Madonna's widely regarded as the Queen of Reinvention, renowned for her ability to successfully find new ways to express herself and her music. With 'Frozen', she took critics, fans and the public alike by surprise with her mystical, haunting new sound and delicate, more skilled vocal, along with the mysterious, gothic image that was displayed in its music video. Is this the reinvention to end all Madonna reinventions? Outdoing her Like a Prayers, Eroticas and Hung Ups? Did it change her career the most and alter the way she'd approach her work from then on?

 

Discuss~

I'd go for Bitch I'm Madonna, it was very different to her previous output.

I would say Yes

 

Although Live To Tell would be close . That look and sound was not expected after the Like A Virgin era.

I'd go for Bitch I'm Madonna, it was very different to her previous output.

 

The album didn't actually sound like Bitch I'm Madonna or present anything different. It didn't really do anything and her career didn't change.

 

Frozen and the Ray of Light album was a complete reinvention. She managed to both change her sound, image, and finally get critics back on her side after a strained relationship during the nineties. I kind of view Ray of Light/Frozen like the self-titled Beyoncè album and how the perception of both artists changed after each.

She was always a massively successful popstar but I really think Frozen and Ray of Light turned that into an artist worth respecting. There really was a shift in how people viewed her.

I voted yes.

 

Whilst Erotica was clearly a huge reinvention and a big risk, I feel like you can trace a journey leading up to it, whereas Frozen/Ray of Light feels so much more radical. Her image was total different to the one she had built the previous 15 years, her new sound and her voice was unlike anything we'd ever heard from her - it was like a new Madonna was born. It's crazy to think there was just over a 5 year difference between Erotica and Ray of Light, yet one would be forgiven for thinking they were two totally different artists. Compare that to now when Madonna had pretty much stayed more or less the same for the past 10 years.

 

blacksquare brings up a key point about the shift in attitudes towards her, from the public and critics alike. Clearly she was always widely celebrated, but she definitely reached new heights of respect and perception.

 

It would be interesting to know how the rest of her career would have panned out had she stuck with Babyface for a new album.

I think “like a prayer” was probably her most defining reinvention moment for me. Frozen though is probably my favourite Madonna single though.

I'd go for Bitch I'm Madonna, it was very different to her previous output.

 

Yes, it was certainly different but not in a positive way. I feel like she’s lost her way during the past 10 years and seems to be attempting to do different things which don’t really suit her.

Yes and no. In terms of how it reinvented her as an ARTIST and started her second imperial era, then absolutely. However, in terms of a contract to what came before then no. It had been a gradual softening for about 4 years from Erotica through Bedtime Stories and Something to Remember and Evita, so for her to come back with something more mellow, earth mother was less of a contrast than say the sparse electro of American Life transitioning into the balls to the wall dance of Confessions.

I agree that Confessions was her biggest change, but this probably comes second.

Hard Candy was arguably a bigger shift from Confessions than Confessions was from American Life.

But Madonna hasn't recorded a full album since Confessions? It's just been Celebration and a series of small fanmade EP's

No

But Madonna hasn't recorded a full album since Confessions? It's just been Celebration and a series of small fanmade EP's

 

If only

Hard Candy was arguably a bigger shift from Confessions than Confessions was from American Life.

 

A truly heartbreaking shift, if we're to judge the albums in their entirety. :(