MrIndependent

I just heard Queen and it's astonishing; I wonder why it was removed from the tracklist. Perhaps Madonna and her team didn't think it was lyrically fitting with the themes of the record, which is still debatable (to an extent it is; to another it isn't). It's not easy to digest an album with so many songs and if it were my album I'd rearrange some of the tracks to give the album a slightly different structure. Out of the twenty-five finalised songs (including Queen and Autotune Baby), twenty of them are great, and only two of them are really needless, those being S.E.X. and Autotune Baby which was rightfully removed from the final tracklist. If Queen replaced S.E.X., it would be an album with completely impressive songs.

I just listened to the demos for Rebel Heart and Wash All Over Me. The album version of the latter is far better; the lyrics and her vocals are so grey that it doesn't suit being a dance song at all. As for the former, there's not a striking difference between the demo and the album version, and both are great. I'll listen to more tomorrow.

There is only one worldwide Super Deluxe Edition and Queen isn't on it.

I still need to check out the demos but I'm glad the Avicii productions were altered; I'm not here for generic dance pap, and the album versions no doubt give the album more musical variation. Does anybody have a list of the tracks which have demos that are strikingly different to the album versions, please?

Think - Sam and John Want - Years & Years

I'll post my thoughts on each album later. :D

LOL No.

The Super Deluxe and Deluxe covers both slay my eyes. I don't like the Standard cover as much. I love the photoshoots from the era, though, and the foldout pictures in the Super Deluxe packaging are really nice. Can anyone post pictures of the booklets from the Deluxe and Standard editions, please?

Just listened to it for the fifth time since I received the album on Sunday and I'm not tiring of it. It's such an eclectic and colourful work yet fairly coherent (I would rearrange some of the tracks, though). For an album with so many songs Madonna and team did a good job on the whole with the structuring and ordering of the record. Messiah and Wash All Over Me remind me of the ballads from Like a Prayer, the former in particular is like a sequel to (Pray For) Spanish Eyes. Body Shop is growing on me as well; the production and instrumentation is great and it's her vocals, particularly in the verses, and lyrics that are taking some time for me to get used to. The songs that I'm really loving at the moment the most are Devil Pray, Ghosttown, Joan of Arc, Heartbreak City, Holy Water, Wash All Over Me, Messiah, Veni Vidi Vici, Addicted and Graffiti Heart.

Thanks for posting, Liam. Great article. Ray of Light is a rare yet genuinely faultless masterwork.

I don't think it's enough. Even though his sales are down at the moment, all those sales for Sam are gonna come flooding in on Friday and Saturday after Comic Relief and with Mother's Day approaching; I'd bet on her settling for #2. The Jonathan Ross Special should have been on this Saturday just gone.

Lay Me Down is #2 combined with 87%. It may well be #1 on the 22/3 chart.

Delighted to see King up to #4; it has gained a lot in the past two days and is only 20,000 streams from #2 so I think it hit the runners up spot.

I can agree with you on it sounding like a collection of songs; to me it doesn't sound like a usual Madonna album (and not in a positive way), and I think it feels quite empty. However, for me I have to say that I only think Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, Live to Tell and La Isla Bonita are worthwhile, making the remainder of the record fairly pointless. I don't think it has a lot to offer and Like a Virgin is even weaker; I only enjoy three of its ten tracks. I hope I didn't piss any 80s fans off. :P To me her 90s records and much of her 00s work is so superior that it's not even up for discussion, but I guess LAV and TB are very nostalgic and memorable for many older fans.

It could have made all the difference to her total and possible final position if she had been on this Saturday just gone instead, however what is great about the appearance is that her second-week sales/position should still be impressive. I think Rebel Heart will have more longevity than MDNA.

Outselling Mr. Gallagher by 3:1 in Tuesday's midweek update.

Rebel Heart is flirting between #5 and #6 at the moment. Nice climb.

Excellent: 1 Slay of Light :wub: 2 Erotica 3 Bedtime Stories 90s Madonna >>>>>>>>> 4 American Life 5 Music 6 Rebel Heart Very good: 7 Like a Prayer 8 Confessions on a Dance Floor Good: 9 Madonna Fair: 10 Hard Candy 11 MDNA Poor: 12 True Blue Deplorable: 13 Like a Virgin

Those are my least favourites. :lol: I like Best Night, though; the production and Justify My Love sample are ace. It's amazing that the album contains so many songs yet it doesn't feel like an exhausting listen to me at all. Also, I'm not liking the Bitch I'm Madonna (that drop!) and Illuminati shade. :P The former has ultimately grown on me with repeated listens but I liked the latter from first listen.

American Life is horribly underrated whilst Confessions On a Dance Floor is a tad overrated; it's a good album but not as creative, as sonically impressive and as ambitiously composed as either the aforementioned record or Rebel Heart. 1. Slay of Light 2. Erotica 3. Bedtime Stories 4. American Life 5. Music 6. Rebel Heart 7. Like a Prayer 8. Confessions on a Dance Floor 9. Madonna 10. Hard Candy 11. MDNA 12. True Blue 13. Like a Virgin

The pre-orders don't get added immediately following an official release anymore, but they still count towards the overall sales. It's worth noting that, in Madonna's case, the super deluxe edition, which a lot of people will be buying, isn't available on iTunes. As previously stated because of this her physical sales will be much stronger.

Lay Me Down already inside the top ten combined... It's extremely impressive that Sam will get his fifth top ten (sixth if you count La La La) from In the Lonely Hour when it has already shifted +1.5m.

It's an excellent album, bursting with flavour and creativity yet still sounding like a coherent body of work. Out of all those songs the only two that are unnecessary are 'Body Shop' and 'S.E.X'. It has a lot of heart and emotion. There's a lot of great songwriting and ambitious production here. Easily her best since American Life.

I can't see how it will go top 40.

I disagree; his second week sales will trail off badly whilst Ed and Sam will get massive increases. She might have to settle for #3, which would make it her lowest charting studio album since her debut. A shame, but I doubt she will care.