FEATURE:
Impressive Instantly
Madonna’s Music at Twenty
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MADONNA has released fourteen studio albums…
and there have been soundtracks and compilations. There are lists and features that rank her albums, and it is interesting to debate which make the top-ten. I am going to make this the last Madonna feature for a long time, as I have covered her quite a lot this year! That said, there is news and development concerning a biopic (which I think will be called Live to Tell) and Madonna is directing it herself, which will be interesting to see! Today (18th), it is twenty years since Madonna released her eighth studio album, Music (though some sources say it was released on 19th September, 2000). To me, Madonna’s rebirth and renaissance occurred when she released Ray of Light in 1998. That was a period where she expanded her worldview and her musical palette. That album, with its electronic influence and different sound, was a revelation and it was a big step from her previous album, Bedtime Stories, of 1994. I really love that album, but Ray of Light was an ever-changing artist reaching new peaks! There was a lot of expectation and pressure when Music arrived two years after Ray of Light. Rather than retreating back or going in a completely new direction, there is a great combination of Ray of Light’s more Electronic and Trip Hop sounds, combined with new genres – shades of Country and World Music included.
Released by Maverick and Warner Bros. Records, the record company encouraged Madonna to get back into the studio following the success of Ray of Light – she had planned a tour after that album, but that was put on hold. I was seventeen when Music came out, and I was a massive fan of Ray of Light, and I had followed Madonna’s career since the 1980s. I was excited when Music came out, and the title track was released in August 2000 – and it is one of her best singles ever. Recording in London with producers including Mirwais Ahmadzaï and William Orbit, I think Music is more experimental even than Ray of Light, and I think it is a harder-hitting album in places too. Although Music did not scoop the same sort of reviews as Ray of Light, it was another huge success for her. I think every Madonna album including Music scored great reviews and interest, and it was only when she released American Life in 2003 that she received more mixed reviews. Music earned five Grammy Award nominations, winning one for Best Recording Package given to art director Kevin Reagan. The record debuted at number-one in over twenty-three countries across the world, selling fou-million copies in its first ten days of release. I do love how Music is more experimental than anything before, and it was such a departure from her earlier albums where there was much more of a pure Pop sound.
Madonna co-wrote all the tracks on Music, and it is an album that contains some phenomenal singles and brilliant album tracks. In fact, I don’ think there is a weak number on the album. Among the great non-singles is Runaway Lover, and Nobody’s Perfect, that sit alongside the brilliant Music, Don’t Tell Me, and What It Feels Like for a Girl. I especially like Don’t Tell Me, as it casts Madonna as a cowgirl and, as a constant reinventor, this was a new guise that she effortlessly adopted! Although it was not included on the standard original release, Madonna’s cover of Don McLean’s American Pie gained a lot of attention. I have seen some call it a bad cover, but I think she makes it her own, and it would have been a great and welcome addition to the original album! This is what Billboard said when they revisited American Pie five years ago:
“Though the film did not fare well with critics, the song peaked at No. 29 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
Billboard's Chuck Taylor reviewed the song at the time of its release: "Applause to Madonna for not pandering to today's temporary trends and for challenging programmers to broaden their playlists. In all, a fine preview of the forthcoming soundtrack to The Next Best Thing."
"It is biographical in nature and I don't think anyone has ever picked up on that. The song starts off with my memories of the death of Buddy Holly. But it moves on to describe America as I was seeing it and how I was fantasizing it might become. The song was written as my attempt at an epic song about America and I used the imagery of music and politics to do that."
So there you have it, America. Oh, and just what did McLean think about Madonna's cover of his national treasure?
"It is a gift for her to have recorded 'American Pie,'" McLean said. "I think it is sensual and mystical. I also feel that she's chosen autobiographical verses that reflect her career and personal history. I have received many gifts from God but this is the first time I have ever received a gift from a goddess".
The accompanying music video cuts between Madonna dancing in front of an American flag (wearing a tiara) and various Americans, including same sex couples, working class citizens and angst ridden teens who may or may not believe in rock 'n roll. Cheerleaders and a guest appearance by co-star and BFF Rupert Everett (who provides backing vocals in the song) make it appear that all is right in the land of the free, but is anyone else listening to the lyrics masked by the upbeat tempo?”
I know Music will get a lot of love today, and I think it is definitely one of Madonna’s best albums – I would put it in my top-five or six albums of hers! She remained consistent, inventive, and original after the enormous success and respect Ray of Light gained. The album remains so interesting and I think, twenty years after its original release, it still sounds so fresh, inspiring, and seductive. Here is what AllMusic wrote when they reviewed Music:
“Filled with vocoders, stylish neo-electro beats, dalliances with trip-hop, and, occasionally, eerie synthesized atmospherics, Music blows by in a kaleidoscopic rush of color, technique, style, and substance. It has so many layers that it's easily as self-aware and earnest as Ray of Light, where her studiousness complemented a record heavy on spirituality and reflection. Here, she mines that territory occasionally, especially as the record winds toward its conclusion, but she applies her new tricks toward celebrations of music itself. That's not only true of the full-throttle dance numbers but also for ballads like "I Deserve It" and "Nobody's Perfect," where the sentiments are couched in electronic effects and lolling, rolling beats. Ultimately, that results in the least introspective or revealing record Madonna has made since Like a Prayer, yet that doesn't mean she doesn't invest herself in the record. Working with a stable of producers, she has created an album that is her most explicitly musical and restlessly creative since, well, Like a Prayer.
She may have sacrificed some cohesion for that willful creativity but it's hard to begrudge her that, since so much of the album works. If, apart from the haunting closer "Gone," the Orbit collaborations fail to equal Ray of Light or "Beautiful Stranger," they're still sleekly admirable, and they're offset by the terrific Guy Sigsworth/Mark "Spike" Stent midtempo cut "What It Feels Like for a Girl" and Madonna's thriving partnership with Mirwais. This team is responsible for the heart of the record, with such stunners as the intricate, sensual, folk-psych "Don't Tell Me," the eerily seductive "Paradise (Not for Me)," and the thumping title track, which sounds funkier, denser, sexier with each spin. Whenever she works with Mirwais, Music truly comes alive with the spark and style”.
I want to end by bringing in an interview Madonna gave to Rolling Stone in 2000, where she talked about Music and how it differed from Ray of Light:
“Music is an exuberant whirl of French disco (the complex, swirling “Impressive Instant” will be a gargantuan club hit), giddy pop (Orbit’s “Amazing”) and an intriguing alloy of folk and electronica, best showcased on Mirwais’ favorite track, “I Deserve It,” a spare love song that features Madonna’s unadorned vocals against a backdrop of electronic squiggles. “She try a lot of things with her voice, but never the dry voice,” says Mirwais in his thick French accent. “I never touch reverb. The first time, she was afraid, honestly, of that. I think sometimes a lot of people are afraid of their own voice, you know? But it was amazing.”
The thirty-nine-year-old producer — who is all but unknown on these shores — got the Call last year, after Madonna heard his demo via her Maverick Records partner, Guy Oseary. Three weeks later, the two were in the studio together.
“She took a big risk with someone like me,” Mirwais says. “When you arrive at that kind of level of celebrity, you can just work in the mainstream and just stay there. Everything she do, for her is like a challenge, and I like this kind of personality.”
Orbit, who was back at the helm for three of the album’s tracks, was not at all offended that Madonna ran off with Mirwais this go-round. “No,” he says. “God, no. As long as she uses good people. And I love what Mirwais has done.” Orbit feels that Madonna doesn’t get the proper credit for her musical chops. “At the Grammys, it was a little implicit that there was a guy behind it all, and she’s the chick,” he says. “And it’s really far from that. The one with all the equipment is assumed to be pressing all the buttons. She presses all the buttons.” He is thoughtful for a second. “You know, she hasn’t shouted about her musical abilities, but she is the consummate songwriter,” he says. “She listens to classic musicals a lot. Not just the obvious ones, like Singin’ in the Rain, but the lesser ones. She loves them. I remember one time we all had dinner in Germany, and somebody brought up old musicals, and she was the one who knew all the verses.” He laughs. “Things your mums and dads watch — she’s into it all. Really solid, melodic stuff like that. And she writes really solid, melodic stuff like that.”
All right — let’s talk about your new album. “Ray of Light” was introspective and mystical. This one seems like a burst of pent-up emotion and energy.
Absolutely. The last album was much more introspective. For the most part, I finished Ray of Light, came out here to L.A. and prepared for a film, made the film, and then I pretty much went to England and spent most of my time there just writing for the record. So I haven’t really been out there, and I haven’t really done much. I do my work privately, and take care of my daughter, and try to be a decent girlfriend. These are all kinds of quiet, introverted things. So I think that the whole waiting-to-be-sprung feeling is sort of bubbling under the surface and reflects in a lot of the music.
How did you find Mirwais?
Guy Oseary, my partner here. But a lot of times I’ll get stuff, and I’ll go, “Oh, my God — this is amazing. I want to work with this person.” That’s what happened when I heard Mirwais’ demo for his own album. I heard it and was just like, “This is the sound of the future. I must meet this person.” So I did, and we hit it off. And that’s exactly how it happened with William Orbit, too.
There are so many effects on your album. How do you know when to call it quits? Because you could layer things on there until —
Because I just put my foot down and go, “It’s good enough now. We’re done. We’re done working on it.” He could just sit there in front of his computer screen, changing, honing, editing, cutting, pasting — whatever. And it would never end. But life is too short for that sort of nonsense. My persona in the studio is, “I’m in a hurry.” So I have a tendency to annoy everybody with that. I think at first he was a bit put off by it. I think he was more put off by the fact that I knew what I wanted so clearly, and I wasn’t interested in lots of embellishments when it came to the production. Because Ray of Light was so multilayered in that way — sort of dense with sound. And I wanted to do the opposite.
As there is always something happening in Madonna’s world, I know many people will be listening back to Music - and some will be discovering it for the first time. It is a wonderful album, and we look ahead to the future and what is next for her - after putting out her biopic, of course! Having written about remasters and boxsets recently (in a feature that will be out tomorrow), I wonder whether Madonna will do that with her albums, as I am sure there are great demos and rarities around the Music recording sessions that fans would love! I want to salute an album that was her first release of the twenty-first century, and Music definitely sits among the best albums of 2000! From an artist who was always moving forward and evolving, Music was yet…
ANOTHER exceptional transformation.