storyline with the album. It was about her divorce. It went from wanting to party and escape, then becoming angry and then finally finding peace and acceptance and realizing revenge is not the answer. It wasn't really connected with the imagery at least with the original promotion, although it came out during the tour. I actually think MDNA at least in the tour had a much better storyline and imagery than HC. But I think she needs to make the imagery and storyline more out there in the beginning. This may sound crazy but I actually think the title MDNA was part of the problem. It confused people. I know it was meant to be an abbreviation for Madonna, but it wasn't really showing the theme. To me, it was one of her worst titles for an album. The album actually for me had some great songs, but the title was not a good one. HC was a cooler title, but for me it actually had less of a theme and storyline for me.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 24,080
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    Gigi4 wrote: »
    In MDNA's defense, there actually was a storyline with the album. It was about her divorce. It went from wanting to party and escape, then becoming angry and then finally finding peace and acceptance and realizing revenge is not the answer. It wasn't really connected with the imagery at least with the original promotion, although it came out during the tour. I actually think MDNA at least in the tour had a much better storyline and imagery than HC. But I think she needs to make the imagery and storyline more out there in the beginning. This may sound crazy but I actually think the title MDNA was part of the problem. It confused people. I know it was meant to be an abbreviation for Madonna, but it wasn't really showing the theme. To me, it was one of her worst titles for an album. The album actually for me had some great songs, but the title was not a good one. HC was a cooler title, but for me it actually had less of a theme and storyline for me.

    Well...to tie back to Music, you could argue that it is very much on a par in that it had no precise diection...Music was her "marriage schitzo album" MDNA is her "divorce schitzo album" but i guess none of it added it...4 year gap harmed it, no clear direction harmed it, as you say the title showcased something different to how the album sounded and felt more than it looked, the visuals in the album were never really seen agai in live performance or otherwise...the main image for the era was the opening segment visuals of the tour which she wore on her FB promo chat and her stint with Avicii etc....it was all confusing and the riskiest thing she has ever done ever definitely.

    And to think we complained Hard Candy was hardly promoted :o and i guess HC has more of a cohesive vibe...it has sounds and themes across it about time, making the most of life, a journey to get from A to B...more simplistic than COADF...or indeed any album she did before hand and MDNA that came later but i think thematically it was cohesive and more simplistic which is why perhaps it translated better despite only pushing one massive worldwide hit from the album it still sold well and critically garnered enough positivity to keep it afloat across the year. SOmething MDNA only had for its release week.
  • Terry HesticlesTerry Hesticles Posts: 267
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    Am I wrong or is Hung Up her most successful single to date? Which does speak volumes if true, for a lot who say they like nothing she's done since Ray Of Light. I love the Music Album, not as much as American Life, but like every Madonna album, it marks a certain era of my life. I love Gone, Impressive Instant, I Deserve It, and Nobody's Perfect.
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