Posted September 9, 20204 yr A place to discuss Madonna's 14th studio album 'Madame X'. Released in 2019. 1. Medellín (with Maluma) 2. Dark Ballet 3. God Control 4. Future (with Quavo) 5. Batuka 6. Killers Who Are Partying 7. Crave (with Swae Lee) 8. Crazy 9. Come Alive 10. Extreme Occident 11. Faz Gostoso (featuring Anitta) 12. Bitch I'm Loca (with Maluma) 13. I Don't Search I Find 14. Looking For Mercy 15. I Rise Disc 2 1. Funana 2. Back That Up to the Beat 3. Ciao Bella What are your thoughts on this album? Share any opinions, memories, favourite songs, or just discuss it anytime you're re-listening! Previous threads: Madame X | Album Discussion
September 9, 20204 yr Author Gosh looking at that set of videos, she really had one of her best visual eras with this didn't she? Album wise, it has incredible moments (Crave, God Control and I Don't Search... being up there with some of her best ever) but also a fair bit of filler (which is a trend of her 10s albums). Overall, a good listen but maybe not quite as great as I may have thought it was last year.
September 10, 20204 yr So here we are, the last of my studio album journey with Madonna! An album I have heard but not really "listened" to (it was played at work whilst I was working but I never got around to properly listening to it). I love 'Medellín', like 'Crave' and I'm indifferent about 'God Control' (iirc). All the other singles, I can't remember off the top of my head. I've heard 'I Don't Search I Find' due to AF Idol, but I wasn't blown away by it, so we'll see how it fares in the context of the album! 'Medellín' really is fantastic. I'm actually pretty gutted it wasn't a huge smash. I thought Madonna and Maluma worked incredibly well together. 'Dark Ballet' is solid, but not a fave, it's a bit of a mish-mash of ideas, that kinda work, but at the same time, don't at all. I don't mind 'God Control', but I haven't taken to it as much as other people seemingly have. It's good though. 'Crave' is good too. 1. Medellín (with Maluma) 2. Crazy 3. Crave (with Swae Lee) 4. I Don't Search I Find 5. Ciao Bella 6. Looking For Mercy 7. God Control 8. Dark Ballet 9. Faz Gostoso (featuring Anitta) 10. Bitch I'm Loca (with Maluma) 11. I Rise 12. Back That Up to the Beat 13. Funana 14. Batuka 15. Future (with Quavo) 16. Killers Who Are Partying 17. Extreme Occident 18. Come Alive Overall, this album seemingly washed right over me. Oops. But I think I liked it? I don't have any strong opinions about any of the songs. Nothing "bad" but nothing (except the top 3/4 maybe) I'm rushing to go back to. The production was quite a bit samey throughout and ended up just washing right over me. Not a bad album though. Idk what else to say lmao, omg. 'Come Alive' is right at the bottom just because there was nothing to it, lmao. Still not CRAZY about IDSIF, but it did make more of an impact through the album listen through as I think it came at the right time and spruced up the sound of the album a lil. Yeah, ultimately, it's largely forgettable, despite not having any bad moments and liking it. Album Rankings: 01. Confessions On A Dancefloor 02. Ray Of Light 03. True Blue 04. Erotica 05. Like A Prayer 06. American Life 07. Rebel Heart 08. Music 09. Madonna 10. Hard Candy 11. Like A Virgin 12. Madame X 13. Bedtime Stories 14. MDNA
September 10, 20204 yr I still think this is Madonna’s best album since Confessions On A Dancefloor. It’s leagues ahead of Hard Candy, MDNA and Rebel Heart as a whole piece of work. It’s the first time in a long while that Madonna went into her introspective kind of self and made something that was bold, out there, shocking, personal, political etc rather than just trying to fit in with the current trends of the time. There’s certain tracks what aren’t for me but overall this is a strong album what you can tell is a Madonna album! Songs like God Control, (controversially Killers), Come Alive, I Don’t Search I Find are all epic. This era went to s*** with single choices and the tour and promo not going as planned because of Madonna’s health which was a real shame but the album itself is really strong.
November 17, 20204 yr 'Madame X' has just received its first certification - now Gold in Italy for sales of 25k.
November 18, 20204 yr It's done extremely well in streaming in Italy compared to other countries. We stan!
November 18, 20204 yr Author It had a few radio singles in Italy which would've helped! Not sure why it was Italy exclusive, the world needed to hear more material from this album </3
November 19, 20204 yr I didn’t really like the first few singles...but there are some better album tracks. Overall, it’s a better album than Rebel Heart, MDNA and Hard Candy but it doesn’t stand up well in comparison to her classic stuff like Ray of light, bedtime stories or like a prayer.
December 5, 20204 yr Madonna places 42nd on Billboard's Top Dance/Electronic Artists of 2020 list on the strength of 'I Don't Search I Find' (and the 'Levitating' remix, I think): Madonna made an impact on the dance charts once again in 2020, finishing at No. 42 on the Top Dance/Electronic Artists chart. On Feb. 22, she earned a record-extending 50th No. 1 on the Dance Club Songs chart (Rihanna follows with 33) with “I Don’t Search I Find,” only a month before the chart was forced into a coronavirus-induced hiatus. “I Don’t” joined Madonna’s three 2019 No. 1s, all from her Madame X album, including “Medellin” with Maluma, “I Rise” (for which Tracy Young’s remix won a Grammy for best remixed recording) and “Crave” with Swae Lee. The dance club promotion, marketing and remix A&R for “I Don’t” and dozens of Madonna’s previous No. 1s on the Dance Club Songs chart were led by Orlando Puerta, who died of an upper respiratory infection on April 4. After his death, Madonna told Billboard, in part, “I am forever indebted to Orlando and he will be sorely missed.” She later paid tribute to him via the cover art for the “I Don’t” remixes, released on May 1, which read: “in memory of Orlando Puerta.”
December 8, 20204 yr @1336416236876550144 :cheer: MbYbtrkCSvI I had a re-watch of this earlier; was really lovely to be reminded of how genuinely invested she was in the creative process of this album.
January 19, 20214 yr Having been a Madonna fan since the Like A Virgin era, and spending most of the late 80s and early 90s spending far too much money at record fairs, having somewhere to comment on her albums led to this being one of the first things I wanted to do on this forum. So... starting with my LEAST favourite of all her albums... MADAME X. I know the general thinking is that it's a good album (especially alongside her other output in the 10s, but I found it a disappointment from the outset. Medellin grew on me and is now one of my top tracks on the album, but it was so under-whelming on first listen. Then there was that MTV interview where they premiered the video (with the toe lick :rolleyes:) and Madonna appeared so uncomfortable. I just couldn't help but fell a little bit embarrassed by it... then Eurovision happened! God Control and the accompanying video was the best thing here as far as I was concerned. I didn't like the concept, I didn't like the look and I didn't really like the music. I will say that I have gone back several times to try to appreciate it more, but I struggle through the whole album. So it has to be... ALBUM RANKINGS: 14. MADAME X Edited January 19, 20214 yr by CJK
January 19, 20214 yr Eurovision and the interview you mentioned are not reflections of the album. I do agree about Medellin , it is a grower and takes nearly two minutes to get going. It is my fav track on the album however. Im sure it was only chosen because Maluma’s streaming and youtube numbers were huge for his solo work. The same type of numbers Medellin did not match. Madonna has not got the singles right since the confessions album. The record company even ignored the popularity of Faz Gostoso when the album was released. I would have released. 1. I Dont Search I Find 2. Faz Gostoso 3. God Control (edit) Where are the remixes ?
January 19, 20214 yr But Eurovision and the interview are some of my memories of the era. I think when I look back on the promotion of Madame X I remember those things. The main promotion for the GP was Eurovision, and it didn't go down well. It's the same as The Super Bowl for MDNA, which was well received; falling off the stage at The Brits for Rebel Heart, which was mocked; performing Frozen on The National Lottery for Ray of Light, which was the best TV promotion for a single and album in the UK at the time. Imagine if she had managed to nail a performance of God Control on a massive stage (politics withstanding) with a choir and the whole disco feel. It could have been massive! But Medellin was wrong as the lead single and done, as you say, because of the Maluma duet. Wrong song, released on the wrong day. Though I did love the Awards Ceremony performance she did, even if the holograms were a bit dodgy here and there. Edited January 19, 20214 yr by CJK
January 19, 20214 yr Author The promo for the album was shockingly poor at times but the album itself is good. I think I used to find it more than good but it hasn't grown in my affections over the years. It's very much an album of two halves for me with the great (God Control et al) against the very forgettable (Extreme Occident, Looking For Mercy etc).
January 21, 20214 yr Having been a Madonna fan since the Like A Virgin era, and spending most of the late 80s and early 90s spending far too much money at record fairs, having somewhere to comment on her albums led to this being one of the first things I wanted to do on this forum. So... starting with my LEAST favourite of all her albums... MADAME X. I know the general thinking is that it's a good album (especially alongside her other output in the 10s, but I found it a disappointment from the outset. Medellin grew on me and is now one of my top tracks on the album, but it was so under-whelming on first listen. Then there was that MTV interview where they premiered the video (with the toe lick :rolleyes:) and Madonna appeared so uncomfortable. I just couldn't help but fell a little bit embarrassed by it... then Eurovision happened! God Control and the accompanying video was the best thing here as far as I was concerned. I didn't like the concept, I didn't like the look and I didn't really like the music. I will say that I have gone back several times to try to appreciate it more, but I struggle through the whole album. So it has to be... ALBUM RANKINGS: 14. MADAME X Firstly, hello and welcome to the forum! Always great to see another Madonna fan on the board ^_^ Interesting to hear your thoughts on the album. I totally agree that it was a nightmare era in terms of publicity, I'm not sure a single element of the campaign was handled too well :lol: Although I am hoping that the release of the tour video may rectify that a little, it got relatively good reviews so I'm expecting something special. I do like the album a lot more than you seem to though, I was initially just relieved that she brought us something that wasn't a faceless dance pop album and I admired what she was trying to do. I also liked that she let her current influences of living in Portugal inspire her in the album. I'm not sure where I'd rank it tbh, it's definitely far from her absolute best but there's a lot more here that I like when compared to some of her other albums (glaring at MDNA and Like a Virgin here! :D )
January 21, 20214 yr Hi Dandy. Thanks for the welcome. I was really pleased to hear the review of the tour and although I didn't like the album I am still intending on checking out the DVD when it's finally released. I appreciated what she was trying to do with Madame X and was excited for it. It just didn't deliver what I'd hoped. To be fair, it did battle it out with MDNA for bottom of my ranking... talking of which... I should comment on that one :thinking:
