To be fair, Madonna is very picky regarding who she has on her albums. They are not artists who are brought in by the label as a ploy to sell albums or singles (ariana grande and iggy azaela, im talking about you). She chooses guest artists she personally likes and would like to work with one on one.

If that is the case she can't be that picky - she'd got a convicted rapist on this album.

Well i have been vocal and I am not keen on her decision, but there you go. I can't explain that.

I don't approve of what Mike Tyson did, but his boastful spoken word part works great at the beginning of Iconic. It's a brief cameo. The way some people go on about it you would think he and Madonna are singing a duet together.
The collaborations on this album are much less than previous albums. They are very short and work great in the context of the songs. NAS is a very talented rapper and his rap is actually quite moving in a song that is about telling your life story.
I'm glad she did a longer album. The more songs the better! As she gets older the albums may not come as often so it's great it has more songs.
Madonna has never been just a basic pop singer. She has always had an edge and glittering highly constructed production. That is what makes her fascinating.

^^ agree. What Mike did was wrong but he was convicted, did his time and has moved on with his life. He can't keep being punished for something that happened two decades ago. In the eyes of the law he served his time. Everyone deserves a second chance.

Still think its a great album but I think Bitch I'm Madonna would have been more suited to the deluxe with Graffiti Heart or Borrowed Time taking its place on the main edition but that's just my opinion.

Madonna. There is so much unfair criticism about her. At work today a 60 year old woman said "Old Granny madonna is doing the Brits! Aint she a bit old?" I asked her if, at the age of 60, she has stopped living. I said "Do you no longer dance at parties, or listen to music, or sing in the shower? Are you wearing slippers and in bed by 9pm?" My colleague said "I know what you're getting at, and of course I still like enjoying myself". I then asked her "So do you think only young people should make music for people to dance to and sing a long to?" She said "OK, I surrender!". The more Madonna does, the more she gets criticised. Her collaborations on this album are well chosen. They are more bit parts rather than dominating the tracks. I did have initial misgivings about Mike Tyson, but the part he participates in is in context to his career and actually, absolutely relevant to Iconic. Actually, Iconic is a classic Madonna track. A fabulously crafted dance track that has such an anthemic chorus that you want to jump and down and sing it with her!

Truth is, Madonna makes music she likes, and she makes it for her fans. Solely and primarily for her fans. If her record company thinks she might attract some younger music fans by her collaborations, then they'll push it. It's a business after all. She is only 56 in a world where we're all living longer and when I'm 56 (in 10 years time) I would like to still have a good time and live life to the full. I won't be sitting around waiting to get my pension that's for sure!

With regards to more music considering that she's getting older, I think we'll have another album before she's 60 because she is contracted to make three albums with Interscope. What happens after that though is purely up to Madonna. She won't disappear into obscurity, she might write the musical she's longing to do. She will make records but I doubt if they'll be regular and perhaps they will be more mid tempo than what came before. But the thing about Madonna is that she will decide and only her!

She did express an interest in doing a greatest hits album where she reworked all the songs into new tracks but said the time wasn't right just yet. So maybe that will happen for the next record?

It is a fabulous album. I agree about Bitch, I'm Madonna. I would have taken that and SEX off and put Autotune Baby where SEX is and Grafitti Heart where Bitch, I'm Madonna is. Just swap them around. Not really a grumble though because the album is so good anyway it doesn't really matter!

Loving the album - still annoyed by Rebel Heart & Wash All Over Me (I shall use the previous versions I can't help sing "REEEEBELLLL HEEAAAART" where the gap is.
Am I the only one who finds Revolution in the top 5 of this era. Puzzled as to why it's missing!!

I really like SEX. I think it's a great fun song. The only songs I have to say I really don't care for are Autotune Baby and Bitch, I'm Madonna. I really love Queen and Graffiti Heart. I wish they could have made it on the main version.
But actually I"m looking at the super deluxe as the real album since I'm sure all huge Madonna fans will want that one.

I don't understand when people say she is trying to be young and trendy. Madonna has always been influenced by contemporary music of the time for the most part. When she started out, she was influenced by the club scene of the time and what was being played there. It wasn't like she was listening to music of the 60's and the 70's then. There are some artists who are influenced by older music not of their time like for example Adele. If all of a sudden Adele started trying to do EDM or having rappers in her songs I agree it would be ridiculous. But Madonna has always been about incorporating contemporary modern sounds into what she does. The only album she has ever done that hasn't been about that was I'm Breathless. I know it has its fans but that was not for me. I like it that she has a modern edge to what she does.

https://twitter.com/Madonna/status/563042704267825152



I do despair at some of the comments though, are Lady Gaga fans still so caught up in all this? its so 2012!! lol

In all fairness, M fans are just as bad. There was a thread topic on Madonnanation calling gaga evil and also a murderer!

It is pretty funny, so extreme

p.s. a tweet to M in that link, "follow me you evil b&tch"....!?!?

Stan wars are hilarious. I find them funny as hell! the only thing that shocks me is that its not teenagers as you would expect, all of them are grown adults.

Nothing will ever top the days of Britney stans vs Christina stans. These were the days!

In honesty, I despair of all people who use twitter in the way those cretins are using it. It is deplorable and nasty and is evidence of why society is so f@*ked up at the moment. People really need to look at what they're saying on social media. It makes them look like total idiots and the sad thing is, they don't realise it.

Madonna doesn't actually post on twitter herself. That is her management team who keep that up to date. She uses instagram personally.

Yes! It is fully grown adults, it's classic!

I don't remember the war back then (wasn't really on the net I don't think) but I can imagine. The internet really is part of life now, it's quite sad when you think about it!

I sort of know where you're coming from regarding Rebel Heart. But, if you hear any Madonna album today, regardless of when it was made, it will still sound relevant. If the Avicci version of Wash All Over Me was on the album, in five years time, it would sound dated because Avicci is "of the time". The way it has been reworked ensures its relevance and will enable it to sound fresh in five years time unlike the Avicci track. With Rebel Heart, I'm not sure it was ever intended for a single. The new version is just as good in my opinion, I like the simplicity of it. If you hadn't heard the demo's, you wouldn't know any different!

I think most of those who indulge in that sort of behaviour are mentally ill in some shape or form so deserve pity more than anything. It shows a complete lack of social skills. Look at that woman who killed herself because of Sky news hunting her down over those McCann tweets. She obviously had issues.

That doesn't surprise me about Instagram, it has always seemed more like Madonna's thing to me anyway.

The final version of Rebel Heart sounds like something we would have had on American Life. Makes me wonder if its an old demo that she has revisited. I'd love to hear a Mirwais remix of it.

Does anyone have any links for the leaks of the official versions please?
I normally rely on a quick tumblr search to come up with leaks but to prevail this time... :'(

Absolutely love this album on the whole. There are some terrible songs on it (UB, Holy Water, Best Night) but then there are fantastic songs that are as good as anything she's done (Ghosttown, Joan, RH). I'm not sure she's got the standard tracklisting right either

On the whole I think this ranks 3 in her collection of my favourite albums of hers (LAP and True Blue) being my top two. This record is a mile times better than MDNA

I've have gave it another listen through today, and it's still growing on me. But this is where I would rank the Album Rebel Heart along with all previous albums, 1 being the best and 13 being least favourite...

1. Confessions On A Dance Floor
2. Ray Of Light
3. Music
4. American Life
5. Like a Prayer
6. True Blue
7. Hard Candy
8. MDNA
9. Like a Virgin
10. Erotica
11. Rebel Heart
12. Madonna
13. Bedtime Stories

I couldn't possibly rank it with her other albums right now. It's a 25 long song album. I need time to absorb it before I could decide how it ranks with the others. Also with Madonna albums, I guess how I rank them also depends on the videos, the tour and her imagery for it. We haven't really experienced all of that yet so it's impossible for me to rank it now.
I don't think it can replace as Like A Prayer and Ray of Light as my top 2. But I like it much more than Confessions or Erotica because it's much more diverse and surprising than either of those. I guess it's on a par with Music and American Life right now.

I never liked Bedtime Stories too much but I'm definitely hearing some echos of that on it but done better. Best Night has that laid back sexy R&B vibe of some of the best stuff on BS.

Ah! The "ranking of the albums" has returned! To be honest, i need to hear the album in its complete form, from beginning to end, before I make a final judgement on it. I want to hear how the tracks change into the next one, how it flows. It is difficult to hear the album concisely when you have to keep clicking onto individual songs, that occasionally fail to play. I will not, and have not, and categorically condemn the downloading of the album in order to hear it. That wasn't the way Madonna wanted us to hear it. So, based on the songs on Rebel Heart and on the fact that I never usually rank her albums, I have come up with this chart of my favourite albums from best to least favourite:

1: EROTICA
If you play this album today, it sounds fresher and more modern than it did 23 years ago. It is full of sexy, enticing tunes with top notch production. Many of the songs are under-rated and it contains the fabulous Thief of Hearts and Why's It So Hard.
2: CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR
This album is bursting with energy from start to finish. It is unique in containing no weak track and Isaac is masterful and sublime. This is Madonna saying "I'm still here - don't you forget!"
3: LIKE A PRAYER
I don't think I will ever tire of this album. It is well crafted and stunningly put together and with such memorable tracks like the title song and Oh Father, this deserves to have earned its place in the all time top 100 albums list.
4: REBEL HEART
A controversial placing for this album I suspect. But on initial hearing it contains some classic Madonna sounds. Iconic is worth this rating alone but it contains some of her best ballads since 1998. I adore Joan of Arc, Wash All Over me, Devil Pray, Ghosttown, Inside Out, Hold Tight, Messiah and Rebel Heart. And, HeartBreakCity, what a powerful track. Only complaint is that some of the songs are too short!
5: TRUE BLUE
This is the album that got me into Madonna big time. I already had the Holiday and Into the groove singles but this was the album that inspired me to buy her previous two. I have never bought a Madonna album after its release date since! A fabulously cheery album and Live to Tell remains one of my all time favourite songs.
6: MUSIC
A really strong album that continued the theme in Ray of Light. Some great songs and Nobody's Perfect and Impressive Instant are in the category of singles that never were.
7: RAY OF LIGHT
I rarely listen to this album these days because, although the songs and production are first class, it is quite a solemn album in reality. Her vocals are arguably the best they've ever been, but the title track is my favourite Madonna track because it's just such a feel good song.
8: MDNA
I'm not a fan of the title of this album and the first half of the album, asides from Gang Bang, is forgettable cheese. But, from I Don't Give A onwards the album wakes up. I'm a Sinner and Love Spent are the stand out tracks on this album. Beautiful Killer should have been on the standard tracklist and not the deluxe version.
9: AMERICAN LIFE
This is a good album but there are some odd choices on it like I'm So Stupid. I like the angst and the rawness of the sound on this album and Intervention is one of those tracks that deserves much more praise. It is proof that many of Madonna's best songs are little heard album tracks.
10: HARD CANDY
I get the feeling when hearing this album that Madonna's heart just wasn't in it. She sounds a bit bored and it is a record by numbers. Still a good album but not amongst her best. I think in honesty, because Confessions was so good, everyone expected more of the same. Had this album not followed Confessions it may be considered a better album in hindsight.
11: MADONNA / AKA THE FIRST ALBUM
Madonna has come a long way since 1983 and whilst this album is still groundbreaking, I generally find her really early stuff the weakest in her career.
12: BEDTIME STORIES
Really not a big fan of this album. It does contain a handful of corking tracks (Sanctuary, Bedtime Story and Take a Bow) but I don't think I've played this album for several years now.
13: LIKE A VIRGIN
Of all her albums, this is the one that has not stood the test of time. It sounds very much of its time and I despise the song Like a Virgin. It is a retarded song and her voice on most of the songs on the album is like Minnie Mouse on helium. Last time I played this album was 1987 or thereabouts.

Very interesting read indeed. I can't pick a top ten because it changes all the time. I adore Ray of Light, that album is pure genius and sounds amazing even today. Erotica also incredible so far ahead of it's time an criminally overlooked.
I think one of the reasons I have remained a fan right from the beginning is that Madonna is an artist first and foremost, she gives you a piece of herself in her work and I love that. Another reason, if I'm honest I would have been quite happy to have Madonna giving me True Blue again and again, but no Madonna evolved, she exposed me to different types of music I never new I liked. I mean Justify My Love, Erotiica etc etc so brave of her to do that. She could have sat back and gave us more of the same. Sorry writing on. Tablet so excuse grammar, paragraphs etc......

That's a great ranking with wonderful thoughtful descriptions. I will have to make my own when I have the time to think about it.

I would have to put Ray of Light and American Life higher on my list though. And Erotica and Confessions lower. But I agree that Bedtime Stories and Like A Virgin are at the bottom for me too.