Well, Elton John’s mouth is finally good for something…errr, I mean something ELSE. Sorry David Furnish, I almost forgot :)!
Elton’s Recent comments about Madonna…
saying that she looks like a “fairground stripper” and that compared to his ‘baby’s (god) mama (the increasingly banal and irrelevant Lady Gaga), Madonna’s “career is over“.
…made me push all of the other albums that I have been listening to aside and slip back into bed with Madonna. Thank you Elton 🙂 !
Let me explain.
I have such a backed up queue of albums, movies, books, television shows and artists etc. that I’ve been meaning to give my full attention to. I pushed Madonna’s album back originally, because I usually don’t like getting caught up in the moment and thinking better or worse of an album due to the hype.
Well, I finally Heard Madge’s MDNA album and it is veeeeery good! I mean veeeeery good!
If this album was the album made by Lady Gaga , instead of “Born this Way”, she wouldn’t have been so disappointing ! And Gaga would have been GIVEN the whole “new queen of pop” crown that Madonna stubbornly refuses to give up (through hard work that’s still relevant and creative).
MDNA is sleek and modern (without being a lazy follower of trends. looking at you “Hard Candy”) with her most hook filled songs in at least a couple of albums (probably since “Ray of Light” …but “Confessions on a dancefloor” gives it a run for it’s money in that department).
On the MDNA album: Madonna snaps, she crackles and she pops again.
She incorporates the violent streak that she helped initiate in mainstream pop (waaaay back in the early 2000’s with “Die Another Day” , “What it feels like for a girl” and “American Life”) to a more direct and devastatingly tuneful effect on club-bangers like “Bang Bang” and “Beautiful Killer”.
Her dance music brings back the European influence that (let’s face it) all good dance music needs to be relevant and creative…They just do it better over there because they respect it more and their audiences know their stuff. “Girl Gone Wild”, “I’m addicted” and “Give Me all your love” are party starters with clever hooks and cool driving sounds…perfect for Saturday night fun!! Thank You Benny Benassi for assisting Madge on this one !! Madonna still knows how to get the best out of her (willing) collaborators and elevate herself and the “hired guns” who help produce.
Martin Sloveig Brings his bouncy brand of clever pop-rock influenced techno/house to “Give me all your luvin”, “I don’t give A” and “Turn up the Radio” and Madonna and crew hit a couple of home runs (The LMFAO remix on “Give me all your luvin” makes me actually believe that they have a life outside “Party Rock” ! And Nicki Minaj delivers again in a guest-starring role).
Klas Ahlund brings some fire to his collaboration. The choice to pair him with William Orbit was a genius move by Madonna. His electro grooves and squelchy synths go great with Orbit’s ambient atmospheres and 60s-influenced melodies on “Some Girls”
AND WILLIAM ORBIT IS BACK ! The Excellent William Orbit is back to help his girl pull off another great album (and to show that sometimes the genius producer needs the genius artist just as badly). Orbit gives the album a unified and cohesive sound that most albums with this many creative influences lack…Which make them sound “all over the place” at worst and “like a compilation album” at best. But Orbit is having none of that on this album. His atmospheric flourishes and programming genius is still strong and really helps create a sound world for Madonna to live out her violent fantasies , her still kicking “party animal” Id and her slightly sad “divorcee” yearning.
And For good measure, she puts two excellent (and well sung) straight-ahead pop songs at the end of the album to show that she can still do THAT in her SLEEP (and she is still brilliant at it). Those songs are “Masterpiece” and “Falling Free” .
It makes me imagine Madonna saying: “Here, you want pop ballads? I am still THE BEST at that too…and don’t forget it!”
Even Elton had to admit that in the middle of his Madonna diss/defense of his little ingenue Lady Gaga. He said :
“If Madonna had any common sense she would have made a record like Ray Of Light and stayed away from the dance stuff and just been a great pop singer and make great pop records, which she does brilliantly.”
Even Her haters have to give it to her…
And “no, Elton” she will simply take it a step beyond “Ray of Light” and modernize the concept (using vocal collaborators (which everyone does nowadays) and dance music meant to move your feet sitting next to the sounds that move your mind) without repeating herself .
If you want the album that Madonna should have made after “Confessions on a Dance floor” or the album that Lady Gaga is incapable of making at this point in her career…Check out MDNA!
I am sure Gaga did and became “inspired” to write her follow-up/apology for “Born this Way”.
yeahhedid! 