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 'American Life' • album discussion, 9th album | 2003 |
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 21st June 2020, 06:53 PM
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#1
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Joined: 17 February 2011
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 A place to discuss Madonna's 9th studio album 'American Life'. Released in 2003. 1. American Life 2. Hollywood 3. I'm So Stupid 4. Love Profusion 5. Nobody Knows Me 6. Nothing Fails 7. Intervention 8. X-Static Process 9. Mother and Father 10. Die Another Day 11. Easy Ride What are your thoughts on this album? Share any opinions, memories, favourite songs, or just discuss it anytime you're re-listening! |
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21st June 2020, 06:54 PM
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#2
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Joined: 17 February 2011
Posts: 56,211 User: 13,007
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21st June 2020, 07:00 PM
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#3
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 is in hibernation
Joined: 24 August 2014
Posts: 11,385 User: 21,161
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Contains my 4th favourite Madonna song in 'Hollywood'
 If Madame X is anything to go by Madonna shines on her less commercial, gritty projects so I'm looking forward to eventually listening to this
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21st June 2020, 07:06 PM
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#4
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 BuzzJack Platinum Member
Joined: 31 August 2010
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I wonder if Nothing Fails les this album if it would have been received better ?
Easy Rise is my favourite off this album. |
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21st June 2020, 07:31 PM
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#5
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 I found the love, I found the love in me
Pronouns: He/Him
Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,449 User: 5,042
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Looking forward to my listening of this! I haven't heard it for actual YEARS but I remember liking the title track (and that seems to be an unpopular opinion) and 'Die Another Day' is (by far) my favourite Bond theme song, so I'm intrigued to see where it'll land when comparing to her other hits!
 --- Before listen through, I imagine this is Madonna's equivalent of 'My December'/'Try This'? But we'll see. |
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21st June 2020, 07:43 PM
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#6
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Jord
Joined: 12 March 2017
Posts: 10,771 User: 27,116
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Ok so this album for me at least is really bad for singles! I really don’t like the title track at all or Hollywood and I can’t say I’m keen on Die Another Day either although it works as part of the album.
The first three tracks on the album for me are just not great for me even now. I appreciate what she’s saying through the lyrics and it is very ahead of its time and daring but the album does nothing for me until it gets to Love Profusion and then it really fully kicks off with Nobody Knows Me now that is a statement track and a definite missed single opportunity. I love Nothing Fails, I love Intervention, I love Xstatic Process, and I’ve grown to really like Mother and Father too. The closing track Easy Ride as well is one of her best ever album closers and lyrical pieces she’s done too. So whilst this album for me contains some of her worst ever singles it also contains some fabulous album tracks and that really balances my view on this. As a whole piece I’d say it’s way below Music which it followed and Confessions what followed it but I think in general this has higher highs than Music as an album but much lower lows! Madame X is nothing like this though besides from God Control maybes I don’t really think there’s much if any similarities. |
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21st June 2020, 08:23 PM
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#7
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Jord
Joined: 12 March 2017
Posts: 10,771 User: 27,116
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QUOTE(Jonjo @ Jun 21 2020, 08:31 PM)  Looking forward to my listening of this! I haven't heard it for actual YEARS but I remember liking the title track (and that seems to be an unpopular opinion) and 'Die Another Day' is (by far) my favourite Bond theme song, so I'm intrigued to see where it'll land when comparing to her other hits! --- Before listen through, I imagine this is Madonna's equivalent of 'My December'/'Try This'? But we'll see. Well! It is kinda like that I’d say but more controversial than those albums. Try This has some fantastic tracks in the album tracks though but poor singles which is kinda how I see this album! Very intrigued at what you think of this though. It tends to be polarising some people really get it and rank it amongst her very best whilst others aren’t sold at all. It’s like the most split Madonna album I’d say in terms of her fanbase! |
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21st June 2020, 09:02 PM
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#8
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Joined: 17 February 2011
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On the surface this album is pure in your face controversy, but actually when you delve deeper you realise that behind that bravado are some of Madonna's most vulnerable and touching moments. It's a genius dichotomy. The section from Love Profusion to Mother and Father is gut-wrenching at times. Die Another Day probably should've been a bonus track or included earlier on, because then it all slows down again hauntingly for Easy Ride.
It's a brilliant album. I can see why it gets a hard time, given half of the singles were so controversial, but really they don't reflect just how deep the album gets into Madonna's soul and being. Overall, I have grown to love this album in huge fashion. I find it difficult to compare and rate one above the other between this and Music though - they are both so different and so genius at the same time! |
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27th June 2020, 02:58 PM
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#9
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I found the love, I found the love in me
Pronouns: He/Him
Joined: 13 December 2007 Posts: 87,449 User: 5,042
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Here we go! I've heard every single except 'Nothing Fails' from this album. Very hit and miss (2 I like, 2 I don't) - from what I remember of them, anyway!
I love how controversial the lead single is both in content AND in terms of it being completely un-Madonna in it's sound! It reminds me of 'Rudebox' by Robbie lmao (not a bad thing in my mind - I find both songs really interesting and fun!). I remember finding 'Hollywood' really irritating, but... I don't hate it as much as I remember *eyes* The production is so much better and a lot more interesting than I remember. 'Love Profusion' is just boring and bland to me. I am going to forever DIE on the hill that 'Die Another Day' is her most underrated song, ever. It's an genuine banger! Soooo good! I love how brave it was that this was used as a Bond theme though! I STAN! I just love the use of orchestra combined with the heavy electro synths, makes it feel so cinematic and atmospheric!  I genuinely thought the track got stuck on 'I'm So Stupid' and it confused me coz I'm streaming it!  Yeah, not for me. I think it's my least favourite song by her overall so far! Omg. Not pleasant at all!  1. Die Another Day 2. American Life 3. Intervention 4. Hollywood 5. Nobody Knows Me 6. Mother and Father 7. Easy Ride 8. X-Static Process 9. Nothing Fails 10. Love Profusion 11. I'm So Stupid Yeah, it's pretty much what I expected the album to be. Kind of a more raw but still experimental (and obviously in true Madonna fashion - controversial). Continuing to push the boundaries of pop not only sonically but it's lyrics too. Not me putting 'Hollywood' 4th when I fully expected it 11th  'Nobody Knows Me' is interesting and one I think I'd go back to away from the album. 'Mother and Father' is also interesting and one where my feelings on the song developed more as the song went on. 'Easy Ride' is a really nice way to end the album. All the rest are ok, except 'I'm So Stupid'. Honestly the worst thing I've heard from her so far  As an album. It's good. Interesting enough in it's ideas and themes to keep coming back to, I think.Album Rankings: 01. Ray Of Light 02. True Blue 03. Erotica 04. Like A Prayer 05. American Life 06. Music 07. Madonna 08. Like A Virgin 09. Bedtime Stories |
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27th June 2020, 04:15 PM
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#10
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Mansonette
Joined: 7 March 2006
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Glad to see Intervention is high up for you Jonjo, it's my favourite on the album
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27th June 2020, 04:28 PM
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#11
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Joined: 17 February 2011
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Also happy to see 'Intervention' so high, but 'Nothing Fails' and 'Love Profusion' are criminally too low!
And 'I'm So Stupid' may be your least favourite track.. but you haven't yet reached her latest 4 or 5 albums so that could all change 
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28th June 2020, 02:23 AM
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#12
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 29 March 2020
Posts: 1,443 User: 104,307
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My favourite Madonna album of all time. Ugh, so many highlights and I hate how overlooked this is in her career.
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30th June 2020, 01:15 AM
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#13
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 BuzzJack Idol
Joined: 8 December 2010
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QUOTE(Jonjo @ Jun 27 2020, 03:58 PM) I am going to forever DIE on the hill that 'Die Another Day' is her most underrated song, ever. It's an genuine banger! Soooo good! I love how brave it was that this was used as a Bond theme though! I STAN! I just love the use of orchestra combined with the heavy electro synths, makes it feel so cinematic and atmospheric! I genuinely thought the track got stuck on 'I'm So Stupid' and it confused me coz I'm streaming it! Yeah, not for me. I think it's my least favourite song by her overall so far! Omg. Not pleasant at all! 'Die Another Day' is pretty well liked by Madonna fans on Buzzjack! I'm in agreement with you, it's a great spin on the Bond formula and also fits with the sound of this album with its glitchy style. Easily one of my favourite Bond themes too and I say that as a fan of the more classic themes. Also, contrary to what Bal said, I think its placing on the album is spot on. 'Easy Ride' might have a different mood to it but it has similar production elements to it (specifically the choppy strings). I used to despise 'I'm So Stupid' for ages but I've done a total U-turn on it. That frozen vocal at the start was so off-putting and probably tainted my thoughts on the rest of the song; somewhere along the line I must have given the song a change and found it worked its way into my affections. Now even the frozen vocal doesn't bother me! So strange! I can see why this album is so polarising. It can be a challenging listen at first as the production is so harsh and abrasive and a lot of the lyrics appear juvenile and awkward, but I think there's a purpose to these choices. The album is confrontational and frustrated with the world which the production reflects, whilst the lyrics are written in a way to appear mocking. That's my interpretation at least and it helped me to appreciate the album more with that in mind. You've got the more personal, introspective moments on the album which are more melodic, easy-going and lyrically mature, so there's clear stylistic differences being made for the two halves of the album. |
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30th June 2020, 01:34 AM
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#14
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BuzzJack Idol
Joined: 8 December 2010
Posts: 50,948 User: 12,472
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There's four songs from the album sessions that we know of that didn't make the final cut: 'React' (which hasn't leaked), 'Set the Right', 'The Game' and 'Cool Song'. I quite like the latter, which was later developed into 'It's So Cool' which was an outtake from the 'Celebration' sessions.
There's three versions there: no choir, with choir and with Madonna's daughter Lourdes singing. More outtakes exist from around this era but not specifically the album. A second song had been recorded for the Bond film Die Another Day titled 'Can't You See My Mind' - it's not leaked but I really want to hear it! 'I'm in Love with Love' was written during the Reinvention Tour, as was the original version of 'I Love New York' from 'Confessions'. I think those two were representative of the sound Madonna was going for with her next album before Stuart Price joined the sessions. There was a musical planned called Hello Suckers but it was scrapped, however a lot of the songs written found themselves being reworked into songs that would go on to appear on 'Confessions' and 'Hard Candy' ('Devil Wouldn't Recognise You' dates back to this project, for instance). Speaking of the Reinvention Tour, I've been watching this upload and the quality of it is fantastic: |
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2nd October 2020, 09:58 PM
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#15
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Joined: 17 February 2011
Posts: 56,211 User: 13,007
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QUOTE The Guardian re-reviews ‘American Life’ Then A heavy-handed, “wake up sheeple!” political awakening Now A brilliantly odd peek behind fame’s velvet rope Madonna’s ninth album, a dissection of the American dream in light of 9/11 and the buildup to the Iraq war, was hard to love upon its 2003 release. The title track and lead single was hampered by that rap, in which coffee enemas mingled with shoutouts to her Mini Cooper. But beneath the “money and fame don’t make you happy, guys” sloganeering, American Life offers us a tantalising glimpse at the “real”, unadorned Madonna. The gospel-tinged Nothing Fails and the guitar-led Intervention are glorious, unabashed love songs, while the bonkers Mother and Father lays her childhood trauma bare over splintering electro-pop. Her best album? Maybe. Michael Cragg https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/se...etting-it-wrong Putting wrongs right - deserved! |
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28th October 2020, 12:30 AM
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#16
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BuzzJack Idol
Joined: 8 December 2010
Posts: 50,948 User: 12,472
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'Die Another Day' has been ranked 10th out of the 24 James Bond themes:
QUOTE In the midst of her third or fourth commercial wind, Madonna could have released a grating, electroclash 007 theme song and still cracked the Top 10. And that’s exactly what she did. By 2002, Esther was at the height of her Kabbalistic explorations, and “Die Another Day”—which expounds on the metaphysical properties of the human ego—is an exercise in withholding: an ostensible pop song with a deconstructed hook, a classic Bond-style orchestral arrangement that’s hacked up and reassembled, and the voice of the biggest pop star in the world rendered barely recognizable. It’s innovative, frustratingly anticlimactic—the aural equivalent of edging—and, perhaps fittingly, the last in Madonna’s long string of soundtrack hits. Cinquemani A really good placing considering it usually never escapes the bottom 5 in these sort of lists. It's certainly one of my favourites. |
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18th December 2020, 08:20 PM
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#17
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BuzzJack Idol
Joined: 8 December 2010
Posts: 50,948 User: 12,472
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I've been having a bit of an 'American Life' sesh the past couple of days! I had a listen to the remixes for the lead single, they're all good but I'm particularly drawn to this one. The rap sounds really good!
I've also been a big fan of this 'Hollywood' remix after watching the full Re-invention Tour in the summer: Finally, I LOVE Madonna's look in this performance. The brown hair and the style really suits her. Strange to see Madonna on a show like CD:UK though! |
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19th December 2020, 04:26 PM
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#18
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 18 October 2007
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It's such a fantastic album. I really love it a lot.
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21st December 2020, 08:42 PM
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#19
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We're all Glitter and Tears in the Moonlight...
Joined: 24 September 2013
Posts: 10,022 User: 19,846
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My American Life ranking:
01. Die Another Day 02. Hollywood 03. Nobody Knows Me 04. Nothing Fails 05. Mother and Father 06. Easy Ride 07. Intervention 08. Love Profusion 09. American Life 10. I'm So Stupid 11. X-Static Process This post has been edited by Nina West: 21st December 2020, 08:42 PM |
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24th January 2021, 06:14 PM
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#20
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BuzzJack Enthusiast
Joined: 18 January 2021
Posts: 1,789 User: 122,015
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ALBUM RANKINGS:
12. AMERICAN LIFE 13. MDNA 14. MADAME X I had a feeling I might get shot for putting this one so low, so I had a listen to it again the other day just to make sure; and it still doesn't click with me. I remember it was the first Madonna album that I felt disappointed with and I think, in general, that was because it's just too far removed from what I expected and wanted from Madonna. I also watched the uncensored video for the title track a couple of days ago and was as shocked as I would imagine I was supposed to be. It brings something new to the song, which alone is just a bit of a mis-fire. Hollywood I find a little bit "Meh", though the Britney/Christina/Missy/Madonna performance again brought it to life. By the time Love Profusion was put out, I think I was done with the whole era. There are some good moments here... Nobody Knows Me, Nothing Fails, Mother and Father all lived up to repeated listens and Die Another Day wasn't the bad Bond theme it's often referred to as. The rest isn't my cup of tea and I'm So Stupid is probably the worst offender (that held onto note... argh!!). I also get a bit lost when there's a ballad called X-Static Process, which screams to be the title of a dance song. I'm sure I'm missing something - probably like I am with Madame X - in that it's deeper than what I'm hearing...but it's not an album I listened to for long, or one that I really ever go back to. This post has been edited by CJK: 24th January 2021, 06:15 PM |
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