After years of trashing Madonna and criticizing her every move,it seems as if Fox News' Roger Friedman finally has something nice to say (although he still can't resist the occasional put down...lol)


Madonna's new album leaked to Internet
Thursday,November 03,2005
By Roger Friedman
FOX NEWS

Madonna's new album "Confessions On A Dancefloor" has been leaked onto the Internet 10 days before it's official release.The album is marked by a defiant self-defense of her whole career,when she sings on the hilarious and forceful "Like It Or Not": "You can call me a sinner/you can call me a saint/Celebrate for who I am/don't like me for what I ain't/Don't put me up on a pedestal/or drag me down in the dirt/Sticks and stones may break my bones/but names will never hurt".

And: "Better the devil that you know/this is who I am/You can love me or leave me/because I'm never gonna stop,oh no".She compares herself to Mata Hari and Cleopatra,too.

Warner Music Group is said not to be very happy about the leak."Confessions" was being held right until the last minute.Copies aren't even available at the record company's offices yet.

The album contains a song called "Isaac",first reported on this column several weeks ago.It's supposedly about Isaac Luria,a 16th century Kabbalah philosopher.I've listened to it,and there's nothing particularly shocking about the lyrics.It has a good beat,though,and some chanting that's meant to sound Hebraic.It could be anything.I don't think there will be religious concerns.

The lyrics are basic pop stuff: "Wrestle with your darkness/Angels call your name/can you hear what they're saying?/will you ever be the same?" Basically,it reduces Kabbalah to the stuff of T-shirt slogans.I wouldn't get excited and neither should any rabbis.She does try and mix some religious gobbleddy-gook in other tracks,like the electronica-based "Future Lovers",but it's about as benign as a yellow smiley button.

"Isaac" is not much different from a couple of Sting songs that use Arab chanting,and I wouldn't be surprised if that's where she got the idea.Madonna is nothing if not the great synthesizer of existing material.

One track on the album,"Push",out and out samples Sting's "Every Breath You Take".That's what I call a nice friend,since Sting usually demands 100 per cent of the publishing rights when other artists do that.

Apart from "Isaac","Confessions" sounds like a good dance record."Hung Up" is already a hit."Get Together" is a full-on disco pumper from the early 80s."Sorry starts with Madonna saying that word in different languages,then rocks along with an infectious melody that recalls her best songs from 20 years ago.This is the one that contains a sample from a Jacksons song "Can You Feel It" circa 1980.It should be the next single,after "Hung Up".

But someone had better tell Jackie Jackson,brother of Michael Jackson and co-author of that song.His rep tells me no one's asked for a sample licence so far.Lawyers are already picking up the phone,no doubt.

All in all,"Confessions" is a return to what Madonna does best: mindless,fun dance music.There's none of the grenade-throwing politics that got her in trouble last time out with "American Life",her lowest-selling album and a total bust for her and Warner Music Group.

Like Santana's new album,"Confessions" is mixed to be one hit after another,no filler.It's a great idea,and in a time when nothing is selling and Warner is barely functioning as a record company,Madonna has come riding to the rescue.

I never grade CDs,but let's give her an A- and head for a nightclub.It's just good fun.

Did you purposely edit out all the spaces after commas and periods to make it look like your typing, DavidEye?

"But someone had better tell Jackie Jackson,brother of Michael Jackson and co-author of that song.His rep tells me no one's asked for a sample licence so far.Lawyers are already picking up the phone,no doubt"

BULLSHIT. This sample has been talked about for weeks. Want to bet this is another thing Friedman got wrong?
[Edited 11/4/05 6:44am]


[we have a sticky for the madonna album...lets stick to it folks..thanks-sos]