{"id":40676,"date":"2007-12-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/im-breathless\/"},"modified":"2007-12-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2007-12-30T00:00:00","slug":"im-breathless","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/im-breathless\/","title":{"rendered":"I’m Breathless"},"content":{"rendered":"

Another year, another Warner Bros. movie tie-in. Hell, if Prince can do it (with 1989\u2019s Batman<\/i>), then so can Madonna. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

What her offering, I\u2019m Breathless<\/i>, <\/i>has is a sense of frivolity and fun. Like the Batman <\/i>soundtrack album, only a few of these songs would be featured in the actual movie for Dick Tracy<\/i>, while the others are inspired by the main characters and carry similar themes. Madonna may not be as pitch perfect on I\u2019m Breathless <\/i>as she was on the 1996 soundtrack to Evita<\/i>, but she is clearly having much more fun.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

To the trained ear, Madonna falters the most on the slow songs. She does a good job with the duet with Mandy Patinkin, \u201cWhat Can You Lose,\u201d but the much-touted \u201cSomething To Remember\u201d is a mess. The complex arrangement is a tough one for anyone to wrap their head around, making Madonna\u2019s attempt seem all the more awkward. And even though \u201cSooner Or Later\u201d won the Academy Award for Best Original Song, Madonna\u2019s performance of this song during her Blonde Ambition Tour was the point where audience members stopped paying attention to her (gasp, horror) and opted to take a bathroom break. I guess it\u2019s a good thing she passed on the leading role in The Fabulous Baker Boys<\/i> — the one that ultimately went to Michelle Pfeiffer. Even her glitzy Academy Awards appearance with Michael Jackson would turn into a nerve-wracking experience.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Songs like \u201cHe\u2019s A Man\u201d and \u201cBack In Business\u201d tell the listener all they need to know about the Dick Tracy <\/i>film. It is on loose songs such as these where Madonna sounds as if she is really having a ball, savoring the opportunity to do something different. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

As the vamping bad girl Breathless Mahoney, Madonna seizes the opportunity to chew up some scenery in pursuit of the big Dick himself, namely Dick Tracy <\/i>director and star Warren Beatty. There\u2019s even a rare guest vocal by Beatty on \u201cNow I\u2019m Following You.\u201d Though Madonna\u2019s relationship with him would only last as long as publicity for the film did, she made the most of an otherwise sticky situation. It was refreshing to see her try to sing in an entirely different style of music and push herself to excel with her acting ability.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The two standouts on I\u2019m Breathless <\/i>have got to be \u201cMore\u201d and \u201cVogue.\u201d It\u2019s too bad that \u201cMore\u201d ended up as a forgotten B-side, because Madonna\u2019s full-bodied voice is mighty impressive on this tongue-twisting Stephen Sondheim tune. At least it is included in the Dick Tracy <\/i>film. The same cannot be said for the after-thought addition of \u201cVogue,\u201d which is the only song on the album that doesn\u2019t feature orchestra accompaniment. As an homage to screen icons of the past, it is one of Madonna\u2019s finest musical works. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, critics weren\u2019t kind to Madonna when this album was first released. Many felt as though she was in way over her head, while others dismissed the material as being nothing more than a series of \u201ccutesy novelty numbers.\u201d I think far too many music critics need to come down off their high horses and make a serious attempt to enjoy <\/i>the music they are listening to. Yes, there are some disposable trifles like \u201cI\u2019m Going Bananas\u201d that should have been left on the cutting room floor, but the majority of I\u2019m Breathless <\/i>is positively swinging. <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Madonna\u2019s sassiness shines through and complements the big band orchestra quite well. Who could forget the hysterical Arsenio Hall interview where Madonna discussed her salacious lyrics for \u201cHanky Panky?\u201d The year 1990 certainly found the pop chameleon at her audacious and in-your-face best up to that point, and this is a big reason why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":29146,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5663],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-40676","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-madonna","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40676","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\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40676"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/40676\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40676"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40676"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=40676"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=40676"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}