The most recent chapter of Madonna’s evolution (or devolution)
\nis
\nAmerican Life<\/i>. No one has approached her level of worldwide
\nchart consistency with singles and albums since she willed her way
\non to the scene way back in 1983 with “Lucky Star.” Consider that
\nnearly every solo female star or female-dominated group lists her
\nas a major influence both musically and as a self-made icon. If you
\ndoubt me, read up on Britney Spears, Kylie Mynogue, Pink, etc. The
\nonly active commercial star that could claim that status for the
\npast 20 years is Michael Jackson, but his star has dimmed greatly
\nas the result of various celebrity-killing forms of controversy and
\nplain unapproachable weirdness. Queen Madonna has no peers, only
\nsome jesters that keep her chair warm for short periods of
\ntime.<\/p>\n
After
\nMusic<\/i>, I had no idea what to expect. Her career has never
\nlost its luster because it’s been consistently changing, while
\nusually striking the appropriate chord. Madonna has always been
\ncalculating, but is also a committed and brilliant business
\nperson\/market forecaster. Considering that she is a London resident
\nand her CD is titled
\nAmerican Life<\/i>, an anarchist’s approach is perceived.<\/p>\n
Madonna was so confident in her albums that hit singles like,
\n“Crazy For You,” “Into the Groove” and “Beautiful Stranger” were
\nomitted. Before listening to the record, I noticed the inclusion of
\n“Die Another Day.” This was the first song she has included on an
\nalbum that was initially featured on a movie soundtrack and then on
\nan original studio recording. Interesting…<\/p>\n
The album as a whole reveals an underwhelming lack of effort. In
\na career that featured at least five or six immediate standout
\ntracks on each album, this one had three; “Like A Virgin”-esque
\n“Hollywood,” the heavenly Latin-tinged acoustics of “Intervention,”
\nand the haunting, ambient and revealing “X-Static Process.” The
\nrest of the titles are left-handed attempts at a milder Music with
\nblatant retro appeal, which includes the scattershot dance pop of
\n“American Life.”<\/p>\n
My impression is that this should be Madonna’s last complete
\nstudio offering. With
\nAmerican Life<\/i>, she has gone full circle. She revisits old
\nsounds, but the lone ‘breakthrough’ was that this was a synth-pop
\nrecord enhanced with modern technology. Sure, it crosses genres at
\ntimes, but it’s only a hiccup.<\/p>\n
\nAmerican Life<\/i> is Madonna’s least ambitiously realized
\nrelease of her career (outside of
\nDick Tracy<\/i>). For the 1st time in her career, there was no
\nnoticeable expansion of her music and content. She is content to
\nretread and play to the pop radio-listening public. As a result,
\nher general lack of artistic effort left me disappointed.<\/p>\n
Fans holding on to the pipe dream that Madonna is still at her
\nprime, may point to her lyrics. My response is that Madonna is
\ncertainly no Morrissey. They spew out of her diary like the aimless
\nprose of an eight-year-old child. There is no sense of storytelling
\nor humor, and the results are internalized as the depressed
\nramblings of a financially wealthy middle-aged fallen idol.<\/p>\n
To paraphrase Sylvester Stallone (Screenwriter,
\nRocky III<\/i>): Madonna, this is not 1983. Back then, you were
\nyoung, hip and had the verve of a flesh-eating and crapping beast.
\nNow look at you; you’ve gone civilized. There’s no going back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":39,"featured_media":26469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5663],"rating":[11204],"class_list":["post-37705","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-madonna","rating-rating-c-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37705","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/39"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37705"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37705\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37705"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37705"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37705"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}