I looked over a good amount of the countless threads dedicated to this album, but none of them quite convey what I'd like to share. A little background: I was born in 1986, the youngest of 3 siblings. Very early on in my life, I was listening to music, and quite frankly, the kinds of music I was hearing should not have been accessable to a 4 year-old. In 1992, my parents seperated. It was a pretty bad situation, and my pops moved out and lived about an hour from us. He lived in Seaside, NJ in a small apartment, and I remember being in the place and looking through this weird collection of cds that I even knew then my dad did not own! This, my friends, was the day I had access to Prince's music for the very first time, at a ripe age of 6 no less. Each cd had this person "Terri's" name written in the top left corner of each cd insert. Obviously this woman turned out to be my dad's new girlfriend, and she got word I was asking about the Diamonds & Pearls album since my first introduction to the man was the title track's video. Before I even met the woman and could form an opinion of my own of her, she told the old man to give me the record, and this copy of Diamonds & Pearls is still in my collection (she also had PR too, but I snagged that one later on once I really became into P's stuff). Sorry to get off topic, but you could say that she was the one that planted the seed and was the one responsible for me talking to you right now.

ANYWAY, if you were to ask my siblings and I about our first step-mother, we would all give you very different opinions. Since Im the youngest, she took me under her wing, and taught me a whole lot about being open to and appreciating all kinds of music. And looking back now, her cd collection was DOPE. Really eclectic, classic stuff (I also got Duran Duran's Wedding album and Bowie's "Changesbowie" compilation album too). About a year or two later, I was looking through the collection again and found "Erotica". I knew a little about Madge then, her performance of "Bye Bye Baby" at the 93 VMA's in particular. But what really caught my eye was the fact the album had the "dirty sticker" on it aka the Parental Advisory. Being as young as I was, having an album with that sticker was compareable to hiding a porno under your mattress. But you know what she did for me? Because she was so into opening my musical-mind, she RIPPED THE COVER OFF, told my dad the songs with the cursing were skipping, and she put that fucking album into my overnight bag to take home with me. It was one of the nicest things anybody has done for me, and I proceeded to play that album out pretty hardcore. The whole album just sounded so fresh and dark to me, and Madonna eventually turned out to be my very first crush (And I WILL get to that later). The pics of her in the album's booklet are still so sexy, my Lord. I eventually played the album out and it became just another one in my collection.

Skip a couple years to 2000, and Im a 14 year-old kid pumped with crazy hormones that would talk to any girl I could. I eventually hooked up with this girl that was getting into Madonna pretty majorly, and she didnt get to Erotica yet on her journey. Being the oppurtunist, I told her I had it and would happily give it to her (a decision I regret now), and Erotica enabled me to experience some....um, "firsts" with this girl. Great times.

Well, now Im 28, I havent spoken to my hook-up girl in forever, my step-mom and dad divorced in 04, and Im without an album thats pretty important to me. I recently started up a blog focused on music, and decided to do a 180 and reviewed "I'm Breathless" to shake things up. And it got me thinking about Erotica and how I havent listened to it in forever. It had me feeling pretty nostalgic and meloncholy. So I went on Grooveshark and got the whole album, and have been listening to it on the regular now for about two weeks, and Jesus Mary, its incredible!! Going back to it after acquiring seasoned ears has been amazing, and a good chunk of the album has aged beautifully, but not all of it. Her cover of "Fever" was my favorite on Erotica back then and still is now, and I forgot how soul-shakingly sexy it is. Her voice makes me shiver on it literally. And now that Im older and learned about the Sex book being released the same time as the album, the title track has become a little stale to me considering the nastiness she was doing in the book (the picture with the dog is STILL wild even for 2015's standards!). But "Deeper and Deeper", "Bye Bye Baby", "Bad Girl", and "The Secret Garden" are all just incredible songs that still sound relevant today.

Since Madonna looks upon Erotica with a little regret since it was over shadowed by the book, what do the serious Madonna fans on this forum think of it? Where would you rate the album within your favorites? Also, what do you think of her image during this era too? Because if you ask this 28 year-old heterosexual male what I think, Madonna never looked sexier and hasnt topped it. Before she chopped her hair off and looked like Lori Petty later on, she just had it really going for her during this era and while googling her photos of this time, Ill save you the details and just say I got pretty excited. And now that Ive re-acquainted myself with this cornerstone record from my earlier years, how do you feel when you look back upon it?

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[Edited 1/16/15 20:32pm]