SoulAlive said:

That wasn't an era, that was a revolution.

SoulAlive said:

Co- She was really pushing the envelope during this time.

Like a Prayer / blonde ambition era.

p.s. Aren't you guys really put off by Madonna after SNL this weekend? She just looked really idiotic and shameless. It was rather embarrassing. How much fame does she want?

Like a Prayer. I loved it when she danced in front of burning crosses.

musicjunky318 said:

these are my favorite Madonna albums, so I guess I choose this whole period

The Millenium Cowgirl was my ALLTIME fave era from Madonna.

I loved the first few years she was out. The sassy, "I want to rule the world" attitude. I loved when she cleaned up her look for True Blue, but wasn't a fan of that era per se. I LOVED the Like A Prayer era, the tour, the blond look, the dark hair at times, the music, the controversy.

It took me a while to let the Erotica era grow on me. I liked the sexuality of it, but it took me a long time to love the WHOLE album (still have a couple of songs that I dislike from that album), but I loved the tour. I liked the softer side of the Bedtime Stories era.

Ray of Light onward was weird for me. She really shifted in a lot of ways. I enjoyed that she was back down to earth after having babies and being married. I hated when she got overtly political, I HATE American Life album, and still do. But I understand her anger on it and where it comes from. I like the fun attitude of the Confessions time era.

I guess my fave era is Like A Prayer, and now in second place, Erotica tied with her early years.

ernestsewell said:

overly political? The Bitch has been political since day one.

ehuffnsd said:

Reread what I said. "I hated when she got overtly political", not political general, or "overly". When you pose on an album cover looking Che's daughter, THAT is overtly political. Talking about religious or sex or whatever...that happens in anyone's music. When she starts putting Kaballah chants in music, or whatever, it goes beyond experimentation to "shove it down your throat" status. Prince did it w/ The Rainbutt Children, did it some on 3121, Planet Earth.

ernestsewell said:

you mean not like putting images of the Pope and Regan behind her as she sang Papa Don't Preach during the Who's That Girl Tour?

ehuffnsd said:

I saw that tour in Philadelphia, and it wasn't nearly as political was throwing grenades, dressing in army gear, having war reenactments, flipping off the President (even though it was Bush, which most of us hated anyway), and calling out Michael Moore in the audience, citing him as a hero. So yeah...Who's That Girl? wasn't nearly as political as she's been since the 00's.

what year was it when she started kinda messing with trip hop. i like that era!

Madge has always been political. "Overtly"? OK, maybe during the American Life era, but she's always been like that, you always have to check the message behind the style.

Like a Virgin, True Blue, Erotica, Amercian Life and Confessions are my favourites.

baroque said:

She started w/ the electronica phase in 1998 w/ Ray of Light (released 3.3.98). Before that, her last full studio album was Bedtime Stories from about 1995 or so. After that, she had a ballad compilation, then EVITA.

ernestsewell said:

she started toying with Electro music with Bedtime Stories.

mancabdriver said:

Oh God, never a truer word, it makes my stomach feel 'funny'... and poor Lady Gaga!

Like A Virgin... the end! Oh, and I guess 'Vogue' was quite cool, at the time. Actually, I liked The Immaculate Collection?? too, so whatever year / era that was..!!
[Edited 10/5/09 15:41pm]

You forgot an obvious one! Blonde Ambition. While "I'm Breathless" by many is not considered a studio album, it's kind of hard to think of that era as part of "Like A Prayer". That's one of my favorites but I love "Erotica" and "Bedtime Stories" as well.

VinnyM27 said:

Well Like A Prayer was out in 1989. Dick Tracy was 1990, as was the ensuing tour. The Tour supported Like A Prayer (she performed almost every song on that album, sans the Prince duet, "Till Death Do Us Part", "Dear Jessie", and "Spanish Eyes" (and "Act of Contrition"). She only performed a handful of Dick Tracy songs, in one of 4 segments in the show. The whole two years was one big blond mind trips, one of her best. Like A Prayer was her Purple Rain.

ernestsewell said:

no promise to try either.

funkycat00 said:

me to...these are my fav era's from madonna

The 80s. From looking at the tracklist on her greatest hits it seems she realizes that herself. She's mostly ignored the Erotica/Bedtime Stories period. She was really lost in those years.

Her career can be summed up like this.

80s: Great
90s: Boring
00s: Dorksville

Jeffiner said:

That was a compilation of her 80s material released in 1990. It was all downhill from there.

ehuffnsd said:

Yeah. It wasn't quite the "Like A Prayer" tour. I see "I'm Breathless"/Blonde Ambition/Immaculate Collection (w/ "Justify My Love" as one period different from "Like a Prayer", which I mostly see as the strong album and it's videos standing on their own.

Anyone that frowns on the nineties is just bitter. There was nothing all that was weak released in that period! All of her albums were at least unique and exciting if not brilliant! I even dug out "I'm Breathless" and dug it's strong pop dance sound with a forties flair. And "Erotica", "Bedtime Stories" and "Ray Of Light"? Great writing and very adult. After that, I my apperciation for her waned a bit, I hate to say.
[Edited 10/5/09 21:43pm]

VinnyM27 said:

Yeah she did LAP, EY, OF, C, KIT just the singles off of LAP and off of IB she did HP, SoL, NIFY part 1 & 2 and Vogue. so both albums were equally represented on the tour.

VinnyM27 said:

You just love that period generally, but the fact is an awful lot of people lost interest in her during that Erotica/ Bedtime Stories era. It was all very ordinary. That was the thing that most struck me when I saw and heard songs/videos like "Secret". Just how ordinary they were. All midtempo downbeat stuff with nothing really special to distinguish it. The life was gone. The energy. Madonna herself doesn't seem to think much of her work in that period. She's totally shunned it on her new greatest hits.

And Ray of Light was pretentious as hell. Totally phony.

The less said about her recent work the better. Anyone who defends that junk doesn't really like music.

VinnyM27 said:

You can try to see that, but the fact remains that The Blond Ambition Tour was to support the Like A Prayer album, as well as promote the Dick Tracy movie. (She did the same double with True Blue and Who's That Girl? in 1987.)

"Justify My Love" wasn't anywhere near the B.A. tour, and was never performed in it. the B.A. Tour ended in August 1990 in France, and The Immaculate Collection wasn't released until mid-November. TIC really closed up the whole era, but also opened the door to Erotica, with the saucy "Justify" video. Justify was big through the early part of 1991, and Erotica was out just over a year later in 1992.

LAP/Dick Tracy/Immaculate is really one big era. LAP isn't exclusive to itself. Dick Tracy, LAP, and the tour were all very interactive, and a lot of cross pollination going on there.

midnightmover said:

If you're a Madonna hater, that's fine, but you're talking out of your bum here. The 90's were a shift in her music, just as it was for Prince, or MJ or whoever. Erotica is a very gritty and rough album, which is a huge juxtaposition from her more polished efforts like True Blue and Like A Prayer. The Girlie Show Tour was the BIGGEST tour she'd staged to that point. The thing, just in itself, was gigantic.

Bedtime Stories went back to an almost organic sound. Just because something is MidTempo doesn't mean it's boring. "Human Nature" got plenty of attention because it directly address the press fodder and middle America outrage for the SEX book. "Take A Bow" was a huge song (and one of two which she purposely used in videos to secure her role in the upcoming EVITA film; the other being "You'll See"). You couldn't get away from "Secret" when it was on the radio. There's a lot of little gems on that album, and it's still very personal with songs like "Inside of Me", and "Survival". In fact, the album, with people like Nelle Hooper's production on some tracks and Dallas Austin on others, fit perfectly in the genre's flavor of the time.

For me, Bedtime Stories was her last GREAT album. I only dug a few parts of Ray of Light, hated American Life, can take or leave Music (although "Impressive Instant" is fucking righteous to the Nth). She finally made a fun album again with Confessions on a Dance Floor. Not a HUGE fan of Hard Candy. I'd love for her to make some songs w/ Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard. They were her Jam and Lewis.

AlexdeParis said:

Confessions would be my second favorite era.The album,the singles,the tour,the 70s disco vibe.....I didn't want this era to end!

ernestsewell said:

Must you use childish words like "hater"? It's such a lazy way to avoid hearing the valid points someone is making.

Here are the facts. Madonna was MUCH LESS POPULAR in that Erotica/Bedtime Stories period than she had been before. Fact. Just compare the sales figures if you don't believe me. Here's another fact. Madonna herself has shunned that period on her new greatest hits album. She clearly agrees with me that it was not one of her better periods.

She was chasing trends at this time (something she has returned to in recent years). "Take A Bow" sounds just like a million other Babyface ballads. A fact you people like to ignore. Her lifeless cover of Marvin Gaye's "I Want You" is a pretty good snapshot of her reverse midas touch at the time. Taking a work of pure soul and turning it into the aural equivalent of a sleeping pill. Singles like "You Must Love Me" also sounded like they could be Disc Of The Week at the old people's home.

Also Madonna's voice turned bland at this time. The life and sass you hear in songs like "Papa Don't Preach" was replaced by a middle of the road sound that was only highlighted by her working in an urban format. Lastly, the melodies weren't as great anymore either. They were good, but not great. Nothing to compare to the great tunes she was handed in the 80s.
[Edited 10/5/09 22:52pm]