Her recent albums already feature alot of rock-sounding songs ("Hollywood","Intervention","Candy Perfume Girl","Amazing","I'm So Stupid",etc),so that's a genre that she's already ventured into.And her 'Revisted and Remixed' EP featured several of the songs from 'American Life' remixed into loud,relentless rock tunes.

DavidEye said:

I meant with a rock and roll band. Not with computerised beats.

Cloudbuster said:

That could be interesting.Only problem is,she would probably alienate many of her hardcore fans,who prefer that she doesn't stray too far from dance music.But my feeling is,if they can accept 'I'm Breathless' (a collection of 40s-styled novelty show tunes) or 'Evita' (a collection of Andrew Lloyd Webber tunes),they should be able to accept a full-fledged rock album.

DavidEye said:

Yeah - except they didn't, really.

VoicesCarry said:

I'm Breathless is actually one of my favorite Madonna albums. Sondheim really worked her voice over and it showed. Her thin, high-pitched voice worked well for that album, and every track on there was good or great. Evita, on the other hand, was not one of my favorites. Part of that is because I'm not an ALW fan, and part of that is because Madonna is no Patti Lupone. She really struggled to keep up with that music. Listen to Patti's version of Rainbow High and Madonna's back to back and you'll see what I mean.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Evita went double platinum, which isn't bad (is that because a lot of people were expecting the Miami Mix of DCFMA to be on there?). I'm Breathless was not a top seller by any means, though.

And, yeah, for all Madonna's hyped-up vocal lessons, she still didn't have much authority over that material.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Evita went double platinum, which isn't bad (is that because a lot of people were expecting the Miami Mix of DCFMA to be on there?). I'm Breathless was not a top seller by any means, though.

And, yeah, for all Madonna's hyped-up vocal lessons, she still didn't have much authority over that material.

VoicesCarry said:

Didn't 'I'm Breathless' go double-platinum as well? I think the total worldwide sales are around 5 million,which isn't bad.And of course,the first single "Vogue" went Number One,and even the lame second single "Hanky Panky" went Top 10...

http://www.absolutemadonn...tats.shtml


But admittedly,those are disappointing sales figures compared to the previous albums.

VoicesCarry said:

Evita went double-platinum because it was a double-disc set. I'm pretty sure it met the qualifications for the double-disc rule. Nonetheless, for a crap musical soundtrack to a movie that bombed, it sold well. I actually liked the movie and Madonna in it; I just wasn't blown away by either (and I don't think she was unjustly denied an Oscar nomination). And, yeah, I'm Breathless did not sell well. People were buying the Vogue single instead.

RipHer2Shreds said:

'Evita' was far from a bomb! She got the best reviews of her entire career,the film recieved several awards,grossed over $50 million in the US,and over $92 million elsewhere...

http://www.absolutemadonn...vita.shtml


In fact,it's probably the one Madonna movie (with her as the leading star) that can truly be called a hit.

DavidEye said:

$50M US and $92M worldwide is not really a hit - it's a moderate gross. Especially for a film that had a $55M US budget (they likely just broke even before ancillaries like video kicked in).

DavidEye said:

$50M US and $92M worldwide is not really a hit - it's a moderate gross. Especially for a film that had a $55M US budget (they likely just broke even before ancillaries like video kicked in).

VoicesCarry said:

True enough.But it was still a hit,maybe not a "monster hit",but a hit nonetheless.And the response from critics was astonishing.

DavidEye said:

$50M US and $92M worldwide is not really a hit - it's a moderate gross. Especially for a film that had a $55M US budget (they likely just broke even before ancillaries like video kicked in).

DavidEye said:

For a Madonna pictures, yes (although 67% on Rottentomatoes.com is not truly an "astonishing" critical response).

VoicesCarry said:

While I won't (and can't) dispute those figures, at the the film was not looked at as a bomb. I believe it matched or beat the domestic and international expectations for the film. Let's remember Evita came out before the much-hyped Moulin Rogue and Chicago with their massive stars revitalized the movie-musical genre...

VoicesCarry said:

Who cares what rottentomatoes thinks? Did you read Time magazine's review?

VoicesCarry said:

it was the biggest musical since grease. you can't compare a movie like evita to a movie like titanic, lol. whether you liked the movie or not, everyone pretty much agrees that evita was a raging success.

SassyBritches said:

It was actually met with mixed response both at the box office and from the critics. It barely broke even here. Along with the cost of the film, you have to take into account the cost to promote the film (which can be in the 10s of millions these days). From my perspective, it didn't meet expectations, so I consider it a bomb. I'm not the only one, and surely that counts for something.

VoicesCarry said:

it was the biggest musical since grease. you can't compare a movie like evita to a movie like titanic, lol. whether you liked the movie or not, everyone pretty much agrees that evita was a raging success.

RipHer2Shreds said:

oooooh! We're gonna fight at lunch today!

I love how EVERY Madonna thread posted quickly turns into a raging debate about her career and the direction it should take.

We could start with a topic that said "Madonna smiled today" and within 10 posts we'd be mired in this same discussion.

'sok though, I love supporting and dissing ol' Esther!

SassyBritches said:

Uh, I'm not. A "raging success"? No, a raging success is making a huge profit (ie. high gross:expense ratio). Titanic is a raging success if you compare its budget to its grosses. Just as Napoleon Dynamite is a raging success even though it grossed less than Evita.

Studios receive on average approximately half of the worldwide gross of a film (theaters get the other 50%). The studio probably got about $71M out of that film, but had to deal with a published $55M budget PLUS prints and advertising. Now with video (about $23M in rentals), they turned a profit. But a "raging success" it was not.
[Edited 1/5/05 6:14am]

btw,according to the chart figures at that Absolutemadonna site,the 'Evita' soundtrack actually sold 5 million in the US,with the total worldwide sales around 11 million.But because it's a 2-CD set,I'm sure the sales were counted differently.Nevertheless,those are impressive figures,especially considering it's not the typical Madonna pop/dance music album.

VoicesCarry said:

Nevertheless,it is a career highlight for Madonna,just like 'Ray Of Light' was.

DavidEye said:

$50M US and $92M worldwide is not really a hit - it's a moderate gross. Especially for a film that had a $55M US budget (they likely just broke even before ancillaries like video kicked in).

DavidEye said:

They have every one of her albums up there correctly - except Evita. Check the RIAA site for confirmation that it has gone double platinum - not quintuple. Apparently they don't understand the concept of the double disc, double count rule at absolutemadonna (they also don't seem to understand the difference between "sales" and "certification" )
[Edited 1/5/05 6:18am]

VoicesCarry said:

Just to clarify, it grossed $91 million outside the USA. It's total take was $141 million. So maybe we can say it this way - while its success here is up for debate, people elsewhere loved the shit out of it? Sounds good to me.