TEN

 

 

Ray of Light

 

So having just had Frozen at #10, the great comeback single that changed the familiar, it's now time for single #2 from the album, the one that pushed new boundaries afresh. This is a cover version but I've never actually heard the original (always the best type to be fair) so it felt so fresh and brave back in 1999 when she released it. Naturally, as an indietype, it connected with me almost instantly as it pushed her sound into more experimental and guitar centred places... even the video explored new ground for Madonna, gone were the Madge-centric shots of her being moody/playful/poptastic and in was a manic set of images flashing before us at high speed with the occasional shot of Madge losing herself in a rave-esque fashion among the chaos... a video that sits far more comfortably with Aphex Twin or The Chemical Brothers rather than a pop icon. Production wise, this is an absolute gem as William Orbit really played with where he could push the sound to, the guitar was a new introduction but it's the squeels and squelches that really make this for me, especially the way everything builds and crashed around her as her shrieks of feeling (yes she feels. and she feels) are forced to fight for centre stage with the production. And the production wins out too.

RoL is one of the more bearable songs from said album.

Ray Of Light is seminal, one of her absolute best. Just gorgeous! I loved it as a kid but didn't know until about 2007 or 8 that it was Madonna :lol:

NINE

 

 

Rescue Me

 

Next up is a song that I hardly ever see mention anywhere but is a huge favourite of mine... it has absolutely everything that I loved about late 80s/early 90s Madonna rolled up into one fantabulous package. Plus it has clicks. It is a fact that all songs that contain a click are almost impossible to dislike... and the click in this one is perfectly timed for walking. Yes, walking. Do you guys do that thing when you're walking through town and your walk changes depending upon what you're listening to? Well, it's a fact that Thriller is king of the walking songs and Rescue Me has the same sort of one, two, three, sashay & click rhythm to it... try it next time you're walking, it really is fabulous! Essentially this takes the breathy vocals of Justify My Love, pops in the choir from Like a Prayer and then puts it all over the 90s beat employed in Vogue to form something that I find truly uplifting to listen to... utterly joyous and the PERFECT song to create to close the Immaculate Collection with, she pulled off yet another classic *.*

Ray Of Light is seminal, one of her absolute best. Just gorgeous! I loved it as a kid but didn't know until about 2007 or 8 that it was Madonna :lol:

Liam! Firstly, thanks for commenting - is ROL your sole Madonna high? Not used to seeing you in here so not at all familiar with your Madonna leanings...

 

EIGHT

 

 

Deeper and Deeper

 

From one early 90s Madge classic to another in the form of the glorious Deeper and Deeper. I've probably made it pretty clear earlier in this thread that her Erotica album wasn't really a highlight of her discography for me, it's perhaps not at all surprising then that my favourite by far from it is the one that sounds like it should have been on an earlier album. Much like Rescue Me, this continues the piano driven house beat established with Vogue - in fact she even acknowledges it by slipping in a section from the track towards the end of this track... the best bits for me are the bridge sections where she quickly states a response to her own vocals... and, of course, the build up at 2:56 as Madonna sounds more and more urgent as the track forms an alarm behind her before then breaking down into that flamenco style section which sort of comes out of nowhere - in fact it took me quite a few listens before I realised there were little flamenco flourishes throughout the track. I've loved Madonna both before and since but it will always be the 1988-1992 era that I remember most fondly and Deeper and Deeper represents the final great moment from that period for me.

Liam! Firstly, thanks for commenting - is ROL your sole Madonna high? Not used to seeing you in here so not at all familiar with your Madonna leanings...

No problem :D I love Madonna, she's in my top 20 artists ever! ROL is around top 5 for me, I think my top 5 is something like....

 

01 Like A Prayer

02 Hung Up

03 Into The Groove

04 Ray Of Light

05 Frozen

 

American Life is my favourite of her albums but I also love Confessions and Ray Of Light a lot.

ADORE Deeper & Deeper.

SEVEN

 

 

Drowned World / Substitute For Love

 

The final track to fall from Ray of Light is it's opener, the beautiful and rather poignant Drowned World / Substitute For Love. Madonna albums pretty much always open with a statement of intent, take any of Hung Up / Papa Don't Preach / Like a Prayer / Music / Material Girl for the huge pop statement, see Erotica / Secret / Candy Shop for the this is my new sound style of statement... and set apart from them all is the opener to Ray of Light. If anything, it veers more towards the 'this is my new sound' angle but it's more a case of this is me. Just me. No other statement to make thanks. It's one of the more unusually structured Madonna tracks and is certainly one of the more heartfelt and personal lyrics from her... the opening couplet of I traded fame for love, without a second thought perfectly describes how she strode head first into the most successful of careers, emphasising the luxuries of world travel, crowded parties, instant fame and the trade off of never being sure who to trust, who wants you for you rather than what you are and represent... a lifestyle that must get both tiring and disorientating very quickly. And then, of course, the birth of a child wipes that all clear as you're faced with someone who has no idea who you are in the media yet looks at you with the love that you've been craving over the years... your substitute for love ooo, ooo, ooo, ooo, oo, oooooo. It's just such a beautiful track and for a long while this was my favourite Madonna song, in fact it probably still is if I'm in the right mood... but for today it is seventh.

SIX

 

 

Forbidden Love

 

From one beaut to another in the form of the absolute highlight from Confessions... rejoice in the Haus, it's Forbidden Love! The entire Confessions album was played to death by me & Mr D* at the time of it's release and whilst Hung Up, Sorry, Jump and Let It Will Be were our early favourites, it was the comparatively balladesque Forbidden Love that became our favourite moment. As a well seasoned fan of Robyn, you should have guessed that a slightly sad vocal tune set to an ever increasingly intense backdrop would be right up my ally and this doesn't disappoint in the slightest. The synths become more prominent as the track goes on but you kinda don't notice them creeping up, all you know is they were nowhere near as dominant at the beginning as they end up being. I mentioned in the comments for Jump that my absolute favourite bit of the Confessions album is the way this transforms into Jump, my second favourite part is at 3:26 when that synth comes out of the breakdown to beckon in the final chorus, it sounds f***ing immense in the car let me tell you. Add to that the lyrics which imply a cultural embracing of same sex relationships (which she has to I guess or she'd have flopped from approximately 1985 onwards) as the traditional once upon a time, there was a boy and there was a girl is consigned to being a different kind of world from the past before she sings instead about forbidden love... Not sure if I read too much into that lyric really but that's how I choose to hear it and it makes the song all the more special for me.

Some really interesting choices in your Top 10! Firstly, 'Ray of Light' really is one of the greatest songs of all time and such a cross-over track - perfect for belting out across a stadium, perfect for the clubs, and even my dad, who is a huge punk and rock fan, loves it. William Orbit's production is both crazy and brilliant whilst Madonna's vocals are so out there and impressive!

 

'Rescue Me' isn't one I've payed much attention to at all as I've barely listened to The Immaculate Collection, but, listening to it now, it's not a bad track at all. Nice production! Similarly, I've not listened much to 'Deeper and Deeper' either but it's such a good club record so I think I shall check it out more often.

 

'Drowned World' is the perfect introduction to the Ray of Light album. I agree very much with your take on the song compared to other album openers and I think this could be one of my favourite Madonna songs too, although I've never really recognised it as such since I rarely listen to the track on its own, only as part of the album.

 

I also like your take on 'Forbidden Love' - I too like the "once upon a time, there was a boy and there was a girl" line but more because it is memorable rather than any personal analysis of it, but I do think yours fits and could be right!

OMG at the top 10 so far, INCREDIBLE. Especially Rescue Me being there, such a nice surprise.

 

(Forbidden Love is only like the 6th best song on that album though)

I am having a TOTAL MOMENT to the middle 8 of Rescue Me right now in fact. I wish she would utterly DESTROY what little vocal ability she still has by doing it live on tour. She never will, of course.

And SO AM I *.*

 

I've played it about 10 times this evening and it remains utterly fabulous. It's just classic, the sort of thing that only the likes of Madonna or Prince could produce.

This really shouldn't be my sole contribution to the thread because it's basically "Hello I am very dense please help me" but why exactly is the subject of 'Drowned World' a "substitute" for love?

 

On a more relevant note, I do love the top 10 too. A lot of the countdown has been songs I don't actually know because my knowledge of Madonna albums in depth extends only to the "classic" two, because after listening to ROL and Confessions I always felt quite lost on where to go next and I felt a kind of worry that I wouldn't like her back catalogue as much as I probably should (I am a very serious pop fan, apparently). I was leaning towards Music - good idea? I don't know. The countdown really has renewed my desire to dig further into her discography, so I guess now is a good time to ask people who've been with her for the long haul for directions.

Wow, I didn't know you'd be such a fan of Deeper and Deeper, it's one of my highlights from Erotica too, my favourite part is the throwback to Vogue, it's such a glorious moment.

 

This really shouldn't be my sole contribution to the thread because it's basically "Hello I am very dense please help me" but why exactly is the subject of 'Drowned World' a "substitute" for love?

 

On a more relevant note, I do love the top 10 too. A lot of the countdown has been songs I don't actually know because my knowledge of Madonna albums in depth extends only to the "classic" two, because after listening to ROL and Confessions I always felt quite lost on where to go next and I felt a kind of worry that I wouldn't like her back catalogue as much as I probably should (I am a very serious pop fan, apparently). I was leaning towards Music - good idea? I don't know. The countdown really has renewed my desire to dig further into her discography, so I guess now is a good time to ask people who've been with her for the long haul for directions.

Oh god no, don't start with Music, it'll put you right off :lol: If you like the pure pop stuff I'd day go for True Blue or even Like A Virgin/Prayer. If you like the more experimental stuff then go sith Bedtime Stories or perhaps Erotica/American Life maybe. I'd save Music for last, it's a bit messy for me but I know a lot of people like it and I suppose it is a bit zany/eccentric :lol:

This really shouldn't be my sole contribution to the thread because it's basically "Hello I am very dense please help me" but why exactly is the subject of 'Drowned World' a "substitute" for love?

I guess it is a bit open to interpretation but I've always seen it as two things... firstly 'fame' being her substitute for love is the easiest one to figure out... secondly, the track appears to reference a person as being her new substitute for love and I've always assumed this is a reference to Lourdes, a undying love from a child being a substitute for never having found love (in the romantic sense) with another person.

 

A brilliant top 10 so far, culminating in 'Forbidden Love' which as you know is a humongous favourite of mine. You'd expect a post-2000 Madge song entitled 'Forbidden Love' to be seedy and cringy, but it's so exotic, sensual and powerful. A huge highlight from her and a strong contender for my #1 album track. The Haus is rejoicing <3 the jump (lol) from this into 'Jump' is mindblowlingly well-executed :wub:

 

On a more relevant note, I do love the top 10 too. A lot of the countdown has been songs I don't actually know because my knowledge of Madonna albums in depth extends only to the "classic" two, because after listening to ROL and Confessions I always felt quite lost on where to go next and I felt a kind of worry that I wouldn't like her back catalogue as much as I probably should (I am a very serious pop fan, apparently). I was leaning towards Music - good idea? I don't know. The countdown really has renewed my desire to dig further into her discography, so I guess now is a good time to ask people who've been with her for the long haul for directions.

Umi, don't listen to Josh! 'Music' is a wonderful 'serious' pop record. She does 'pure pop' much better in 'True Blue' and the 'Like A...' albums as Josh said, but i think you'll get the most out of 'Music' based on what i know about your music tastes anyway. It's experimental at times but rarely at the expense of the lyrics or messages of the songs. And it's all about, as suggested in the title... her love of MUSIC so it's completely celebratory and yet another good way to get into her as an artist. It can be divisive but i hope you'll find a lot of goodness out of it if you give it a chance.

 

But really all of her albums need to be listened to in their entireties. They're all so different from the ones that surround them so it's really hard to call what albums to invest time in when there is SUCH diversity to choose from.

FIVE

 

 

Open Your Heart

 

Opening the top five is the final track to appear from the True Blue album - and a belated appearance of any form of cone shaped attire. I never used to like this one much at all, in fact at the time it was the only track on the Immaculate Collection that I used to even vaguely consider skipping... and I think mentally a lot of that is down to the video which I find to be quite offputting as I just can't imagine what compelled her/them to think that a boy trying to get into a strip/dance club where Madonna was performing was a good concept?!! Even if all he appears to have wanted was a kiss and a bit of a dance. Anyway, move past that and I eventually came to realise that this was an absolute gem of a pop track... and move past that a bit further and I now love it enough to state it as best track on True Blue and finish top 5 on the list. So what makes this a great pop track then? I think for me it's primarily the hook in the bridge that seals it for me but beneath that is just a plain and simple pop message of love, the lyric of opening the lock on a heart and that one special person having the key is a simple one that just works in pop music and she delivers it among a strong plinky plonky synth line against a pretty solid beat for an 80s track. Madonna really sells this track too, vocally she's pretty spot on... I absolutely LOVE the opening watch out from her as though she knows she's about to unleash something special upon you, the yearning vocal she employs for the verses is pretty magical too and adds quite a lot of character to the song... and then the playful "ahhh, ahhh, ahhh, ahhhs" in the middle section, just brilliant.

So much love for 'Open Your Heart'. It'd rank probably in a similar place for me too actually :o I never really cared for it, but then it came on as my alarm one morning and i instantly realised what a gem it was. Can instantly make me feel so uplifted now!

 

The video is weird i agree, but i think the message (and all that female gaze malarky) is done quite well. Her vocals are the biggest selling point for me too though <3