American Life: which run of singles is better?

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American Life: which run of singles is better?, Official or Originally planned?

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Which singles run would you'd prefer?
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Total votes: 8
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tommie View member profile	6th February 2021, 02:35 PM Post #21
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 January 2009 Posts: 7,064 User: 8,073	QUOTE(blacksquare @ Feb 6 2021, 10:24 AM) I love Hollywood! I would only switch it for the 10% chance a more relatable Madonna ballad could have changed things around for the era — but as others have said, it wouldn't have. Ageism, whilst obviously a thing, wasn't as much of a kiss of death with radio then — Gwen Stefani had her first solo hits in her mid thirties, which would never happen now. It's a shame how much that has changed. Eh, ageism was very much a thing. I do think it's gotten worse with the youth-orientation with Spotify, but back then you might get a hit here or there if you were in your late 40s/50s if it was catchy enough (see: Cher Believe), but usually follow ups wouldn't do well. Madonna's career crashed because of a combination of American Life and her age.


ChrisJK View member profile	6th February 2021, 10:26 PM Post #22
BuzzJack Enthusiast Joined: 18 January 2021 Posts: 1,789 User: 122,015	So if leading the era with American Life was the reason everything else failed... what if the lead had been something else? Would it have been more of a success? Could she have got a bigger hit out of it? Would it have meant that follow-up singles would have stood a better chance? What would have worked as a lead single? Hollywood? Nothing Fails? Something else? I am listening to Nobody Knows Me whilst I'm typing this and I think it's pretty in your face and strong enough to have led the era. It sounds close enough to what was on the Music album for it not to be such a big step away from what people were expecting; it lends itself to having a strong music video to go with it. She didn't always lead with the title track... but at the same time I'm not sure that American Life (the song) could have been released at any other time than as the first single.


tommie View member profile	7th February 2021, 09:06 AM Post #23
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 January 2009 Posts: 7,064 User: 8,073	I do think that if Hollywood or Nothing Fails had been the lead single that the era might've gone better - maybe not in the same way of snatching hit-after-hit, but I think the follow-up singles at least would've charted on Billboard Hot 100. They also would've charted better than #37 (or what number American Life got to). This post has been edited by tommie: 7th February 2021, 09:07 AM


dandy* View member profile	7th February 2021, 12:00 PM Post #24
Mansonette Joined: 7 March 2006 Posts: 35,316 User: 54	Whilst I really like the album, nothing on it would have saved it because it doesn't have a killer single on it. The pairings of Frozen/Ray of Light, Music/Don't Tell Me and Hung Up/Sorry couldn't be ignored but American Life/Hollywood just doesn't even vaguely compare and nothing else would have made any difference, Hollywood/Nothing Fails wouldn't have been any stronger in my eyes and likely would have just been seen as inferior versions of past glories.


tommie View member profile	7th February 2021, 12:14 PM Post #25
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 7 January 2009 Posts: 7,064 User: 8,073	QUOTE(dandy* @ Feb 7 2021, 01:00 PM) Whilst I really like the album, nothing on it would have saved it because it doesn't have a killer single on it. The pairings of Frozen/Ray of Light, Music/Don't Tell Me and Hung Up/Sorry couldn't be ignored but American Life/Hollywood just doesn't even vaguely compare and nothing else would have made any difference, Hollywood/Nothing Fails wouldn't have been any stronger in my eyes and likely would have just been seen as inferior versions of past glories. Oh, I don't think they necessarily would've been huge hits, but Hollywood ended up not even charting on the Hot 100 which was pretty unheard of for a second single from a Madonna album at that point. It was clear that American Life killed off any interest in it; I think at the very least Hollywood might've been a lower top 20 and Nothing Fails would've gone top 40.


blacksquare View member profile	7th February 2021, 10:04 PM Post #26
BuzzJack Gold Member Joined: 25 July 2016 Posts: 4,364 User: 23,471	QUOTE(tommie @ Feb 6 2021, 03:35 PM) Eh, ageism was very much a thing. I do think it's gotten worse with the youth-orientation with Spotify, but back then you might get a hit here or there if you were in your late 40s/50s if it was catchy enough (see: Cher Believe), but usually follow ups wouldn't do well. Madonna's career crashed because of a combination of American Life and her age. Oh, no no — definitely agree that ageism existed beforehand, just that now it doesn't matter how much a fanbase you have or how good the song is — a huge hit is not going to happen.


slowdown73 View member profile	9th February 2021, 12:44 AM Post #27
BuzzJack Platinum Member Joined: 3 August 2006 Posts: 8,209 User: 1,031	Nobody knows me and mother & father are two album highlights for me so that would have been a better singles set.