Music

Highlights: "Music," "Don't Tell Me" It's ridiculous to justify how awkward this album is and how terribly it's aged by saying any of this was 'experimental' even by the most mainstream US pop standards. Cher's "Believe" had tested the waters for autotune two years before, and NSYNC was having a blast earlier that year running the gamut of gaudy special effects from ring modulation to step filtering to sequencers and ARP. Madonna has always been derivative, and by this time she's just in over her head, too. Do we care about lyrics? Ideas? Because she pretends to. Laughably absurd lyrical bookends to the album: singing about the bourgeoisie and how "selling out is not my thing" when she is literally Madonna. Can't you just do what every honest sellout does and send audiences glum and bitter putzing dispatches on your barbarism of reflection from the barren apex? Whatever. No good songs, but only four I skipped halfway through out of disgust.

Pretty ostentatious to name your album "music", as if to encompass all music. Also, how does one talk about this album? "Have you heard music?" "yes, of course" "no, I mean Madonna's music" "like a virgin? yes" "no, I mean her album music" "yes she puts her music on albums" "no" All jokes aside this is pretty bog standard pop music. This is probably the worst of the 3 albums by her I've come across on this list (so far?), but it's inoffensive. Except for her cover of American Pie. That shit was a war crime.

6/10 more interesting than i expected, cool beats.

It's hard not to see the influence this album held on the next 7 years of pop music. It feels like a quintessential pop album of the 2000s because it's the first of that kind.

The 2000 U2 album All That You Can’t Leave Behind feels like it is desperately trying to re-capture former pop-star glory with mixed results. This 2000 disc by Madonna succeeds at that same task (apart from the clunker of an American Pie cover) without the desperation. It also innovates by combining techno and country in a way that hadn’t been done before (and not super-well since).

In 2000 I was 10 and really starting to get into music on my own. I remember being younger than this age and liking rock music on the radio, like Nirvana and classic rock, but around this time is when I started to be more aware of music. Her song "Music" I remember hearing and being a real guilty pleasure. Of course to my friends I couldn't like her because she was "pop" and young boys don't listen to pop music they listen to rock music because you don't develop that part of your brain that allows you to not care about silly social conventions like that until you are older (atleast for me until I was in my late teens / early 20's). I think there is really something special for me personally about the general time period of 1998-summer 2001, the music that came out in that time period was so vibrant and I really vividly remember moments of life happening while listening to music from then. I think specifically of these records: Linkin Park - Hybrid Theory Korn - Follow The Leader Kid Rock - Devil Without A Cause Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill Red Hot Chili Peppers - Californication Outkast - Stankonia Eminem - Marshall Mathers / Slim Shady Those were really pivotal for me and it was a time period where I was able to more autonomously look for and listen to music on my own. I was 8 to 10 years old! I could listen to what I what when I want. And I did! I remember listening to so much music during those 2.5 years and just doing my thing and loving life- playing sports and hanging out with friends, becoming obsessed with baseball and videogames, and not really having a care in the world. That specific time kind of ended after 9/11 and I think that was the start of puberty / teenager issues / listening to music with more serious sounds and lyrical topics. I do theorize that 9/11 played some part in that transition because up until that point I didn't really have a concept for experiencing the sometimes really terrible parts of the world. I wasn't expecting the start of this review to end up about 9/11 but that's the fun of hearing records that take you to a place in your life. I wouldn't say that this album was as special as those others listed but "Music" was a single from that era. Outside of this track the album isn't that bad. I think it's short of a 4 but higher than a 3, like a 3.3 for me.

I always check the tracklist before listening to an album and omit the bonus tracks or international release tracks from my listen, which is how I avoided the human rights violation that is the Madonna cover of American Pie, which I'm about 60% sure is one of the direct causes of 9/11. Best track: Paradise (Not for Me)

Top notch turn of the century production, but the songwriting, particularly the lyricism and melodies were weak for a release for an artist this big.

Meh. Bland, over produced, shiny and expensive. Not her best work. Also includes her cover of American Pie, which is so bad it is virtually a hate crime.

I wanted to like this but I found it formulaic and quite boring actually. A two is being generous

2 star album, 0 star cover

This album was everything when it came out. Listening to reminds me of good times, I’m just singing my lil heart out. Don’t tell me is soo good. I still love it and I think It’s fucking great!

I liked this album back in the day, but it hadn’t stayed with me like Like A Prayer or Ray of Light. I’m glad to have revisited it, because I enjoyed the cool electronic vibe. Driving around Seattle listening to this today felt a little like I was in some kind of Tron universe. 23 years after its release this still feels like the future.

One of Madonna's most mature albums. Very entertaining, very catchy. I love it.

This was a nice revisit of a CD I had bought when new, but went with the other CDs into a box some time ago. It's been a while. This one really shows how Madonna has been able to successfully reinvent herself so many times. It was a sound that felt very modern at the time and which I think has held up since then. "This is the one with acoustic guitars and robot voices," is probably how I would distinguish it. I loved it, it made me move and groove today.

I liked vibing to this one. The music was sorta pop/electronic, but also soft enough that I could listen while working without getting distracted.

m u s i c

I played this during my morning commute and now I am SO HYPED for writing INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIAL for SOFTWARE

I love this album. Sooo…yep.

This album really surprised me. Much better than I remembered based off the radio singles.

I had never listened to this album until today. I haven't listened to many of Madonna's albums. I guess that I am not a huge fan. I enjoyed it.

Kind of weird use of electric sounds on some songs- but I generally liked it.

Good album

I danced to this when I was three and four years old. I love Madonna.

Very good electronica that I hadn’t heard before.

This has aged much better than I would have guessed. At the time it just sounded like the state of pop radio, because it was the music Madonna was making. But now it sounds inventive and creative, even refreshing. Unfortunately the album takes a nose dive with the last couple songs (I especially don't think the world needed that version of American Pie, which thankfully wasn't on the original release anyway). Take those two out though, and this is a surprising gem of an album.

Weirdest country album I’ve ever heard. Haha just kidding Production was really good. Very late 90s french electronica. Madonna was the weakest part of the album; is she good or just super hot? Will have to listen to more of her lesser known work.

Typically like Madonna and this is right in the middle of her re-invention when I think she's perhaps a little too comfortable - she's at her best when working with up and coming producers and bringing outside influences to the mainstream, which I guess is being tried here mixing electronica with country. However as a listen it's not anywhere near her best "I deserve it" stand out tune. 3

Madonna trying to be modern but what's lost here are any good songs. Best song is a cover of a song that's 30 years old

I wish the whole album was in the same vein as the two great songs “Music” and “Don’t Tell Me”, I think that would have been awesome. Unfortunately the rest of the album is mostly low energy dance tunes mired in an autotune muck. Mostly uninteresting save for a couple of high notes.

I know it sounds a bit bad but I'd like to know how much of this she really had a hand in? Maybe the lyrics? Yeah I can see that, but I don't think she produced it REALLY did she? I genuinely like Ray of Light and can hear Orbit in this as well. Whilst I applaud her intentions to push boundaries and put herself on the line this is at the end of the day just dancey Pop.

Pretty glad when that one ended. It sounded to me like she was fulling a contractual obligation.

horrid lyrics on some tracks

Excelent album. Cant believe i never listened more of it

Her final epic album

You can literally just hear however many millions they spent on this. The production is incredible, and it hides some of the cracks on the weaker tracks. "Music" is just so perfectly arranged, "Don't Tell Me" is, I think, my favorite Madonna song, and the cover of "American Pie" is just hilariously weird and doing its own thing, such a brilliant little oddity.

Pop at its best

Whoa. I had no idea. The production has me floored

Nostalgia is a powerful drug. This was one of the car CDs of family holidays and also my feminist awakening

Se cae en la segunda mitad.

Nice

very well done. Not my type though

Didn’t know she was so dance music

Yes it was.

Great album apart from the crime that is her American Pie cover. And the awful cover.

A solid later album from Madonna. Not the heights of the album directly preceding (Ray of Light) or Confessions after, but fun and well made. Could be sequenced better.

Another album my parents always used to play me! I remember we used to listen to this on the way to swimming lessons when I was v young. Never really noticed the complexity/sophistication of the 'Music' instrumental - was pleasantly surprised and really enjoyed it. Also really liked 'What it feels like for a girl'.

The production on this was quite cool, I enjoyed this more than I expected to. Dance vibes

Electro and pop wonder

Loved the vibe, I didn't know Madonna very well and especially didn't know she did this kind of music!

Actually really liked the album, apart from the aptly named "Nobody's Perfect" which is a good summation for the song itself because it's an overly autotuned piece of poop. The overall tone of the album feels like a mish mash of random directions but I don't really mind that, it provides relief from the norm of some albums to bore me to death with the same sounding songs.

Continuing the victory lap that began in earnest with Bedtime Stories, Madonna's first missive of the 21st Century deals with her continued fixation on remaining hip to the times whilst wielding personal subject manner. Although a tad less reliant on the power of healing in Ray of Light, we still hear Madge waxing philosophical on tracks such as Gone, Don't Tell Me and What It Feels Like for a Girl but she still makes room for an ode to a good time via the first three tracks. Regardless of the picture painted on the album cover, there is no dust kicked up by horses here. Favorites: Music, Runaway Lover, I Deserve It, Amazing, Don't Tell Me, What It Feels Like for a Girl, Paradise (Not for Me).

I think this album has been dropped from later versions of this list. It shouldn't have been.

Nostalgia central, reminds me of being 9 years old. Some bangers here

I was expecting a 3 star but I got a 4 star, good basseline, good pop

Incredibly Crafted POP Album. Her Voice Never Sounded Better & the Production Rivals that of Steely Dan's AJA. This is BY FAR Her Best Album

Bien.

Rating: 7/10 Best songs: Music, Runaway lover, Want it feels like for a girl, Gone, American pie

La reina del pop. Un 4.

Buena sucesión de canciones con estilo, con el sello propio de Madonna. Voz características y temas bien construidos. Levanta el ánimo.

Standouts: Music, Nobody's Perfect, Don't Tell Me, What It Feels Like For A Girl, Others: I Deserve It, Gone 4/5

Ahh yes, 2000's Madonna, brings back some memories. Overall, I enjoyed this album. I wouldn't listen to it regularly, but I can appreciate the music. Favorite Tracks: Music, Amazing, and Don't Tell Me. Awful Track: Nobodys Perfect. Shit 2000's auto tune (thanks Cher) and horribly grating noises that don't resemble good songs.

I have long been on the record as “not a fan” of Madonna. But this was really great, probably the best album I have heard from her. Madonna is in excellent voice and she gives 100 percent to her performances. She always does. The key to this album’s success though is as much in the production of Mirwais Ahmadzaï and William Orbitwhich, which is wonderful. This is just great fun, with a mix of instant club classics and some nice straightforward pop as well. I love all the quirky, blippy little touches, the unusual chord progressions, the strategic uses of vocal tuning and guitar. They lean into the artifice and experimentalism of electronica, but with great warmth and nuance. Fabulous work, a classic of its era. Fave Songs: Music, Gone, Paradise (Not for Me), Impressive Instant, Runaway Lover, Don't Tell Me

done

Not my favorite Madonna album, but it's still m*f*ing Madonna.

Classic Madge

I’m very surprised how much I enjoyed this one. Mostly on the production side the songs are really pretty groundbreaking for 2000 with glitchy synths and a lot of vocal effects that make it a pretty fun listen. 7/10

Really reaaally solid

I don't think I've heard any of these songs before. Typical of Madonna, it shows an artist who is always willing to try new things, experiment, and create. Although it's outside the scope of music I typically focus on, it's quite good. She always is. (Side Note: it's awful to see the way people talk about her. I know I should let it roll off me, but it's easy to see how the negative things people say would never be brought up if she were a man. She's as tough and brave as they come.)

4.0 - I always felt this record dwelled in “Ray of Light”‘s shadow, the more “serious” of the two projects. I’ve changed my mind. “ROL” finds Madonna clinging desperately to relevance with her late-to-the-party rave anthems mixed with yoga-inflected wisdom, offering incantations to a “zephyr in the sky.” Yawn. This record, on the other hand, shows a quirkier Madonna stripped of these pretensions, ready to hang. Sonically, “Music” has aged far better. I like the glitchy, hyperpoppy elements that remind me of “100 gecs.” As is often the case with Madonna, you still get some schlocky philosophizing on clichés and truisms (e.g., “nobody’s perfect”) but she balances that with a pre-#MeToo ballad about the female struggle that resonates (“What It Feels Like For A Girl”). My only real gripe is that the record ends on a melancholy note and I would’ve loved more of side A’s frenetic energy to send this off.

"Music" is the eighth studio album by American singer Madonna. In reponse to the pop chart dominance of acts such as Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, Madonna collaborated with Mirwais Ahmadzi and William Orbit to go in a more experimental direction. The album incorporates elements of house, funk, country and folk into the overall dance-pop and electronica styles. It worked as the album hit #1 in 15 countries including the US and UK. There are overall themes of partying and love differing from her previous album "Ray of Light" which was more introspective. Critically, the album had mostly positive reviews. The self-titled song "Music" opens up with a vocoder. It then kicks in with a funky beat and synth. The beat continues with strange synth sounds. She just wants to dance with her baby. "impressive Instant" takes the dance music to the club level. A deeper bass and beat. Synth space sounds. More use of the vocoder...almost stepping into Daft Punk territory. A love at first sight song. Slow synth keys begin "Amazing." The music kicks in. A echoing, reverbing guitar and prominent bass. Electronic beats. Great, haunting guitar breaks reminding me of David Bowie. My favorite song on the album. An acoustic guitar starts and stops and starts begins "Don't Tell Me." Country meets electronica here. An electric drum backbeat. Strings are added. She urges her lover to stop controlling her. Why not venture into the ambient and that is what she does in "What It Feels Like to be a Girl." An ambient synth melody and underlying electronic beats. The ambience builds. She condemns male chauvinism and urges men to imagine themselves as a girl. This is a very, very good album. Not one song really fits into any one category. There's funk mixed with club dance, both rock and country with electronica and even the ballads have dance/electronica elements. A very high production level as one would expect. I didn't hear one song not worth a listen. A strong recommendation.

Really nice pop album. Showcases Madonna's evolution into modern pop while still having her signature melodic voice and upset songs.

Ehhh discazo realmente, es la primera vez que escucho a Madonna más a fondo.

'Music' tanta roba. In generale non mi dispiace lo stile disco-pop di questo album, anzi! Svolta un po' country, comunque piacevole su 'i deserved'. Con anche 'American Pie' diventa un ottimo ascolto.

I've always liked Madonna. Soft spot for this one. Newly wed, we had the cassete in the car an the cd at home. Love the rhythm (and sound) of the bass in Amazing. Not on this album, the single Beautiful Stranger came out similar time - great pop track.

Fashion show runway music, highly produced, voice autotuned like a robot, but classic.

I would never have sought this out but I super dug it! It’s a terrific compilation of pop and electronic. Madonna keeping it fun and relevant through a strong career arc.

Exceptional!

I certainly haven't listened to everything Madonna, but I think this might be my favorite now. The pop plus some folk/country at points. This kind a felt fresh in some ways, and certainly did back then as I loved Music and Don't Tell Me. Listening to this album for the first time, there were many other tracks I liked too like Nobody's Perfect, What It Feels Like For a Girl, and Gone.

Loved it

She's the queen of pop. A lot of this electropop is well ahead of it's time.

This is around the time I stopped listening to Madonna as much because her early aughts evolution was a bit jarring to me at the time (though I LOVED Ray of Light). I know the hits from this album, but I really enjoyed it as a full listen. Amazing is a great song I wasn’t familiar with. She really layers a lot of funky and interesting beats and sound effects throughout these songs. It’s a bit more forgettable than her 80s catalog, but still a good Madonna time. Queen’s gonna queen.

I’m a little surprised that this Madonna album is on the list. There are 4 or 5 true classics from her and this one doesn’t measure up to them. That being said, this is still a very good album, and possibly great if you take off the more embarrassing moments, like the “Beautiful Stranger” retread of “Amazing”, and the career low point of “Nobody’s Perfect”, which became the template for her next album, the still awful “American Life”. This is also the point where she became obsessed with autotune bullshit, which completely ruins vocals 9 times out of 10 to my ears. It doesn’t sound futuristic anymore. It’s a lazy studio trick (that many use to mask the fact that they can’t actually sing, except Madonna has proven that she really can sing so it’s pointless) showcasing a lack of ideas and pointing out that she is no longer driving ahead of the curve, but following others. I’m a super Madonna fan from everything she put out between her 1983 self titled debut album and 1994’s “Bedtime Stories”. Pure magical brilliance. I can more than tolerate 1998’s “Ray of Light”, and this record. Beyond this, it becomes a wasteland of overestimating relevance with a few moments of being good but never truly great again.

This album immiedieteely hooked me with it's techno/trance-esque production and fun, anthem-like lyrics. Runaway Lover especially was just a blast. Starting with I Deserve It, the album took an odd turn into this country inspired pop territory. I wasn't a fan, save for the percussion being wicked tight and reminded me of trap beats. After a short dip into generic pop land, we're back into this odd, spacey auto tune slow jam with Nobody's Perfect. This album is at it's best when it's less Sheryl Crow and more Bjork. Also, probably the best version of American Pie I can think of.

Overall it's a really good album.

I enjoyed this album - to songs, the mood the production. Didn't really listen to it at the time, but appreciate it now.

I went into this only knowing the song "Music" - I really enjoyed this album apart from the last song which is a truly unnecessary cover of "American Pie". The rest of the songs are experimental electronic pop gems that range from club bangers like "Impressive Instant" and "Runaway Lover" to slow jams like "Paradise (Not For Me)" and country samplers like "Don't Tell Me", "Amazing" mixes house beats with surfed out guitar.

La reina del pop. Un 4.

Pretty cool!!

THIS IS FUCKIN COOL

Not too shabby.

The singles are unreal from this album - Music and Dont Tell Me especially are both still bangers in their different ways. I definitely don't like or love all tracks on the album, bit of a mix bag but interesting all the same - prefer the slower ones like I Deserve It and What It Feels Like For A Girl rather than dance tracks.

3.8 - actually liked this a lot more than beyond light.

Yes. Of course I'm a sucker for Madonna. It seems like I'm a 4-star girly on this platform. I enjoyed myself just fine with this album. Not as good as Confessions on a Dancefloor of course, but a fun listen anyways.

I’ve always been a little confused how Madonna became the icon that she is today. This album did not clear up any confusion, but I’m looking forward to hearing her earlier work

way more musically unique than I thought it owuld be. cool time signature stuff

So, Madonna got together with William orbit and a few other late 90s producers and made an album where she's a cowgirl singing over house beats. OK. I mean, there's part of this I like in theory, but I just don't think Madonna can pretend to be the source of electronic underground, especially in a Stetson.

Listened a while ago don't remember it

A good pop album. There's definitely some filler though. But I like that a lot of songs have the eccentric feel of experimental electronica (especially the early tracks). The production gets a little adventurous.

Thought I’d hate this but it wasn’t bad. Obviously the American Pie cover is terrible. But I don’t really like the original that much anyway.