Pashmina
09/09/2007, 07:49
Welcome to my album reviews. I'll be reviewing new/current albums, albums from years ago, and generally albums I love. I'll try and be as in-depth as possible, analysing each song, and then the album as a whole.
I used smilies to guage tracks roughly. It's ?/5 . Songs that get 2 or less knockouts get a "Fail".
I hope these reviews might open some people's eyes to some really good (and bad?) music that's around today.
Review 2
Artist: Madonna
Title: Confessions On A Dance Floor
Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16, 1958), known as Madonna, is an American dance-pop singer-songwriter, record and film producer, dancer, actress, author and fashion icon. She is noted for her ambitious music videos and stage performances as well as using political, sexual, and religious themes in her work.
In 2000, Guinness World Records listed Madonna as the most successful female recording artist of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of 120 million albums; in 2005, her record company credited her as having sold over 200 million albums worldwide. Madonna is one of the highest earning female singers of all time according to both the 2007 Guinness Book of Records and Billboard Magazine. Forbes magazine has estimated her net worth at $325 million. In addition, Madonna's 2006 Confessions World Tour holds the record for the highest-grossing concert tour ever by a female artist.
After signing to Sire Records in 1982, hits such as "Holiday," "Like a Virgin" and "Like a Prayer" catapulted her to massive success. By the 1990s, her commercially successful albums, constantly reinvented image, groundbreaking music videos and controversial nature would earn her the title "Queen of Pop."
from last.fm
Confessions On A Dance Floor marked a return to form for the "Queen Of Pop", after the lackluster sales and reception of "American Life", which was too politically minded for many (I liked it, but I can see why many were dissapointed). In true Madonna form, she completely changed style for this album, making a totally dance-based album. Each track segues into each other perfectly, making a non-stop dance frenzy. This album recemented Madonna's place in the music industry after having it up in the air for a while. Does it live up to the hype?
(N.B Some videos are live, and have different beats. I'm reviewing the album versions, but they only differ a little)
The album opens brilliantly with the hit-single Hung Up, and funky song that samples "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" by ABBA. It is one of her best songs IMO. The beats work incredibly with the ABBA sample, and as a whole it's perfect. The time element of it("Time goes by so slowly") is shown by the use of ticking clock noises at parts, which kinda work. Which is strange. Definitely the best on the album. But is it good to put the best song at the start..?
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Official Video for Hung Up (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ccm0wvWugU)
Get Together was the third single from COADF, but didn't perform as well as expected. All othr singles managed to get to no.1 in lots of countries, while Get Together "only managed" to reach no.1 in 2 or 3 countries. It's one of my favourites, and is a bit smoother than Hung Up. It's less loud and in your face, instead going for a kind of flowing ambience. Because it's not as compact and "easy to digest", it didn't chart as well as Hung Up, Sorry or Jump, but that's the nature of the charts. It's definitely a great song, and is different from Hung Up, but in a good way.
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Official Video for Get Together (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIwnKtL6leQ)
The second single is Sorry, a track that acheived huge success worldwide. This is more like Hung Up in it's mood; up front and compact. I never liked it as much as Hung Up. It doesn't have the superb beats or flow Hung Up does. It's good, and quite catchy, just not up to the amazing quality of the first two tracks.
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Offical Video For Sorry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSyN0qUrIdQ)
Future Lover marks the start of the "middle" of the album. Becasue of the segue feature of this album, one can often forget which track is which in the middle, and many of these aren't distinctive enough. However, I LOVE Future Lover. I adore the beats, and the spoken parts, and it just works perfectly. There's a reason this opened the Confessions Tour shows, and it's because it pwns. It's not as dancey as Hung Up or Jump, but instead relies on generating an atmosphere. This should have opened the album, If you ask me, but then maybe Madonna just thought a punter on the street would prefer to skip to Hung Up straight away.
Video Live From The Confessions Tour (AWESOME!) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MQLe7szUpk)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Next up is I Love New York. When I first heard this, I fell in love with it. In retrospect, I can see I admired her apparent anger/frustration, but now when I listen to the album, it kinda sticks out like a sore thumb. The lyrics are quite cringe-worthy in places, and the verses are a bit.. I don't know.. lame? The chrous is good. As is the use of electric guitars. It's the first "meh" track for me on COADF.
Live video from the Confessions Tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yht9e9sjICI)
:knockedou :knockedou and 1/2
After the dissapointing "I Love New York", Let It Will Be delivers more. A song about her fame and what she thinks of her life now and stuff, it's well produced, a packs less "oomph" than some other tracks (though in a good way). A slightly slower track tends to break up the album, and in a non-stop album like this, this could be a blessing. The chorus and main hook, "Just watch me burn/Oh, Let It Be!" is kinda cool.
It builds up nicely in the last 2 minutes.
Live video from the confessions tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhu2m5c8-tQ)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Forbidden Love is an ok track. It's probably the most filler on the album, despite the chorus being very easy to remember, "Forbidden Love/Are We Supposed To Be Together". The beat is good from about half way through onwards, and picks up a more thumping tone. Even so, it's kinda meh for me.
:knockedou :knockedou and 1/2
Video Live From The Confessions Tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_v1Mz9F10I&mode=related&search=)
Jump bursts out directly after Forbidden Love. A much better track than the previous two, it shows a glimmer of her powerful voice (Something that's sorely lacking in most of this album). Only complaint is that the chorus ends to quickly, and that it doesn't pack enough strength. Overall it picks up the whole album after some mediocre offerings.
Official Video For Jump (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwDjijmCm7U)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
"Jump" soon transforms into How High, which is a cool track with some interesting voacl distorting at the start, but soon turns back into a stadard , kinda "meh" song. That being said, the flow and melody is pretty cool, and more interesting than some of the tracks on the album.
Not much to say really.
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Finally a track to end the mediocre middle! Isaac is a very cool song i'd expect from only Madonna. It uses some kind of middle eastern (?) singing as a backing track as a thumping dance beats pulse over it. The whole song works amazingly, and is definitely one of my favourites. If she had used more sampling on this album, it would have benifiteed, since Hung Up and this track are definitely 2 of the best on COADF.
Lie video from the confessions tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExZzhAN-pQU)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou !!!
Push is quite a cool song, and like Isaac, ups the quality of the album. The vocals try something different to the other songs, and the backing trach has a very heavy quality, allmost like it's weighing down on you, which works well with the theme of "pushing her to do better". It's not bad ewnough to warrant a 3 , but good enough for a 4, so i'll give it 3.5 knockouts.
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou and 1/2
Slightly randomly, the album ends with a totally different track, Like It Or Not. It's got little/no big beats, and instead relies on smaller meticulous beats and vocal abilities. That's probably why I like it so much. I adore the line "I'll be the garden/You be the snake/ all of my fruit is yours to take". It's just sung in a such an ominous and dark way.
Live video from the Confessions tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4VkVAR4mL0)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
OK! Confessions On A Dancefloor scored.. 44.5/60
So.. the album scores an excellent 74%!
Madonna has always been an amzing artist, constantly changing her style, and almost always pulling it off well. This album is no exception. Lyrically it's not great, but then the reason you'd listen to this is for the dance element. It's very well crafted, but unfortunately, it seems to be a case of amazing gems and mediocre songs. I'd reocmmend it to any Madonna fan, Dance fan or just anyone who likes good in your face music.
I used smilies to guage tracks roughly. It's ?/5 . Songs that get 2 or less knockouts get a "Fail".
I hope these reviews might open some people's eyes to some really good (and bad?) music that's around today.
Review 2
Artist: Madonna
Title: Confessions On A Dance Floor
Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone Ritchie (born August 16, 1958), known as Madonna, is an American dance-pop singer-songwriter, record and film producer, dancer, actress, author and fashion icon. She is noted for her ambitious music videos and stage performances as well as using political, sexual, and religious themes in her work.
In 2000, Guinness World Records listed Madonna as the most successful female recording artist of all time, with estimated worldwide sales of 120 million albums; in 2005, her record company credited her as having sold over 200 million albums worldwide. Madonna is one of the highest earning female singers of all time according to both the 2007 Guinness Book of Records and Billboard Magazine. Forbes magazine has estimated her net worth at $325 million. In addition, Madonna's 2006 Confessions World Tour holds the record for the highest-grossing concert tour ever by a female artist.
After signing to Sire Records in 1982, hits such as "Holiday," "Like a Virgin" and "Like a Prayer" catapulted her to massive success. By the 1990s, her commercially successful albums, constantly reinvented image, groundbreaking music videos and controversial nature would earn her the title "Queen of Pop."
from last.fm
Confessions On A Dance Floor marked a return to form for the "Queen Of Pop", after the lackluster sales and reception of "American Life", which was too politically minded for many (I liked it, but I can see why many were dissapointed). In true Madonna form, she completely changed style for this album, making a totally dance-based album. Each track segues into each other perfectly, making a non-stop dance frenzy. This album recemented Madonna's place in the music industry after having it up in the air for a while. Does it live up to the hype?
(N.B Some videos are live, and have different beats. I'm reviewing the album versions, but they only differ a little)
The album opens brilliantly with the hit-single Hung Up, and funky song that samples "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" by ABBA. It is one of her best songs IMO. The beats work incredibly with the ABBA sample, and as a whole it's perfect. The time element of it("Time goes by so slowly") is shown by the use of ticking clock noises at parts, which kinda work. Which is strange. Definitely the best on the album. But is it good to put the best song at the start..?
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Official Video for Hung Up (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ccm0wvWugU)
Get Together was the third single from COADF, but didn't perform as well as expected. All othr singles managed to get to no.1 in lots of countries, while Get Together "only managed" to reach no.1 in 2 or 3 countries. It's one of my favourites, and is a bit smoother than Hung Up. It's less loud and in your face, instead going for a kind of flowing ambience. Because it's not as compact and "easy to digest", it didn't chart as well as Hung Up, Sorry or Jump, but that's the nature of the charts. It's definitely a great song, and is different from Hung Up, but in a good way.
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Official Video for Get Together (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIwnKtL6leQ)
The second single is Sorry, a track that acheived huge success worldwide. This is more like Hung Up in it's mood; up front and compact. I never liked it as much as Hung Up. It doesn't have the superb beats or flow Hung Up does. It's good, and quite catchy, just not up to the amazing quality of the first two tracks.
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Offical Video For Sorry (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSyN0qUrIdQ)
Future Lover marks the start of the "middle" of the album. Becasue of the segue feature of this album, one can often forget which track is which in the middle, and many of these aren't distinctive enough. However, I LOVE Future Lover. I adore the beats, and the spoken parts, and it just works perfectly. There's a reason this opened the Confessions Tour shows, and it's because it pwns. It's not as dancey as Hung Up or Jump, but instead relies on generating an atmosphere. This should have opened the album, If you ask me, but then maybe Madonna just thought a punter on the street would prefer to skip to Hung Up straight away.
Video Live From The Confessions Tour (AWESOME!) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MQLe7szUpk)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Next up is I Love New York. When I first heard this, I fell in love with it. In retrospect, I can see I admired her apparent anger/frustration, but now when I listen to the album, it kinda sticks out like a sore thumb. The lyrics are quite cringe-worthy in places, and the verses are a bit.. I don't know.. lame? The chrous is good. As is the use of electric guitars. It's the first "meh" track for me on COADF.
Live video from the Confessions Tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yht9e9sjICI)
:knockedou :knockedou and 1/2
After the dissapointing "I Love New York", Let It Will Be delivers more. A song about her fame and what she thinks of her life now and stuff, it's well produced, a packs less "oomph" than some other tracks (though in a good way). A slightly slower track tends to break up the album, and in a non-stop album like this, this could be a blessing. The chorus and main hook, "Just watch me burn/Oh, Let It Be!" is kinda cool.
It builds up nicely in the last 2 minutes.
Live video from the confessions tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lhu2m5c8-tQ)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Forbidden Love is an ok track. It's probably the most filler on the album, despite the chorus being very easy to remember, "Forbidden Love/Are We Supposed To Be Together". The beat is good from about half way through onwards, and picks up a more thumping tone. Even so, it's kinda meh for me.
:knockedou :knockedou and 1/2
Video Live From The Confessions Tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f_v1Mz9F10I&mode=related&search=)
Jump bursts out directly after Forbidden Love. A much better track than the previous two, it shows a glimmer of her powerful voice (Something that's sorely lacking in most of this album). Only complaint is that the chorus ends to quickly, and that it doesn't pack enough strength. Overall it picks up the whole album after some mediocre offerings.
Official Video For Jump (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwDjijmCm7U)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
"Jump" soon transforms into How High, which is a cool track with some interesting voacl distorting at the start, but soon turns back into a stadard , kinda "meh" song. That being said, the flow and melody is pretty cool, and more interesting than some of the tracks on the album.
Not much to say really.
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
Finally a track to end the mediocre middle! Isaac is a very cool song i'd expect from only Madonna. It uses some kind of middle eastern (?) singing as a backing track as a thumping dance beats pulse over it. The whole song works amazingly, and is definitely one of my favourites. If she had used more sampling on this album, it would have benifiteed, since Hung Up and this track are definitely 2 of the best on COADF.
Lie video from the confessions tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExZzhAN-pQU)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou !!!
Push is quite a cool song, and like Isaac, ups the quality of the album. The vocals try something different to the other songs, and the backing trach has a very heavy quality, allmost like it's weighing down on you, which works well with the theme of "pushing her to do better". It's not bad ewnough to warrant a 3 , but good enough for a 4, so i'll give it 3.5 knockouts.
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou and 1/2
Slightly randomly, the album ends with a totally different track, Like It Or Not. It's got little/no big beats, and instead relies on smaller meticulous beats and vocal abilities. That's probably why I like it so much. I adore the line "I'll be the garden/You be the snake/ all of my fruit is yours to take". It's just sung in a such an ominous and dark way.
Live video from the Confessions tour (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4VkVAR4mL0)
:knockedou :knockedou :knockedou :knockedou
OK! Confessions On A Dancefloor scored.. 44.5/60
So.. the album scores an excellent 74%!
Madonna has always been an amzing artist, constantly changing her style, and almost always pulling it off well. This album is no exception. Lyrically it's not great, but then the reason you'd listen to this is for the dance element. It's very well crafted, but unfortunately, it seems to be a case of amazing gems and mediocre songs. I'd reocmmend it to any Madonna fan, Dance fan or just anyone who likes good in your face music.