stop it

I actually really hated 'Vogue' for ages! Must have only been the end of 2012 that I started to really like it, and now I love it for the classic it is! Lets face it, we've all attempted the celeb name check many times, and "strike a pose" must be the most popular Madonna-related quote of all!

Vogue was ROBBED (of top 3, probably top 2). Just such a f***ing CLASSIC. I didn't give it 11 because I felt they were better used elsewhere, but from the middle 8 to the video every single aspect of it is BONAFIDE POP PERFECTION.

I was the same Liam. Wasn't the biggest of fans until recently, and even now it's not quite 10/10 for me.

 

It did give us this though:

 

 

:wub: :wub: :wub:

 

Goosebumps ALL OVER.

'Vogue' is properly incredible, I always loved it but my appreciation for it in the past couple of years have just soared. Bal's description of it summed it up better than I ever could but it's just everything. That piano in the chorus just makes it. :heart:

Your top 2 albums.


Dance


http://i.imgur.com/GdfWjPt.jpghttp://i.imgur.com/14HOkLk.jpg

Light



:o Which will come out on top :o

Confessions on a Dancefloor please!

 

Oh yes! :wub: May have been mimed but visually it is great!

I'm trying to see inside of your soul

 

 

| 02 // Ray Of Light // 1998 // 9.30 (5: regina, 6: fgiboy, .cdc. // 11: mr_aly, omie, gezza, cassandra, robswift, aled, oliver, triangles, 10: pippa, liam, johnkm, niallminogue, leww, randomfurlong, jark, dandy, gavindeejay, haus, mikemyers, sweetcandy)

 

 

"I traded fame for love" Madonna boldly claims in the very opening of her 7th studio album. In 'Drowned World/Substitute For Love' Madonna expresses how personal the album will be; as she rejects the love she has found previously, the many faces that may have wronged her or used her for her fame, now she turns internally. The album was released in 1998, and work began following the birth of her first child, but its development was met with a series of problems and trials that delayed the final product. It was worth the wait however, as what was created was her most substantial piece of work up until that point and she proved this through her much wider range of vocals, instruments, global concepts, and style. Following on from 'Bedtime Stories', this album was a roaring success selling millions across the globe and amassing critical appreciation across the board, most notably in the 4 Grammy awards it received. It is vast, exploring untouched waters and is the first time that Madonna isn't the child or the unassuming, but she is instead with child and this is apparent in the maturity of the album as a whole.

 

Inside, it explores a mixture of themes. At the time of the album's development, Madonna was studying spirituality, particularly Hinduism and Buddhism, and this is brought out in a selection of the songs, including

whereby she attempts to wash away the sins of her past, and be reborn. The idea of rebirth is prominent throughout, it is an album not only about freedom and freedom of expression, but also about breaking away and opening up. She returns to the oriental in

, which uses Hindu Sanskrit prayer in its lyrics and

which focuses again on her daughter and the importance of her new bond. She returns to this in 'Little Star' but it is perhaps the moments of love and lost love that are most poignant throughout the album. In the huge singles, of 'Frozen' and

love is presented as cold, distant but wholly essential. Both songs explore a lost love and she deals with this further in two of the central highlights,

and

- the former is a gigantic anthem that takes so many sweeps and turns, it's almost impossible to keep up. The album remains euphoric, damning, dark and atmospheric and seems to be gradually building to something throughout, but it's never clear what this is and what the end goal will be. In the album's opening, she is being reborn, throughout it, she appreciates her life, new life in her daughter and a rejection of the material world around her for a more bodily, human type of love. Halfway through, Madonna realises that she is now "grown" and that nothing will take the past away, except for the future - is this the moment of realisation not only for the album, but for her career and life as a whole that the scars of the past will only heal if you look to the future? It is here that we get a shift and this continues until the end. The album closes with one of the most confusing moments, as at the end of it all, it is death she is met with; the death of her mother most significantly in

. It is a theme she has explored throughout her career, but here it is most significant as after the marathon we have been met with previously, is she finally ready to accept this death and start again as you replay the album or move to future albums? From birth to life, to rebirth and back to death, we hear of a lifetime of experiences; the good, the bad, the dark and the light.

 

Thematically the album deals with so much, but it is all presented as one fluid series of moments that transcend the music. You can take any one song out of the puzzle and it will make complete sense, but together it becomes a complex, intricate maze of ideas, thoughts and beliefs. The artwork that came with the album perfectly depicts what we are faced with within it; it is Madonna at her most carefree and joyous, and yet there is an odd glow that surrounds it. Is she on the brink of drowning, or swimming back up to the surface? It is exactly this confusion that makes the album so special - you're never quite sure if you're witnessing someone at their lowest and most dark point in life or if they're elated and reaching for the heavens. A hugely accomplished moment, many argue that most successful artists have only one genius moment like Madonna did with 'Ray Of Light', but you seem to think she had another, as this narrowly falls short of the gold prize.

Will you ever be the same?

 

 

| 01 // Confessions on a Dancefloor // 2005 // 9.46 (7: ultraviolence, triangles, 11: leww, johnkm, gooddelta, liam, gavindeejay, haus, mikemyers, adamaloud, 10: mr_aly, niallminogue, luciano, randomfurlong, jark, omie, dandy, gezza, tyler, robswift, aled, oliver)

 

 

Your #1 album. Madonna's big #10. Released in 2005 and moving away from everything that she had ever released before, particularly 'American Life' that came previously. That album was situated in the US (while extending the US as a metaphor to wider issues), but it was time now, for her to abandon the big questions and return to the self and to one's own enjoyments, trials and experiences. An artist that had become associated with dance music considerably up until this point, it was still a huge risk to take, but it paid off in almighty fashion. 'Confessions on a Dancefloor' isn't a collection of songs, it is an experience. A glowing, trippy, voyage into not only Madonna's mind but into the minds of everyone else that listens to it, because it is a shared appreciation of music. Time is the key prerogative of the album and this is presented primarily in the influences of it, ranging as far back as the 70s, right through the 80s, the 90s, the 00s and far beyond. The album is also centred on space, and this is revealed through the vast global dancefloors that the music takes inspirations from. The album is also about people, people coming together and sharing in her confessions and this is brought out through the musical influences it takes, ranging from ABBA, The Pet Shop Boys, Donna Summer and the people of her own life. As the album deals with time, space, people and so many other issues, it does so in a perfectly constructed way, whereby no second is silent, no lyric isn't without its meaning and no moment is without passion.

 

Critically the album has been hailed as one of her best pieces, winning awards at the Grammys, BRITs and also making an appearance in the Guiness Book Of World Records for reaching the summit of the charts in the most countries - 40. This led it to become one of the best selling albums of the year and has gone on to continually be praised, appreciated and loved by future generations. It is perhaps her most accessible album, despite its continous barrage of dance synths and blaring tones, because as mentioned it is an album for any time, any place and any person. Structurally, the songs are arranged as such that they continue from one another, seamlessly flowing from the conclusion of one song to the opening of another and it makes for her most cohesive piece of work to date. It's one long piece of music, not 12 isolated moments. 'Confessions on a Dancefloor' came packaged with neon purple tints and a glowing Madonna in various poses and makes for some of her most beautifully captured moments on camera. The entire album, right down to the album booklet it is from, is so meticulously planned, it's hard to see how precise it all is until you really immerse yourself into the sounds.

 

The albums starts incredibly joyously, with the trio of fist-pumping, body-shaking singles of

, 'Get Together' and 'Sorry'. Through these we are introduced to the notion of time, love, and dance. Tired of waiting, the ticking clock between these three songs seems to suggest that the album will continue in this way, but instead in the closing of 'Sorry', we begin the next part of Madonna's confessions, as she moves to 'Future Lovers'. Here she explains how she will tell us all about love, and that we should let go of our inhibitions as she takes us on this trippy ride through time and space. This leads into one of the album's most jarring moments, 'I Love New York' which is abrasive and could just disrupt the flawless flow, but thankfully it manages to remain a fun moment on the brink of the album's truly spectacular turn.

is the start of this, it is a song that doesn't really make sense, but it doesn't have to because at this point, you're itching to know more. Following on from this we get one of her finest moments in

and the album takes an all the more sinister twist. Here she starts to really open up her confessions as she proclaims that love is always the funnest when it is forbidden and she starts dealing with religion and global concerns to explore this. The song is dark, alluring and hypnotic. This moves expertly into

before questioning

which deals with her own position in the world, particularly the price of fame that she has been met with. In one of the only "ballad-esque" moments,

explores the beauty and art of letting go - it was met with some controversy by religious scholars, but Madonna deflated these as the song is in fact a dedication to a close friend & musician of hers. She manages to let go following on from this in 'Push' with the help of another mysterious figure (or perhaps the audience?) who help her to become the person that she is, before closing her confessional in the sombre

which returns to the beginning of time and uses historical moments to position the message of the album.

 

And so there we have your #1 Madonna album. One that explores time from its beginning, right up to the unforeseeable future. One that explores and reaches places across the globe. And one that touches, excites, moves, encaptures and speaks to all.

 

 

-x-

 

01 | Confessions on a Dancefloor

02 | Ray of Light

03 | Like A Prayer

04 | True Blue

05 | Music

06 | Like A Virgin

07 | American Life

08 | Erotica

09 | Madonna

10 | Bedtime Stories

11 | Hard Candy

12 | MDNA

 

 

Apologies for the tl;dr essays :drama: I got a bit carried away while listening through them earlier :heehee:

 

But yes, easily her two best for me. 'Ray Of Light' is perhaps the more accomplished one, it's so atmospheric and seems to be timeless, but 'Confessions on a Dancefloor' is my favourite album of all time, by ANY artist so i am ecstatic to see it get the praise here :wub: It's just an absolute riot from start to end, with such a mixture of emotions/sounds/ideas thrust into it. Shocked that it's less than ten years ago, especially considering the other albums we've had since it which haven't quite lived up to the standard.

 

Both are near (or just touching) perfection though, and are the reasons i adore her as much as i do.

Apologies for the tl;dr essays :drama: I got a bit carried away while listening through them earlier :heehee:

 

But yes, easily her two best for me. 'Ray Of Light' is perhaps the more accomplished one, it's so atmospheric and seems to be timeless, but 'Confessions on a Dancefloor' is my favourite album of all time, by ANY artist so i am ecstatic to see it get the praise here :wub: It's just an absolute riot from start to end, with such a mixture of emotions/sounds/ideas thrust into it. Shocked that it's less than ten years ago, especially considering the other albums we've had since it which haven't quite lived up to the standard.

 

Both are near (or just touching) perfection though, and are the reasons i adore her as much as i do.

I read them and appreciated them, agree with much of what you've said but especially the paragraph here. I'd tell any new fan to check these out first as these two albums alone sum up Madonna's career pretty well. They're polls apart but both are masterpieces, just shows there's so much to Madonna's talents when making music.

Two very overrated albums, RoL especially, I find it a bore :(

I'd have had American Life in the top 2 with Confessions personally but I love both of those, my scores say it all <3

I'd have had American Life in the top 2 with Confessions personally but I love both of those, my scores say it all <3

 

YES!

 

Two very overrated albums, RoL especially, I find it a bore :(

 

:yahoo:

 

Didn't vote, because the host was against it.

 

My fav.albums :

1. Like A Virgin

2. Madonna

3. True Blue

4. Like A Prayer

5. Bedtime Stories or American Life

 

Two very overrated albums, RoL especially, I find it a bore :(

 

???!!!???!!!???

 

I don't even know HOW. I would have thought with your love of Alanis AND STUFF that thematically RoL would have been right up your street.

 

Anyway, the right top 2, in the right order. 2 of my top 5 albums of all time no less.

John in a double posting OUTRAGE.

Didn't vote, because the host was against it.

I was against what, sorry? :huh:

Very happy with these top 2 albums, and Beautiful Stranger was the one that was blocked by S Club 7 not ROL,

Like A Prayer vs Frozen vs Hung Up

 

 

Top 3 revealed today :o any final predictions/preferences?