When I dance, I feel free

 

 

110. Crazy // Madame X // 7.038

109. Waiting // Erotica // 7.038 (more 9s)

108. You Must Love Me // Evita // 7.038 (higher top score)

107. I Love New York // Confessions on a Dancefloor // 7.071

106. Heartbeat // Hard Candy // 7.107

 

The results hotten up further as we reach the 7+ averages. Commencing this section is the soulful sweetness of 'Crazy', evoking classic Madonna balladry but rooted in the Madame X sound with its accordion accompaniment and Portuguese verses. The song deals a predicament of being deeply in love but refusing to be consumed by these feelings when the partner isn't sharing this devotion. Highest placed album track from Erotica, 'Waiting' addresses rejection and unrequited love within a relationship, something that was understood would happen beforehand but was persued anyway. There's a toughness to the song, however, reflected in the spoken-word verses where Madonna asks her lover why he's so reluctant to open up. It acts as sequel to 'Justify My Love', even sampling the song itself. Just one song from Evita remains as its lead single departs. 'You Must Love Me' was specifically written for the film adaptation and reflects Eva Peron's state of mind following new of her illness; the word play of the title reveals both a desperation to be loved and the realisation that she must be loved if her husband is still with her despite the circumstances. The first of the Confessions on a Dancefloor standard edition songs leaves in the form of 'I Love New York'. It was one of the earliest tracks for the album, having been rehearsed on the 2004 Reinvention Tour in a rock incarnation. The guitars remain on the final version, but its given electronic undertones to suit the overall sound of Confessions. It's Madonna celebration of the city that saw her career take off and affirm her fierce, no-nonsense attitude. 'Heartbeat' sees Madonna show appreciation for the dancefloor and its ability to take her away from life's troubles, sumarising it as something very instinctive, not measureable by words.

 

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: 4/14

Bedtime Stories: 5/11

Evita: 1/13

Ray of Light: 11/14

Other (90s): 4/12

Music: 9/13

American Life: 9/11

Confessions On A Dancefloor: 11/15

Hard Candy: 4/13

Other (00s): 2/5

MDNA: 4/16

Rebel Heart: 6/25

Madame X: 8/18

Other (10s): 0/3

 

80s: 26/47

90s: 26/76

00s: 35/57

10s: 18/62

New York is definitely the correct first track to leave the main Confessions album. Hoping the album slays through the top 100!

 

Crazy is one of my MASSIVE favourites on Madame X now. The combo of Crave into Crazy is my favourite moment on the album actually. Loads of love for it, but in terms of her complete discography it's probably done about as well as it should here.

'Crazy' is one of my favourites too Bal! That flow of 'Crave/'Crazy'/'Come Alive' is really strong. This would have been perfect for radio; I genuinely think either 'Crazy' or 'Crave' could have been to Madame X what 'Ghosttown' was to Rebel Heart.

 

It's a toss up between 'Waiting' and 'Where Life Begins' for my favourite Erotica track, so I'm happy 'Waiting' has done this well. I think, had the Erotica era gone to plan, this could have made a good single as it hits the middle area of being a good reflection of the album's tone and sound whilst also sounding accessible enough for radio with its catchy hook.

 

I probably couldn't place 'I Love New York' higher than the bottom 3 of Confessions but it gets a hard time. I think it's a lot of fun and I love its rocky edge. I'm actually not distracted by the simplistic lyrics.

 

'Heartbeat' is a Hard Candy highlight and 'You Must Love Me' always reminds me of her impressive vocal on the S&S Tour performance.

i know 'i love new york' is not everyone's favourite, but i just adore the album so much that i can't bear to see any tracks so low :( i'm expecting that 'let it will be' will be the next out from COADF?

How was push not out first on confessions ? New York however is my second least fav.

 

Crazy is one of my faves on Madame X .

 

I’m quite surprised waiting is the highest album track on erotica.

 

Heartbeat is a fav of mine , the live version is orgasmic !!

American Life is performing the best percentage wise !!

I Love New York above X-Static Process hurts my heart.

You make my spirit whole

 

 

105. Joan of Arc // Rebel Heart // 7.115

104. Mother and Father // American Life // 7.143

103. Sanctuary // Bedtime Stories // 7.154

102. Little Star // Ray of Light // 7.154

101. Keep it Together // Like A Prayer // 7.156

 

First up, Joan of Arc is a guitar led folky ballad about how even the strongest people in the world have fragile moments and weak spots. It features a strong metaphor of masking insecurities. It was performed on the Ellen Show and represents a hugely vulnerable and soft side to Madonna. Another very personal song next with Mother and Father which tells of how Madonna dealt with the loss of her mother who passed when she was only 6 years old. Following her mother's death, Madonna searched for a reason behind her existence and this song reflects that personal battle. Sanctuary takes lyrics from a poem by Walt Whitman to explore an undying love with a heartfelt, tear-jerking aura about it. The song about life and death gives birth to 'Bedtime Story' and the two tracks work perfectly together. Little Star was released as a promotional track for its album and is a song about Madonna's love for her daughter Lourdes. It's a twinkling beauty that works well alongside some of the other personal songs in this selection and represents a recurring theme of life and birth that the Ray of Light album explores. Finally, missing out on the all-important top 100 is Keep it Together, which was the sixth and final single from 'Like A Prayer' in certain countries. It (once again!) explores the notion of family, and it summarises a lot of the key messages of the song in this post: that family is essential.

 

And with that we are left with the top 100 Madonna songs as rated by you. Here is how each era is doing at this point:

 

Madonna: 4/8

Like A Virgin: 4/9

True Blue: 6/9

Like A Prayer: 7/11

Other (80s): 4/10

I'm Breathless: 1/12

Erotica: 4/14

Bedtime Stories: 4/11

Evita: 1/13

Ray of Light: 10/14

Other (90s): 4/12

Music: 9/13

American Life: 8/11

Confessions On A Dancefloor: 11/15

Hard Candy: 4/13

Other (00s): 2/5

MDNA: 4/16

Rebel Heart: 5/25

Madame X: 8/18

Other (10s): 0/3

 

80s: 25/47

90s: 24/76

00s: 34/57

10s: 17/62

I really like Joan of Arc, really sad to see that just miss the top 100.

 

 

Joan Of arc and Little Star deserve top 100 !!

A brilliant section there. JoA is a stunner, a proper stop you in your tracks moment on the album. Lyrically it's so beautiful and powerful.

 

Mother and Father is pretty crazy I love how frenzied it is despite tackling a harsh subject matter. I guess it reflects how crazed you can be without a stable family.

 

Sanctuary is A MOMENT. The transition at the end of it is surely the best moment on the album? What a shift *.*

 

Little Star is beautiful, a perfect album track that compliments the bigger moments that appear throughout the album. It's a good example of how less can be more!

 

Keep it Together is a worthy track of just missing the top 100. Not totally essential but very solid. I always forget how strong it is until I hear it - I guess it is eclipsed by the more obvious smashes on the album.

Your queen's been slain

 

 

100. Candy Perfume Girl // Ray of Light // 7.192

99. Girl Gone Wild // MDNA // 7.192 (higher top score)

98. Push // Confessions on a Dancefloor // 7.214

97. Rebel Heart // Rebel Heart // 7.231

96. Queen // Rebel Heart // 7.231 (higher top score)

 

We begin the Top 100 with Ray of Light's 'Candy Perfume Girl', a grungy, slightly unconventional song of addiction and obsession. The downbeat tone of the song is interrupted by a sudden intensity in the arrangement half way through as electric guitars, heavy programming and echoing vocals errupt. On 'Girl Gone Wild', Madonna recites the Act of Contrition, an in advance plea for forgiveness before letting loose on the dancefloor. She's reclaiming her identity following her divorce and what better way of doing that than revisiting her career foundations. Penultimate track on Confessions, 'Push' is an expression of gratitude to those who encouraged Madonna to expand her limits (incorporated into the lyrics is the hook to 'Every Breath You Take' by The Police). Two Rebel Heart tracks fall back-to-back, the first being the album's titular track. Here, Madonna documents her story and how she became the person she is today. It captures the underlying theme of the album and, with its light and upbeat production, makes it a positive note to complete the deluxe album journey. 'Queen' is a bit of a wildcard entry, having been scrapped from the Rebel Heart super deluxe, however it's proven to be an essential to the era for many. It shows Madonna questioning her relevancy in the pop industry today; this self-doubt and potentially accepting of her fate hits quite raw as it seems the negative criticisms have finally taken its toll.

 

Madonna: 4/8

Like A Virgin: 4/9

True Blue: 6/9

Like A Prayer: 7/11

Other (80s): 4/10

I'm Breathless: 1/12

Erotica: 4/14

Bedtime Stories: 4/11

Evita: 1/13

Ray of Light: 9/14

Other (90s): 4/12

Music: 9/13

American Life: 8/11

Confessions On A Dancefloor: 10/15

Hard Candy: 4/13

Other (00s): 2/5

MDNA: 3/16

Rebel Heart: 3/25

Madame X: 8/18

Other (10s): 0/3

 

80s: 25/47

90s: 23/76

00s: 33/57

10s: 14/62

Candy Perfume Girl and Push are way to high . Push would be in my top 5 least fav tracks !

 

GGW to low !

I don't care what people say, Girl Gone Wild is an absolute BANGER. I heard it once while out and it was a total moment of life. Candy Perfume Girl is fairly forgettable as far as RoL tracks go. Push is decent but far from a Confessions highlight so i'm glad it's one of the earlier tracks from the album to drop out. Title track from RH is gorgeous and of course QUEEN after all the drama of adding it in, has done superbly here and rightfully so - it's one of the best tracks she's done in the past decade :wub:

I won't be broken again

 

 

95. Gone // Music // 7.286

94. Nobody Knows Me // American Life // 7.286 (higher top score)

93. Masterpiece // MDNA // 7.308

92. Like It Or Not // Confessions on a Dancefloor // 7.357

91. American Pie // Music // 7.357 (more 9s)

 

First out here we have Gone which combines acoustic elements with more electronic sounds to give a song about not changing despite what life and love throws at you. It's melancholic and mournful but gives a sense of hope as the album nears its end. Nobody Knows Me is a defiant song rejecting the social world of the media and it was released as a promotional single perhaps because of how explicitly it relates to the album's theme. It has generally well received by critics and Madonna herself who included it as a controversial video interlude on the MDNA tour - for which she was sued for! From MDNA and as a song for soundtrack to W.E., Masterpiece is one of the slower moments on its parent album. The song won the Best Original Song category at the 69th Golden Globe Awards and is often cited as a highlight on MDNA. The final track on the standard edition of Confessions... drops out now as Like It Or Not proves to not be totally liked in comparison to the rest of the album. It is a song about the past, the present and the future which works well as the closing track here as it is an album about time, its passing and what it could mean for the future. It's fairly understated as far as the rest of the album goes but it does create an interesting change of pace in the album's closing. Finally here, American Pie, a cover of Don McLean's original classic, falls out. It was a #1 in the UK and was a much more dancier and punchier version that the original. It became a big hit and even managed to chart in the US despite not being released as a full single there.

 

Madonna: 4/8

Like A Virgin: 4/9

True Blue: 6/9

Like A Prayer: 7/11

Other (80s): 4/10

I'm Breathless: 1/12

Erotica: 4/14

Bedtime Stories: 4/11

Evita: 1/13

Ray of Light: 9/14

Other (90s): 4/12

Music: 7/13

American Life: 7/11

Confessions On A Dancefloor: 9/15

Hard Candy: 4/13

Other (00s): 2/5

MDNA: 2/16

Rebel Heart: 3/25

Madame X: 8/18

Other (10s): 0/3

 

80s: 25/47

90s: 23/76

00s: 29/57

10s: 13/62

Candy Perfume Girl and American Pie are too high.

I think I may live every song left

 

All from 95-90 are incredible

That transition between 'Sanctuary' and 'Bedtime Story' is probably now my favourite. Sorry 'Forbidden Love' into 'Jump'. </3 A surprise choice for top Bedtime Stories album track but it's one of my faves so very welcome. The album did well to be the last to lose one of its tracks but it's lost a lot as we hit the Top 100.

 

Ray of Light is such a high standard of an album that 'Little Star' always got lost in the mix, but it's a really sweet song and a gorgeous, delicate vocal. It was double A-side in the UK but I don't think it actually got any special attention.

 

'Candy Perfume Girl' sounds very Alanis-esque to me, which may not just be a coincidence given Alanis was signed to Madonna's label. Love the intensity of the production towards the end.

 

I've said before about my like/hate relationship about 'Girl Gone Wild'. I wouldn't mind if the worst you could say was that it was generic, but the chorus is piss weak, the lyrics are empty and the voice that sings them is even more so. It has a decent start though and the video is so good that it does elevate the song slightly.

 

I reckon 'Nobody Knows Me' could have made a great single. Love the choppy production, the bubbling bass, the concept, even the vocoder is used effectively. Lots of potential material for a video.

 

I'd have liked 'Masterpiece' to have been pushed properly too, perhaps about November time. Definitely wasn't right that it was only available to download from album release week, meaning it missed out on any interest that may have emerged from her Golden Globe win.

 

'Gone' is one of my Music faves, would have loved to have seen that higher.

Fun fact: apart from one song, every song from this point earned a top score of at least 10! :o

'Gone' leaving already hurts my feelings — such a precursor to some of the best moments on 'American Life'.

Edited October 1, 20195 yr by blacksquare