FEATURE:
Second Spin
Madonna – American Life
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THERE are a few reasons…
IN THIS PHOTO: Madonna in 2003
why I want to put Madonna’s American Life into Second Spin. For a start, it is an underrated album that features a few of her best tracks; given the fact that Donald Trump is U.S. President, and the album was written when George W. Bush was in power in 2002/2003, I think there are parallels regarding inept leadership and anger – American Life has political edges, but it also addresses the worthlessness of material objects (this from the Material Girl). I also think American Life sounds more relevant and better now compared to 2003. There are some big hits – including the title track, Hollywood, and Love Profusion – that are wonderful; most of the non-singles stand up strong. In a way, American Life is seen as a bit of a blip and misstep between two really strong albums. In 2000, Madonna released the wonderful Music – this came two years after, arguably, her greatest album, Ray of Light. Whilst Music did retain a lot of the Electronic flavours of Ray of Light, the two are very different albums. In terms of image, Madonna embraced her inner-cowgirl for Music, and it was another successful transformation from a music icon. Madonna would win a lot of critics back with 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor where, again, she changed directions and embraced Disco and Dance. American Life is often seen as the first Madonna album that received largely mixed reviews.
Perhaps people were not expecting Madonna to produce an album like American Life, or they thought she was insincere and unable to convince as a more political artist. Unlike Ray of Light, and Music, the singles did not fare as well, and her ninth album is a slow-burner, that’s for sure! The album is a concept album, with themes of the American Dream and materialism. These themes reject the reputation Madonna held in the 1980s, earned by songs such as her worldwide hit, Material Girl (1985). Despite the fact critics were a little cold, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI) both certified it platinum in recognition of one-million shipments in the United States and 300,000 shipments in the United Kingdom, respectively. The album became the 32nd-best-selling album of 2003 and it has sold five-million copies to date. American Life garnered two nominations at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004. I guess it just goes to show that, even when critics are not keen on an album, Madonna’s fanbase can make up for things! Some might say the fans buy and are biased, and that big sales do not equate to quality. When ranking Madonna albums, I would include it in the bottom half, but I think there is a lot to appreciate on American Life. At the time the album was recorded, Madonna was married to Guy Ritchie, and that definitely had a positive impact on her music and mood.
There is no doubt that the terrorist attacks in 2001 had a profound effect on Madonna, who questioned the American Dream and modern life. She wanted to write a record that, for the most part, reflected change and anger that was in the air. I think the image of Madonna as this political rebel and someone pointing the finger at the U.S. Government is striking, and she sounds effecting and memorable throughout the album. There is a nice balance of more charged songs and calmed love songs. Consider the first four tracks of the album, where we have the great 1-2 of American Life, and Hollywood; Love Profusion ends that run of four, and the shift in emotion and tone is palpable. The brilliant Nobody Knows Me, and Nothing Fails arrive next, and it completes a solid first half. Like many underrated albums, I think the fact the first half is so much stronger than the second maybe accounts for many of the average reviews. That said, X-Static Process, and Easy Ride are great tracks, and I even like her James Bond theme, Die Another Day. Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï wrote and produced most of the album between them – they worked together on 2000’s Music -, and I think the collaboration is brilliant. Apart from a couple of weak tracks – Intervention, and Mother and Father -, the rest of American Life is brilliant, and I wonder whether the year American Life was released affected people’s judgement, or they were just waiting for an excuse to attack Madonna.
I think a lot of critics didn’t so much dislike the songs, but they were not convinced by Madonna’s political messages and what she was trying to say through the album. This review from AllMusic is similar to what a lot of other critics have observed:
“American Life is an album performed by a vocalist who has abandoned the U.S. for the U.K. and co-produced by a French techno mastermind, recorded during a time of strife in America, and released just after the country completed a war. Given that context and given that the vocalist is arguably the biggest star in the world, the title can't help but carry some import, carry the weight of social commentary. And it follows through on that promise, sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly, but either way, American Life winds up as the first Madonna record with ambitions as serious as a textbook. It plays as somberly as either Like a Prayer or Ray of Light, just as it delves into an insular darkness as deep as Erotica while retaining the club savviness of the brilliant, multi-colored Music. This is an odd mixture, particularly when it's infused with a searching, dissatisfied undercurrent and a musical sensibility that is at once desperate and adventurous, pitched halfway between singer/songwriterisms and skimming of current club culture. It's pulled tight between these two extremes, particularly because the intimate guitar-based songs (and there are a lot of them, almost all beginning with just her and a guitar) are all personal meditations, with the dance songs usually functioning as vehicles for social commentary.
Even if the sparer ballads are introspective, they're treated as soundscapes by producer Mirwais, giving them an unsettling eerie quality that is mirrored by the general hollowness of the club songs. While there are some interesting sounds on these tracks, they sound bleak and hermetically sealed, separate from what's happening either in the mainstream or in the underground. Perhaps that's because she's aligned herself with such flash-in-the-pan trends as electroclash, a hipster movement that's more theoretical than musical, whose ill effects can be heard on the roundly panned James Bond theme "Die Another Day," featured toward the end of American Life. Then again, it could also be that this is the first time that Madonna has elected to rap -- frequently and frenetically -- on a record, something that logistically would fit with Mirwais' dense, house-heavy productions, but sound embarrassingly awkward coming out of her mouth. But that insular feel also comes from the smaller-scale, confessional songs, particularly because Mirwais doesn't give them depth and the songs themselves are imbalanced, never quite having a notable hook in the music or words. Even so, there's a lot that's interesting about American Life -- the half-hearted stabs at politics fall aside, and there are things bubbling in the production that are quite infectious, while the stretch from "Nobody Knows Me" to "X-Static Process" in the middle of the record can be quite moving. But, overall, American Life is better for what it promises than what it delivers, and it's better in theory than practice”.
It is a shame to see mixed and poor reviews out there for American Life, as I like the album and feel it warrants fresh investigation. In their assessment, Billboard remarked the following:
“Unlike recent collections Music and Ray of Light, the lyrical content of American Life relies less on spiritual introspection and more on woman-in-the-mirror confrontation. Here, Madonna takes a look at where she's been, where she's at, and where she hopes to go. Perhaps age, yoga, and the teachings of the Kabbalah have truly enlightened Madonna about human nature—and the reality that nobody's perfect. Musically, American Life continues where Music left off, with stuttering beats and acoustic guitar providing the bulk of the foundation. Highlights include the gorgeous lullaby "X-Static Process," which is equal parts Joni Mitchell and Cat Stevens; the tear-inducing "Nothing Fails," replete with gospel choir; the electro-skewed "Mother and Father"; and the punky "Hollywood," which is this album's "Ray of Light." Consider American Life Madonna's own version of Don Miguel Ruiz's book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom”.
Do yourself a favour and stream/buy American Life, as it is a fine album that has more than a couple of standouts. Madonna is never going to win everyone all the time, and there are some that want her to keep repeating albums like Like a Prayer, and Ray of Light. American Life was a bold move and one that, for the most part, pays off! American Life is not Madonna’s strongest work, but it is definitely…
WORTHY of much more love.