Oh yeah totally...always ahead of the game in more ways than one...doesnt always have to be "that second" but in a few years it becomes a part of an area of music YET to happen..so awesome! and yeah funny you mention AL as there was a movement recently with FOlktronica...brilliant!

And yeah i am glad you have warmed to it more...about this time i crack it out anyway...i just find it hilarious all of a sudden Timbaland, Kanye, Pharrell, Neptunes, Disco/R&B stuff is coming into the mainstream without much of an ounce of criticism ....tis great though

and eyah for me HC feels like a softer (ironically) sequel to Confessions in a lot of ways...there is a darkness/personal layer there but also so much high energy SYnthpop/Electronics/Disco layers and Funky basslines.

i would imagine madonna`s speech definitely played a part in this ban being overturned.

According to Perez Hilton the Secret Project will feature a new ballad (woohoo) called Back Of The Bus and will include a video featuring Brahim

YEAH!!! To rules/bans being overturned! amazing! Really cant wait to see what she does, have it programmed...just hope her speech/hosting airs

And this does intrigue me...i like the title Back of the Bus....for some reason it reminds me of Forest gump and Bridge To Taribithia with those in the back kinda demanding authority/seperated from the other kids....or in Forests case...a racial seperation with white people basically in the front half of the bus and every other minority in the back....see freakin connotations already.

What a funny title!

It's great that it (allegedly) will be a ballad, I am absolutely STARVING for a Madonna ballad!

Me too, I want her doing more ballads and mid tempo stuff and that seems to be the opinion of many on various fan sites and forums. It's only PerezHilton that has said this so whether it's true or not remains to be seen

I'm getting excited about the Chime for Change concert on Saturday! I just read Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran will be performing with Timbaland. Couldn't we get Madonna on stage with them too to revive something from Hard Candy? That would be awesome!

I really don't care for this Back of the Bus title. It sounds cliched and cringeworthy. I hope it's not true. This story came from this online newspaper called the Examiner where anyone can register and make anything up so I doubt it's true.

The title is a bit funny but i'm not bothered as long as the song is good.

Are we sure there's going to be a new song? There are always rumours online about Madonna doing this and doing that like that Marvin Gaye cover awhile back that proved to be false. At the Billboard Awards, she said she hasn't been working on new music.

I'm getting a This Used To Be My Playground vibe about that title.

Is ANYONE sure?

Just because Madonna hasn't said anything about working on new stuff it doesn't mean she isn't does it?

If it does prove to be false fair enough, but it's fun to discuss the possibility of new stuff.

It's like a school-life series. I hope there's a song called Pens & Pencils too.

love this quote/piece someone posted on FB

“We are all responsible for our actions, our behavior, and our words, and we must take responsibility for everything we say and do.

When you get your head wrapped around that, you can no longer think of life as a series of random events - you participate in life in a way you didn’t previously. I am the architect of my destiny. I am in charge. I bring that to me, or I push that away. You can no longer blame other people for things that happened to you.

The other is that there is order in the universe, even though it looks like chaos. We separate the world into categories: this is good and this is bad. But life is set up to trick us. It’s a series of illusions we invest in. And ultimately those investments don’t serve our understanding, because physicality is always going to let you down, because physicality doesn’t last.”

— Madonna

And MTV have said that it is a working title that was mentioned....so Back of the Bus wont be an official title for it...Personally i do like that idea as a title...but lets see...we will see...personally i just love that there is always something to speculate dissect and indeed analyse before its even begun

Are they!! Oh man i really wish M would perform but i dont think she wants to or sees a need to do it this year...thus her speeches/presence more than actual headlining stuff...i reckon shes saving that up for next era make it extra special by teasing it on.

Personally...and especially after Nick grimshaw recently said "glastonbury should be full of music variation and POP ARTISTS/PERFORMERS THAT EARN IT" this morning i immediately thought yes...please MADONNA listen to this and come on...next era...please it would be a dream of mine realised I mean she owned Coachella in 2006 and surprised everyone at the BBC Radio One Weekend in 2008!

And i lvoe how into HC you are gigi...i lvoe that album..not a masterpeice but boy its so much insane fun! ...and i love Pharells HCness coming out in THickes latest....forgot they worked with Duran Duran well Timbaland in particular anyway...would be cool if 4 Minutes/Miles Away/Devil medley...but alas...i guess HC would be less inclusive...i dunno...but it does sound amazing.

The thing I like about Madonna is that she does take her privileged position seriously in order to educate and motivate. It's almost as if she has used her controversial persona throughout her musical career to get her to the position she's in now, the platform she's now on. It was a means to an ends even if she didn't realise it when she first set out.

It seems to be speculation. It must be a song left over from MDNA sessions or dug up from the Madonna vault Either way, it's not a new song and I don't think she will start work on a new album until late this year at the earliest.

Aw, that's a shame but whatever it is i do hope it's a ballad.

The title doesn't matter to me at all as long as the song's good!

She usually gets it spot on with her ballads. When I hear she's doing a ballad I get excited because it's almost guaranteed to be great

SPeaking of Hard Candy earlier...and indeed ballads....Across The Sky i have re-dug up...absolutely adore it and with the sunshine out there...man how i wish she had it on the album (and Fela Tute/Latte love that too!)

As for this project...we will soon know whats going on...and yeah i reckon Madonna will enter the studio around the time the DVD is released maybe....i mean look at her track record...she can create a masterpeice album over a couple of months when she is inspired but above all else i would love her to really get inspired and invested and work with people that can really help push herself

Exactly!

Madonna singing a ballad is an absolutely beautiful sound, Something To Remember/I Want You/In This Life always,always bring a tear to my eye.

Her voice is so rich and clear, I once lent the STR album to a friend of mine who wasn't a Madonna fan and insisted that she couldn't sing, I said listen to at least some of the songs on this album and then let me know what you think, well, she did and was pleasantly surprised at how well Madonnna can actually sing given the correct type of song for her voice.

I know the lady is primarily a dance based artist and that is cool, but I do love to hear her doing what she does best.

I love it when Madonna combines such raw emotion/expression and mixes it together with Dance/Uptempo and indeed takes everything to an entire new level...i guess these are aspects that she has hinted at on recent material...but she can definitely take it to the next level on album 13

I mean my favourite song...ever is Spanish Eyes...that power, the journey it takes you on is unparalleled and so raw...i get goosebumps when i hear it (and i do several times as i play the LAP album) but its a sheer emotionally charged song...anthemic and militant but it takes you on a real journey it is a production that flirts between balladry and mid-tempo <3 sheer flaming beauty!

I'd love to see her surprise people next time around and stick to mid tempo and ballads. The best songs on MDNA (Beautiful Killer, Love Spent and Masterpiece) all fitted in that category. I don't mind her doing dance but I think she excels at the mid tempo and ballad stuff and I'd like to think that's where she will go in the future

Yeah, a mid tempo and ballad album would be so COOL!

Here's hoping, eh?

Forget Buffy and Xena and all the other female heroines you may know and love


http://www.billboard.com/files/style...er-617-409.jpg

This is amazing