What do you think? I like the remixes -- I hadn't heard any of them yet.

"Your Honesty" seems like it should have been on "Like A Virgin". I like it.

'Your Honesty' is a Bedtime Stories out-take - pretty good!!
Was suprised how good the remixes are on this release too!!

oh man, i forgot about this release today. guess i'll have to pick it up tomorrow. is this her first remix album since 'you can dance'?

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

spotlight! open up your eyes and see...spotlight! shining light for you and me! HA HAHA HAHAHA! One of her cheesier songs...

purplegypsy said:

yeah, spotlight was not a high point! lol

i do love causing a commotion though!

I meant to get it but I have no money. Hopefully in the next couple days.

Yikes! Harsh. From AMG:

American Life was the rare stumble in Madonna's career, an album that garnered neither sales nor critical acclaim and failed to generate a hit single. Disarmed by its lack of success, Madonna scrambled to revive the success, first appearing in a Gap commercial with Missy Elliott, then causing a commotion at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards by french-kissing Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera as a prelude to a performance of her failed single "Hollywood," which did more for Britney than Madge, then finally she offered Remixed & Revisited for the 2003 holiday season. This contained four remixes of songs from American Life, the VMA performance of "Like a Virgin/Hollywood" with Britney, Xtina, and Missy, the Gap ad "Into the Groove"/"Hollywood" fusion "Into the Hollywood Groove," and then, finally and inexplicably, the Bedroom Stories outtake "Your Honesty." Even if the beats are a little dated, this latter track is the best song here, since it has both a strong hook and a strong sense of fun, something that was entirely missing from the somber American Life. It's missing from Remixed & Revisited too, since no amount of rejiggering can bring these moribund songs to life, particularly when the approaches of the remixers are as subtle as a jackhammer, whether it's on the metallic-flaked "American Life" by Headcleanr or the '90s-retro Nevins mix of "Nothing Fails." On all these mixes, Madonna sounds as if she's out of step with the music of 2003, and that's also true on the weird VMA performance, where she's overshadowed by Britney sounding exactly like early Madonna and Christina sounding exactly like Cher, before all of them are streamrollered by the rampaging Missy Elliott on the "Hollywood" segment of the medley. And matching the iconic "Like a Virgin" with the anemic "Hollywood" not only does the newer song no favors, it points out how lacking the American Life material is — a situation that is only amplified by its inclusion on this EP, where "Like A Virgin" and the Bedroom Stories leftover both prove that the newer material is substandard. Madonna will likely bounce back from this bad year, but no matter what she does, she can't salvage American Life. — Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Co-sign with this review. I like Madonna and her music, but the American Life material is indeed substandard. Like the reviewer said, the Bedtime Stories outtake outshines all of her newer material. Of course, some of the diehard fans here will disagree with me, but that's just how I see it.

jtgillia said:

I totally disagree with the assessment in this review. I could understand dissing the EP for being scatterbrained. I love American Life and think it's among her best work. So what if it's not fun. Music doesn't always have to be upbeat. What I don't understand is the inclusion of "Your Honesty". First of all it doesn't fit at all with the other material. Second of all, it's crap and shouldn't have been released. To me, positioning that song against the AL material just proves to me how much better Madonna is when she's being daring and bold. No disrespect though.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!!! :NOD: From begining to end!





MADONNA

I don't know! I didn't buy it but (because?) I listened to it all on a stream on AOL or something.

This sounds like the more commercial mixes of these songs, like the precision of the cymbal crashes on "Nothing Fails" are all predictable. I just wish people could get into the album versions!

They are alternate versions with whole verses (not dubs like everyone has said), but they seemed dressed up for a night on the radio?

New Timbaland And Magoo, and Missy came out today and I would have bought those instead (if I wasn't broke-ass).


-
[This message was edited Wed Nov 26 0:03:06 PST 2003 by CinisterCee]

TRON said:

I think the problem for Madonna is,people seem to like it better when she's just doing fun dance music.I mean,her last Number One single was "Music",a song which is not very big on lyrics.'American Life' is probably too serious,too introspective and too personal for many people to enjoy.But I agree with you,music doesn't always have to be upbeat.On 'American Life',Madonna was thinking some serious thoughts and singing some serious songs.It's all about evolving and changing.Some fans want her to do another "Vogue" or "Music",but there's more to life than dancing and having fun.

btw,I still haven't picked this up yet! It's been a hectic week,I'll have to buy it this weekend when I'm out Christmas shopping.

My criticisms for the EP are that I wish she'd left off "Your Honesty". Save that for the box set and release one or more of the numerous American Life outtakes. And better yet, make the remix EP like You Can Dance. Include a couple remixes each for the 6 singles from the album and fill up the disc. And then release a proper EP with 6 of the AL outtakes. I would've liked to have "Me Against The Music" on something too.

DavidEye said:

Same here.

TRON said:

i think making it a full length "remixed & revisited" album would have been better... a remix for each of the 6 "singles" and throw in 4 or 5 outtakes. save "Your Honesty" for the box set... or just keep it on the shelf. it's not that great. decent enough, but this isn't even as good as the substandard BS outtakes that have already been released ("Freedom" and "Let Down Your Guard")

I haven't picked this up yet, so I can't comment on the mixes. BUT, I will comment on "American Life".

I do think that this album is sorely lacking, especially when compared to her two previous albums ("Ray Of Light" and "Music", for those of you living under rocks for the past few years). That having been said, it is still a decent album, that grew on me with multiple listens. Sure, it doesn't come anywhere near ROL, but that's pretty hard to do (her best album, in my opinion), but songs like "Nothing Fails" and "Intervention" are incredible, both musically and lyrically. Madonna is entering a new phase of her life, much like she did around the time of ROL, and she's trying to find a direction for her music. With ROL, it came naturally, but this time it did not. So she didn't have an instant hit? So what? She really doesn't need to prove herself anymore. My hope is that she seeks out a new producer for her next project, since she's gone about as far with Mirwais as she possibly can, that will light the spark of creativity in her again.

Good analysis here, fellas. I think the AMG reviewer jumped on the proverbial, "ATTACK MADONNA WHEN SHE'S DOWN" bandwagon. There's great life in the remixes that are there, and like most of u, I think it should have been a full-on remix album, not an EP. The inclusion of the VMA and Gap ad I could do without. The VMA was most striking in its visual homage to the original VMA performance. Musically it's all over the place with WAY TOO much going on. Using the Gap related stills as the art work cheapens it, too. And "Your Honesty" is interesting, but I think it was best left unreleased. It sounds like in belongs on "Like A Virgin" because of the simple lyrics and melody. I am reminded of "Stay" or "Shee-bee-doo" when I hear it.

"American Life" is not a stumble in her career. It is a "commercial disappointment", compared to previous efforts, but it a great distillation of what she believes as an artist and as a person. How could that be a stumble? However, her response to the not so warm reception, i.e. incorporating the new material into a Gap ad, the VMA performance, and reaching out to Britney Spears, is a definite, and potentially damaging misstep. The first artist collaboration that really disappointed me was using Vanilla Ice in the "Sex" book, but she didn't take him into the recording studio -- or, if she did, at least they didn't record it.

That said, I can't wait to see what she does next!

DavidEye said:

Co-co-sign, TRON and DavidEye. Mass audiences definitely like to keep Madonna in the "Material Girl" mode, and don't want to hear her take on what time it is if it's not to a dance beat. Their loss.

Madonna can do whatever she likes, and make whatever kind of music she likes, as far as I'm concerned. I've enjoyed a lot of her more serious music and her ballads. It doesn't change my opinion that the American Life album was weak and I'd rather listen to so-so outtakes from Bedtime Stories.

TRON said:

I dont have any comment on the EP, but this guys reviews always suck.Notice that he describes Madonna's PR shenanigans in more detail than the actual music.

AMG is a fairly good resource in some ways , but I would NEVER take their reviews that seriously.

madartista said:

Agreed. The impact of the performance was all about the kiss and seeing the 4 of them together onstage. You don't get that from hearing the audio. She should've saved that for a video compilation and tried to include "Me Against The Music" instead.


I kinda like it.


Definitely not a keeper. It reminds me of a cross between "Keep It Together" and "Secret" but nowhere near as good as either.


This could prove to be true. When the album first came out, I loved how bold a statement it was. She seemed to be at a new level of understanding in her life and it came across in the work. She was reacting against materialism, fame, the industry, etc. And as soon as the album didn't take off, it's like she retracted her newfound stance on everything. She dyed her hair blonde again, made a GAP ad (which I liked anyway), and did a bunch of cheap stunts to get attention again. She should've stuck to her guns with this album and seen it through to the end. Release the "American Life" video. Go to Israel like she planned and film the "Nothing Fails" video. Give people a dose of reality when it seems like all we're being fed lately is escapist, happy-go-lucky bullshit. "American Life" was a very timely album with an important message, but she didn't seem strong enough to make herself the target of negativity. In the long run, it would've saved the project. I still love it though.

I Love Madonna and I totally DISAGREE with the Reviewer at AMG!

Madonna is not lost with the music in 2003, maybe he is!
Madonna's latest remixes are off the chain...and just because American Life didnt make it as a huge success was obviously due to the the first single taking a stab at war and how we as AMERICANS have no fucking freedom of speech, so those same ppl who dissed the DIXIE CHICKS, dissed MADONNA!

Because she was one of the few who was brave enough to say something about the reprecautions of war and how our stupid president is starting shit for no known reason!

The American Life LP and her performances to promote it were fantastic and I'm looking forward to owning a dvd copy of the American Life original edit and Live VMA performance!

ROCK ON MADDY!!!
and correction the newer track from Bedtime Stories...definitely has that sound of 1994 when the actual record was recorded...but still is on time!

TRON said:

you know, it just goes to show that if you piss anybody in the industry off, they try to get even. critics seemed poised to pounce on this even before it was released. perhaps because she knocks hollywood? perhaps because she spoke negatively about "america's war on terrorism"? who knows. but the album, even at worst, is still better than a lot of stuff out there. this review is obviously based in someone else's agenda. who cares. i'll buy it and i'll enjoy it.

imnotsayinthisjust2bnasty said:

i love it when you talk dirty JBS. YUM!

Is it possible that the reviewer just simply didn't like the CD? Give me a break. It's not like he's the only one. The Love Profusion remix is the only track I'd listen to more than once.

jtgillia said:

so, every single critic seems to agree that this album is shit...and this must be because it really is shit, huh? i hope by now, this far in the game, you recognize how the entertainment industry works. when you kiss everyone's ass and say all the right things you seem to be everybody's favorite. when you speak out against the industry (which madonna did) you suddenly get on the outs. in all of her years madonna has never had such an awful reception from radio, critics and the like. the album has sold over 5 million copies, so it must not be such an awful cd. the cd is as good as ray of light and certainly better than the music cd. so, other than my theory about the industry sticking together (prince, anyone?), why does the whole world hate the new cd...yet over 5 million have sold?

jtgillia said:

and here is where i obiligitorily point out that you like the LAV album, so what do you know?

jtgillia said:

the only problem is that he gave American Life a good review, and is now saying that it wasn't good, in the review of this disc. oh, and the star rating on the parent album has been lowered from what it was in April.

JediMaster said:

Very good analysis.I agree,'American Life' isn't as strong as 'Ray Of Light' but let's be honest,can Madonna really top 'ROL'? That album is like her 'Sign O The Times'...lol...but like you pointed out,she doesn't have to prove herself anymore.I think a new producer is what Madonna needs.I like Mirwais but I just feel that he's taken Maddy to the limit already,and it's time for some new blood.It might also be a good idea for Maddy to collaborate with several producers on the next album,so that there is more variety throughout (she did this with 'Bedtime Stories' and the results were fantastic).It'll be interesting to see where Madonna goes next...will she do another R&B-type album? Or maybe a hard-rocking heavy metal CD? Or a slower,ballad-heavy collection? Or,just a good old-fashioned pop album again? Or,most likely,a combination of all of the above??