LADY GAGA
The Fame Monster
(UMA) A+

There’s something about Lady Gaga. Something so remarkably captivating and enthralling that, in the last few weeks, it’s been hard to escape her spell. If you’ve seen the truly outstanding video clip for new single ‘Bad Romance’, you’ll be aware of how much further Gaga has raised the proverbial pop bar when it comes to music video clips. For years we’ve tolerated a lazier blend of film clips from our pop stars; that’s not to say they’ve ALL been lazy, but they’ve certainly all had their moments. And that’s the whole point. From the begining, Gaga has been nothing short of incredibly interesting to watch. The persona, (or rather, the Gaga Enigma) that she has drummed up over the last 16 to 18 months has been truly fascinating. A piece of art-work in progress for everyone to see.

Even if you aren’t taken by her perfect-pop-hooks or incredibly styled video clips, you can’t deny that the creation that is Lady Gaga has changed the current pop climate. And the long-awaited pseudo-sophomore follow-up to last years The Fame, titled The Fame Monster, wipes the floor clean with every other album perched in the charts right now.

Birthing only 8 tracks, The Fame Monster makes up in quality for its quantity issue. First single, the Eurovision homaging ‘Bad Romance’ continues to get better with each listen; its primal chorus and searing shouts from Gaga provide a hungry backdrop of desperation – particularly in the rather full-on but equally as moving line “I wan’t your love, I don’t wanna be friends…” To top it off, the middle-8 is insanely good, and the final one minute and seventeen seconds are some of the greatest closing moments in ANY song of the last 10 years. It’s gorgeous, tragic, sad, energetic, animalistic, passionate, and very definitely the song of the year.

Gaga pushes the Lady Schlager boundaries even further with more Eurovision-esque stompers in the form of ‘Dance In The Dark’, an industrial-goth disco track that combines a gigantic chorus with one of Gaga’s most uplifting riffs to date, complete with a Madonna Vogue/Express Yourself homaging talky-bit where she coos “Marilyn, Judy, Sylvia… Tell ‘em how you feel girls… Find your freedom in the music, find your Jesus, find your Kubrick”, whilst ‘Alejandro’ brings the 1990’s to the naughties in seamless fashion; a semi-central motif through the record.

Continuing with the unrivaled passion, ‘Monster’ is one of the greatest 1980’s pop songs that never was actually from the 1980’s. “He ate my heart; that boy is a monster” she sings with such tortured conviction – all through a vocoder. The deceptive ‘So Happy I Could Die’, a stand-out highlight, comes along with its marching band leanings, and takes that mid-tempo ballad feel of the 1990’s and gives it a proper, exciting new lease of life. This is divine electropop at its finest. Then, the only conventionally proper ballad on the album, ‘Speechless’, although sounding a little out of place on the record, serves as a classy piano-led affair (much like her often overlooked yet genius ‘Brown Eyes’ from the first album) that, after the first listen, warms on you instantly. ‘Teeth’, which seems to be leaving some feeling a little cold (I’ve no idea why), manages to do in just over three minutes what Christina Aguilera tried to do – and failed in trying – over a 2 bloody disc CD. That’s how you do it Bitch. To top it all off, “Teeth” sounds like a classy re-rub of Blackstreet’s “No Diggity” in places, particularly through the chorus.

One of the most interesting moment on The Fame Monster is Gaga’s collaboration with Beyonce, ‘Telephone’. If you’re looking for a proper club-banger on Monster, then this is it. Like the hotter, younger sister to Gaga’s debut ‘Just Dance’, this is the next single and rightly so; it’s an immediate stand-out on here. Beyonce’s rap sits comfortably; it sounds like it BELONGS to her whilst still very much being Gaga’s vehicle. And what a bloody chorus…

Without a doubt, as the lovely Will Wongster said in his ace review, this is 2009’s answer to 1984’s ‘Like A Virgin.’ Gaga’s been compared to Madonna since the beginning. And whilst taking a quick glance at her portfolio of work taken from that debut album, it can actually be a bit puzzling as to where such claims came from. But then again; there always HAS been that something about her. Whether it was humping a blow-up whale in the ‘Just Dance’ video, or using Eric from True Blood in the ‘Paparazzi’ clip, it’s always been evident that there is a swag more determination and drive running through Gaga’s veins than any of the pop stars vying for our attention at the moment. It’s that drive and ambition some would say they used to see in a young(er) Madonna…

Lady GaGa really is the second coming; possibly even the next generations answer to a Madonna or a Debbie Harry. Pop’s BIGGEST hope at the moment and the only artist who is bringing something fresh and original to the table. Whilst Madonna goes off and works with tired Urban producers (that said, boy did I love Hard Mandy), Gaga’s managed to do what Madonna USED to do; putting unique pop music at the top of the American charts. “Look at that; a white girl singing pop music on the tele mom!!” All of a sudden, everyone wants to work (and is) with RedOne.

She treats her fans with respect which is a lot more than you can say for Britney or, even so of late, Madonna. She is loyal and cares about her fans, and in return, she has a very, very strong fan base – probably more loyal than any other artist in the charts now. And that’s because she has proper pop smarts; she knows what her ‘Little Monsters’ want from her as an artist and, in return, they offer her undying love and eternal devotion. THAT’S how you work a crowd.

Fuck what she looks like; it’s not about what she looks like any more because she’s proven well enough now that there is more to her than just an odd face. It’s interesting to see a lot of hatred spread about Gaga via the internet regarding her image, her bodyweight; a lot of women in particular seem to be the instigators of said volatile attacks. Just like Madonna through the 80’s and 90’s, Gaga’s biggest critics seem to be women. It’s quite frustrating when a strong woman comes along in the pop world, it’s usually the Women who hate on them. It’s an awful reflection on the way society pins women up against other women in all aspects of life, not just pop music, and the way some Women can, unfortunately, do it to each other.

This is a proper, bonafide pop star who is not going anywhere any time soon. She is also the first person that has made me question Madonna’s current stance in the pop climate. Although technically The Queen of Pop (overall), she’s certainly not the CURRENT Queen of Pop, is she? And Gaga is too fierce in her convictions to be saddled off into a Princess of Pop tag. That’s not the work of a Princess; that’s the work of a Queen; MAYBE in Training, which is where the Princess tag should come in… But it just doesn’t suit her, does it? A Queen in Training who seems to be trailblazing her way through the charts (and hearts) with proper, catchy pop music.

Read my 1.5 year old interview with Gaga >> here …
UPDATE: Read Brad from MuuMuse’s ACE ACE ACE review here…

MADONNA
True Blue
(SIRE/WARNER) B+

This, her third record, was the album Madonna dedicated to her (then) husband, actor Sean Penn, who she called “the coolest guy in the universe” within this LP’s liner notes. It’s also the album some have been known to say is the record which helped cement Madonna as a pop force to be reckoned with. Interestingly, looking back at True Blue now, it’s about 80% hit, 20% miss, with those miss moments aging rather poorly. Thankfully, the 80% hit portion of this long player really made up for what was lacking in that other 20.

Five near-perfect singles would come from this, Madonna’s 1986 follow up to Like A Virgin, True Blue. The first, one of the greatest pop ballads of all time, Live To Tell, came complete with a new look Madonna; fresh faced and recently married, Ciccone traded in her crucifixes and bracelets for a classic, cleaner look, paying homage to the blonde starlets of the 1950’s silverscreen. Singing of deceit and betrayal, Madonna, deeper than ever before, coos the words: “A man can tell a thousand lies, I’ve learned my lesson well, hope I live to tell the secret I knew then…/The truth is never far behind, you kept it hidden well… But perhaps the strongest lyrics in the song belong to The light that you could never see, it shines inside you can’t take that from me.” It would be 18 years before she would indirectly pay homage to that very lyric, in the final few seconds of American Life’s X-Static Process. Live To Tell was the worlds first glimpse into a maturing Madonna – at the age of 27, the Material Girl had turned into a Modern Woman.

And then, just to show she really meant business, Madonna went and chopped all her hair off…

Papa Don’t Preach, whose video clip was the second time Madonna would completely reinvent her image in the public eye, serves as a particularly memorable moment from not only True Blue, but also Madonna’s career. The track, dealing with the sordid topic of Teenage Pregnancy (it was 1986, let’s not forget that), coupled with its subtle pro-life message took Madonna into new levels of controversy. She was older, wiser, and had more to say than she had before; True Blue didn’t just do a good job of making Madonna look mature, it completely re-evaluated the public opinion of her as a singer; she finally sounded mature. No more Minnie-Mouse-on-helium vocal strains, but a more natural and comfortable sounding Madonna whose voice, at the time, was at its absolute best.

Would you believe that it wasn’t up until recently (literally about 3 weeks ago) that I developed an appreciation for Open Your Heart, a song which I’d always thought was a bit of a bore? But listen to those lyrics… maybe I didn’t understand or could identify with what she was banging on about in 1986, but I certainly do now; “Open your heart to me, baby, I’ll hold the lock and you hold the key/I’ll give you love if you, you turn the key/One is such a lonely number.”

That said, my two favourite moments on the record lie with La Isla Bonita [watch the AMAZING Drowned World Tour performance of it here] (the first time Madonna would implement her obsession with all things Spanish into not just ANY pop song, but one of THE best in history), and the adorable True Blue. The latter, a dance-pop hybrid which paid homage to the influential girl groups of the 1960’s (and was written by Madonna with her hubby Penn in mind), saw the popster sing about there being “No more sadness, I kiss it goodbye, the sun is bursting right out of the sky, I’ve searched the whole world for someone like you… don’t you know, don’t know baby/This time I know it’s true love, you’re the one I’m dreaming of, love fits just like a glove/and I’m gonna be, True Blue, baby I love you.”

Album tracks such as White Heat and Where’s The Party have (surprisingly) aged incredibly well, but the album closers; Jimmy Jimmy and Love Makes The World Go Round, two of my favourites when the album actually came out, sound about as exciting and listenable as a Bullet For My Valentine record. Jimmy Jimmy, although playful, sounds somewhat embarassing, and although the message in Love Makes The World Go Round is something you could applaud, the cracks in production certainly prevent anything of the sort. And to think, that was supposed to be the records first single!

Obviously love played a major part in the creation of True Blue. Named after her hubby, dedicated to him, songs spilling with themes of romance… almost picture perfect. But the music depicted the opposite of what would occur. Penn’s temper would get the best of him, and eventually, the Poison Penn’s (as Madonna and Sean were dubbed by the press), were to call it a day. True Blue? No more.

One failed marriage down the gurgler. What would become of Madonna’s art, particularly now that she had portrayed an older, wiser approach to her songs and lyrics?

At this point, no one had any idea what was to come next, or how forceful Madonna’s next move was going to be…

So it’s not her best video clip but anyone expecting that is a bit silly. Madonna hasn’t been “groundbreaking” for a while, but in an era where, most often than not, cheap video clips LOOK cheap, at least this one is saved by the work of Jonas Akerlund. I don’t hate this clip at all; in fact, I think it’s better than the clips for “Jump” or any of the “Hard Mandy” releases.

SEVEN THINGS I ENJOY ABOUT THIS VIDEO.
1) I enjoy that her cooch is up for auction again. Well done.
2) I enjoy that dress, it is aesthetically pleasing.
3) I enjoy Lourdes’ cameo appearance.
4) I enjoy this remix and how nicely the visuals go with it.
5) I enjoy that she is using her boyfriends in video clips again.
6) I enjoy this whole “I’m a Cougar” era she seems to be loving.
7) I enjoy her boots. (BOOOOOTS).

To narrow it down; this video clip is about a 7.5/10.

Madonna Retrospective continues after the weekend, however my latest interview with the gorgeous Antigone will be online before then!

MADONNA
Like A Virgin
(SIRE/WARNER) A

In 1984, a young Madonna writhed around the stage at the first annual MTV Video Music Awards, panties and garter-belt in full view, debuting her racey new single Like A Virgin to a shocked audience of her peers. It was the beginning of an often beautiful (and messy) relationship between Madonna and Controversy. Madonna and Controversy; They just seem to fit so well together. Yet, at the time little did anyone know that in years to come, this very woman would release a coffee table collectors book called Sex, or that she would adopt an entire country of orphaned children and have them stay at hers. There was no way to predict any of that. Yet critics were incredibly interested in predicting the pop starlets future based on this record alone.

Interestingly, at the time of release, critics were harsh about Madonna’s sophomore album and reluctant to give her too much praise. Comparing her to Cyndi Lauper, Madonna was slated for her image and her voice, with one critic likening her pipes to “Minnie Mouse on helium,” with several others labeling her a “one hit wonder.” But 25 years later, Madonna’s predicted “one hit” has turned into over 80 of them, and there are now a couple of music writers who will go down in the history books as the journalists who, in plain black and white, are on record as stating she would never make it.

Like A Virgin was a strong and important reinvention for the career of Madonna. The record still held onto the future Queens obsession with dance music and club culture, heavily embedding those roots into modern day pop songs, all with the production help of disco-survivor, Chic’s Nile Rogers. And although it may not sound as fresh or relevant to todays club circuit as the debut does, Like A Virgin still packs a mighty influential punch, even if, at times, it heavily reflects a quintessential 80’s feel.

The lead single (and title track) catapulted Madonna into a league of her own. Listening to Madonna coo “oooh, feels so good inside” for the first time towards the end of the track remains a poignant moment in my life that I would only ever understand in years to come. She sounded so… vulnerable still at this point. Hungry, determined, but still a little vulnerable, which is perhaps why critics were so harsh.

The follow up single, the cheeky and often-referenced Material Girl, saw Madonna pay homage to Marilyn Monroe’s performance of Diamond’s Are A Girls Best Friend in its video clip, whilst the glittering Dress You Up saw her using fashion and couture as a metaphor for love. The frantic jolts of the spiky Over & Over could still, some 25 years later, destroy a dance floor with fiery feet, whilst both Angel (a rip-snorter pop moment) and the stunning Shoo-Bee-Doo (a picturesque ballad) stand the test of time, with the formers middle-8 providing some of the records best love lyrics (I believe that dreams come true, coz you came when I wished for you, this just can’t be coincidence, the only way that this makes sense is that; oooh, you’re an angel), whilst the latter’s deal with a love on hold; When I look in your eyes, baby here’s what I see. I see so much confusion, and it’s killing me/I can see you’ve been hurt before, but don’t compare them to me. Coz I can give you so much more, you know you’re all I see.

But perhaps the absolute best moment on Like A Virgin is its double-shot finale; Pretender and Stay. I’ll make him dance with me, I’ll make him tell me why he’s a pretender she sings, before a euphoric middle-8 erupts in which Madonna demands: Don’t say that I am blind; I know all about your kind. Well, Quite.

Stay, which I distinctly remember as being my absolute favourite from the album as a child, may sound about as dated as it actually is, but there’s really something undeniably exciting about it. In particular, that incredible talky-bit during the middle-8. In fact, all these years on, there’s still something undeniably exciting about this whole record.

With Madonna circa the 1980’s, nothing was predictable. You couldn’t say what she was going to do next because, frankly, who saw any of it coming? The element of surprise has definitely been a move Madonna’s often worked well with, and Like A Virgin is a true testament to that. Judging by the debut record, Madonna could have gone complete club-roots for record number two, and instead she reinvented herself as a dance-floor friendly, pop music princess. It was the first (but definitely not the last) time we’d really seen this chameleon change its colour right before our very eyes.

During the first album, Madonna told journalists she wanted to “rule the world.” At this point in her career, she was one record away from doing just that. Upon Like A Virgin’s arrival, the Queen of Pop had also well and truly arrived.

> This is the second installment of the Madonna retrospective. Read my review of Mo’s debut album here.

MADONNA
Madonna
(SIRE/WARNER) A+

As far as debut albums go, there are none quite as majestic or truly magical as Madonna’s 1983, self-titled debut. Before Madonna blitzed the world in a pink leotard on Confessions On A Dance Floor, she inaugurated her star into the pop realm with this dance-floor-heavy coming-out. A truly self-assured star was well and truly born, and it was a sight to behold.

Off the back of two spikey singles, Everybody and Burning Up, the album Madonna (the only time in history it has been okay to self-title an album because, let’s face it, this album could ONLY have ever displayed text that simply read that name) proved to be a timeless collection of my favourite type of music. To quote Popjustice, it’s a record which is Dance Music that sounds like Pop Music/Pop Music that sounds like Dance Music. The first single, Everybody, is an actual true testament to the ‘timeless’ tag so many liberally throw around these days. As recently as four weeks ago, I heard Everybody being played in a nightclub full of ‘hip young things’ (hem hem), and it sounded as fresh and vibrant as it did back during its inception. What made me even happier was, looking to the dance floor, packed, with kids aged 18 – 23 dancing their arses off; to Madonna’s debut single. It’s a moment so special to me that I had to document it in this review. Amazingly, I now hear the song out almost weekly and, naturally, this makes it one of her most inspired singles.

The same goes for Physical Attraction, though (criminally) never a single, is possibly in her Top 10 greatest as well. The longest running track on the album; clocking in at 6:40 (interestingly, most of the songs on the record are quite lengthy compared to todays standard), Physical Attraction is a pure disco dance floor romper that catapults you into musical bliss. Brilliantly, the lyrics are that of romance, the burning desire to be in love. It’s that chemical reaction, she squeaks. It had all the elements of a proper disco song; it made you want to dance and the singer was a woman in love. What’s so genius about that (and Madonna) is that this was a time when Disco was the last thing on peoples minds. And yet, Madonna, a middle class girl from Detroit, Michigan, reinvented the way people would listen to music in the future by giving them just that. Whatever you say about her music now, that is something no critic can take away from her.

Burning Up remains a big favourite amongst fans, and rightfully so. The single is one of her danciest moments (still), and sits comfortably with a crowd whether you’re at an 80’s themed party, or a dark, sweaty nightclub. Seeing Madonna in the singles video clip, on a road as she sings Do you wanna see me down on my knees? Bending over backwards now, would you be pleased? I’m not the others I’d do anything; I’m not the same, I have no shame – I’m on fire! was a sure-fire iconic moment. Never has she looked sexier and, more to the point, been so forthright. The lyrics may have been about a violently burning desire to engulf someone, but they also told the world that Madonna herself was not like the others. Because she would do anything. And that is why she is the icon she is today. A pinnacle pop moment; things only get bigger however.

Arguably Madonna’s biggest song, Holiday (Into The Groove would probably be its only competition when it comes to a general public consensus I would imagine), is not one of my favourites at all. It’s one of my least favourite Madonna songs actually, though that’s not to say I hate it. She’s just had better days than Holiday (like, hey, Burning Up!) and it annoys me that people think THAT’S an iconic image of her. I mean, for Gods sake – it didn’t even have a proper video clip!!!

But Borderline, another big single from the record, is one that I love deeply, and is very possibly also in her Top 10 of all time; lyrics about love going/feeling wrong (Something in your eyes is making such a fool of me/Stop driving me away/Just try to understand, I’m giving all I can, but you got the best of me; Borderline. Feels like I’m going to lose my mind, you just keep on pushing my love, over the Borderline), and an incredibly massive finish (the da-da-dada, da-da-dada, daaaa-daaaa-daaaaauuuhh bit STILL sends shivers up, down, and through my body every time I hear it), with one of her best video clips ever featuring her greatest fashion accessory; that bloody hat, I want one. Lucky Star, although not my favourite of Madonna songs, is a delightful pop thumper with an iconic chorus. I Know It and Think Of Me, however filler they may be, still sound incredibly fresh. Fresh filler is better than dated filler, isn’t it Bedtime Stories?

It’s understandable that, at the time, people thought Madonna would be just another flash-in-the-pan pop star with one album and a couple of hits under her belt. At this time she still had a (minor) vulnerability to her (was it the chubbiness perhaps?) so it was easy to underestimate her as an artist.

It’s also understandable that, a few years down the track, those very people would be eating their words and crying into their morning paper.

There is no one like Madonna. And there is no debut like Madonna’s. And that’s just one (of 16) reasons why she is the ultimate, pop music icon.

God Save The Queen.

“Happy Anniversary Darling.”

To say that I am excited by the upcoming Madonna Greatest Hits campaign is an understatement. My iPod currently ONLY houses songs by Madonna, my phone and computer wallpapers are ’strong’ images of her from the past, and I have been watching old VHS tapes with footage I taped of her as a child. The above video was on one of those VHS tapes, and I remember loving it with every fiber of my body. Pretty sure I was about 10 or 12 at the time.

27 years. No matter what anyone says, that’s an achievement. The woman has played an incredibly big part in my life and, without a doubt, is partly responsible for the person I am today. This is the first of many retrospective Madonna posts in the lead up to the Greatest Hits collection, and I look forward to sharing more of my stories in the hope that some of you will be interested.

x

Some herald Madonna’s “Ray Of Light” album as being her career best. Others will tell you her squeaky, club-friendly 1983 debut is the Pièce de résistance of her discography. And whilst there really hasn’t been a terrible Madonna album release in my eyes (I will not hear a single bad word against “I’m Breathless”), none have captured the ‘real’ Madonna more than 1989’s “Like A Prayer” (which still remains as one of Pop Culture’s biggest and brightest proper comebacks of all time), and 2003’s “American Life.” Or at least, the ‘real’ Madonna at the time of recording.

After the hyperactivity of her boot-scoot-loving “Music” era (great songs, awful imagery), Madonna came back into the forefront with a record containing 11 daring, brave and alluring pop songs, with a strong and admirable image; Madonna (now a brunette again; always a sign of serious-Madge taking the drivers seat), as Che Guevera meets a kidnapped Patty Hearst. And underneath the tarnished surface of all the controversy that surrounded the title song and its video clip, there was a record which made Madonna appear to be more of a human being than anything else she had done before; it was a woman, normally in charge, cracking at the seams.

Madonna, for lack of a better term, was having a mid-life crisis (a mental one, not the aesthetic mid-life crisis we would see in years to come). What was going on? What was life all about? Why were we even here? So many unanswered questions from a woman used to getting answers. For all to hear on record. Sure, the album spends most of its time talking about Madonna’s favourite subject; herself, but the context in which this topic is brandied across the album, well, it’s something of a surprise.

Whilst some will argue her rap on title track “American Life” is laughable, I will argue that it is menacing, and to quote Fizzypop’s Paul as to why the song is amazing, “It’s the rap.” Never has drinking soy latte’s or doing your palates seemed like so much fun (with a serious message underlying it all, of course.) Follow-up single “Hollywood” saw the Queen pay her own personal homage to Miss Kittin & Felix Da Housecat’s own image of Tinsel-town, “Madame Hollywood”, whilst “I’m So Stupid” saw her coo, confusingly “please don’t try to tempt me, it was just greed and it won’t protect me. Don’t want my dreams adding up to nothing; I was just looking for, everybody’s looking for something.”

A stylized and slightly neurotic production element to the absolute classic “Nobody Knows Me” was so futuristic it still sounds way ahead of its time, and gave us one of the greatest Madonna on-stage performances to date (2004’s Re-Invention Tour). “It’s no fun but the damage is done; don’t want your social disease.” Some of her greatest and most cutting social commentary lyrics which have since not been beaten; “Nobody Knows Me” remains, in my eyes (as a vehemently passionate and long standing Madonna fan), one of her greatest achievements.

“Nothing Fails”, complete with its stunning acoustic guitar and surprising choir-bound ending, showed Madonna in a vulnerable state. A woman in love, a woman who honestly felt that, with love as her torch, nothing could fail. As she sings “I’m not religious, but I feel so moved, makes me want to pray, pray you’ll always be here… you’re the one,” it’s hard not to pay attention to the startling cracks in what she’s saying. Admitting vulnerability, somehow, made Madonna come across as an even stronger woman than she already was. Or, maybe, a more relatable one?

“Mother & Father” saw Madonna, for the first time, discussing the raw feelings she felt towards her Father after her Mother passed away (albeit in a hilariously brilliant rap, the second to appear on the record), combined with some seriously innovative electronic soundscapes. But behind the falsetto, behind the drum-machine, and behind the dance music, there was a broken little girl telling her story through the form of a grown woman. “I made a vow that I would never need another person ever, turned my heart into a cage, a victim of a kind of rage.” More telling, and descriptive of who this woman is, than any possible interview or tour documentary could portray. And the final minute and 20 seconds are still as goosebump-inducing as they were the very first time I heard it.

American Life was also the home of “X-Static Process” – the first song Madonna would pen with future Confessions On A Dance Floor collaborator, Stuart Price. Vastly different in comparison to the disco-edge of “Hung Up”, “X-Static Process” based itself on an acoustic guitar, Madonna’s voice, and some of the most heartbreaking lyrics in her repertoire. “I always wished that I could find, someone as beautiful as you, but in the process I forgot, that I was special too… but in the process I forgot, that I was just as good, as you.” Amazing.

Moments like the Bond-theme “Die Another Day”, the startling “Easy Ride”, or the gorgeously-crafted “Love Profusion” prove that this is, ultimately, Madonna’s very own “Impossible Princess”; an album which, at the time, not many understood, but eventually many would.

Looking back at everything which surrounded the release of Madonna’s “American Life”; both single and LP, it’s not hard to see where and why it all went so horribly wrong. One slightly political moment on the record branded Madonna as being unpatriotic. The video clip was making waves before it had even aired due to its ‘anti-war’ stance, and after the media debacle that was Dixie Chick-gate, The Queen Of Pop, who had often worked hand-in-hand with controversy, went back on her word and pulled the plug on the American Life video clip. It proved a deadlier move than letting it be; it was too late for the American-faithful who were already viewing her as an anti-Bush poster girl, and the fans were left dumbfounded because, for the first time in her 20+ year career, Madonna had censored herself in fear of going too far. And, perhaps, also for the first time, the fans had lost a little respect for her because of that very move.

It’s just so very unfortunate that all of this happened during the release of what is one of her absolute greatest records to date. Whilst some lost respect, American Life – if this is at all possible – allowed me the room to respect this woman even more. Not just as a pop culture icon, or as a musician and artist, but as a human being. And that, perhaps, is why people just weren’t interested.