"Into The Groove" has never sounded better than it does on this compilation And I like the way "Erotica" sorta segues into "Justify My Love".I think I'll be enjoying this set alot more than I expected.

has anyone figured out why they bothered to put the effort into creating new (very crappy) edits for some songs, while putting the 5 & 6+ minute album versions of others on there?



i'd really, really, really love to know what their thinking was.

i agree with Vinny about "Lucky Star". something is definitely off about it.
"Revolver" is kind of disconcerning. Madonna's vocals do seem to be muddled, or competing to be heard over the music. love the track just wish the production/engineering was better. Yes. the start of "Dress You Up" is horrific!the quality sounds better on some tracks it seems. almost as if there's too much bass or her vocals have been muffled. unless it's because of all the reviews i've been reading so i'm subconsiously looking for it. i'm going to check the bass and treble settings on my stereo. lol.
however it is a good compilation, in general. i enjoy it and will probably watch the videos tonight. i did pick up the single disc as well and DVD. i hope "It's Cool" appears on a cd single b-side or import version somewhere. not a huge fan of lazy music purchasing (i.e. downloading). so this compilation is NOT perfect, but compilations seldomly are. i think casual fans and hardcore fans will enjoy it none the less. i love the collages and artwork though.

errant said:

i noticed that too. i think they were trying to fit as many songs as they could, obviously. but the editing or rather butchering of some tracks was poorly thought out. WB's directions while putting this together was "We have approximately 70 minutes on each cd. Just make these songs fit."

CHIC0 said:

LOL well... it's just puzzling when there's 6+ minutes of Holiday and Frozen on there. Frozen already appeared as an edit on GHV2, so, uh... why the whole thing here? and since they were using TIC versions with other tracks, why not Holiday and save themsleves 2 extra minutes?

this whole thing is just one catastrophic clusterfuck from beginning to end

errant said:

Because the version of "Holiday" on TIC is abysmal! We went over that pages ago. They should've used the 7" Mix.

SoulAlive said:

Doesn't it though? I like how maost of these songs 'sound' so far, editing mistakes be damned.

errant said:

While I love the longer version of "Frozen" (the edit leaves me cold and not in a good way), it is unnecessary when you consider that you could have put "Deeper and Deeper" here or "American Life" there. The edit of "Lucky Star" sounds new and awful! Just another hits set with Madonna's strange indulgences (most of "Madonna" and "Miles Away") all over it.

Regarding the edits: sometimes they work well and sometimes they are horrific.Depends on the song.There are many songs that I prefer to hear the full-length version of ("Ray Of Light","Miles Away","Don't Tell Me",etc)..."Frozen" is another).I don't know how they figured out whether to use edits or album versions for certain songs.They totally butchered one of my favorite songs "Miles Away".That edit ruins the song!

xlr8r said:

Yeah I am pleased with the 'sound' of these songs so far.This CD sounds amazing in my car Not sure how much of it was really remastered,but I do know that certain songs have an improvement in the sound quality.I also don't hear any mistakes in the song "Music".I even played it on headphones and it sounds fine to me.

Moonbeam said:

For me,it will This set makes 'The Immaculate Collection' obsolete,since it contains all but one of the songs from that compilation.I also prefer the regular versions of "Like A Prayer" and "Into The Groove",as opposed to the versions they used for TIC.

This new set will come in handy when Madonna announces her next tour.That's the time when I will really listen to it.I always get excited about her old songs whenever there's a new tour on the way.

VinnyM27 said:

I agree,the edit of "Frozen" (on GHV2) leaves me cold.It's one of those songs that sounds best in its full-length version.I feel the same way about "Ray Of Light".When it is chopped up and butchered,it loses some of its power.Edits can be a good or bad thing,it just depends on the song.

The "Lucky Star" edit makes the song sound faster to me.Anyone agree? It sounds fast and rushed.

I'm watching the DVD now and it's so much fun going down memory lane with Madonna Watching the videos from the various Madonna eras.This is fun!

A few observations....


***This is crazy,but I have never seen the "I Want You" video before! I knew it existed,just never saw it.

***The "Into The Groove" video makes me want to pull out the 'Desperately Seeking Susan' DVD.I always thought it was a dumb movie,but the "Into The Groove" video makes it look much more interesting and fun than I remember it being.

***"Like A Prayer" is still as shocking and provocative as it was in 1989.A truly brilliant video.Who else would have the guts to do a video like this?

***Really lovin' the "Hung Up" and "Sorry" videos.I really loved the whole Confessions era (the album,the video,the tour,the 70s disco vibe) so it's fun to revisit that period.These two videos are fun and lively,perfectly capturing the vibe of the album.These are Madonna's last GREAT videos.

***The DVD includes a pull-out poster! It's the photo that's on the single disc cover.



I'm really diggin' this DVD!! I highly recommend it.
[Edited 9/30/09 2:57am]

CHIC0 said:

And this is exactly why 2 discs isn't enough.If this had been a 4-CD box set,space would not have been a problem.They wouldn't have had to create all these "fake" edits and cram them all together.

The Houston Chronicle...3 1/2 Stars out of 4

http://www.chron.com...ws/6641754.html

Madonna's Celebration is impressive

Madonna

By JOEY GUERRA Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Sept. 28, 2009, 6:10PM

Even with two discs and more than 30 songs, Madonna's impressive Celebration package is missing a few key tracks (True Blue, Causing a Commotion, I'll Remember, Don't Cry For Me Argentina).

It's a nice problem to have. (The companion double-DVD includes a whopping 47 videos.)

Most every song on Celebration defines a moment in time, a radio sing-along, a twirl under the glitterball.

It's a pulsing testament to Madonna's often-overlooked pop prowess, from the scrappy electro beginnings of Everybody and Burning Up to the retro-disco swirl of Beautiful Stranger and Hung Up, still a hands-in-the-air highlight.

(The unique CD artwork alone is worth the price.)

Celebration also marks the end of an era: It's Madonna's final release for Warner Bros, her label since 1982. She jumps to LiveNation for her next studio album.

It's impressive how well most of the old songs hold up, particularly ballads Live to Tell and the truly gorgeous Take a Bow. And including the slicker video mix of Express Yourself was an inspired choice. (The original album version featured more live instrumentation.)

The obligatory new tracks are more filler than truly fascinating.

Revolver is a generic, electro-pop tune that could have been recorded by Rihanna or the Pussycat Dolls. Lil Wayne's auto-tune rap adds little to the party.

Better is the title track, which doesn't break any new ground but finds Madonna where she's most comfortable — on the dance floor. It's also her 40th chart-topper on the dance chart, the most for any artist.

Celebration, indeed.

SoulAlive said:

It's a bit faster than the album version, but it seems to be at the same tempo as the Immaculate Collection version. Some review mentioned that this was an alternate Q-sound mix... I can't know that for sure, but I do know that during the second "Shine your heavenly body..." bit, the rhytm guitar is WAY too high in the mix, especially compared to the vocals.....
Even though I'm not happy about the remastering on this set in general, there are two notable improvements, not just the facts that they used better versions than on the Immaculate Collection. I think Into the groove has better EQ, because the synth-bass is now more balanced in the mix, as it should be. On the other hand, Like A Prayer now has the bass more prominent in the mix, which is great because I really like the bass playing on that track.

purplehippieonthe1 said:

Yeah,"Into The Groove" definitely sounds better than the version on Immaculate.It's louder,clearer...sounding fresh and vibrant.The synths and bass are perfectly balanced.

Listening to "Like A Prayer" on this set makes me wish that they would go ahead and remaster that entire album.

Did you get the DVD?

SoulAlive said:

No, I haven't gotten around to purchase it yet, since I'm stuck at home with some kind of flu . It sounds great to get almost all the videos in one collection (especially since I don't own the other 2 music video collections) but I don't get why they would censor the Justify My Love video, especially since it was advertised as it would be uncut and extended. And the negative reviews about the picture quality aren't very encouraging although it seems like the DVD has very good sound quality, judging by those same reviews. Then again, I don't have a huge TV (just a regular 29" tube TV) so I might not notice the video compression as much as the reviewers have.
[Edited 9/30/09 4:45am]

purplehippieonthe1 said:

Regarding "Justify My Love"....the rumor is,they had to censor it because Wal-Mart (and a few other stores) don't carry DVDs that have a parental warning sticker on it That may also be the reason why the original "American Life" video is not included.Warners didn't wanna hurt the sales in any way.

SoulAlive said:

If that's the case, then they should have had 2 versions: one "clean" for the Walmart folks, and another with the original versions for other stores in the US and for Europe/other markets that don't have issues with some female nudity.

purplehippieonthe1 said:

That would have made sense,but as you know,this is Warners we're talking about here They rarely use common sense anymore,lol.

I doubt they censored anything on the DVD for Wal-Mart, because 1) how often do you see music DVD's at Wal-Mart anyway and 2) Wal-Mart sells movies with boobies in them.


Also, for those of you that can't find the DVD at Target, try again. They've got the tall hard case version (not the digipak) for $19.99. but when I saw it, it wasn't with the new releases. it was on the "best sellers" catch-all rack where they kind of throw all the hot sellers and best deals.

SoulAlive said:

Now I was playing it on a normal 22 inch tv. Maybe the quality is different somehow if you have a gigantic theatre size screen. I'm not an expert on video. I also heard that it has NSTC format and so for people in Europe, it may not look right on their PAL player. But for me in the U.S. on a regular tv screen, it looked perfectly fine to me.

Are there slight variations in some of the songs? I don't rmemeber Music sounding like this.

Sorry if it was mentioned earlier in the thread and I missed it.

OK- short and sweet.
The DVD collection is a waste of money.
I have been a fan since 1983 and wanted this release to be great- fantastic videos, good tracklisting etc.

I will say that the audio is perfect- the restored sound makes all the older tracks sound shiny and new. And the menus were great with nice use of instrumental versions of certain songs for the tracklisting.

BUT the visuals are bad- the 80's tracks are great as they are mostly all in standard or the same size, which makes this essential up to Vogue. Then it's ghosting, VHS quality, noise on skin tones and muddy picture: I Want You, The Power Of Goodbye, Justify My Love and Secret look like they were recorded from the TV!
And incoherent ratio- having to change aspect/picture format with each video so that the visuals aren't squashed, stretched...which leave most of the videos computer monitor sized with a massive thick black frame for your enjoyment- just frustrating and distracting- disc 2 is a joke!
I compared certain videos with their Video Collection 93:99 versions and they make the Celebration videos look dreadful! How can this be?

I never usually complain about releases and have never returned a Madonna product before- no, not even American Life...but with this I feel short changed by the inconsistency, amateurish quality and disregard for the record buyers and will be returning my copy tomorrow and writing to Warners- no celebration!

I came very close to buying the DVD but chose to pick it up later. Now I don’t think I will. If they cleaned up the audio why couldn’t they clean up the visual as well? Why sell a DVD collection that isn’t up to snuff?

JackieBlue said:

I know I'm really disappointed...as I said, it sounds great- looks rubbish. They've compressed too much- maybe should of been a dual disc- tried to fit too much on one layer...it's more visible on the newer videos on disc 2, but it's the constant change of aspect that bugs the hell out of me...can't believe I'm returning it tomorrow- feels weird, but hopefully Warners will see a dip in sales and do something- just looks amateurish.

stevenpottle said:

I couldn't get it for any of the great prices either. My store wanted $36 for it. They let you return after opening it?

JackieBlue said:

Yep- they just normally reseal them and stick them back on the shelf if the disc is fine- HMV trick there

http://www.wmg.com/contact

Complain to Warners about the poor quality/constant change of aspect of the Celebration DVD and threaten to return discs.