SoulAlive said:

Some really bad news about the video. No longer $19.99 at Amazon! Apparently they saw that nobody else put it on sale so they figured why offer it at such a cheap price especially if it will not exactly bring in heavy traffic (and Madonna fans will over pay anyway).

Really hoping the problems with the song edits/remastering aren't very noticable and that there aren't edits in the video set.

So,is the DVD gonna be available at Wal Mart on Tuesday morning? Their website says it won't be sold in stores,you have to buy it on-line

I don't think Target will have it,either.Guess I'll have to go to Best Buy.

VinnyM27 said:

http://community.madonna....330&ac=new

Just in from shopping with the new DVD & I'm so disappointed with it, the video's have been compressed to fit so many videos on 1 disc. Awful, some of the fan made DVDs I have downloaded are better quality. Madonna milking her fans again : ( Embarrassing x

HARD CANDY OUTTAKE: "Bigger Than The World"

written by Justin Timberlake,here's his demo version:



The song was given to an artist named Esmee Dender,this is her final version



what do you think? Was Madonna foolish for letting this song get away?

SoulAlive said:

Is this really a HC outtake? Id heard this demo before, but never had any indication it was intended for Madonna? If so, then yeah i think she should have recorded it. There was a shortage of ballads on there.

^^Yep,it's a song that Justin and Timbaland brought to the 'Hard Candy' sessions for Madonna.It was fully recorded and mastered (just like "Across The Sky") with Madonna's vocals,but it's one of the tracks that got left behind.

An "insider" claims that another outtake,"Level With Me",produced by Pharrell,is a killer track that really should be released someday.

When I listen to the new tracks that appear on 'Celebration',I wonder why Madonna didn't just use a few of the outtakes from 'Hard Candy'.The best moments on Hard Candy (Heartbeat,Miles Away,Dance 2Night,etc) are much,much better than the two generic new tracks that Madonna came up with.

A promo being sold on ebay


Thailand promo CD: "Celebration" remixes

Madonna: 'Celebration', September 27 2009

By Nick Levine, Music Editor
Madonna: 'Celebration'

Sigmund Freud, analyse this: "Unlike the others I'll do anything / I'm not the same, I've got no shame." It's a couplet from Madonna's 1982 single 'Burning Up', probably the most obscure selection on her new Greatest Hits compilation. At the time La Ciccone was singing about her desperate plight to win over an impassive male, but 27 years later it sounds like a snappy summary of her entire career.

She hasn't quite been prepared to do anything - though she did kiss a black Jesus, Britney and Guy Ritchie - but Celebration portrays Madonna as anything but chicken. The music here is pop at its most varied and adventurous, cherry-picking elements of house, disco, electronica, R&B, soul and 60s psychedelia while rarely forgetting the importance of a big fat hook. She may have a fondness for rhyming "wait" with "hesitate", but Madonna also scored massive hits singing about child abuse ('Live To Tell'), teen pregnancy ('Papa Don't Preach') and S&M ('Erotica').

What isn't here, of course, could fill another disc and then some. It's easy to quibble with Celebration's tracklisting - where are 'Deeper And Deeper' and 'True Blue'? What happened to the ballads? How the hell did 'Miles Away' make the grade? - but everything truly vital is included. Fans will sneer at some of the edits, and the sequencing isn't always spot on, but it's hard to feel short-changed by a 36-track compilation on which half the songs could legitimately be called iconic. How's this for an opening quintet: 'Hung Up', 'Music', 'Vogue', '4 Minutes', 'Holiday'?

It almost goes without saying that most of the tunes are brilliant. Pop doesn't get more thrilling than the choir breakdown in 'Like A Prayer', more provocative than the moment you think she's going to drop the F-bomb in 'Erotica', or more moving than the first minute of 'Frozen'. Perhaps unsurprisingly, in such exalted company the two new tracks don't exactly sparkle. The title track and single is a perfectly serviceable slab of dancefloor candy, but 'Revolver' is the creative nadir of this entire collection. Suffices to say that it features the line "I'm a sex pistol, my love should be illegal" and sounds like Madonna channelling recent Britney. Shouldn't it be the other way round?

Still, the odd slip-up aside, Celebration paints Madonna as one hell of a popstar - a singer who transcended her lack of technical ability to impose herself on virtually any song, a songwriter with a knack for an ear-snagging lyric ("Romeo and Juliet / They never felt this way I bet") and a pop brain with, until recently at least, a seemingly bottomless well of ideas. Sampling Abba, for example, may seem obvious, but who else thought to do it? As Celebration proves, Madonna has always been unlike the others - though it's much more than a lack of shame that sets her apart.

Prime Madonna
Her Madgesty offers a ‘Celebration’ of hit singles and videos

By TYLER GRAY

Last Updated: 7:54 AM, September 27, 2009

Posted: 12:45 AM, September 27, 2009
IN the 26 years’ worth of videos on “Madonna Celebration: The Video Collection,” the global pop icon inhabits more memorable personalities than Sybil. The two-disc set of 47 videos (the companion to her newly remastered hits on CD), out Tuesday from Warner Bros., is a must-have for anyone who ever wore fingerless gloves, a fake lip mole, or a wedding dress to a nightclub.

“Thinking about them brings home the huge range of her work,” says William Orbit, her longtime collaborator and the three-time Grammy-winning producer behind “Ray of Light,” the seminal single in Madonna’s electronic trip. The one she’s still on. Her new single, “Celebration” is her 40th No. 1 hit, this time topping Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play Chart. Orbit is most fond of her more recent videos for “Frozen” and “Bedside Story,” though he concedes that the bubble-gum clips from the ’80s “certainly get better with time.” It’s the old vs. young Elvis debate for a new generation, minus the obesity and addictions.

Whether she was wearing a simple hipster skirt in “Burning Up” or flashing more mesh and fishnet than all of Hong Kong Harbor in “Lucky Star,” the fashion she defined in the early ’80s is today’s American apparel. Her gender-bending, crotch-grabbing, cross-burning, rule-breaking raunchiness were the source materials for the pop star playbook studied today by Katy Perry, Lady GaGa and the like. And at the height of MTV’s golden age, she embraced music videos like no one else.She mimicked Marilyn (“Material Girl”) and flippantly defiled the pristine white paint job on a Datsun 280z (“Borderline”). She starred in her own mini-dramas (“Papa Don’t Preach,” “La Isla Bonita”), and has been a power blonde, a sultry brunette and virtually every tint and temperament in between.

This $30 collection includes every phase — even her duds. The “Live To Tell” video, for example, features interstitial scenes from Sean Penn’s snoozer “At Close Range” proving she must have truly loved him once. “Get Into the Groove,” from her own vehicle “Desperately Seeking Susan,” on the other hand, has some classic images: Madge cooling her sweaty pits in a bathroom hand dryer? Check. Her dancing with that poet-shirted, Flock of Seagulls devotee? Check.Then there’s Madonna the blasphemous in “Like a Prayer.” “Pet Cemetery” director Mary Lambert provides the blood-weeping false idol and Madonna provides a sinfully titillating cleavage dance in front of a milieu of burning crosses. It’s as offensive today as it was in ’89.


Disc 1 deftly recaps Madonna’s button-pushing era. She dons a suit and grabs her junk for director David Fincher in “Express Yourself,” then straps on bondage gear (or goes au natural) in “Justify My Love” and “Erotica.”Disc 2 is a portrait of the artist as a grown-up disco diva. The fast-forward “Ray of Light” video is like legal Ecstasy. But awkward moments in her pop-culture history are strangely repeated. The video for the Grammy-winning tune “Beautiful Stranger,” written with Orbit, features Madonna making out with Austin Powers in his Union Jack-themed Jag, for example.


There’s plenty of genre-hopping, too. The country-ish “Don’t Tell Me” segues awkwardly into “What It Feels Like for a Girl,” a slice of ultra-violence directed by Madonna’s then-husband Guy Ritchie and banned by MTV in the US. One of the last high points is the leotard-and-parkour fest that is “Hung Up.” Time, indeed, has gone by so slowly for the impeccably toned Madonna.

CD - Madonna - Celebration

http://www.samesame....Celebration.htm
Reviews, By kozi_kozi_kozi, 21st September, 2009

Back in March, it was announced that Madonna would be releasing a definitive greatest hits collection as her final work with Warner Music. As the promotional tagline for the album suggests, Warner have compiled “34 songs that have changed the world,” along with two new tracks. Contrary to the unrealistic expectation of most fans – myself included – Celebration is aimed at a general music audience. As a result, requests for obscure tracks to be included, like Gambler, Hanky Panky, the Re-Invention Tour mix of Nobody Knows Me or the re-working of Erotica from the Confessions Tour are nowhere to be seen. In the end, the album compiles Madonna’s finest moments of her career with some small surprises thrown in.

The promotional campaign for the CD prides itself on the fact that the older material has been completely remastered, and as a result, some of the tracks have never sounded better. Open Your Heart and Into The Groove now have a freshness they have never had. Also, the stereo landscape in many of the older tracks has been expanded. Hearing Madonna ask at the beginning of Vogue, “What are you looking at?” and now having it pan from the left to the right channel adds a little something extra to the track after almost twenty years.

The changes aren't all for the best though. Express Yourself sounds terribly tinny, and should immediately be replaced with The Immaculate Collection version on anyone’s mp3 player. The compilation also includes some forgotten Madonna classics. Once ignored tracks like Everybody, Dress You Up and Who’s That Girl make reappearances, and it’s great to hear them again completely remastered.

It must be said that although this is more a compilation marketed for a general audience, some of the choices and omissions on the track listing are still rather strange. The inclusion of Miles Away over Give It 2 Me from Hard Candy perplexes me. And not including True Blue, Bedtime Story, Get Together, Jump or even American Life seem like rather large omissions when every track included on The Immaculate Collection, bar Rescue Me, makes an appearance here. There also isn’t much consistency in regards to what versions of songs are used on the two discs. Some tracks are the original album versions, which can run up to six minutes long, some are radio edits, and others are completely new cuts. It would have been nice if some of the longer tracks like Frozen, which runs at over six minutes, were cut down a bit to make room for some of the songs that were left out.

Madonna has entertained us all for decades, and Celebration is a great way to wrap up her career so far. Listening from start to finish, the listener is reminded just how great her work is. Yes, some of her newer stuff pales in comparison to her classic 80s material, and this becomes very obvious when it is mixed together, but the woman still produces music that is leagues ahead of her contemporaries. The two new tracks, Revolver and Celebration are also both great songs that are worthy of their place in Madonna’s cannon. Celebration wholeheartedly deserves its place in any pop music lover’s collection, and it is a great way to celebrate Madonna’s career so far.

Rolling Stone review of Celebration: 4 Stars

“What? No ‘Hanky Panky’? Is this some kind of joke? Given how obsessive her fans are, it’s a thankless task for Madonna to assemble a two-CD hit collection. But from the opening one-two of ‘Hung Up’ and ‘Music,’ two of her best ever, Celebration kicks off with pure bliss and never lets up. It’s a dizzying, nonchronological spin through the Madonna years, years it makes you feel lucky to be living through. Her hitmaking genius is unmatched and—with the new Eurocheese blast ‘Celebration’ and the Lil Wayne duet ‘Revolver’—undiminished. It’s almost enough to make you forget that they left off ‘Angel,’ which is just plain crazypants.” —Rob Sheffield

Madonna equals Elvis with 11 top-selling albums in Britain

Madonna secured her 11th number one album in Britain on Sunday when her greatest hits collection 'Celebration' shot to the top of the charts - equalling Elvis Presley's record.
The pop diva's collection of 36 hits spanning her lengthy career knocked Muse's 'The Resistance' from the number one position in its debut week, the Official UK Charts Company said.
The singer has now matched Elvis Presley's record of 11 number one albums for a solo artist in Britain, and is four behind The Beatles who hold the all-time record of 15 top-selling albums, according to the company, which compiles the weekly rundown.
Madonna also becomes the most successful female solo artist of all time in Britain with the most weeks at the top of the album charts - 29 - the most number one singles - 13 - and the most chart doubles for topping the singles and album charts simultaneously - four, the company said.
From AFP Via Yahoo! News

jazzfook said:

She isn't milking her fans again. A collection like this was overdue but the problem is she never gets it right! Ok, the track list is arguable but to have bad sound and picture quality! It's crazy that they stated they spent so much time working on the quality of this project and yet everyone makes it sound like it's very poorly put together. Everyone involved she be ashamed. Mostly Madonna because her name is on it and of course she will make money off of it, even with little promotion. Of course, Madonna is so in her own world, she'll never address this or anything else wrong with her work. Sad. When you're in a position like Madonna, you shouldn't be trying to lose fans!

Just went on Amazon. One review implied they pulled the videos off Youtube while another was a bit more specific calling it "Pixel City" if you are watching on a TV bigger than 19". That is really shocking! What's more frustrating is that none of the reviews posted even hint at this and only talk about how good or bad said videos are. This is really shocking for a major label in 2009! I still want them but I'm almost hoping they recognize these problems and take them off the shelves to make necessary changes....seems impossible since they would have done things properly before. Also, interesting that they claimed there was unseen footage in "Justify My Love"? Guess it's the bar blocking the woman's boobs.
[Edited 9/28/09 18:19pm]

They should have released her videos on Blu-Ray!!

US TV: The Late Show with David Letterman

Madonna will be making an appearance on US TV show The Late Show with David Letterman this Wednesday 30 September at 11:35pm EST.
This will mark Madonna's eighth appearance on the CBS program

rainbowchild said:

I think it speaks volumes that they didn't! They are proably waiting to actually have quality versions of the videos ready first! They would never hear the end of it if they released low quality videos on Blu Ray!

VinnyM27 said:

Its really awful. I picked my copy up yesterday and it is as bad as everyone makes out. Its most noticeable with the older videos, but there's no excuse whatever their age. The simple fact is they've been encoded to fit on single layer discs, when dual discs were clearly needed. The whole project is shoddy and shameful. You're right, madonna will never address this, but warners should be fucking apologetic. Someone should lose their job for believing that this was na acceptable product to put to market (both the CD & DVD).

CrozzaUK said:

Well said
[Edited 9/29/09 5:13am]

VinnyM27 said:

On my way to pick up my copies I really hope they have the DVD too.Don't really feel like running around to different stores.

SoulAlive said:

The good news about the DVD is that the audio is good. Im of a mind to actually rip the audio from the DVD in place of some of the audio tracks from the CD!

Got my copy. Paid an arm and a leg for it too thanks to the limited music shops in my area. The DVD will have to wait.

I can't find the DVD!! I went to Wal-Mart and bought the CDs,but they didn't have the DVD.I went to Target and they didn't have the DVD either! I guess I will have to go FYE,which is truly one of the worst record stores,but also one of the few that are still standing.

As for the CDs....I was blasting "Music","Into The Groove" and "Like A Prayer" in my car this morning Those three songs sound amazing,particularly "Into The Groove".Excellent remastering!

One question: why the hell did "4 Minutes" need a "single edit" at all?! The song is already very short...clocking in at barely 4 minutes! Likewise,the single edit of "Miles Away" is horrible.They take away the entire instrumental part at the end,which is one of my favorite parts of the song!!

I'l listen to the rest of it when I get home from work.

I got the 2cd format and the DVD. For the life of me I can't understand what people are moaning about as the quality of the videos. Yes, Lucky Star and Burning UP could be better and there are some bad shots in the beginning of I want You, but the rest are in perfect quality.

I just got the DVD!! On my lunch break,I went to FYE and it was on sale for $22.99.Great price! Too bad I can't watch it until I get home from work tonight.

So,I have the 2-CD set,the single disc and the DVD.There are rumors of a 4-LP vinyl set to be released just before Christmas.We'll see.


One complaint about the single disc: It contains a nice,fold-out poster (same pic as the album cover) but the credits are written on the back of the poster.It's part of the CD booklet,so you can't really hang it on your wall.The 2-CD set has a separate poster,which works fine.You can put it on your wall and you still have the CD booklet.

Glindathegood said:

That's good to hear.I'll judge it tonight when I watch it,but I know how some fans can over-react about things like this,lol.

SoulAlive said:

I didn't realize there was a poster in both CDs. It's Ok. More time should have been spent on the CD or even the booklet. It was great to hear so many gems remastered but there are some bad edits there (something about "Lucky Star" doesn't sound right). Still pretty great if not very redundant (almost pointless to put it on the Ipod).

I just bought the double CD at Target (didn't even see the single there) and was too lazy to drive to Best Buy to pick up the DVD, especially knowing that it wasn't on special anyway. Now I'll look into FYE (I regret canceling my FYE Card but I would have only saved like $2.00 and still had to pay $10 for the membership).
BTW, was the DVD in a CD type case or DVD case (or did they have both). I want the DVD case.

BTW, just went on Itunes and noticed that "It's So Cool" isn't a bonus track you get if you buy the special edition. In fact, while it's listed on the deluxe edition of Itunes, you can buy it by itself (it costs $1.29 but every track on there does!). Also, all the videos cost $1.99, so it actually is a kind of a bargin to buy the set!

I bought the DVD in the regular DVD packaging.They didn't have the digi-pack at FYE but that's fine with me.I don't like digi-packs anyway.