October 2010
1 post
3 tags
Deeper and Deeper
Albums: Erotica (1992), GHV2 - Greatest Hits Volume 2 (2001)
Songwriters: Madonna/Shep Pettibone/Tony Shimkin
Producers: Madonna/Shep Pettibone
“‘Deeper and Deeper,’ from the same album, lowered some of the upturned noses caused by the ‘Erotica’ single. But they were soon raised again when they discovered that the track was about a miner coming to terms with his...
September 2010
1 post
6 tags
Erotica
Albums: Erotica (1992), GHV2 - Greatest Hits Volume 2 (2001), The Confessions Tour (2007), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Madonna/Shep Pettibone/Tony Shimkin
Producers: Madonna/Shep Pettibone
Contains samples of “Jungle Boogie” by Kool & the Gang, and “El Yom ‘Ulliqa ‘Ala Khashaba” by Fairuz
“In a sense, Erotica was the biggest one of her career....
May 2010
1 post
4 tags
This Used to Be My Playground
Albums: Barcelona Gold (1992), Something to Remember (1995)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Shep Pettibone
The main reason why Madonna’s non-album tracks are so forgettable is, simply, because her instinct for self-editing is generally so spot-on. Naturally, there are plenty of examples from periods where she was overflowing with great material - but for each Into the Groove or Crazy for...
April 2010
3 posts
1 tag
After eight months writing Iconography, I present to you the track-by-track review of the ENTIRE Immaculate Collection… I can only hope it’s as rewarding to read as it was to write.
See you soon in 1992!
2 tags
Rescue Me
Album: The Immaculate Collection (1990)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Shep Pettibone
Even if it was the final track on end-of-an-era the Immaculate Collection, Rescue Me remains one of Madonna’s more forgotten singles. Peaking at #9 on the Billboard charts due to a commercial release after much of its radio airplay, and with a post-Blond Ambition/Dick Tracy Madonna too overcommitted to...
3 tags
Justify My Love
Albums: The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Lenny Kravitz/Ingrid Chavez, additional lyrics by Madonna
Producers: Lenny Kravitz/André Betts
“But, if you really want to raise eyebrows, try telling a Madonna fanatic that you’re a huge fan of her Dark Era, a period that runs roughly from the release of The Immaculate Collection in 1990 to her disastrous...
January 2010
2 posts
3 tags
Hanky Panky
Album: I’m Breathless - Music from and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
How do you follow a career watershed, let alone one of the greatest singles of all time? In the case of Vogue, by not changing your plans one bit. It would’ve been bleedingly obvious - to Madonna, to Warner, to everyone - that Hanky Panky is nowhere near...
6 tags
Vogue
Albums: I’m Breathless - Music from and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy (1990), The Immaculate Collection (1990), I’m Going to Tell You a Secret (2005), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Shep Pettibone
vogue /voʊg/
–noun
1. Popular acceptance or favour; popularity:
March 20, 1990: Madonna releases Vogue; until Hung Up tops the charts of over 45 countries in 2005,...
November 2009
5 posts
2 tags
Keep It Together
Album: Like a Prayer (1989)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Stephen Bray
As the final single from Like a Prayer, Keep It Together - like Oh Father, unreleased in the UK - never quite managed the zeitgeist-level impact of the album’s first three singles. For where True Blue felt more like a collection of massive, individually brilliant singles, the Madonna on Like a Prayer subdued her...
2 tags
Dear Jessie
Album: Like a Prayer (1989)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
The question I believe everyone asks themselves upon hearing Dear Jessie for the first time is “…why?” If the greatest sex symbol (and so much more) of the ’80s wanted to prove once and for all her mettle as a serious adult artist, why did she write and release a kids’ lullaby? Why, on Like...
3 tags
Oh Father
Albums: Like a Prayer (1989), Something to Remember (1995)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
“‘Oh Father’ is not just me dealing with my father. It’s me dealing with all authority figures in my life.”
“Does that include God as well? You say, “Oh Father, I have sinned.”
“Absolutely.”
- Madonna, in a 1989 interview with...
4 tags
Cherish
Albums: Like a Prayer (1989), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
“Don’t underestimate my point of view…”
As an album, Like a Prayer is often lauded for its incredible diversity - but rarely is it remarked upon how plain odd its sequencing is. This is an album that delights in its jarring transitions -...
4 tags
Express Yourself
Albums: Like a Prayer (1989), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Stephen Bray
“Come on, girls! Do you believe in love? ‘Cause I got something to sing about it, and it goes something like this…”
N.W.A., the seminal hip-hop act and pioneers of gangsta rap outrage, have a lot more in common with Madonna than you’d...
October 2009
7 posts
5 tags
Like a Prayer
Albums: Like a Prayer (1989), The Immaculate Collection (1990), I’m Going to Tell You a Secret (2005), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
How strange that a work as immense as Like a Prayer begins with guitar by none other than Prince, the consummate pop artist - and almost immediately, the sound of a door slamming shut. In that single second of sound lies...
2 tags
Spotlight
Album: You Can Dance (1987)
Songwriters: Madonna/Stephen Bray
Producer: Stephen Bray
Spotlight resembles Everybody via Stephen Bray’s more recent drum machine/synth bass sound - Madonna’s roots, but not as flawless as you remember them. It was originally recorded during the sessions for True Blue, though left off the album for obvious reasons. Madonna’s innate ability for...
2 tags
The Look of Love
Album: Who’s That Girl (1987)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
For a such a commonly titled song, Madonna’s take does at least offer something a little different. Unlike her other contributions to the Who’s That Girl soundtrack, The Look of Love actually sounds like part of the score - Madonna could well be singing over what was previously just the moody...
2 tags
Causing a Commotion
Album: Who’s That Girl (1987)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Stephen Bray
In2 the Groove. It has to be said - in the same key, with the referential “and get into the groove” lyrics, you can even sing one over the other and they’ll fit together perfectly. The thinly veiled calculation behind Madonna and Stephen Bray essentially rewriting the vastly successful Into the...
3 tags
Who's That Girl
Albums: Who’s That Girl (1987), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
To me, the entire Who’s That Girl era (tour excluded) is one of the few phases in Madonna’s career where she was more regressive than forward-thinking. Though popular enough to warrant inclusion on Celebration (but not on the Immaculate Collection, thankfully), it’s hardly...
5 tags
La Isla Bonita
Albums: True Blue (1986), The Immaculate Collection (1990), The Confessions Tour (2007), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Madonna/Patrick Leonard/Bruce Gaitsch
Producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
“[Madonna] is super great at bastardizing other people’s heritages in the sexiest, most gap-toothed way possible…”
- Cracked.com: partly true, partly completely inaccurate...
4 tags
Open Your Heart
Albums: True Blue (1986), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Madonna/Gardner Cole/Peter Rafelson
Producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
“Determined” is starting to become a seriously overused word here, but indulge me one last time - for Open Your Heart genuinely represents Madonna’s determination at its strongest. “You make me wanna hang my...
September 2009
9 posts
2 tags
True Blue
Album: True Blue (1986)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Stephen Bray
One can’t help but feel sorry for True Blue. Title tracks rarely get this short-changed - only performed on a single tour, never even released on a compilation… Its relative obscurity really is a shame - despite lacking the sheer power of the album’s other four singles, its light, girl-group feel is a natural...
4 tags
Papa Don't Preach
Albums: True Blue (1986), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Brian Elliot, additional lyrics by Madonna
Producers: Madonna/Stephen Bray
Just who exactly is Brian Elliot? No biographical information seems to exist, and his work - a 70s AOR album, Papa Don’t Preach and a ’90s Chris Isaak cowrite, no more - doesn’t even merit his own Wikipedia...
6 tags
Live to Tell
Albums: True Blue (1986), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Something to Remember (1995), The Confessions Tour (2007), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Patrick Leonard
“I have a tale to tell…”
Pop has always been seen as music made for the youth, by the relative youth. Whilst the popstar of the moment can get by on exuberance alone, as they grow older, the...
2 tags
Gambler
Album: Vision Quest (1984)
Songwriter: Madonna
Producer: John “Jellybean” Benitez
In a parallel universe, after Gambler became her sixth UK top ten single in 11 months, one Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone took her success for granted. Growing complacent, she released one similar crowd-pleasing single after another, eventually oversaturating the market and fading into the...
3 tags
Dress You Up
Albums: Like a Virgin (1984), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Andrea LaRusso/Peggy Stanziale
Producer: Nile Rodgers
Proving once again that the outside contributions were, somewhat unfortunately, Like a Virgin’s best tracks, Dress You Up is - as any true Madonna fan will tell you - an overlooked classic. It sounds like the aural equivalent to Madonna’s onstage costumes for the...
6 tags
Into the Groove
Albums: Like a Virgin (1985 reissue), You Can Dance (1987), The Immaculate Collection (1990), I’m Going to Tell You a Secret (2007), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters/producers: Madonna/Stephen Bray
It’s widely recognised that a song better expressing the pure joy of song and dance simply does not exist. The eponymous groove is just massive - the complex, busy drum machine grounds the...
2 tags
Angel
Album: Like a Virgin (1984)
Songwriters: Madonna/Stephen Bray
Producer: Nile Rodgers
You know, I literally never realised until I started writing this review, but face it - Madonna and Stephen Bray never wrote that many great songs together. Sure, Express Yourself and Into the Groove (outside the UK, bizarrely relegated to the b-side of Angel) are masterpieces, but ultimately their...
5 tags
Crazy for You
Albums: Vision Quest (1985), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Something to Remember (1995), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: John Bettis/Jon Lind
Producer: John “Jellybean” Benitez
Madonna’s one and only power ballad, and thankfully it’s pure class. The first of her many great soundtrack contributions, it was written for the film Vision Quest and in fact recorded...
4 tags
Material Girl
Albums: Like a Virgin (1984), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Peter Brown/Robert Rans
Producer: Nile Rodgers
Material Girl is a classic case of that “she sings it, so she must believe it” misinterpretation. Many confused a satirical exaggeration of what people thought pop starlets were like for a brutally, yet somehow charmingly honest admission...
August 2009
7 posts
5 tags
Like a Virgin
Albums: Like a Virgin (1984), The Immaculate Collection (1990), The Confessions Tour (2007), Celebration (2009)
Songwriters: Billy Steinberg/Tom Kelly
Producer: Nile Rodgers
The only conceivable explanation is that this is where the fates aligned. Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly write a song with lyrics sincere yet easily misinterpreted as risqué, which is by chance passed on to a woman on the...
5 tags
Lucky Star
Albums: Madonna (1983), The Immaculate Collection (1990), The Confessions Tour (2007), Celebration (2009)
Songwriter: Madonna
Producer: Reggie Lucas
Easily the best of the dance songs on her first album. The minimal, rhythmic production is perfect - but more importantly, Madonna was a damn good songwriter. Lucky Star is basically one massive hook from start to finish - especially in the...
4 tags
Borderline
Albums: Madonna (1983), The Immaculate Collection (1990), Celebration (2009)
Songwriter/producer: Reggie Lucas
Easily the highlight of Madonna’s first album - not quite dance but certainly too fast to be a ballad, Borderline’s dance/pop/soul hybrid of styles is about as stylistically universal as pop music gets. Simply, the songwriting and production are strong enough that only the...
6 tags
Holiday
From the album Madonna (1983)
Featured on You Can Dance (1987), Ciao Italia: Live from Italy (1988), The Immaculate Collection (1990), The Girlie Show ~ Live Down Under (1994), Drowned World Tour 2001, I’m Going to Tell You a Secret (2006), Celebration (2009)
Written by Curtis Hudson/Lisa Stevens
Produced by John “Jellybean” Benitez
Madonna’s first big hit and...
3 tags
Burning Up
From the album Madonna (1983)
Featured on Celebration (2009)
Written by Madonna
Produced by Reggie Lucas
Now, this is really something. Though it was left off the Immaculate Collection, Burning Up is the perfect summary of Madonna’s artistic intent and musical ability whilst still a rising star. Even without Monte Pittman’s shredding on the 2004 Re-Invention Tour or the...
4 tags
Everybody
From the album Madonna (1983)
Featured on You Can Dance (1987), Celebration (2009)
Written by Madonna
Produced by Mark Kamins
As the very first single from one of the most successful artists of all time, Everybody carries surprisingly little clout. And yet, the Madonna creation story tells of her apparent mythological ability to walk into a club, hand the DJ the original demo and instantly...
2 tags
Introduction / Celebration
Whilst writing this review not long after hearing the song for the first time, I came to realise a few things: firstly, that for something often viewed as just so much populism, you can never really overanalyse a Madonna single enough; and secondly, that it feels great to just nail a review. With the upcoming release of her third greatest hits collection - probably the most redundant, but soon...