Beautiful Killer is fun, definitely a standout on the album. Amazing, I really like - it's probably to saccharine for a single but regardless it makes for a fab album track. BS version of Forbidden Love is nice... but not a PATCH on Confessions which needs to be at least 130 places higher in this rate ~

I want you, but I want you to want me too

 

 

130. Love Spent // MDNA // 6.538 (higher top score)

129. Funana // Madame X // 6.577

128. Ciao Bella // Madame X // 6.615

127. Hold Tight // Rebel Heart // 6.654

126. I Want You (with Massive Attack) // Other (90s) // 6.692

 

Four songs from the current decade depart this section, starting with 'Love Spent' from MDNA. Combining banjos and electronic music, the song addresses Madonna's divorce settlement and she expresses her longing for a different outcome where the enthusiasm for money could have been directed into rebuilding their relationship. Two Madame X super deluxe tracks drop back-to-back: 'Funana' is a call for peace, freedom and union that sees Madonna name check various artists sadly no longer with us who once fought for these ideals (also a sad reminder that Madonna is becoming more and more the only one of her kind); 'Ciao Bella' is a tribal-house track featuring vocals from Kimi Djabaté that deals with spirituality. 'Hold Tight' is an encouraging song of standing united in the face of adversity that appeared set to become the fourth single from Rebel Heart when it was sent to Italian radio. Going back two decades, Madonna collaborated with Massive Attack to create a trip hop cover of Marvin Gaye's disco-infused 'I Want You'. Madonna's version is darker, consumed by such sadness that gives a slightly mad, desperate tone. It was planned to be the lead for Madonna's ballads collection Something to Remember but legal battles between Warner Bros. and Motown prevented a proper release.

 

Madonna: 4/8

Like A Virgin: 4/9

True Blue: 7/9

Like A Prayer: 9/11

Other (80s): 6/10

I'm Breathless: 1/12

Erotica: 7/14

Bedtime Stories: 6/11

Evita: 2/13

Ray of Light: 11/14

Other (90s): 5/12

Music: 10/13

American Life: 10/11

Confessions On A Dancefloor: 12/15

Hard Candy: 7/13

Other (00s): 2/5

MDNA: 4/16

Rebel Heart: 6/25

Madame X: 12/18

Other (10s): 0/3

 

80s: 30/47

90s: 32/76

00s: 41/57

10s: 22/62

Love Spent is the song with the most wasted potential on MDNA for me. Vocals aside, the first verse is promising but it all falls apart from the disappointing chorus. They really overdo it with the production throughout the song and I absolutely hate the melody for the final 45 seconds.

 

I wish they had spent a little more time with it but that is the issue with most of MDNA.

Edited September 21, 20195 yr by blacksquare

Agree with blacksquare on Love Spent. It has the ingredients to be incredible but just falls short.

 

Inside Out is my favourite on that list - a real high point on Rebel Heart and criminally underrated I find.

All of those songs are amazing !! They are all way to low .

 

Love Spent is too 10 for me !

Stand in the back or be the star

 

 

125. She's Not Me // Hard Candy // 6.714

124. Time Stood Still // Music // 6.714 (higher score)

123. Bitch I'm Loca // Madame X // 6.769

122. Spotlight // Other (80s) // 6.781

121. Beat Goes On // Hard Candy // 6.786

 

First up, a song I know all too well~ from Hard Candy, we lose She's Not Me. In the song Madonna realises that someone is trying to be her, to dress like her and to love like she does. Madonna stamps her authority however and reclaims her identity. A song with multiple meanings and interpretations, the most blatant one being a dig at Lady Gaga - especially as she merged the song with Born This Way on tour! The scandal x Time Stood Still is another soundtrack song, this time taken from The Next Best Thing. With the help of William Orbit, the song is about holding onto love even when it burns out. Bitch I'm Loca is one of two collaborations with Maluma on Madame X (the second of which is still to come). Here, she sings about how crazy she is and how she owns her oddity to ensnare men. Initially written for True Blue, but rejected and later included on You Can Dance, Spotlight shows how fame can be achieved by simply singing about it. It received release as a single in Japan but didn't really make a dent elsewhere. Finally, Hard Candy loses another sweet, this time with the Kanye West penned Beat Goes On. The song leaked in different form a year prior to the album release. It's a song about freedom of expression, saying and doing whatever you like.

 

Madonna: 4/8

Like A Virgin: 4/9

True Blue: 7/9

Like A Prayer: 9/11

Other (80s): 5/10

I'm Breathless: 1/12

Erotica: 7/14

Bedtime Stories: 6/11

Evita: 2/13

Ray of Light: 11/14

Other (90s): 5/12

Music: 9/13

American Life: 10/11

Confessions On A Dancefloor: 12/15

Hard Candy: 5/13

Other (00s): 2/5

MDNA: 4/16

Rebel Heart: 6/25

Madame X: 11/18

Other (10s): 0/3

 

80s: 29/47

90s: 32/76

00s: 38/57

10s: 21/62

Beat goes on and She’s not me underrated here !!

I'll always have a soft spot for Beat Goes On — a certified bop with a great Kanye verse

 

 

Funana, Ciao Bella and Hold Tight are better than all the tracks from 121-125 in my opinion

 

Love Spent is one of the few listenable things on MDNA but the vocals and production lower it down my ranks

Edited September 22, 20195 yr by Jordan Lee

'Love Spent' is one of my favourites from MDNA but what stops it being more than an 8/10 is the lack of care when putting the song together, as mentioned. It's a major downfall for a lot of the album. Not sure why it went so wrong in that department.

 

'Shes's Not Me' and 'Beat Goes On' are two Hard Candy highlights, pleased to see them acknowledges as among the best album tracks, even if they should rate higher than this.

 

'Time Stood Still' was a great discovery when putting my rate together - I had to immediately give it a 10 and still regularly listen to it. Beautiful song, lovely vocals.

The Hard Candy tracks there are the ones I return to most.

 

Loca is a low point on Madame X and the other two, I don't really care for at all / listen to ~

Definitely two of the better Hard Candy tracks (both 8/10 for me *.* )

 

Bitch I'm Loca is a bit of a guilty pleasure :blush:

 

We're at the half way point of the results! Loving the informative commentaries :heart:

Get that old man; put him in a jail

 

 

120. Gambler // Other (80s) // 6.844

119. Survival // Bedtime Stories // 6.846

118. Rescue Me // Other (90s) // 6.846 (higher top score)

117. Spanish Eyes // Like a Prayer // 6.875

116. Batuka // Madame X // 6.885

 

Second single from the Vision Quest soundtrack, 'Gambler' had the distinction of being the only single solely written by Madonna (until 2007's 'Hey You', that is). It's a rapid-paced, synth and disco infused song where Madonna celebrates her daredevil lifestyle. Bedtime Stories is one of two Madonna albums not to open with a single; instead, the funky groove of 'Survival' introduces us to a new sound Madonna would explore on the album, as well as addressing the media and public rejection of her sexual exploration earlier in the 90s. 'Rescue Me' is the lesser remembered of the two new singles included on The Immaculate Collection - no music video or live performance supported it, its single release was purely in response to the radio support it had been receiving. It's a gospel-house hybrid, a sort of amalgamation of Madonna's then-recent successes, that demonstrates one of her most rousing vocals. In 'Spanish Eyes', Madonna confronts the still-taboo AIDS epidemic, her strained vocal embodying the tragedy and confusion of its impact as she yearns for those she has lost. The birth of the Madame X record can be traced in 'Batuka'. Batuque music was one of Madonna's first introductions to Portuguese culture and she celebrates it here with the Batukadeiras, a collection of female musicians, as they call for a revolution to defeat oppression.

 

Madonna: 4/8

Like A Virgin: 4/9

True Blue: 7/9

Like A Prayer: 8/11

Other (80s): 4/10

I'm Breathless: 1/12

Erotica: 7/14

Bedtime Stories: 5/11

Evita: 2/13

Ray of Light: 11/14

Other (90s): 4/12

Music: 9/13

American Life: 10/11

Confessions On A Dancefloor: 12/15

Hard Candy: 5/13

Other (00s): 2/5

MDNA: 4/16

Rebel Heart: 6/25

Madame X: 10/18

Other (10s): 0/3

 

80s: 27/47

90s: 30/76

00s: 38/57

10s: 20/62

Batuka and Survival way too high for my tastes .

 

 

I randomly had a moment with Survival the other day, it really clicked with me. It's a brilliant way to start the album and as you say, it sets the tone for it perfectly.

 

Spanish Eyes is a real beauty, although perhaps overshadowed by Oh Father and Promise to Try in terms of LAP ballads.

 

Batuka is a bit too high for my liking - recentness perhaps helping it out!

Rescue Me out already?!!!!!!

 

Honestly in my top 20, if not top 10, songs from her. I am appalled.

Always had a soft spot for 'Gambler' - it's great if you want simple, cheery pop and it benefits from the lack of exposure.

 

'Survival' strikes just the right tone to open Bedtime Stories, introducing you to the sounds and themes of the album but in a very easy, modest manner. It's doesn't begin with a bang as it's not that sort of album, but it's enough of a statement to work as an album opener.

 

'Rescue Me' should have been a lot higher - I'm shocked that I only gave it an 8/10! I like how it takes elements of other songs - the gospel of 'Like a Prayer', the powerful vocal of 'Express Yourself', the house of 'Vogue' and the whisper of 'Justify My Love' - yet stands as a unique piece of work.

 

'Spanish Eyes' is gorgeous with that classic Leonard piano and Madonna's storytelling vocal. Actually my favourite ballad from Like a Prayer.

 

'Batuka' took a little getting used to as it's not a song in the conventional sense but Mirwais' production balances out the repetition to keep it interesting. It's certainly essential to the album and the journey Madonna went on.

Don't know who I'm supposed to be

 

 

115. X-Static Process // American Life // 6.893

114. Words // Erotica // 6.923

113. Thief of Hearts // Erotica // 6.923 (more 9s)

112. White Heat // True Blue // 6.938

111. Extreme Occident // Madame X // 6.962

 

American Life has been doing brilliantly so far, but here it loses one of the slowest most tender moments from it. X-Static Process is about identity: losing it, discovering it and battling with it. It shows an extremely vulnerable side to Madonna as she laments her loneliness and how it affects her state of mind. Erotica takes a double hit here as Words and Thief of Hearts drop out (with the same scores). Both songs are quite similar - they are punchy and fierce. The latter opens with glass smashing and Madonna exclaiming to another who tires to steal her lover. It's a whirlwind of a song and super slick. White Heat is a song dedicated to James Cagney and features quotes from the film of the same name. Finally from M's latest album, Extreme Occident, in a similar way to X-Static Process earlier is also about a search for identity, but this time, how Madonna's travels have influenced and impacted her identity. As a result of this it features Portuguese and Indian influences throughout.

 

Madonna: 4/8

Like A Virgin: 4/9

True Blue: 6/9

Like A Prayer: 8/11

Other (80s): 4/10

I'm Breathless: 1/12

Erotica: 5/14

Bedtime Stories: 5/11

Evita: 2/13

Ray of Light: 11/14

Other (90s): 4/12

Music: 9/13

American Life: 9/11

Confessions On A Dancefloor: 12/15

Hard Candy: 5/13

Other (00s): 2/5

MDNA: 4/16

Rebel Heart: 6/25

Madame X: 9/18

Other (10s): 0/3

 

80s: 26/47

90s: 28/76

00s: 37/57

10s: 19/62

I like all of these they seem rightly placed.

 

I do wish Thief Of Hearts was included on a tour !!

 

 

X-Static is a beauty.

 

Thief of Hearts is one of my absolute faves on Erotica. It's wild and wonderful. Should've done a bit better imo.

 

Extreme Occident is wayyyyy too high. It's really not better than a lot of the past few reveals.