'00s Madonna Singles

Can we include remixes as part of our voting strategy or is this strictly single edits? Because it would bump up "Sorry" and probably make me choose "What It Feels Like For A Girl"

voted Music - nonsense lyrics, Madonna being Madonna, about as cutting edge as she got for the whole decade.

I have no memory of anything after "Sorry" other than "4 Minutes" (good) and "Give It 2 Me" (oh FUCK NO)

i'm sure all these songs have a billion remixes each and i have no idea how to reflect that in the poll options so i mean, vote however you want but it's just gonna have the main song title there next to your vote

xxp to myself - also it feels pretty effortless on Madge's part - unlike the forcedness of the 'Confessions' stuff

gotta be hung up

"hung up" is top decade material shit

song is still so huge xpost

yes

I'm just saying, the single edit is boring but I LOVE LOVE LOVE this mix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYwgG2oyUbA&ob=av2n

"hung up" might be my favorite madonna song period

i distinctly remember the first time i heard "american life". i was record shopping at Tower Records at Shinjuku Flags and it came on... by the time it got to the "rap" i was literally crawling under bins in embarrassment for poor madge. rarely has her music evoked such an intense emotion out of me, so that's my vote.

Get Together. Easily in my top 10 Madonna tracks. Is it me or does it have faux-vinyl hiss and crackle even on the CD / MP3 version? I've never been able to work out if it's deliberate but sure sounds like it, especially around the 3.00-3.10 mark. I bet it's a conceptual lol on Mr Price's part in reference to the whole 'disco vibe' they were going for.

"die another day" is my favourite post-erotica madonna single full stop.

I'M GONNA DESTROY MY EGO
I'M GONNA CLOSE
MY BODY
NOW

UH

also, strings like knives being sharpened.

i actually really like "american life", even most of the rap, apart from that one line in it which is seriously one of the worst lyrics ever penned

"nothing fails" is probably the most underrated here: it's really quite lovely.

the soy latte/double shot-tay line is one of my most favorite absurd lyrics ever

also yoga and pilates/checkin out the hotties

apart from that one line in it which is seriously one of the worst lyrics ever penned

POLL?

I’m drinkin’ a soy latte, I get a double shoté
It goes right through my body and you know I’m
satisfied
I drive my mini Cooper and I’m feeling super-duper
Yo’, they tell I’m a trooper and you know I’m
satisfied
I do yoga and Pilates and the room is full of hotties
So I’m checkin’ out the bodies and you know I’m
satisfied
I’m diggin’ on the isotopes, this metaphysics s*** is
dope
And if all this can give me hope you know I’m
satisfied
I got a lawyer and a manager, an agent and a chef
Three nannies, an assistant and a driver and a jet
A trainer and a butler and a bodyguard or five
A gardener and a stylist, do you think I’m satisfied
I’d like to express my extreme point of view
I’m not a Christian and I’m not a Jew
I’m just livin’ out the American dream
And I just realized that nothin’ is what it seems

lex, are you sure you're not counting that whole verse as one line?

"hung up" is top decade material shit

― truly blunted rhyme fiend (J0rdan S.)

Yeah – top ten Madonna for me. Not once did it cross my mind that she was being "desperate" by resorting to a mash-up or sampling.

Hung Up
Sorry
Get Together
Jump

Her best singles sequence since Erotica?

it's the last four lines really, before that it's just absurd and hilarious as dan says, then it suddenly becomes so stupid that i still flinch every time

xps

I got a lawyer and a manager, an agent and a chef
Three nannies, an assistant and a driver and a jet
A trainer and a butler and a bodyguard or five
A gardener and a stylist, do you think I’m satisfied

this is kind of great IMO, not because it's especially poetic or shattering but because she is going on and on about all the shit she has, which is basically shit that 80% of people who end up with fucktons of money end up with, and how it is leaving her cold and empty

of course she then goes straight back into silly mode with the next two lines but those 4 lines and her delivery really work for me

xp: ha Lex/Dan mind-meld (although I think the last two lines are at least an attempt to sum up what's going on in the rap, ie "um I may be ungrateful and all but this 'American Dream' you sold me seems to be made of gold-plated lemons")

yeah the "extreme point of view" couplet sucks because it's NOT AN EXTREME POINT OF VIEW and the last two lines suck because after everything that's preceded them, madonna apparently needs to didactically SPELL. EVERYTHING. OUT. FOR. US. in the most unbearably pompous tone.

well to be fair the rest of the rap is also in an unbearably pompous tone, it's just mitigated because what she's saying is hilarious

in terms of videos - out of this lot it's got to be "die another day" again, just every moment and detail is amazing. as tom ewing has said, it's like madonna watched the bond films for inspiration and thought "hmm these are ok but they'd be better if they were about ME". hence bond being relegated to literally one second of screen time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOf4MyY032c

I’m not a Christian and I’m not a Jew

This is the worst part of the rap, and like one of the worst rhymes EVER. What the fuck does it even mean?

Plus, she was born a Catholic, and Christianity IS a massive part of who she is (the name for a start, the religious themes that run through a work) and she's now part of the Jewish spiritual sect of Kabbalah (or so she claims), with the spiritual name Esther (LOL). So she's BOTH part Christian and Jew, so why's she saying that she isn't?!?!

ha I was watching that video earlier and briefly reconsidered my WIFLFAG support

xp: I think that is exactly why she said it...? She's basically rejecting the labels thrown on top of her and explicitly stating that she's building up her own spiritual code by shamelessly magpie-ing what she likes from her upbringing and from Kabbalah, which while not EXTREME in the slightest also isn't recognized by most as being "mainstream".

Plus I hate the whole jaded by fame thing she's done from Ray of Light onwards. Shut up Madonna, you're the most fame-hungry, power-hungry woman pretty much ever, and that's what's made you so amazing, so why pretend you're removed from that now. It's not an endearing trait in the slightest.

xp: that actually makes a lot of sense. still comes across badly though.

well yes, it's a terrible lyric

COTDF is where she finally learned how to use her post-singing lessons voice.

Plus I hate the whole jaded by fame thing she's done from Ray of Light onwards. Shut up Madonna, you're the most fame-hungry, power-hungry woman pretty much ever, and that's what's made you so amazing, so why pretend you're removed from that now. It's not an endearing trait in the slightest.

― prolego, Thursday, October 21, 2010 4:31 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^^

I'd probably rank "Hung Up", "Get Together" and "Die Another Day" about equally at the top.

"Die Another Day" is excellent fun to write about of course, but the other two catch up on dancefloor largesse.

hung up over don't tell me and sorry.

also i'll take: i'll remember->secret->take a bow->bedtime story over the cotdf singles sequence.

^^^ thought of that sequence, but I'm lukewarm on "Secret."

oh man, "Secret" is like her most underrated single

love 'secret', i'm lukewarm on 'fever' and almost wrote that sequence would compete w/ the first four erotica singles but then remembered that two of those first four are fucking 'deeper and deeper' and 'bad girl', which are top five madonna for me.

most underrated madonna singles are the one's that didn't get videos, were still huge hits, but get no comp love - 'angel', 'keep it together'

only madonna single i can think of i'd actually call overrated is 'la isla bonita'. maybe 'music' (at the time at least).

balls, we're so in sync here it's a shame I hate your screenname.

i like very much "sorry"

Love "Secret", though a lot of that comes from being 11 or 12 when the single came out and being blown away by the seeming sophistication of the music/vocals/video clip. It might not have seemed so startling if I'd been a little older.

Best run of singles from an album is hard: the Erotica run has some of my favourite Madonna tracks ever but the Bedtime Stories run feels like such a perfect encapsulation of Madonna's different qualities. The two albums after that are not well-represented by their singles I reckon (from memory my favourite track on Music was the decidedly unadventurous "Runaway Lover", her final collabo with William Orbit).

I thought I liked it until I relistened to BS a few days ago and noticed the album version faffs around a bit, especially the second verse. Also: I prefer subsequent songs with the mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm hook (e.g. "Swim")

^^^ crazy talk (re "Swim")

Also "Secret" brought the lols for school kids w/r/t penises lying in your own hands, so extra points for that.

I like "Swim" but no way is it better than "Secret"

secret is always classic. the whole thing.

secret also brought the lols that one time i played it at a 6th grade birthday party and all the boys laughed at me. but i've told this story before and now i'm going to stop telling it.

have i told the story of how i almost got suspended from school because of "secret"? surely i must have, somewhere on ilx.

best "mmmm" hook of madonna's career = "frozen"

(i have a lot of affection for "swim" too tho)

I blanked out on "Frozen."

loooove the video for "secret", so classy and understated. just checked wikipedia which says it has transvestites & religious imagery of rebirth/damnation, which I'd never noticed before but makes it 10 times more amazing.

she also looks really nice in it

yeah, total classic blonde bombshell.

Don't Tell Me, easy.

lol what the fuck is "Love Profusion"

best run of singles - first album for me. i'm lukewarm on 'everybody' (love that danceteria clip of her doing it though), but burning up->holiday->lucky star->borderline my god.

xpost - omar's in the secret vid right?

'love profusion' is pretty decent iirc.

lex tell yr story then i will tell my story of performing 'material girl' in my 4th grade talent show.

lol what the fuck is "Love Profusion"

"Lots of cock in me."

Yeah -- "Angel," "Gambler," and "Keep It Together" are top fifteen Madonna for me.

when i was 12, my maths teacher got pregnant. the supply teacher they'd got in to cover for her was dreadful at both teaching and controlling the class, but she was kind of bitchy as well. "secret" had just come out, so me and my then bff rewrote the lyrics as a hate paean to her. the chorus went "mmm-mmm, we hate mrs buckn4ll". the verses were ruder but they escape my memory right now. not only did we rewrite the song, but - as an instrumental was included on the cd single - we recorded it, brought the tape into school along with print-outs of the lyrics, and played it to selected members of the class in the school library one lunchtime. unfortunately, also present in the library was mrs buckn4ll's son, who was a little twat iirc. he grabbed one of the lyric sheets and told on us. mrs b had to have therapy apparently :(

epilogue: a few months ago my mother went to a church in a village she doesn't normally go to. she vaguely recognised one of the women in the congregation and advanced on her after the service, asking where they possibly could have met, and then something rung a bell, and she said - oh, is it through [my school]? do you know my son alex?

that woman was mrs buckn4ll :(

Where the fuck is the love for "Music"? Also if "Future Lovers" was a single it prob would have been that, but seriously "Music" is some outta control party time rad shit.

ha! 4th grade talent show, the height of 'puttin on the hits' i lipsynced, or more sadly/accurately, had a rabbit hand puppet lip sync to the lead vocal of 'material girl' and i lipsynced the backing vocal. i deservedly lost to four classmates who lipsynced, air guitared, air drummed, etc. to reo speedwagon's 'keep on loving you'. some girl played violin at this thing btw. some talent!

youtube or gtfo

Oh no you didn't... I am gonna have to spend the whole of tomorrow listening to Madonna singles oh noes. Likely gonna be one of the Confessions singles because that whole album is just so perfect. But I have a soft spot for Don't Tell Me & also Die Another Day which I had no idea even existed until it was on Freaky Trigger (I think?)

I only really rate the Mirwais era stuff -- "Don't Tell Me" is imo the only classic, "Die Another Day" and "American Life" are entertaining trainwrecks, and "Music" is a bit monolithic for my tastes but not bad. everything after that I have no desire to hear again, including the totally bland and overrated "Hung Up."

love both Music and Hung Up; will vote for one of them...though I'm w/ balls about "I Remember"->"Bedtime Stories" being an awesome run of singles...the only time I wz a real full-blown Madonna fan...

what's yr guys' favourite Madonna song? Mine is 'Cherish'

was scratching my head as to why ray of light wasn't on here and realising with horror that it came out 13 years ago, uh whoops i'm not as up on my madonna as i thought

what's yr guys' favourite Madonna song? Mine is 'Cherish'

A photo finish between "Open Your Heart," "Like a Prayer," and "Into the Groove." At the risk of sounding aspirational in that abysmal self-help way, "Open Your Heart" makes me feel like I can do anything; I credit the power of her vocal. I miss that minor key blast she could unleash pre-1996.

Open Your Heart is really great!

outside of ilx i think "Don't Tell Me" would prob be a consensus pick for best Madonna single of the last decade.

― underrated bobos I have honked (some dude), Thursday, October 21, 2010 10:01 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you posted this on the other thread but ... what?? with who?

i dont think ive ever heard ppl talk about it

voting 'sorry' -- the remix is basically just the radio version w/ like extended parts & slightly different mixing right? like i suspect that the man w/ guitar mix is actually the original and the one on the album is basically his for-radio version

you posted this on the other thread but ... what?? with who?

― j. sargent & lil k3v (deej), Thursday, October 21, 2010 6:41 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i dont think ive ever heard ppl talk about it

― j. sargent & lil k3v (deej), Thursday, October 21, 2010 6:42 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark

these posts are seriously like the forming of a black hole -- i implore shipley to ignore them

The Pet Shop Boys vocals on one of the "Sorry" remixes = pretty fab

stfu xp

dont be a dick jordan. im sorry that u blame me for ''''aerosmith''''s retarded pedantic obsessions w/ me in other threads but this is a legit question to ask -- i really havent met ppl who think that about that (rather ehh) madonna single & im genuinely curious where hes getting that from -- a) if he doesnt want ppl questioning it dont say it, b) its not like he cant just give examples anyway that could explain why he has that impression

don't call me jordan

voted "don't tell me"

i was making a reference to your arguments w/ whiney but anyway the last thing i want to do is talk about this, carry on w/ madonna thread

I was a freshman in college when 'Music' came out, just pledged my fraternity, and this was the favorite song of a bunch of kids there who were tripping on acid at the time--listening when the vocoder-ed (?) voice sang "Do you like my aci-id rawk?" Apparently, the LSD came in the form of rainbow-colored candy: both that and this song, made them want to start a rock band called The Skittles (their big hit: "Taste the Rainbow")

Heard "Music" for the first time while high on cough syrup in college, all I could hear was this bass and the chirpy voice saying "music...music..." like some Repo Man-y generic representation of pop. Totally freaked me out.

lol jordan

j0rdan have you listened to madonna yet?

At the risk of sounding aspirational in that abysmal self-help way, "Open Your Heart" makes me feel like I can do anything

yessss (it's not abysmal tho). "open your heart" is the best pre-date song.

my fav madonna is "deeper and deeper", though if stretched to a five-way tie i'd put "burning up", "bad girl", "open your heart" and "die another day" up there with it.

lol jordan

― Long live smooth music..... ;) (some dude), Thursday, October 21, 2010 6:59 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

so you were just making this up or

hey dudes im not whiney & this post isnt about hipsters u can answer the question

"hung up" is top decade material shit

Came here to say.

aite im just going to assume al was full of crap

like i suspect that the man w/ guitar mix is actually the original and the one on the album is basically his for-radio version

yeah I thought this too.

I don't have any mega-evocative irl anecdotes to suggest why "Don't Tell Me" could be a pretty plausible Best Madonna single of the last decade, but these stats from wikipedia suggest it was a definite crossover high point for the last decade success-wise (though "Music" and "Hung Up" are also obv up there). Adult contemporary, pop airplay, clubs...video was pretty popular too. cowboys!

"Don't Tell Me" peaked at number four on the U.S. charts and spent eight weeks in the top ten. It made gains at radio for three months consecutively (her longest-growing hit since "Take a Bow"), and also spent a long time on the club-play chart. Despite spending only one week at number one (most of her recent dance hits have spent at least two, and "Music" five), it managed fourteen weeks on the chart, out-lasting "Music" and tying with "Ray of Light" as Madonna's longest running club hit since "Bedtime Story" in 1995. In addition, "Don't Tell Me" is Madonna's biggest hit on the Adult Top 40 chart, where it peaked at number four, making it her only top five single on that chart. Charting at #10 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, it was Madonna's last top 10 hit on the chart to date.

oh and "4 Minutes," though I keep wondering if there was some super-special Verizon deal that cheapens its numbers or something.

yup it's "don't tell me"

surprised to hear dont tell me was that popular -- i honestly felt like i wasnt encountering it nearly as much as her other hits from this decade.

its def better than 4 minutes, at any rate

I like "4 Minutes" but "a you intervention" always makes me cringe.

I always thought it was "a new intervention". My ears were protecting me from the truth.

I've only bought a couple of Madonna singles over the years. "Don't Tell Me" was one of them. I heard the Joe Henry version first. thats i s how I role.

My fave Madonna is Beautiful Stranger or Ray Of Life. I do admit that probably some of the early songs (12"s from around the time of the first album) could probably knock those into a cocked hat, but my experience of those early songs is too tainted by the snotty preteen brat I was when I first heard those songs and the horrible anti-pop snobbery of my peers that I had internalised. 12 year old me thought Holiday and and Everybody were the best songs in the whole damn world. 15 year old me had been Told By The Big Boys that commodity pop was automatically shit and I should go listen to Sonic Youth or something instead, and was stupid enough to believe it.

Wow there are some awful AWFUL songs on this list.

Music was also the last time she pulled out two top ten singles from an album.

It seems completely random which Madonna albums/singles are on Spodify and which aren't. That's making this harder.

:-(

so you were just making this up or

― j. sargent & lil k3v (deej), Thursday, October 21, 2010 8:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

hey dudes im not whiney & this post isnt about hipsters u can answer the question

― j. sargent & lil k3v (deej), Thursday, October 21, 2010 8:02 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

aite im just going to assume al was full of crap

― j. sargent & lil k3v (deej), Thursday, October 21, 2010 9:07 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i only posted "lol jordan" because his suggestion to ignore you was funny and i only had like 2 seconds free to post before putting the baby to bed. and now i'm getting the baby up and don't have time to write a long thought out post about this yet. i'm sorry my schedule doesn't permit me to tirelessly argue on ILM as much as you!

One that I couldn't find on Spodify...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYwgG2oyUbA

Fucking love the lyrics, the message, the video is like Super Revenge Fantasy No.2 that manages to actually *subvert* Tarrantino imagery in a way that Telephone didn't quite manage to do - but I can't vote for it because I just can't get my head around those trance synths.

While a song like Music, which has shit lyrics, dumb message, UTTERLY SHITE VIDEO but has those massive bass squelches, that I somehow find a way to love.

I don't get it, backbrain. What gives?

"what it feels like a girl" is a triumph in every aspect except the song for me - amazing video, lyrics about as strong as 00s madonna gets (and definitely more interesting than usual), but the song is kind of not there

Wait, I've only just realised that the video version features some weird trancey remix. This is the original:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6IelRBgB9JA

Which is less annoying somehow, and yet also more nothing-y as you put it. (I like the backwards samples that form the backbone of the song, though.)

Hung Up is the only 00s Madonna single I listen to with any regularity, although 4 minutes is good too.

outside of ilx i think "Don't Tell Me" would prob be a consensus pick for best Madonna single of the last decade.

― underrated bobos I have honked (some dude), Thursday, October 21, 2010 10:01 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

you posted this on the other thread but ... what?? with who?

― j. sargent & lil k3v (deej), Thursday, October 21, 2010 7:41 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

all i really meant was that among casual music fans in the U.S. who could only hum 4 or 5 of these songs and have barely heard of most of the rest, my general sense is that "Don't Tell Me" is probably the most well liked of them. like, that Blender list a few years ago of the "greatest songs since you were born" or whatever, "Don't Tell Me" was the only recent Madonna on that.

Seriously, ILXors are MAD UNDERRATING ho w prevalent "Don't Tell Me" was.

yeah it hung around so long that i ended up quite liking it. quite like Love Profusion too for some reason (horrible vid tho).

Hung Up tho

"Music" is IMO her best single. The album was a bit patchy, but the single is awesome.

Her best 00s single that is.

"What It Feels Like for a Girl" is totally top-Madonna at every point melodically except the title-phrase chorus, which is a good enough hook/double-meaning to sustain the song as timeless, I think, but more along the lines of a good album track than a single.

I have a huge soft spot for "Get Together" but gotta go with "Hung Up." I do love "Love Protrusion."

And all that said, "What It Feels Like" belongs on any Madonna mix IMO.

I love the melody but, I don't know, does anyone else find the song underwritten lyrically? She's nailing a mood – looking back at adolescent angst with affection and a remembrance of hurts past – but if it succeeds at all it's on the strength of her vocal and the melody.

Maybe it's that she's asking a yes/no question.

ha

"Do you know what it feels like for a girl in this world?"
"No."
"Well all right then."

Someone recite these lyrics into Ginny Thomas' voicemail.

Hmmm, I really don't know most of these, by name at least. I'm going to try to make my way through this list.

x-post:

Already recognize "Music," of course, but I'm not sure I ever knew it was Madonna.

"don't tell me" was very popular. while the fact that it got to #4 on the hot 100 was mostly due to sales, i also heard it on the radio reasonably often and saw the video on mtv (in the mornings obv) VERY often.

by the way i would just like to say that "4 minutes" was pretty bad.

Don't be a priMADONNA

get it????

Actually part of why I love that song is it's so corny.

"4 minutes" has an absolutely slamming beat that madonna doesn't quite manage to ruin

i have never actually listened to 4 minutes and i never will.

You should, it's good!

not good enough

how can you make that evaluation if you've never heard it...?

like, even if you don't like it is isn't bad enough to RUIN YOUR LIFE if you happen to hear it (ie, it's no "American Pie")

i've heard it -- but i have never actually put it on and listened to it, or sat through it when it has come on. and something tells me that is ok.

i will be fine.

"american pie" improved on the original at least!

...

ha no it did not, not even a little bit

thinking that is insane

I can understand liking Paris Hilton more than I can understand thinking Madonna's cover of "American Pie" is in any way, shape or form better than the original

it halved the original! there's less of it!

this remix of "4 minutes" is pretty banging

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYTR-RNa-WY

I forgot how weird the 4 Minutes video is – all I remembered was Timbaland air-trumpeting (cute) and her & JT's crotchtacular checkout counter dance moves...I did *not* remember all the meat people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAQZPBwz2CI

Also it is interesting to me – the comment upthread about how her Bond song had *one second* of Bond footage in it – this is from the Get Smart soundtrack and absolutely zero footage of Steve Carrell or Anne Hathaway, and thank god.

OK, you have actually convinced me to try and give 4 Minutes another go even though I HATED it at the time.

It's funny, listening to Madonna singles, I keep realising that there's a split between the ones where I love love love the lyrics and find that she's somehow captured something incredibly beautiful and moving and simple that still captures something of the emotions in my heart - and then the straight up bangers that make me wiggle about in my chair (coz I'm too old to actually dance, and all.) And this has seemed to get more pronounced in her 00s work, like I can love the words and message, or I can have a bass on the floor anthem, but why can't I have both?

The only 00s track that I like both the words and the bassline is Die Another Day.

Nope, 1.32 into 4 Minutes and I had to turn it off. The chorus annoyed me.

uh huh, i think that's what happened the one time i tried

I tried another remix, same problem. Beat = BANGIN' then the chorus comes in and it's "if you want it, come and get..." NOPE DO NOT WANT GET OFF MY HEADPHONES.

it seems unnecessary, as a thing that happened in the world, and it also seems like a waste of 2 talents

I love the chorus!

i'll take that me against the music britney song instead

The synthesized brass preceding JT's annoying MAD-DAHHH-NNA interjections is the ugliest sound ever recorded.

My memory is that Me Against The Music = STONE COLD AMAZING but I could be wrong or just have heard some weird remix or something.

it's kind of kooky and fun

ha okay we are exact opposites

No, wait, it still is. I wanna get in the zooooooonnnnnne.

"4 Minutes" was the song where I felt Timbaland was well and truly past it. All his stuff on Hard Candy was dire. But maybe the problem was mainly Madonna.

"me against the music" is a 7/10 track that got a really bad rep b/c people were expecting a 10/10 for some reason

ALSO "me against the music" = first high-profile writing credit for TERIUS "THE-DREAM" NASH

I could also just be completely irrationally allergic to Justin Timberlake while La Brit is quite catnippy for me.

"me against the music" is a 7/10 track that got a really bad rep b/c people were expecting a 10/10 for some reason

Because it was MADONNA and BRITNEY together. And they HAD JUST KISSED.

Sadly, high-profile duets hardly live up to the hype. I think the problem was it was a Britney song (that was mediocre anyway) with Madonna phoned in, rather than both of them going into a studio together being like, okay, we're going to make a song that is like as awesome as Into The Groove and Baby One More Time combined - are you ready?

yea lex otm

I don't think it's anywhere near as bad as people make it out to be. I think it's just a case of heightened expectations that two artists who regularly delivered 10* records put out a record that was 7* for them (but would actually have been perfectly acceptable from anyone else.)

It's so annoying because if this were just about the music, then Music would win solely on the basis of the YES THIS BASS IS MOST DELICIOUS MOAR!!!! squelchiness of it. But the lyrics are just downright laughable and the whole *point* of Madonna is the lyrics and even more importantly the emotional content and the presentation and the VOICE and, you know, the *Madonna*-ness of it all. And "Hey Mr DJ put a record on I wanna dance with my baby" is pretty much as pithy as that record gets (and it gets far far worse.)

someone find the gif of JT in MTV audience looking miffed by Brit-Maddie snog.

the whole *point* of Madonna is the lyrics and even more importantly the emotional content and the presentation and the VOICE

I'd invert your priorities.

I've forgiven lots of dodgy Madonna lyrics; what I'm still recovering from is what she did to her voice post-1996.

lol y

everyone ALWAYS forgets xtina was involved in that kiss too

it's funny, when the rumours about her and sam ronson surfaced this week, you kind of thought, well, xtina HAS been going on about how she's bi for a DECADE now, it's not her fault if anyone's shocked that it turns out to be true

"Music" is just a squelchy french touch anthem that really you could drop any singer into and it would work.

When I listen to Madonna, I want to be damn sure that I know I'm listening to Madonna, you know? And what turned me from a Madonna hater to a Madonna OMGILOVEHERSQUEEEEEE was actually things like "Express Yourself" which are as much about the whole message she's projecting (of which the lyrics are, yes, a part) rather than the bassline.

and the only other thing that came out of that VMA performance for Madonna was this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQpN3ToVtmQ

ohmygodddddd. :///

Whoa. The weirdest thing about that video is realising how short Missy Elliott is! Because those Hype Williams vids always make her look like she is 3000 FOOT TALL GODDESS FROM PLANET AMAZINGNESS but she's actually little-er than Madonna* o_0

*actually, Madonna is wearing 6" spiked heels with her Gap jeans from the opening shot

this is actually quite a lineup....voted for Hung Up because that album dominated my listening for a few weeks in 05 but could easily have voted for Music, Sorry, Die Another Day or a couple others.

I've forgiven lots of dodgy Madonna lyrics; what I'm still recovering from is what she did to her voice post-1996.

The late Madonna voice is definitely a big turn-off for me. I usually am all for singers learning to sing proper, but I also admit it sometimes ruins them.

I think a lot of what makes "Love Profusion" work is her new vocal technique.

I dunno, I started to appreciate Madonna a lot more after she actually learned how to sing. That kind of little girl squeak that she made her trademark for much of the early days was kind of a turn off for me.

I said upthread that she finally learned how to use the post-coaching vocals on the Dance Floor.

her lower register yanked at my heart more convincingly in the old days ("Into the Groove," "Live To Tell," "Deeper and Deeper").

"don't tell me" was very popular. while the fact that it got to #4 on the hot 100 was mostly due to sales, i also heard it on the radio reasonably often and saw the video on mtv (in the mornings obv) VERY often.

by the way i would just like to say that "4 minutes" was pretty bad.

― teledyldonix, Friday, October 22, 2010 12:32 PM (53 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

"Don't Tell Me"'s success was pre-iTunes and not nearly as sales driven as her later hits -- as da croupier's wiki c&p upthread noted, it was her last top 10 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, which means it got played on the radio way more than "Hung Up" or "4 Minutes"

her lower register yanked at my heart more convincingly in the old days ("Into the Groove," "Live To Tell," "Deeper and Deeper").

Yes, her voice just doesn't have the same sort of effect anymore -- to me it seems a lot colder.

Yeah. I live in Clear Channel central and can remember that "Hung Up" got NO airplay: I think I heard it once. There was even a Billboard article published in 2006 trying to put to rest the rumors that radio stations were enforcing no-Madonna rules. After all, "Hung Up" was a massive worldwide hit and merely a middling one here, and "Sorry" was almost as big.

meanwhile "Hung Up" was played like 24/7 on our Clear Channel affiliate and I don't think I heard "Sorry" once

on bedtime stories she'd finally reached a great mature voice, and for the first time ever she actually sounded quite sexy. it's such a shame she had to fuck it up.

The more I listen to these songs, the harder a choice it becomes. Because things like "Love Profusion" - which I had totally dismissed at the time - seem to take on a more resonant quality on repeated listens. I'm going to have to give American Life another listen.

"Don't Tell Me"'s success was pre-iTunes and not nearly as sales driven as her later hits -- as da croupier's wiki c&p upthread noted, it was her last top 10 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart, which means it got played on the radio way more than "Hung Up" or "4 Minutes"

ok yeah that's true, i'm just saying its peak week on the hot 100 was before its peak week in airplay (because of the release of the physical single), though you are right that it was ultimately popular in both respects. in any case, yes, popular single.

and yeah, "hung up" peaked at #1 in sales but only got to number 7 on the hot 100, but sales on itunes were not nearly as massive as they became in the next two years... the charts were still somewhat transitioning from the 2003-04 phase when chart position was almost completely determined by airplay. so it's not like it got NO airplay or something.

and i mean, yeah, "4 minutes" wouldn't have gotten anywhere near the top 3 without its sales, but i still heard it on the radio way more than i ever wanted to.

idk what point i am making here but talking about chartz is fun

as another example of a #1 sales single in 2005 that DIDN'T make top 10 because it ACTUALLY wasn't being played very much at all, see jessica simpson's "these boots are made for walkin'"

I heard "4 Minutes" a lot more often – and for months, really – than "Hung Up," definitely.

yeah actually "don't tell me"'s airplay barely lagged behind its sales so nvm about all that.

I had never heard "Miles Away" before

i'll take that me against the music britney song instead

"In The Closet" >>>>>>>>>>> "Me Against The Music".

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I suppose I better get around to deciding.

I tell you, I'm coming round to appreciate American Life a lot more as an album.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Go 'Hung Up'!

One helluva top seven.

I hope I remembered to vote, dammit. But yeah, I'm pretty content with that result.

even though I had to have glanced at it in the discography to type it in as a poll option, I currently have no idea what "Get Together" is or if I've ever heard it, so i'm kinda surprised at its 7 votes. was it a US single or a Euro only thing?

In the United States, the song failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but reached a peak of number eighty-four on the Pop 100 chart.[17] Its low chart performance in America was attributed to limited radio airplay. A petition was signed by about 3,300 fans at petitiononline.com. Known as the "End the Madonna U.S. Radio Boycott", it was addressed to Clear Channel Communications CEO Mark P. Mays. Message boards at Entertainment Weekly and VH1 were filled with everything from support for Madonna to conspiracy theories about why she was not played on radio.[18] The song was a success on Billboard's dance charts, topping the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts.[17] It reached a peak of eighteen on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles chart.[19]

In Canada, the song debuted and peaked at four on the Canadian Singles Chart.[20] In Spain, the song debuted at the top of the chart in the issue dated June 25, 2006 and was on the top for one week.[21] In Australia, "Get Together" debuted at number thirteen which became its final peak.[22] In the United Kingdom, the song debuted at seven in the issue dated July 23, 2006.[23] In mainland Europe, the song reached the top ten of the Finnish and Italian charts and the top forty in countries like Austria, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland.[24][25]

I'd never heard it before either but it's kind of great (and is making me reconsider my knee-jerk decision to ignore all post American Life Madonna albums):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSDjPyG1O3U&ob=av2e

Borrows more than a little from the Deep Dish-EBTG collaboration too.

borrows more than a little from this classic:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06fvMtgIWaE

wow Clear Channel using strongarm tactics...

I doubt it's a conspiracy, but it's weird how Madonna's albums post-Music suddenly generate just one hit. Well, maybe not so weird: why waste payola on an old lady?

well, 2: "Die Another Day" and "4 Minutes"

Well, that's what I mean: those were the only top tens from their respective albums.

oh sorry, I thought you meant 1 hit after Music, not 1 hit per album

also lol @ me forgetting "Hung Up"

I doubt it's a conspiracy, but it's weird how Madonna's albums post-Music suddenly generate just one hit.

esp. since Get Together seemed to hit the charts pretty hard around the rest of the world...of course it seems to have fallen off pretty drastically thereafter in each case

well, look at the stats for "Hung Up," which is a monster of a worldwide hit while a middling one here (even by Maddie's standards):

The song was successful worldwide, peaking at the charts of more than forty-five countries and earning a 2007 place in the Guinness Book of World Records, as the song topping the charts in most countries.[27] In the United States, "Hung Up" debuted at twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 on the issue dated November 5, 2005. It became her highest opening position since "Ray of Light" entered the chart at five in 1998. The same week the song entered the Hot Digital Songs chart at number six and became the highest debuting single of the week on the Pop 100 Airplay, where it debuted at thirty-eight.[28] On the issue dated December 7, 2005, the song entered the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 at seven, which became its peak, jumping from position fourteen of the previous week. The song became the chart's greatest digital gainer for that week and claimed the top position on the Hot Digital Songs chart.[29] It also tied Madonna with Elvis Presley for thirty-six top ten hits,[30] which was subsequently broken by Madonna's 2008 song "4 Minutes", which peaked at three on the Hot 100. The song debuted at numbers twenty-five and ten on the Hot Dance Club Play and Hot Dance Airplay charts respectively ultimately reaching the top of both charts.[31][32][33] The song also reached a peak of seven on the Pop 100 chart.[31] On August 18, 2008, the single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America for selling at least a million copies in paid digital downloads.[34] As of April 2010, the song has sold 1,200,000 digital units in the United States.[35]

Madonna too old for the Miley Cyrus crowd? she's gotten too 'European'? (Hung Up did go against the grain of most American radio...)

ok, looking at the "Get Together" video, yeah, i did see this screensaver on VH1 a few times, although damn if I'd ever recognize the tune. the Confessions stuff all sounds way too polite and on-the-nose to me, like she was doing what she thought people wanted her to while the Music/American Life period at least felt like for better or worse she was following some kind of muse.

and then working with Timbaland and the Neptunes 5-6 years after every other pop star, that was just sad

oh yeah definitely somewhere along the line, Madonna-the-mogul took over the making of the records--"who's the hottest producers out right now? get them!"--rather than any sort of artist with anything to say...

BLimey, even Bob Dylan had run out of things to say by this point...

in defence of Stuart Price she'd worked with him gradually for half a decade on the previous 2 concert world tours before he produced her album. he was her musical director and keyboardist so it wasn't just a case of grabbing the hottest guy on the block or whatever. also i think her having him as musical director as far back as the trun of the decade before the electro revival kicked in showed remarkable foresight. *now* he's the go-to producer guy for the pop world, working with Kylie, Take That and whoever but back then he was way under the radar.

BLimey, even Bob Dylan had run out of things to say by this point...

Madonna sings the Great American Songbook

Madonna IS the Great American Songbook

Rod Stewart sings "Burning Up" and "Take a Bow."

'get together' sounds hella euro tbh

i mean i like it but

but?

"Hung Up" is nice in a lot of ways, but the sample source is just too obvious. Otherwise some very nice songs on that album though, and it sounds fantastic.

um i just heard love profusion

....

"Hung Up" is nice in a lot of ways, but the sample source is just too obvious. Otherwise some very nice songs on that album though, and it sounds fantastic.

― You're Twistin' My Melody Man! (Geir Hongro), Wednesday, November 24, 2010 10:03 AM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i'd never heard "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" before "Hung Up" came out, but now that i have i kinda feel like why would anyone choose to listen to the Madonna song when they could listen to the Abba one instead

ABBA's song is batshit-crazy in the best sense (those hysterical vocals) but as a dancefloor thumper I'll take "Hung Up."

If framed vis a vis "Gimme X 3" really the only point to "Hung Up" is the production, but that's a pretty big point IMO.