00s Madonna Albums POLL

Dancefloor, but, goodness, not by much. They're all horribly uneven until Hard Candy, which is blessedly awful.

None of these really live up to her earlier albums obviously, but they each have their strong points... I'm tempted to vote for American Life because it's criminally underrated, and has one of her best ballads ever on it ("X-Static Process", I'd probably place that in my top 25 Madonna songs actually), and probably her best decade "Holllywood" (which spawned the epic Thin White Duke Remix)... but then you have Music which is awesome ("Impressive Instant, "Beautiful Stranger," "Don't Tell Me," etc.)... and of course Confessions on a Dancefloor which was seen as her 'comeback' album ("Hung Up" is still massive...) I dunno

her best single of the decade "Hollywood"**

and yeah I agree about Hard Candy being awful (though "Miles Away" and "Beat Goes On" are awesome)

I know I'm in the minority, but Confessions is one of my favorite albums of the decade, and probably tied with Ray of Light and Like a Prayer as my favorite Madonna album.

The other three of these can go off and rot, afaic.

Wait, where the "they're all shit and people are afraid that she's fucking washed-up" option?

In the absence of that, I'll go for Music, `cos y'know, it makes the people come together.

Dancefloor is also, to my ears, the first (and last) time she's learned how to use her New and Improved Opera Pipes and pseudo-haute Brit accent to excellent effect -- much more so than ROL even if the songwriting on that album is more consistent. "Hung Up" has dated REALLY well; it's her best single of the decade. The Pet Shop Boys remix of "Sorry" is almost as good. That sequence from "Let It Will Be" to "Jump" is gold.

Yeah, "Hung Up" is good, I'll give ya that.

Agree with Alfred's general assessment here.

"Get Together" is a limp song but an amazing dance track. The JLC remix of "Sorry" is somewhat underrated as well, it has one of JLC's best swelling tidal wave gradually crashing onto the shore arrangements.

Confessions is great, Music is alright, haven't heard the other two yet. Voted for Confessions.

If not for Music, this would really be a "least worst" poll, so that.

Last good thing Madonna's done imo:

ps gay cowboys!

music by a comfortable margin. that's sort of the one that seems like the last real madonna album. (no i don't really know what i mean by that. it's just how it seems to me.)

Music is the last good Madonna album (and it's not THAT good). Hung Up is an amazing song, one of her best, but not great enough to redeem the whole album of its overall blandness.

I keep hoping for a big comeback with a new album but it's not quite happening.

I sort of feel like Music looks better than it is.

It's probably the last time she seemed in control of her image. But I don't think the songs on there stack up, bar the title track and (perhaps ironically) "Runaway Lover" ("Don't Tell Me" is okay but not nearly as good as it's usually made out to be). The track list looks very slight, really.

"Don't Tell Me" is okay but not nearly as good as it's usually made out to be

oh man. good thing i came back to this thread or i might still think it's awesome.

Sorry, I forgot to include my standard "rogermexico's mileage may vary" disclaimer.

Needless to say some people out there may not find all the drab efforts at seriousness that clutter the second half of Music to in fact be drab.

Music, I guess. She's just not an album artist although this was her most blandly consistent decade in that realm. "Music," however, is her best single of the decade, "Hung Up" prolly second.

easily Confessions. Music is OK. then other two are turkeys.

music - a few amazing songs ('music', 'don't tell me', 'impressive instant', 'paradise'), the rest aren't great though i have a soft spot for her version of 'american pie'
american life - a few amazing songs ('die another day', 'american life', 'nothing fails', 'xstatic process', 'love profusion'), the rest are terrible
confessions - a few amazing songs ('hung up', 'get together', 'let it will be', 'jump'), the rest are mediocre songs allied to awesome production, it hangs together well as an album though
hard candy - a couple of tolerable songs ('4 minutes', give it 2 me'), the rest are DREADFUL

so i guess i should vote for confessions, though i have to point out that 'die another day' is definitely the best track on any of these albums, and in fact one of her best singles EVER

music gets bonus points for neither lecturing us about hollywood nor flashing her crotch at us

sub poll: The best Madonna video of the OOs

"What it Feels Like for a Girl" no contest.

probably 'Hung Up' for me. her 00s videos generally suck!

idk if i ever saw the 'what it feels like for a girl' video but the answer there is prob 'die another day' too, that was awesome

At the time I thought Music was terrific, and a tonic to the posturing of Ray of Light. I still love the title track and "Don't Tell Me," but the rest consists of pleasant ROL knockoffs in the "White Heat" filler vein ("Amazing," "Runaway Lover") and ballads that demonstrate Mirwais had an even smaller bag of tricks than William Orbit.

'amazing' would be amazing if she hadn't already done 'beautiful stranger'

Exactly.

that's a great video! the junk food, the casually dropping money, the 666, the ol kuntz...was it the official promo? cuz the music is an almost-instrumental dance mix, not the song itself...

They used the Oakenfold remix for the video, and it was directed by Guy Ritchie of course.

:o

In the long run, this has to be "Music". "Confessions On The Dancefloor" has its moments, but "Music" is the one that has stuck somewhat.

have you guys done janet and mariah 00's polls yet? they each have four albums too. be interested in what people thought was the best for them. (i feel a little bad for abandoning these people after obsessing over their music for 20+ years. but, hey, i've been busy...)

the Mariah one is pretty obvious (Emancipation in landslide)... I'll do a Janet one after these results come in.

CONFESSIONS is an abject lesson in how you make a dance album that hangs together well enough to be enjoyed at home/on an ipod all the way through, but which still has enough songs on it that can be played out *as they are* on dancefloors and set them alight. a tough balancing act that frankly only a handful of people have done EVER let alone this decade, let alone someone who's in their late 40s. i think it's fantastic.

Piscesx totally OTM, nice job justifying my vote in words I couldn't get out myself.

The last Madonna album I liked was "Like a Virgin".
From the 00s I'm gonna go with "Confessions" because of "Hung Up", then "Hard Candy" because of "4 Minutes". "Music" and "American Life" are horrible, as is everything she did in the 90s.

have you guys done janet and mariah 00's polls yet? they each have four albums too.

Both have jumped much bigger sharks than Madge ever did.

"Music" >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Anything Mariah Carey or Janet Jackson have done in this milennium!

Btw. "Confessions" is a great album too, but never liked "Hung Up" much. It has too much of "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" in it, and I will never approve of basing a song upon sampling another one.

an abject lesson

hmm

Confessions totally pisses on everything else. I need to hear American Life again to know if it's still the worst album that any human being hasever recorded.

Is "Music" the last hit record in this world to use the phrase "Boogie Woogie" ?

I will never approve of basing a song upon sampling another one.

bet there are numerous songs you like but aren't even aware of a sample in them

I'd bet there aren't. Geir's awareness of music is second to nobody, it's just his understanding of it is, ahem, open to question...

like i said before, reserving judgement on a song before you can verify whether or not it contains samples seems deeply idiotic

Hard Candy isn't at all as bad as people here say. "4 Minutes" is far from being the best thing on it. "Beat Goes On", "Dance 2night", "Heartbeat", and "She's Not Me" would all have made great singles.
Still I gotta go with Confessions for the Lu Cont production and because it has "Get Together" on it, which is her best single of the decade.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

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

American Life 0

Nice work, ILM. Didn't know you had it in you.

…is the right answer

Love "What It Feels Like for a Girl" maybe more than anything on Confessions, but overall agree Confessions is better than Music, especially the epic first three tracks ending with "Sorry." Still blast them on road trips, then skip to "I Love New York" and "Jump." My favorite Madonna besides the first album.

"Hollywood," "Love Profusion," and "Mother and Father" go in my Madonna mix too. There's no reason to dismiss any of these albums...

They used the Oakenfold remix for the video

CONFESSIONS is an abject lesson in how you make a dance album that hangs together well enough to be enjoyed at home/on an ipod all the way through, but which still has enough songs on it that can be played out *as they are* on dancefloors and set them alight. a tough balancing act that frankly only a handful of people have done EVER let alone this decade, let alone someone who's in their late 40s. i think it's fantastic.

― piscesx,

otm

My favourite with 0 votes there

Confessions is fantastic but
- the Spotify version with the clean openings/endings actually kinda annoys me
- it's a little chunkier on the ears than the much less reverby first two 00 albums, which isn't a problem but nothing she's done since is that nimble either and i guess i miss the lightness of touch idk