xperience319 said:

hard candy had some great catchy tunes on it, i still listen to it.

Erotica is still her best work IMO.

Hope she mixes it up again for the next record and makes something very different.

oh and next WORLD tour, actually tour the WORLD as defined by Planet Earth, not just two contients all the time :/

Erotica is very underrated.

728huey said:

AlexdeParis said:

MendesCity said: Eh, those albums are both better than I'm Breathless, Erotica, Bedtime Stories, and True Blue to me.

I have to disagree with you there. American Life was probably her worst album, as the songs were mostly incoherent. If you look past the whole hype over her Sex book and the awful movies she did around that time, Erotica is actually quite good in retrospect. Hard Candy was a disappointment, but that's because it followed a really good album in Confessions On A Dance Floor. And she's not taking that long of a period to make another album; she released Hard Candy in 2008.

I'll take American Life over Erotica hands down. AL is a consistently good listen even if it doesn't have the hits she normally does. Erotica is 2 great songs, a few more good ones, and a lot of filler. Without "Bad Girl" and "Deeper and Deeper," it would be on the verge of boring me to tears. Hard Candy is a lot like AL, but it's even more fun.

Bring it MADONNA!! BRING IT!!!

SoulAlive said:

on another forum that I visit,fans are coming up with possible titles for the new album.This will be first post-Warners album so she needs a strong,powerful title.I like some of these:

MPowered (the title is "empowered" but with an 'M' at the beginning.Brilliant!!!!)

Lip Service

Inappropriate

Madonna Defined

M (Pharrell refers to Madonna as simply "M".It works as an album title....short and simple)

Bells & Whistles (signifying that the album pulls out all the stops)

Over The Top

LoveStyles

Contrary To Popular Belief

Metamorphosis

what do you guys think? I like the 'MPowered' title the best

Madonna 'MPowered'----the new album

Kinda like Bells & Whistles

But for real MPowered or M sounds best.

I hope so. Hard Candy was just so-so, with a couple of truly embarrassing tracks, and a hideous cover. She's Not Me is still the standout...

American Life suffered from too many repetitive rhythms, too dark/unnecessarily cynical lyrics and an awful production: the album sounds like a demo...

right now I think that HC, AL and I'm Breathless are her very worst albums...

If she finally releases a TRULY strong new album, hell it will be her very best since Ray of Light/Music... Confessions was solid, but I do admit that it was nothing special, just a collection of good dance/club/pop songs for the mid-00's that was a commercial success, but not an artistic/relevant success...

If her new album is good enough and she doesn't sound like Gaga's mother, people may not give gaga a second look afterwards heheheh

The woman does dance music best though, maybe she should give a trance vibe

AlexdeParis said:

728huey said:

I have to disagree with you there. American Life was probably her worst album, as the songs were mostly incoherent. If you look past the whole hype over her Sex book and the awful movies she did around that time, Erotica is actually quite good in retrospect. Hard Candy was a disappointment, but that's because it followed a really good album in Confessions On A Dance Floor. And she's not taking that long of a period to make another album; she released Hard Candy in 2008.

I'll take American Life over Erotica hands down. AL is a consistently good listen even if it doesn't have the hits she normally does. Erotica is 2 great songs, a few more good ones, and a lot of filler. Without "Bad Girl" and "Deeper and Deeper," it would be on the verge of boring me to tears. Hard Candy is a lot like AL, but it's even more fun.

I have very mixed feelings about 'American Life'.On the one hand,I appreciate the seriousness of most of it and the personal lyrics.On the other hand,I think the production is a little too laid-back and,at times,boring.Also,the lyrics are very preachy and self-righteous at times.

Madonna's best albums are 'Like A Prayer','Erotica' and 'Ray Of Light'.Those are her classics.

'Hard Candy' is far from perfect,but I had alot of fun with it.It's filled with hard,heavy beats,fun lyrics and a party atmosphere throughout.It's not a classic Madonna album but it's better than 'Music' and 'American Life',and almost as good as COADF.

xperience319 said:

hard candy had some great catchy tunes on it, i still listen to it.

I still listen to "Miles Away" all the time.I don't think I'll ever get tired of that song

xperience319 said:

Erotica is still her best work IMO.

With most of my other favorite artists,I can easily pick a favorite album by them.But with Madonna,I truly can't decide if 'Erotica' or 'Ray Of Light' is my favorite.I think I love both albums equally.

xperience319 said:

oh and next WORLD tour, actually tour the WORLD as defined by Planet Earth, not just two contients all the time :/

When she begins planning the next tour,she should do something completely different.Do not bring Jamie King back! Start over with somebody else.Have only six dancers,a kickass band and two backup singers who are actually a part of the show.Rely less on theatrics and focus more on the music.

My favourites are Like a Virgin, True Blue, Erotica, American Life, Confessions on a Dancefloor

badujunkie said:

I don't think it has to do with HC being a 'turkey' - yes it was her 2nd lowest selling soundscan total, but it is a new era where 300k - 500k is considered GOOD for CD sales - i think HC did what, 700k in the US - plus it did hit number one in 3902029393 countries and '4 Minutes' was one of her biggest selling singles since...ever?

'Hard Candy' was far from a flop.I always say that,these days,"gold" is the new platinum and not only did "4 Minutes" become her most successful single since "Vogue",but the tour based on this album was her most successful tour.

Timmy84 said:

It's not too long. I've followed her career save for the first five years of it and it's always been a 2, 3, sometimes 4 year process. "Ray of Light" took four years to come out. And yeah I'm sure she's patient because of who's on the charts right now so no rush. Legends don't rush lol

not you too , say it isn't so

SoulAlive said:

When she begins planning the next tour,she should do something completely different.Do not bring Jamie King back! Start over with somebody else.Have only six dancers,a kickass band and two backup singers who are actually a part of the show.Rely less on theatrics and focus more on the music.

I agree 100%. As far as theatrics it's all been done already,you can't really blow people's minds with that anymore. It's time to scale back and really focus on the music.

I like Hard Candy better now in retrospect than I did when it came out. It's a funky collection of glossy dance/R&B pop songs.

I also think 'American Life' is way underrated; I like the dark, demo-like quality of it. It's got some great tunes, and a raw, underground feel to it.

Looking forward to hear and see what she comes up with next.

AlexdeParis said:

I love Hard Candy.

Me too!

Glindathegood said:

SoulAlive said:

When she begins planning the next tour,she should do something completely different.Do not bring Jamie King back! Start over with somebody else.Have only six dancers,a kickass band and two backup singers who are actually a part of the show.Rely less on theatrics and focus more on the music.

I agree 100%. As far as theatrics it's all been done already,you can't really blow people's minds with that anymore. It's time to scale back and really focus on the music.

I don't see her scaling back the production value. it's what she DOES - each tour has to be 'bigger' and 'badder' than the last (though to me the producion of Confessions tour was way sicker / doper / harder than the bullshit wack ass S&S. god that tour sucked).

I think she will up the ante by doing even bigger sets and visuals, but i just wish she wouldn't rely so damn much on video screens! in a drownedmadonna interview i remember the set designer of DWT saying that reinvention looked so 'flat' compared to DWT because of all the video used. I thought the videos being the set was novel back in 2004 when she first did it, but it has grown tiresome. not every concert needs to be opened with some spoken - ass techno intro with a bunch of sadistic images of the bitch! and that candy factory shit...don't even get me started.

i think scale back the video, bring more of a live 'band' feel and yes, fewer dancers and more musicians/vocalists. BRING BACK NIKI AND DONNA! and she should just have the lights dim, walk out on stage solo and open with a ballad, a capella. that would be shocking.

peppeken said:

Madonna is taking her time is because she is an independent artist now (and I say "independent" loosely due to the Live Nation situation). She is no longer a "slave" or an "indentured servant" with a major label. When it comes to recording, she has absolutely no time limits OR deadlines to meet whatsoever.

badujunkie said:

Glindathegood said:

I agree 100%. As far as theatrics it's all been done already,you can't really blow people's minds with that anymore. It's time to scale back and really focus on the music.

I don't see her scaling back the production value. it's what she DOES - each tour has to be 'bigger' and 'badder' than the last (though to me the producion of Confessions tour was way sicker / doper / harder than the bullshit wack ass S&S. god that tour sucked).

I think she will up the ante by doing even bigger sets and visuals, but i just wish she wouldn't rely so damn much on video screens! in a drownedmadonna interview i remember the set designer of DWT saying that reinvention looked so 'flat' compared to DWT because of all the video used. I thought the videos being the set was novel back in 2004 when she first did it, but it has grown tiresome. not every concert needs to be opened with some spoken - ass techno intro with a bunch of sadistic images of the bitch! and that candy factory shit...don't even get me started.

i think scale back the video, bring more of a live 'band' feel and yes, fewer dancers and more musicians/vocalists. BRING BACK NIKI AND DONNA! and she should just have the lights dim, walk out on stage solo and open with a ballad, a capella. that would be shocking.

I would love for her to scale back a little.Put together a kickass band,get fewer dancers,and get two fantastic backup singers that we actually SEE.Remember that amazing band that she had on the 'Girlie Show'?? Those guys were great,especially the drummer Omar.They took those songs to new heights!! Her recent tours rely too much on pre-recorded music and the band plays a secondary role.I want a tour that's focused more on the MUSIC.

I agree with you....bring back Niki and Donna!!! Those ladies were great.Madonna liked them alot,which is why she didn't hide them at the back of the stage.She made them part of the show.Remember the incredible version of "Holiday" on the DWT? I want more moments like that!

Make the setlist more exciting.How about some rare stuff that never gets performed? "Causing A Commotion"....."The Look Of Love"....."Dress You Up"..."Spotlight"...."Angel".And no,I don't want 'techno-ized' remixes of these songs.Perform with them with the band,funk it up a bit and make these songs SIZZLE!

And as I said before....don't bring Jamie King back! Let's have a totally different production with different themes and fresh ideas.

SoulAlive said:

M (Pharrell refers to Madonna as simply "M". It works as an album title....short and simple)

I think that's how Michael Jackson referred to her also.

TonyVanDam said:

peppeken said:

Madonna is taking her time is because she is an independent artist now (and I say "independent" loosely due to the Live Nation situation). She is no longer a "slave" or an "indentured servant" with a major label. When it comes to recording, she has absolutely no time limits OR deadlines to meet whatsoever.

I think she feels less pressure now.She has more time to do other projects,like the movie and the chain of gyms.I always say that an artist shouldn't make an album unless they're truly inspired and have something new to say.

SoulAlive said:

catpark said:

isnt she busy making a film?

She has spent most of last year directing and filming a new movie called 'W.E'. which is due this summer.Her manager has confirmed that she has also started writing songs and listening to demos.I predict she will start recording the new album in the summer and release it by December or early 2012.

Why do I have the feeling that reviews for this are going to be brutal ?

^^ Oh yeah,the reviews will be brutal the critics weren't kind to the last movie she directed.

but ya know....directing is something that she really wants to do,and I say go for it.She's at that stage where she's accomplished so much and made so much money,she can afford to pursue other interests,even if it's not successful.

NoVideo said:

I like Hard Candy better now in retrospect than I did when it came out. It's a funky collection of glossy dance/R&B pop songs.

I also think 'American Life' is way underrated; I like the dark, demo-like quality of it. It's got some great tunes, and a raw, underground feel to it.

Looking forward to hear and see what she comes up with next.

yeah I love the vibe and energy of Hard Candy, it was a fun era

I also agree about American Life, I fell in love with the album the minute I heard it, definitely her best in years, I thought at the time. Though Ray of Light was more mature and had a classic feel to it, I preferred the rawness of American Life.

SoulAlive said:

^^ Oh yeah,the reviews will be brutal the critics weren't kind to the last movie she directed.

but ya know....directing is something that she really wants to do,and I say go for it.She's at that stage where she's accomplished so much and made so much money,she can afford to pursue other interests,even if it's not successful.

Wow, I didn't even know that existed.

I'm sure if she took every critics advice, she'd never have left Detroit. She can definitely afford to do whatever the fuck she wants. At least she's obviously trying.

yep

AlexdeParis said:

I love Hard Candy.