What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "like a virgin" cassette/cd 1984

a revisit
her second album
the one that made her a pop superstar
five huge-ass hits off this one and 21 million album sales
a very good album in terms of pop music
includes an excellent cover of Rose Royce's "love dont live here anymore"
nothing bad on here and three i love so album would rate 2.3
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fave wasnt even a single:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "true blue"  cd/vinyl  1986

continuing on with my chronological listen to all of her albums
her third here
this one cemented her as a pop icon selling 25 million copies of the album
half a dozen big hits off this one too from the controversisl "papa dont preach" to the mature ballad "live to tell"
theres a hint of 60s girl bands, motown, latino, pop, dance the ballad i mentioned
love five of the nine tracks, liking the remainder giving this a high ranking of 2.5
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

fave on this occasion:

[Music Head]

^^
my fav of hers

[CRAZY-HORSE]

^^
i think it would be mine also but there are two contenders from memory,
i guess i will find out when i get to them

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "like a prayer"  cd 1989

a revisit
her fourth studio album
still the pop/dance sounds of her previous albums but this one is more mature musically and lyrically  as she explores spirituality and darker subject matter
album is best known for its video for the title track depicting a black Jesus and was banned on numerous music shows.
and although it has a more sophisticated sound this one has three tracks i do not like, but thankfully has three i love.
i guess fans thought the same as me because this one sold a paltry 15 million copies LOL
a disappointing album compared to the previous one but still pretty decent as it scores 2.0
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fave:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "erotica"  cd, 1992

a revisit
her fifth studio album, but sixth if you count her "im breathless" OST for the Dick Tracy movie (that one will follow when i locate it in the box of cds)
this one, "erotica",  is full of that doof-doof-doof house/trance/acid-jazz type music
i must admit i do like half of the album but for me there is way too much filler, but maybe not when youre on the dancefloor, which i am not!
she does a fine cover of the old r+b/jazz classic "fever" but it is all too much of a muchness at 75 minutes of it
i guess that in her pursuit of pandering to the gay 'abcdefg' alphabet groups with this style of music that she alienated most of her audience with this one because it sold a miserable 6 million copies worldwide.
all up though, the album does make the passing grade with a score of 1.7 for me
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fave wasnt even a single:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "im breathless" cd 1990

songs from the movie, and inspired by, Dick Tracy starring Madonna and Warren Beatty
jazz, salsa, ballads, burlesque, boogie-woogie. all the things you would expect from a 1940s era album
only weird thing on the album is the closing track, "vogue" which has more in common with the "erotica" doof-doof album than this one
i really thought i would come away loving this album but i didnt
her vocal range isnt as expansive as that of Lady Gaga and she excels  in these period styles. Madonna is good but she aint no Gaga.
album would still rank a very good 2.2 from me which means...
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fave:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "bedtime stories"  cd, 1994

her sixth studio album
songs are fairly mellowed compared to other albums,
a few 'featured' artists
new sound, she tries to emulate the UK dance/dub/club styles here
im sorry, but it doesnt work, 
i mean, im glad she was trying different things but sometimes they do not work as intended
i guess 8 million copies sold and two huge hits means it worked, just not for me and its blandness
like a handful of songs, the remainder i couldnt care less for, album would rank 1.6 which means
I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

the biggest hit:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "ray of light" cd 1998

her seventh studio album
and we see a more mature Madge on this one
lyrically the songs are more of a personal nature
her vocals are refined with more range and control
i guess her vocal training for the "evita" stage show taught her those things
there was the birth of her daughter and the discovery of transcendental yoga/meditation, both of which would have strengthened her mentally and inner soul.
songs range from pop, dance, new age, world, electronica and ambient which make this not only her most ambitious sounding album but also her most eclectic.
loving half of the album and liking the rest, giving a score of 2.5, the same as 'true blue' but prefer it over that one overall
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

fav is just a masterpiece IMO

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "music" cd 2000

her eighth studio album
lots of the electronica-pop sounds on this one
and that makes it feel like a step or two backwards after the eclectic "ray of light" album
album did manage to sell a very respectable 11 million copies though
i like half of the tracks, dislike the other half but nothing comes close to her abysmal cover of McLean's "american pie"
i mean WTF, that is really bad, surely someone should have advised her that its not a good idea to turn an absolute classic in to some sort of dance song, i just dont get the reasoning nor can i fathom the need for it and for that song alone the album tips over from 1.7 to 1.6 pretty quickly which means....
I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

the title track: