Exactly one year ago she put the album up for pre-order and we got the 6 pre-order tracks :wub: Fell in love with them then and over the course of the year, the album has matured into one of my very big favourite albums from her (at least it probably sneaks into the top half of them!).

 

Full of huge highlights and a few horrible low-lights but on the whole, it's just the sort of music she should be making with the likes of Ghosttown, Best Night, Addicted, Graffiti Heart, Hold Tight, Messiah, Devil Pray, Living For Love, Joan of Arc, HeartBreakCity, Wash All Over Me, Rebel Heart, Queen and of course the MASSIVE Iconic. So much love for the majority of the album, I only wish she'd released more singles even if they weren't going to make an impact anywhere. Imagine a 'Devil Pray' video for example :(

 

We also got the hugely successful tour too, so I think it's been a good year for her!

 

Any other thoughts on the album/era one year on?

Some of it ranks up there as her best, some of it is easily the worst songs she has put her voice to.

Ditto what Reginald said. I'd say it's close to a 50/50 of great/shit.

She needs to learn about quality control. As much as I enjoy everything from 'Hard Candy' onwards, the albums are nothing like the ones that came before when it was less songs, but more depth and quality in them. In 'Hard Candy', 'MDNA' and 'Rebel Heart' it's been very LET'S SEE WHAT STICKS and while that means more music and so more songs I enjoy, there are also a lot more I actively dislike.

 

I hope the next album, if we get one, is a standard 12-14 track album with a cohesive message throughout it.

This album would have been huge if released a few years ago. Unfortunately radio didn't give this a chance because they think Madonna is no longer relevant. Her team need to realise this in my opinion and should have thought about the singles more wisely .

 

Madonna gave a lot of promotion for this album (for her). I also think it maybe better for her if she released two singles before the album ? But overall the leaks killed this album from the start, it was reportedly illegally downloaded hundreds and thousands of times. This then forced Madonna to change the production on many of the tracks , many argue that Joan of arc, wash all over me and rebel heart were better in demo form!!!

 

Living for love, devil pray, ghosttown, Joan of arc, heartbreak city, best night are her best tracks in years. This album is so much stronger than MDNA.

 

Devil Pray IMO could have been the first single.

 

I so love two steps behind me , that would have been nice to have as a bonus track !!!

The album was never going to be huge, but really she should have rush released it last December and capitalised on the ''MADONNA'S BACK'' hype that was there. By the time Living For Love came out, everyone had moved on and the song being as weak as it is meant that it was easy to ignore and it all just slipped under the radar.

The only real issue is radio won't play her, and sadly there's nothing she can really do about that. I do feasibly believe 'Living For Love' and 'Ghosttown' could have been big hits if she could still garner support, but like a lot of artists she hasn't exactly been dealt a fair card so the odds were stacked against her throughout. As for the album, I think it's definitely better than the previous two and if a few tracks were removed (i.e. S.E.X., Illuminati, the two Bitch songs etc) it'd be a solid effort.

 

Did this album re-enter the top 200 at any point through touring hype? I'm assuming not but worth asking anyway.

The only real issue is radio won't play her, and sadly there's nothing she can really do about that. I do feasibly believe 'Living For Love' and 'Ghosttown' could have been big hits if she could still garner support, but like a lot of artists she hasn't exactly been dealt a fair card so the odds were stacked against her throughout. As for the album, I think it's definitely better than the previous two and if a few tracks were removed (i.e. S.E.X., Illuminati, the two Bitch songs etc) it'd be a solid effort.

 

Did this album re-enter the top 200 at any point through touring hype? I'm assuming not but worth asking anyway.

No, I was keeping an eye out, even just for a re-entry in the midweeks, but I think any tour effect just wasn't big enough to overcome the higher sales of this time of year.

 

If the UK tour dates were in the summer and had the same amount of time between album release and tour premiere, it probably could have re-entered the Top 200, albeit not by much.

The only real issue is radio won't play her, and sadly there's nothing she can really do about that. I do feasibly believe 'Living For Love' and 'Ghosttown' could have been big hits if she could still garner support, but like a lot of artists she hasn't exactly been dealt a fair card so the odds were stacked against her throughout. As for the album, I think it's definitely better than the previous two and if a few tracks were removed (i.e. S.E.X., Illuminati, the two Bitch songs etc) it'd be a solid effort.

 

Did this album re-enter the top 200 at any point through touring hype? I'm assuming not but worth asking anyway.

The tour has made me appreciate 'S.E.X.' & 'Body Shop' (which I never thought would happen), 'Illuminati' and 'Unapologetic Bitch' (which I did like before tbf). They're not amazing but I don't hate the first few now at least! I think it's only 'Autotune Baby' that I actively dislike now :mellow: It's settled and cemented itself as a classic Madge album for me now <3

No, I was keeping an eye out, even just for a re-entry in the midweeks, but I think any tour effect just wasn't big enough to overcome the higher sales of this time of year.

 

If the UK tour dates were in the summer and had the same amount of time between album release and tour premiere, it probably could have re-entered the Top 200, albeit not by much.

 

I remember the tour for Kylie last year (in September) made Kiss Me Once re-enter at #91 or something, so I had a vague bit of hope. :(

I was very surprised that the cd wasn't sold at the merchandise stands .

I was very surprised that the cd wasn't sold at the merchandise stands .

Yeah I found that odd too. :unsure: Could've boosted sales by a couple thousand or so.

 

I did get myself a vintage/retro Madonna t-shirt on the night of the tour though that I wear all the time now though <3

Rebel Heart is officially the UK's 80th best selling album of 2015, with an estimated 84k sold.

 

In 2012, MDNA was the 81st best selling album of the year, but with a higher 129k sold.

So, basically she's about as popular, relatively speaking.

^Yeah, I'd say so.

 

According to MediaTraffic, Rebel Heart was the 38th best selling album worldwide, selling 875k.

 

In 2012, MDNA was the 21st best selling album, selling 1.6m. Bit of a contrast there.

But when you factor in the huge disparity in the US due to the first week sales/ticket deal for MDNA, that accounts for about 200k of that difference instantly.

The album deserved so much more :snif: but I am sort of long over her being a chart success. I will be happy as long as she keeps on releasing music as strong as this. The day she stops altogether is when I truly breakdown lmao.

The album was never going to be huge, but really she should have rush released it last December and capitalised on the ''MADONNA'S BACK'' hype that was there. By the time Living For Love came out, everyone had moved on and the song being as weak as it is meant that it was easy to ignore and it all just slipped under the radar.

I very much agree with this. I'd have gone ahead with the instant grats in late December and release the album cover (which itself caused a lot of attention/hype) with an announcement that the album would be released in the first week of January, which would give enough time for the final polishing of the album to be done. I suppose they may have been worried about the lack of promotional slots (I know no-one admitted but I'm sure her team realised from MDNA that promotion is absolutely key) but I believe the hype would have lasted until the 'Living for Love' video and then the BRITS/Grammys and then TV appearances.

 

The likelihood from that is she'd have taken advantage of the sparse January schedule and got to #1 in the UK/US and also have some decent longevity by having the impact of video, BRITs and Grammys hit after its release instead of just add to its first week. The album perhaps wouldn't have been huge but certainly a better success than it was.

 

-x-

 

I have been listening to this album a lot recently and it really has cemented itself as a Madonna classic for me. A length of an hour and a half (I own the "un-super" deluxe) it would be easy to presume it'd get tiring, but the album has proven itself to be so cohesive and flow surprisingly well (despite my initial feelings) that it doesn't feel like a chore to listen in one take. Definitely helps that each song has the ability to make you want to sing along too. I agree that there are songs that are universally accepted to be the bottom end of the album's ranking but they at least have something about them or a message to say which is more that can be said for MDNA which is definitely what I'd describe as throwing whatever together and seeing what sticks.

'Hold Tight' and 'Illuminati' (:mellow: - demo version though) are the latest songs to really hit me. Basically the entire album I really enjoy now, this is getting ridiculous, lol.

 

Autotune Baby next? :arrr:

I'm too used to 'Illuminati' having that harsher, urban vibe to it but the more dancier demo does sound good!