FEATURE:
Crazy for You
Madonna’s The Immaculate Collection at Thirty
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I would not normally review…
an anniversary of a greatest hits collection but, on 13th November, 1990, Madonna’s The Immaculate Collection was released. There are various release dates being provided (some say it was released on 9th November), but most reliable sources say it was 13th November. I love the album, as it is the greatest hits of one of the biggest Pop artists ever. I was seven when the album came out, and I can remember hearing about the album. Until then, I think my exposure to compilation albums was for chart hits, and I don’t think I was aware of greatest hits relating to a single artist. In 1989, Madonna released Like a Prayer, and she was an enormous star! Until that point, she had put out four incredible studio albums and appeared in several films – in addition to having conducted massive world tours. Her Blond Ambition World Tour was fresh in the memory (it ended in August 1990), so there was this demand for all of her best songs to come together on her album. The Immaculate Collection, obviously, is a rewording of ‘immaculate conception’, and it is a reference to the Virgin Mary. She actually dedicated the album to The Pope, so there was religious influence and imagery. All the songs on The Immaculate Collection, with the exception of the two new songs, were remixed by Shep Pettibone alongside Goh Hotoda and Michael Hutchinson through QSound - a then-new technology that gives recordings three-dimensional sound on standard stereo systems. It became the first album to feature the technology.
Tracks were edited from their original running time to fit on an album and, even though C.D.s allowed for more room, it was still a job fitting everything in! I think releasing The Immaculate Collection was an obvious decision, but it could have signalled to the world that Madonna was sort of cashing in or it was a bit too soon for a greatest hits. Obviously, having put out so many great songs since 1990, there have been other collections that have scooped together all of her great tracks. I am surprised there is not a thirtieth anniversary edition of The Immaculate Collection and, whilst one fan has put out their own version of an anniversary boxset, I feel a new edition would have been welcomed. The Immaculate Collection has Material Girl with a new outro in place of the original fade-out. The most interesting thing, like most greatest hits collections, is that there is new material. I can understand why artists do this but, with so much great material in her locker, it could have been risky for Madonna overlooking popular songs in favour of some new material. One of the new songs, Justify My Love, was originally written by Ingrid Chavez, Prince's protégé and friend, and Lenny Kravitz. The song has spoken word vocals and Trip Hop vibes, and it sort of continues where Like a Prayer leaves off - and sort of indicated where Madonna would head with Erotica in 1992.
It is amazing to think that, in 1990, Madonna released both Vogue, and Justify My Love – so different in terms of tone; just showing how broad she was! Rescue Me was also added to the compilation as a new song. The songs run chronologically on the album, which allows one to see how Madonna’s sound changed in a few years. Big songs like Holiday, Like a Virgin, and Material Girl mix with Lucky Star from her 1983 debut and the underrated Crazy for You – from the 1985 film, Vision Quest. There is nothing controversial in terms of omissions but, even though there was no Everybody (from Madonna, 1983), Dear Jessie (Like a Prayer, 1989), or film tracks like Who’s That Girl (Who’s That Girl, 1987), most of the biggest numbers are accommodated…and we get the two new numbers at the end. Even though it was only seven years since her debut album came out, few can easily compare the Madonna on 1983’s Holiday and the woman that they hear on Justify My Love in 1990. It is clear that artists have this accelerated maturation in the public eye, as there is this desire for them to evolve and not repeat themselves. It is evident that Madonna was a lot bolder and more expressive in 1990 compared to her first couple of albums. You can get The Immaculate Collection on vinyl, and it raises a good question: Is this album the best greatest hits collection?
IMAGE CREDIT: Bradley Pratt
Stepping into controversial, but it is definitely one of the most acclaimed greatest hits - simply because of the recognisability and popularity of the hits and where Madonna was in her career in 1990. Near the end of the first year of her second decade in music, it was clear her sound was changing and she was reaching new heights of fame after her Blond Ambition World Tour. In a retrospective review, AllMusic gave their views on The Immaculate Collection:
“On the surface, the single-disc hits compilation The Immaculate Collection appears to be a definitive retrospective of Madonna's heyday in the '80s. After all, it features 17 of Madonna's greatest hits, from "Holiday" and "Like a Virgin" to "Like a Prayer" and "Vogue." However, looks can be deceiving. It's true that The Immaculate Collection contains the bulk of Madonna's hits, but there are several big hits that aren't present, including "Angel," "Dress You Up," "True Blue," "Who's That Girl," and "Causing a Commotion." The songs that are included are frequently altered. Everything on the collection is remastered in Q-sound, which gives an exaggerated sense of stereo separation that often distorts the original intent of the recordings. Furthermore, several songs are faster than their original versions and some are faded out earlier than either their single or album versions, while others are segued together.
In other words, while all the hits are present, they're simply not in their correct versions. Nevertheless, The Immaculate Collection remains a necessary purchase, because it captures everything Madonna is about and it proves that she was one of the finest singles artists of the '80s. Until the original single versions are compiled on another album, The Immaculate Collection is the closest thing to a definitive retrospective”.
Madonna would go on to release sensational albums like Erotica (1992), Ray of Light (1998), and Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005), so there has been revision through the years, yet I think The Immaculate Collection is the best greatest hits collection as it has become so iconic. It would have been a perfect early Christmas present for any Madonna fan in 1990 and I think it still sounds amazing today! At thirty, The Immaculate Collection still stands out as one of the best greatest hits packages, and after the success of Like a Prayer, Madonna was conscious of the fact that she was ending one phase of her career, and the idea of a greatest hits album was less about making money and capitalising on her commercial appeal and more closing that chapter and starting the next one. With so many incredible hits from the 1980s (and a bit of 1990), it is a collection of some of the best Pop music…
THAT has ever been recorded.