Music

It’s like if daft punk had a baby and then Shania Twain had a baby and then by some miracle those two babies met and [at the appropriate legal age] fucked, that would be this album. Unfortunately, that genetic amalgamation is no good. But you know what is good, madonnas song die another day from the movie die another day. I feel like no one ever talks about that song but it was a banger. And it was cool like usually during a bond credits opening it’s just like random stuff going on but in this like the scene keeps going and it’s bond being tortured with silhouetted women on fire all around him. Pretty cool. Maybe people were just focused on that scene where bond parasails down that massive wave with the roof of that weird ice speed racer and a parachute. Like who the hell green lit that idea. So bad. But freakin Halle berry. Wow. What a run she had. So hot. And that orange bikini. Goodness. But ya this album sucked.

There were a couple decent songs but otherwise this was a slog. Don’t see much influence besides it being Madonna. At least we’re knocking out some of the latter albums in her career.

At first I was bowled over by how ridiculously Y2K-sounding this album was. Like, the sort of "techno," as pop listeners called every electronic music genre at the time, along with futuristic production effects that I remember being really wowed by at that time, is all over this thing. If I'd listened to it closer to release I would probably rate it higher, but encountering it for the first time in 2024 does it few favors. It sounds extremely dated. Some songs really won me over though, especially in the last half, like "What It Feels Like For a Girl" and the moody and cinematic "Paradise (Not For Me)." Still, I probably won't revisit it unless I'm showing it to my wife to see her reaction.

Not very good— some of the beats are actually terrible. The beat in the title track, at the end, is used in an Edward the Confessor song from Sleeping Dogs. That later song is much better. A lot of it sounds like Ratchet and Clank background music.

I mean, it's alright

Fine, dated feeling.

Not for me

Turns out I don't like early 2000s pop style Madonna, who'd have guessed?

I associate this sound with grubby clubs (and not the good kind of grubby)

1.9 I think I liked the production of this album as whole even if was very busy. If you took of the Maddona name it might rate a half point higher. Impressive Instant was the standout for me, I will listen to that again, everything else there is no chance. The crap songs are crap

apart from the few already known songs, I didn't enjoy it

The first couple of songs were slightly interesting in how they were built. Lyrics all kind of throw-away and obviously the whole album is aimed at danceability. But then track six came along and just stomped on everything downgrading the overall status. Madonna can be a competent and creative artist but this as all the hallmarks of having no driving reason to be other than for cash from the market.

Utter rubbish from a "has been." Just because an 80s/90s sexual pop star puts out an album (or, album after hackneyed album), doesn't make it good, or even listenable. Gee whiz, artists should be held to a higher standard. These are the albums that make me absolutely abhor corporate record label horsesh*t.

This album was bizarre. Not in a good way. I have never listened to Madonna before, and I’m gonna assume this was the outlier. Product of its time, certainly should not be made now. I liked glimpses of the production, like how some of the chopped instrumentals or samples were, but a lot of it is grating. Some of it feels brilliant and avant-garde. Some of it feels like trash. Can’t pinpoint how it made me feel. Standouts: Music, Runaway Lover, Don’t Tell Me, and Gone.

Didn't I already have this? No wait, that was Ray of Light. Pretty sure we don't need both on this list. This album has some real clunkers and few real triumphs, though I do really like Don't Tell Me for reasons I can't really put my finger on.

Not one of Madonna's finest albums, mediocre at best.

Better than I thought it would be

Music is not a good album despite its pretentious ideas to the contrary. For starters it's a weird collection of styles that don't work together, all copycats of late 90s stuff Madonna clearly thought she could use to reinvent herself. Some very generic pop, some piss poor efforts at introducing trance/europop sounds, some embarrassing country-adjacent bits and wtf was she doing with autotune? None of it is cohesive, it's lyrically empty (What It Feels Like For A Girl is *bad*), a couple of songs are passable (Music and Amazing) so it's not downright bad, but the cover of American Pie should have her in The Hague. A low 2 because it didn't disgust me enough to turn it off early and give it a 1.

I had visited this album at least one time before to look for something beyond the one radio hit. Revisiting it now, all these years later, presented me with the same profound disappointment at what was hopefully the low water mark of Madonna's career. Paradise is the one exception. It hit me last time and it hit me now. Unlike the rest of the album, it seems to convey a feeling. And there are lyrics as well as instrumentation. For such a great artist who has been so important to Gen X listeners for decades, this one is tough. A single point of light in that one song, depressing as the song is.

Sad and pathetic. Not sure what is worse, fading into the background while music moves forward, or publicly flailing in an effort to emulate a world you used to own but has now surpassed you.

Overall Madonna has been maybe the biggest disappointment of any artist on this list. Making a name for herself as a maverick, the song on this album "What it feels like for a girl" just feels empty of any of that rebel spirit. This journey has taught me that I like about one album's worth of Madonna's songs across her whole career. Too band none of those songs are on this album.

yeah not for me.

Singlarna är det väl inga fel på men resten är ju blä.

Yeah, I think only like 80's/early 90's Madonna. A couple of good songs; but a bold, stupid title for a mediocre album.

Not her best. her latest reinvention...

Bleh. Cept for music

So much great music by Madonna, why this album and not one of her first releases?

Gotta agree with Curtis on this one - so many better Madonna albums

Incredibly boring. This only got a pass to be on the list because it's Madonna. Had this been some no-name (probably with a first AND a last name, loser) musician it wouldn't have even been considered.

I know it should be for me, but I just couldn’t get myself into it. A little too bizarre.

Strange overlay between acoustic guitar and techno. Didn’t know where this album was trying to go. And what’s with the cowboy themed cover art

2 maybe 3 songs that I enjoyed. I did not like the American Pie cover. What was she thinking

Seems like a real throwaway album to me. I really hated the first 4 songs but then it seemed to get a bit more musical. The production is weird because on a lot of songs all the instruments are just part of the rhythm. There's very little instrument carrying the melody or harmony; just thump thump. Many tunes almost sound like house music, probably proto house which is what make this album a little important? And the autotune gets old quickly.

Bunch of random 90s cliches thrown together

I don't think any of Madonna's are really thought of as classic albums she's a singles artist. But THIS is the one I need to hear before I die? Well I tried, it almost turns into a half credible dance album but then comes the god awful electronic country nonsense, a total re-run of 'Beautiful Stranger' and a cover of 'American Pie', to top it all it's got the auto-tune gimmick on it too. Sheesh. OK, 'Don't tell me' is a corker. Fair play. It's only right to have some Madge on this list, but this is a bloody odd choice.

Apparently, this is the last Madonna I'll encounter in this list. Crazy that I didn't have to hear any stuff from her dance-pop era. Instead, I mostly got her wonky attempts at electronic music at least a decade after her prime. What a disappointment.

I got really scared when I saw this album cover because I thought it was just gonna be Madonna doing country badly. After listening to this album I wish it was just that.

🎧I liked Runaway Lover and I Don’t Deserve It even though both drag on a bit too long. Otherwise this album is a stinker. Madonna is, of course, capable of so much better.

It's tough to listen to a Madonna album knowing that there was a time when she'd put out an album where you'd have a good 3 or 4 songs that pulled you right in. There's nothing even bad here, I don't think. It just doesn't have that pull. It's like seeing someone's thumb slip off the pulse of the audience.

There was one song that didn't make me want to rip my headphones off.

Vallan kuunneltava levy. Onneksi American Pie on viimeisenä, erinomainen nostatus loppuun. Aika metallinen soundi, se on Madonnalla läpi uran läsnä vaikka muuten monipuolinen onkin.

Must be the first Madonna album I’ve ever listened too

I do not like Madonna and I never have, and I can’t say I particularly enjoyed this either. However, the influence on the next decade of pop music, for better or worse, cannot be denied here. It’s definitely a relic of its time and has not aged well. The American Pie cover is something that I had memory holed, and damn, it’s really bad.

I remember a time - it must have been the mid 80s to mid 90s - when a new Madonna album was a sensation. But that ship had sailed by 2000, when this album came out, and apart from American Pie (which is a cover) and maybe Music, it only contains pop tracks that about betray the time when they were produced. 2/5

In which Madonna attempts to simultaneously ride Brittney Spears' and Shania Twain's waves

Has a few highlights but a fairly boring and derivative 2000s pop album. Not close to her best work and notas bad as her worst.

2.18

One the one hand, this project has given me an excuse to engage with Madonna's career; on the other, I'm now well versed enough in Madonna to rank this album as quite inessential.

Oh dear, very cringy. Giving off big “cool auntie” energy - “hey kids, I’m 42 but I still make dance music and take mandy”. The odd bit of good song writing (mostly Don’t Tell Me) just about saves this from the one star club.

God, auto tune is cringe, and the American Pie cover? Woof. Two for some okay tracks but so much better Madonna albums out there.

★★½

y’all. what are you doing. Dont Tell Me is better than Music.

No he escuchado un disco de Madonna en mi vida, sus canciones en la radio y la MTv por supuesto que sí. Cero interés, conocía algunas canciones, pero no puede ser menos interesante. Lo mejor es que me han entrado ganas de escuchar American Pie. Le voy a dar 2 estrellas.

This just faded into the background for me. And I don’t really mean that as a good thing. I guess it was offensive to my ears but was just kinda meh

First time I have listened to a full Madonna's album(or maybe a second one, after Like a Virgin) and I instantly regret it. Three singles are pretty good, revoking some good memories, but the rest of the album is so terrible, I can't even think of it anymore. The auto tune songs are so bad, I actually did a double take if it's a real thing. In case of Madonna - only listen to singles from now on.

1.5 stars. Dated songs and dodgy lyrics. One weirdly decent track (paradise).

Some of these songs are way too long

It's alright but doesn't grab me

Very techno. Second song is a no no. Third song is not much better. Fourth lookin ok? Still weird,weird album. I think I might like Nobody’s Perfect 3/10

Appareently, the title track was released as a single, but I don't remember hearing it or anything else from this forgettable album. Interesting, but insipid, cover of Don McLean's "American Pie".

Dont Tell Me is good, and I would listen to a Madonna country album in a heartbeat, but the rest is not so much. I dont know if it was an experiment to try a bunch of different stuff but it falls fairly flat. Also she gets points for all the anger stirred up by her American Pie cover.

I mean… it’s Madonna doing euro club music. On paper that sounds like an album I wouldn’t like. “Don’t Tell Me” earns it an entire star on its own but other than that this is a hard pass for me

one banger could i write poetry to this? n

Not one of the Madonna albums I would have chosen for this list. "Don't Tell Me" and "What It Feels Like for a Girl" are great songs, but the rest of it left me a bit flat. Two and one-half stars, with the half-star being a bonus in honor of Pride Month. This half-star will be revoked in July.

Nothing on here that I want to revisit, but not bad.

I expected this to be a lot better as I remember really liking Don’t Tell Me at the time Turns out I only liked Don’t Tell Me

Way below earlier Madonna output. 2/5

The title track is a fun song, very catchy. Don’t Tell Me may be the best song on the album. There is a reason these two songs were the singles over the rest of the album. The remainder veer from generic dance music, to just bland, or moderately catchy but forgettable. Overuse of autotune abounds in these tracks. What it Feels Like for a Girl is atrocious. I get what she is trying to do, but this missed the mark. America Pie should be considered a war crime; it is terrible. 2

not a big fan, in fact, i despise this album. awful title

Except for Music and Don’t Tell Me, I never heard any of the other tracks. Auto tune seemed to be the trend for this album which was disappointing.

Wow this has aged terribly. The thin drums, the autotune. Grand aspirations that fell so so flat. 1.5/5

Woof this did not age well. Don't Tell Me is still cool, but Music which was the lead single is awful. Didn't love it back in 2000 and definitely like it less now. And that American Pie cover sucks, but then again, nothing could ever come close to Weird Al's version.

Pretty awful album but I still can't give it a 1. It's soulless and the single "Music" isn't good today and wasn't when it was released. This doesn't even compare to Madonna's greatest hits like Material Girl, Like a Prayer, Like a Virgin and so on. Those are timeless classics. Oh and she also completely butchers American Pie.

I did not enjoy this at all. Some songs I absolutely hated, and there were 1 or 2 that were just ok, but overall I would not want to listen to this again.

Boring, except I liked one song alright: "Paradise (Not for Me)" sorta had some triphop vibes, and I enjoyed that. Wish it were more of that. The rest is either bad or entirely forgettable. 1.5/5

Bleh

Late Madonna album. Obviously knew the songs that made the radio. In listening to it through, I was not hating until it got to the one that was all autotune. I despise autotune. For that reason, I knock it down from 3 to 2 starts.

Auto-tune garbage

It sounds like Madonna is singing in front of the soundtrack to a Matrix film. It's forgettable, repetitive, and unusual in a bad way. I can't believe this is the artist that did "Material Girl." It's like the studio just had some background music and asked Madonna to sing exactly ten voice lines so they could auto tune it and cash out.

Listened Before? N Ehhhhh.. not sure what this is doing here especially when I haven't seen any of her earlier work on the list. Music the song is okay but the rest was meh. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: Music

¿En serio esto uno de los 1001 mejores discos?

Of all the Madonna, why is this one to make the list

Like an Oscar going to an actor who was just okay in a role but everyone now agrees was really good in something a few years ago, music critics love nothing better than pretending a late period album by a once great artist is something other than garbage. Sorry critics, I’m not falling for it. Madonna was a force of nature from ‘83 to ‘89 but this sucks.

By 2000, Madonna was not really relevant to the popular music scene. She had effectively been dethroned as pop goddess by artists like Britney Spears. She hadn't had a number one album since 1989. This album was an effort to conform to the times. It relies on heavily electronic production. Do not be deceived by the cowgirl album cover - none of this is country. Lots of electronic-based production and autotune experimentation. It certainly hasn't aged well and comes off as a desperate cash grab with almost completely meaningless lyrics in many of the songs. It seemed to have worked, though, as this album was pretty successful upon its release. What was interesting to me were some of the more R&B inspired tracks such as "Amazing" and "What it Feels Like for a Girl". I can't say this album didn't keep me interested.

Have heard Music and Don’t tell me and the rest aren’t too far behind….

I guess I don't like Madonna... Favourite track: I Deserve It.

pretty bad. American Pie was the only good song. 2/5

Najbolje pjesme: 1. Don't Tell Me

I am conflicted with Madonna. On the one hand I think she has pushed boundaries and refuses to be a quiet woman, for which she should be applauded. On the other hand, I find her a bit embarrassing. She seems a bit like one of those girls from school who keeps posting about how they can still fit in their cheerleading outfit. Her emphasis on her looks contradicts the female positive message she sends. Then there’s the music. Meaningful lyrics? Never heard of her! (Although her early work was much more intelligible). I wish Madonna would stop trying to be something and just be Madonna.

Besides a few standout tracks, this was an entirely forgettable experience, and I was expecting so much more from this.

Overrated

Nobody's Perfect is one of the worst tracks I've heard on the 1001 so far. Why is Madonna's outfit and all the branding for this album giving off Americana country vibes, and yet the album is autotune electro-pop. The second half has a few highlights, but still this really is one of the most baffling inclusions in the list for me. Fave Tracks: Don't Tell Me, What It Feels Like For A Girl 1.9/5

I had Ray of Light recently and think all my comments apply about this one. If you took her name off of it, no one would care about this. Unreal how well this awful music sold. Rating: 1.8

Over production and uninteresting attempts at hooks make this blah to me. But I still liked a few moments.

First miss from a Madonna album on the list for me, and it’s a *big* miss. The other ones I heard from her were kind of taking the musical waters of their era and doing them really big and really well, but unfortunately this particular era was real real bad waters

The musical equivalent of the Steve Buscemi 'how do you do, fellow kids' meme.

Il y a des concepts intéressants et des risques pris sur cet album. Les 2e et 3e pièces ont des beats electro bien faits. Le reste de l'album par contre essaye de faire beaucoup trop de choses en même temps et plus souvent qu'autrement, ça se plante en pleine face. Les autotunes sont souvent abusés, les mélanges country et electro sont douteux. La reprise d'American Pie est inexcusable. J'admire le risque de cet album et je suis sûr que ça a influencé du monde, mais cet album a en même temps rien inventé et a très mal vieilli. 4/10

This whole album reeks of desperation. It feels like a frantic - and ultimately futile - attempt to remain relevant. Lame production, shallow songwriting, and tired performances left me feeling kinda sad for Madonna, honestly. Like the star high school quarterback trying to relive his glory days, Madonna just... wasn't relevant to the music scene by 2000 and she's doubly irrelevant these days.

Man did I really not enjoy this. Never been a big fan of Madonna but christ I found this one to be pretty uninteresting, over produced and bland. Fav songs: - Music

I like Madonna but this album wasn't very good.

Not for me

Such a mixed bag. Some of these feel like Madonna is ahead of the curve (“What It Feels Like for a Girl”, "Gone") and some of these feel like she’s chasing trends instead of setting them (“I Deserve It”, "Paradise [Not For Me]"). Some good songs offset by some god-awful autotune. The less said about the "American Pie" cover, the better. Talk about missing the point of a song.

Hmm. Not my music

I like Madonna just fine, but this is a big letdown after the more atmospheric Ray of Light. She's still going for that mature approach but this time the songs are really disjointed from one another. Sometimes she's doing that vague acoutstic/country thing that doesn't really work, and at other times she goes back to the electronic sounds of hger previous album. What It Feels Like for a Girl is really great though.

The title song was alright, but the rest was just bad studio decisions over bad studio decisions.

Electropop with a "house" that does not age very well. Do people still listen to this album today?

2 star. Boring and mid

2 for two recognizable songs when I was younger.

We hit peak Madonna with Ray of Light.

She really thought she did something here. She had the gall to call this album music then release the most lukewarm pop album ever with cringe 2000s effects.

Really not for me. Too poppy and feels dated now

Madonna is normally iconic because she was ahead of the times. This album screams of being behind the times. The main single is addictive in nature even if somewhat annoying. A big miss from the normally reliable Madonna.

Hits are good but this is such a mediocre Madonna album, don’t know why it’s on the list as there are many more iconic albums.

Music is an iconic song. The rest of this album kind of sucks.

Her previous album Ray of Light was fine but this one just wasn't. I made it through the whole thing so there's that.

GTA 3 Head Radio/Lips 103 ass album - just not as good

Why

Begon niet heel sterk, daarna echt een paar leuke nummers maar bij american pie gingen m'n nekharen recht overeind staan. Ik denk dat Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens en J.P. Richardson zich omdraaien in hun graf

Not for me. Wasn’t a fan of, really, any of the choices made on this album. I don’t think they’re really working. Wasn’t difficult to get through, although I won’t be giving it another spin again if I can help it. 2/5

Mmm

Not my cup of tea. Kind of the worst of 2000 with no memorable melodies, lacking any infectious hooks, grating drum machines, and a feeling of smugness that is not deserved. Compare Madonna for instance with St Vincent who can actually write and perform emotive music.

Didn't really care for it

2.5

The production is top notch here. Slicker than snot on ice. But "experimental"? Really? Does this get credit for blazing trails just because it was Madonna and it wasn't cool to do anything but fawn all over her at the time? Honestly, the producer is the star here, not Madonna. Any middling performer could have released this album and it would have been just as good, but not nearly as highly praised. Boring. Repetitive. Hard to tolerate after the first few tracks. I'll give it a two because a one would be disrespectful of an artist that deserves more than that just for finding a way to stay relevant for as long as she did ... or maybe has.

im not sick of it, but i forgot what an early adopter of autotune she is.

хз мне лайк э прэйер в разы лучше вкатил, тут эти звуковые эффекты даж лишними кажутся

This is like so boring.

More mediocrity from the Queen of it.

First time listening to Madonna, I can understand why she is such an icon. Not my taste especially because of her voice, it's not that phenomenal. "Don't tell me "is such an annoying song.

Definitely gave me high school vibes

The title track is one of those pop songs that I don't actually mind listening to if it comes on the radio or whatever - even if it does sound a bit like S Club 7. "Parp Parp! ...Parp!" Great! I don't need a whole album of it though. That's not to say it's all exactly the same. It's quite a tuneful album. But it's got that weird, slightly-dated, half-electronic 2000s sound. And by the time it got to the awful cover of "American Pie" I was literally counting down the seconds for it to end. I'm giving this two stars because it has one song on it that I sort-of don't mind.

Does not start to my taste, very 2000 style which i am not a huge fan of especially in pop 2/5

The first listen made it hard to listen to again but I perservered and it's not a complete trainwreck. This quote from the wikipedia article also makes me curious "...she intended to embark on a tour. However, her record company encouraged her to return to the studio and record new music before going on the road." Anyway I like Music for the boogie-woogie.

There’s a bop or two on here, but it’s inconsistent in theme

Madge had a bit of a damp squib with this one. A couple of good tracts but most of it feels like it has no soul and the less said about her cover of American Pie the better. She’s made far far better albums than this one.

This was just not a good album. It was derivative before she released it.

Went a bit OTT on the autotune!

The first half of the album is overproduced. I get the feeling the music producer thought he was smarter than the industry, ahead of the game. Lots of strange sound effects and laser beam noises, lots of electronic vocal changes. None of it seems to mesh well, or make a cohesive song. This album feels like it’s trying to do electronica but it’s been done by many others, far better. Madonna, you are above being autotuned. The second half of the album suffers from being melodramatic and boring. I really like the track “Don’t tell me”, but I found the rest pretty forgettable.

Maybe this was ahead of its time with the clubby electronica pop, but wow can this album be annoying. The lyrics are completely mindless, the production is so overdone, and that autotune on Nobody’s Perfect almost made me hurl. There are a few decent moments, like the title track, the jittery acoustic Don’t Tell Me, and the feminist anthem What It Feels Like for a Girl, but otherwise this album is completely avoidable.

Some of these songs though, too much auto tune for me

5/10 не мое

She certainly didn't waste any time capitalizing on Cher's comeback now, did she? A reminder that Madonna chases more trends than Kiss ever did. The cover of "American Pie" borders on abysmal. Also: No one is buying Midge in that cowboy hat.

Disappointed this was not Madonna's country album like the cover suggests. Mercifully the North American version leaves out the laughably bad version of American Pie---I played the single and it made me lol.

This is like the who’s on first of album names. What an absurd title and even more absurd is some of the songs in this album. The first song is at least pretty catchy. Everything else is just what I imagine a producer saying we need more songs people can relate to with bad lyrics and auto tune sounds. That’s this album summed up. 3.9/10

Ive never listened to Madonna before. This was an interesting mix of 90's pop that was moving into a more modern style. Overall it was pretty forgettable except for Paradise (not for me). This song would never be popular but the synths, robot voice, and whispering really hit an accord with me. As an experimental song I think it slaps and it was the only song I listened to twice. overall its a 2 star for me

I guess this is okay? I think I'd be less negative on this if it wasn't by an artist that was a legitimate superstar in my time. I wonder if my opinion is affected by the fact that this is the first Madonna album released after MTV went full garbage reality TV. I mean there might not be a recording artist of her stature more associated with the music video. I know my opinion is affected by Don't Tell Me making me think there was something wrong with my bluetooth headphones and that terrible American Pie cover. Can a cover be ballsy and lazy at the same time? It sure can.

¿En serio esto uno de los 1001 mejores discos?

I've not been a fan of most Madonna LPs served up through this project, but at least they had a more cohesive organizing principle than whatever this mess is. Spastic autotune, random Americana covers, twee radio pop interspersed with (questionably executed) dips into other culture's musical themes. Whoever produced this clearly didn't know how to say no to a single coke-addled request from this pop idol, and the end result is just a bizarre mishmash of musical ideas that feels like the auditory equivalent of a home for abandoned children. Gets one extra star for the sheer balls it took to actually release this to the public and the fact it made me question my sanity.

Sounded alright, I suppose I am glad to have given Madonna a listen but not my style

Mishmash time. She’s best with the dancier stuff but the autotuning is awful. The lyric-driven folk tracks are weak.

Gay

Hey, I found this CD for two euros in a secondhand shop! The title track, "'Don't Tell Me" and that cover of Don McLean's 'American Pie" are famous Madonna songs, aren't they? Is the album "essential" though? Nope. When I brought that CD home, my partner looked at me as if I was a hoarder. And she LIKES Madonna, generally speaking. To put it in a nutshell, Louise Ciccone just hired trendy producers at the time (Mirwais, plus William Orbit, also used for *Ray Of Light*), recorded songs following the trends those producers were experts of, and just thought doing this was enough to make her relevant again. The problem is that for three or four memorable songs in the record, there are twice or three times as many deep cuts failing to leave an imprint on the listener. All style, not much substance. Besides, some of the "trends" inspiring the production of this album have not aged that well. "French Touch" can be nice, as dated as it is. Yet three or four earworms are not enough to transcend the whole shebang. Especially when a lot of synthetic arrangements are streamlined to a fault, and when the vocal performance often feels quite bland and impersonal. Madonna could infuse a lot of her personality within her eighties hits. Where had it gone in 2000? So I'll keep humming the singles, and forget about the rest. About Madonna's presence in list of "essential" albums such as this one, there's been indeed a couple of previous LPs by her where producers helped her make far more memorable songs overall--*including* the deep cuts. *Like A Prayer* is one of them. The more introspective *Ray Of Light* might be one of them as well. But everything else is secondary, in spite of the legendary singles. 2/5 for the purposes of said list. Which translates to a 7/10 grade for more general purposes, mostly thanks to the three famous songs in it. Number of albums left to review: 352 Number of albums from the list I find relevant enough to be mandatory listens: 295 Albums from the list I *might* include in mine later on: 155 Albums from the list I won't include in mine (many others are more essential to me): 207 (including this one)

Another one I wanted to like but didn't hit for me. Too much synth maybe?

Not a fan of this Madonna. Give me 80's Like a Virgin and 90's Vogue.

I appreciate the creative attempt, but it was uneven overall.

This album is not good and I'm glad I'll never have to listen to it again.

just. over produced. absolument pas grand chose de bon. et ne parlons pas du remix american pie... 4/10

“Mom, can we get Portishead?” “We have Portishead at home.” As usual per Madonna there is a few fun dance songs that I assume countless gay men have grinded and fucked to, but there is so many bland ballads that overshadow those.

some good and proper rubbish here, I had to skip a few tracks halfway through garish autotune, bewildering production choices, offputting genre medleys there are some gem production moments in here that save it from a 1, but this is not a good album, that American pie cover alone takes off 3 stars 1.5 stars.

¿En serio esto uno de los 1001 mejores discos?

madonna

Another 2000’s era dance-pop and electronica album. Madonna here is almost 20 years into her career as a “queen of pop”, it seems a little tired, and not particularly creative. The dance beats here are incessant which I guess is the point. But they’re also very generic sounding to me, and entirely mechanical. Whatever effort is made to be original is provided by various synthesized beeps and boops and such…. and vocal effects. All of which can be interesting in small doses, but these aren’t small doses. I find it all irritating. Cher did the Auto-Tune thing 2 years earlier, and better. It also spotlights that Madonna doesn’t really have a great voice. This is probably great background music for an early 2000’s dance club…. It is very well put together, it is vert professional. But it’s not essential, or even especially interesting. Oh yeah, the bonus track cover of “American Pie” is somewhere between embarrassing and offensive. I almost docked the rating a point, but decided to let it slide as it’s not part of the official track list. But, man, that remake SUCKS. It takes some gumption to cover a massive classic and make it your own by sucking out all of the emotion/soul of it. 2/5

I've never understood Madonna's MASSIVE popularity - her melodies are generally vapid and unmemorable, the lyrics are pretty banal and above all, above all else, she is a really average undistinctive singer. OK, so admittedly the production is strong (as are the grooves) but these positives don't overcome the vast array of negatives that basically makes it naff music. Don't take my word for it though, check out your local charity shop!

Lost it, whatever it was.

Well. Let's see, shall we? It's better than Ray Of Light, agreed? I was also rather mean about Beck yesterday, so now I feel like I shouldn't go too low on albums that aren't offensively poor. I'm not enjoying listening, but it's not offensive. If I was in a cafe and this were on I'd vaguely think, "Ugh; Madonna." and make no more of it.

Started off strong with Music. Took a bit of a nosedive. Recognized Don't Tell Me as well. Also What is Feels Like for a Girl. Not my usual music taste, but not bad. Kind of fell off after the hits. The music at the start of Amazing sounded liker stick RPG.

Eh…

Just cringy and boring. American Pie ruined forever.

Ruined by its shit production. The glitchy beats really ruin a couple of potentially decent songs

I have never listened to Madonna; and I have no desire to continue.

Honestly I don’t really get her hype, especially after listening to this album. I think this didn’t show any skill in her voice because of the overpowering autotune. I was really not impressed with this album at all. However compared to a lot of albums it was not terrible, so I wont give a 1.

Where her previous album "Ray of Light" worked so well this one just falls flat on its face. Surface-wise it probably seems like the logical progression but this one just seems like she/her people got all the hottest producers and newest studio/editing tricks and let them all run wild with little to no thought on song construction. Sure it *sounds* fantastic. But do any of these songs go anywhere (comparison: "Candy Perfume Girl" or "Subsitute for Love" from previous album)? Picking on the worst attempt here to be sure but "I Deserve It" is the very definition of *banal* - for someone who doesn't pay much attention to lyrics...I noticed. The bad-even-for-BonJovi lyrics combined with Madonna's rather unemotional vocals... man I don't know what else to say. Actually.... are all of her lyrics this bad? Is she 12??? The next track "Amazing" would have been a good song (and sounds like a decent outtake from her previous record) but I'm totally distracted by these lyrics holy crap. I can't look away now. As for the rest of the album - it sometimes sorta works as a club and/or party album but as for listening to it as...Music... it's not doing anything for me. At least it's relatively short. TL;DR: Lyrics taken from the back of her 7th grade Biology notebook combined with quickly-annoying modern production edits makes for a bad album. 3/10 2 (to be fair, very generous) stars.

I tried but I don’t like Madonna at all

Impressive instant ima jako neugodan za uho ponavljajući zvuk. American pie obrada je zanimljiva

This is not peak Madonna, nor is it peak 2000s dance pop. Even Madonna doesn't sound very convinced of what she's singing. She famously set out to rule the world, not to bet the top singer or top composer. This is the album she made when she saw her rule evaporating.

It's just never going to be my thing honestly, but I don't hate it either. The production is cool honestly.

Madonna gets old. One decent track on a pretty boring album. 2/5

I did my best to listen without prejudice but this album has lyrics so insipid it’s insulting. The production is excellent but Madonna just kinda ruins it. And the cover of American Pie is bad enough that I can’t even listen. Just no. Catchy songs throughout so I’ll be singing Hey Mr Deejay for the rest of the week but I ain’t happy about it.

Highlights: Music What it feels like for a girl

This was not good and has no place being on this list when Madonna has like 6 really good to great albums.

I don't mind some Madonna music, but I don't really enjoy electronic Madonna with auto-tuning. And I definitely didn't need to hear an electronic version of American Pie today. Despite the fact that Madonna is from my hometown of Rochester, Michigan, I'm going to have to go with 2 stars for this one.

Early auto tune… not my jam

This all just blurred into one. Vacuous dance-pop.

Let me start by saying that I love Madonna. I have long argued that she is the only wholly innovative pop star and that all others are just derivative. But this is a bad album. The saving grace is the production, which is excellent and way ahead of its time. But Madonna herself is maybe at her worst. The whole album is essentially spoken word and my god the words that are spoken are terrible. The lyricism is downright terrible, laughably so. And no, bad lyrics don’t become good when you sing them in French. Honorable mention for What It Feels Like To Be a Girl, which is a bop.

Meh, 80s hits much better.

Do you want to? No, not at first.... but she led with the big hitter, the "Music" did indeed start. The music production was wild, those "high whining noises" just aren't what they used to be _ears bleeding_. But, in seriousness it was very well produced. I skipped through most of the tracks; notable highlights were Music, Don't tell me & American Pie.

Not the worst. But certainly not good pop. Madonna is definitely over confident in her prowess

2/5 eventually no...

:wat:

Agree with Aron and Jennie. It felt very much like background music and I am also scared of Madonna

Drivel.

There is plenty of Madonna's music that merits being on this list, but this isn't it in my opinion. As a professional musician, she's obviously welcome to try anything she wants, but just because her name is on it doesn't mean it's worth listening to.

Music. It's indeed music. The autotune on "Nobody's Perfect" makes me want to rip my ears out, jesus christ. Madonna can sing alright, what's the need? The cover of "American Pie" wasn't as bad as they all say, but it's still probably classifiable as a warcrime in 162 countries around the world.

Don't Tell Me is okay. I prefer her earlier work to this and I'm not really a big Madonna fan to begin with.

Tää ei oi kyl must madonnan parhaita. Ajan hammas purassu aika lujaa noihin 00-soundeihin. 2/5

Ihan kivat soundit, mutta vähän liikaa huonolla maulla tehtyä kikkailua.

En jotenkin ehkä vaan tajuu tätä Madonnan nollaripoppista. Tylsät taustat, geneeriset sanat eikä mitenkään ihmeellistä muutenkaan. 2/5

Yes, it's bland, but it's "dance music". Don't Tell Me is the highlight for me. The low point is definitely that certain cover song it ends with. I'm not even a huge fan of the original, but that cover is inexcusable.

An artist trying to maintain relevance by chasing current musical trends and modifying their image. Not a total embarrassment, but not really a cohesive statement either. This vacillated between 3 and 2 for me, but I will go with 2 since there were several tracks I really had the urge to skip.

How high the mighty have fallen.

I really love „ray of light“, but this one is not as good as „Ray of light“. Too bad because it has some good moments and catchy melodies

oh man the autotune on this record is atrocious. This is real bad. The only song I enjoyed was What It Feels Like For A Girl.

Obviously never heard this, the second track was quite interesting, though essentially 'Music' redux. Music was alright, as it goes. Including both this and Ray of Light seems quite the egregious move on the part of the editor. Oh shit this is the album with American Pie, the abomination. 2 nothing tracks follow, track 5 is pretty decent, could absolutely have been on Ray of Light. Sounds a lot like Beautiful Stranger. Track 6 is nothing, oh I recognise 7. Yeah that one was alright too. 8 was a single too I guess, that was fine, no more. I just read that both Amazing and Impressive Instant were a promotional single, resetting the 'worthwhile album tracks' counter back to zero. Although by that metric there are only 4 tracks not released as a single in some form, they're all completely unremarkable though. I haven't yet listened to Ray of Light but I already think that will be better and more essential than this, and including Ray of Light pt. 2 seems pointless. Really enjoyed Like a Prayer, what about some of her earlier stuff? Low 3, average, well crafted pop album. Good Christ, the American Pie cover is painful. Worse than I remember even. Loses a star. 2.

Madonna i 00’er-udgave, ikke helt vildt fedt

I was disappointed. Seemed like she was trying to be deep but everything came off as shallow. Plus I couldn't relate to what I expect were meant to be relatable lyrics. I saw a review saying it sounded like the future... Gosh I hope not. Sounds like the past to me.

Big singles small impression.

Mmmdonna, hittibiisit ollut aina ihan kuunneltavia ja muuten en niin välitä. En muista oliko tämä vai Ray of light kun tyyli muuttu meikäläisen makuun huonompaan suuntaan? Oli miten oli niin kultaisella 90-luvulla hänen nudet kiinnosti enemmän kuin musa, nykyään ei kumpikaan...

Pari hyvää biisiä, kuitenkin suurimmalta osin latistuu

I liked Madges early stuff, it was catchy and fun, but this Musoc album is a far cry from the likes of her True Blue album. Yes there's a couple of commercial radio known tracks on this album, but as a whole it lacks very much substance of tracks worth listening to... I just found it very boring, and just another album churned out to top up her coffers.

One or two OK songs, but in general the album sounds a bit gimmicky

Meh

"Music" is fine. The rest of the album didn't do much for me. As noted previously, anything post-Vogue just doesn't hit the sweet spot for me.

Aantal nummers vond ik aardig, maar de rest is allemaal vergane glorie. Ik heb overigens echt een hekel aan haar arrogantie, maar dat heb ik verder niet doorberekend in mijn oordeel.

Mjah, nooit echt een grote Madonna fan geweest.

Madonna die wanhopige probeert om relevant te blijven. De albums die ze voor deze maakte kan ik tot op zekere hoogte best waarderen, maar dit is gewoon treurig. En het wordt hierna alleen maar treuriger en treuriger. Vooral niet toe willen geven Madonna, dat je inmiddels een ouwe valse kraai bent! Lekker doorgaan, mallerd dat je d'r bent!

Ik had hier vroeger zo’n gekopieerd cd’tje van, maar hoe nu pas hoe erg het eigenlijk is.

Heard it before?: No Enjoy it?: Not really, this transition/phase of music for her isn’t something very appealing to me Favourite song: Track 1 - Music

Not my kind of music.

This is the second Madonna album I got here on the 1001 list, and even being so crucial for music history, they chose her worst albums to be on the list. Since I'm not a huge fan of her, it always looks like any standard pop song without much to say. It's not objectively bad, but besides the 1st song, it's a good album to be used as background music for those who like pop.

This was just fine, the title track was great, but not many others were particularly memorable. Production is a bit dated at this point.

A couple of songs I knew but were ok at best, I wouldn't run into a burning building to save it is all i'm saying. I'll just just shake my head while I see it in my newsfeed and think "Tragic".

There are a couple of OK songs on this. I'd forgotten how horrible that version of American Pie was.

This just wasn't great. Felt like the music (no pun intended) was all over the place and nothing was particularly catchy. On a separate note, garbage album art. 4/10.

1 2 3 hmmmmm "Paradise (Not for Me) is kinda nice. The whole thing is dated though. Not the future like some reviews say. And calling an album "Music" is the same as calling it "Untitled" and thats just the laziest and most boring thing you can do. "Gone" is great too Don't know how you fuck up "American Pie" though 2

I didn't like this. But, it was risky and bold, so I respect it. I think primarily I just can't stand the way Madonna sings.

Very dance oriented, almost EDM-ey but not much base

Painful

Some lame lyrics and sparks of cool production. Overrated.

I was planning not to like this which probably isn’t the right way to approach the 1001 offerings. Let’s say it was better than my low expectations and I found myself grooving a bit at the beginning. Still, there was nothing original here. I was excited for the cover of American Pie but it was underwhelming.

Funny how Mirwais made 2 albums this year and this was the worse one.

Starts off well, but boy does it fall away after that.

Bits of this album veered dangerously close to a 1. But in the end I'm going to show some mercy and go for a 2. Don't push me to listen to it again though.

Half decent album by the ultimate singles Queen. Won't be adding to the rotation though

It's certainly music. It's not great and sounds super dated. Also what a shit cover of American Pie. 1.5/5

Just alright, feel like this is Madonna trying to recapture old magic, just doesn’t hit

DIgamos que se trata de musica lisa, ademas de que las letras no son nada del otro mundo, tampoco creo que haya un hit ademas de music, pero bueno que se peude esperar de la era del estancamiento del pop. Madonna se queda fuera de ideas en un album en el que hasta sus instrumentales son aburridas 3/10.

It's a bit zero 7/Moby in places...that turn-of-the-century ambient Ibiza chill-out vibe. It's not an album that I would choose to listen to again.

I much prefer earlier Madonna, and American Pie is a crime. I do remember though how big this was when it came out and she was a rule breaker and pop visionary in her own way.

Listened to front half, I'm guessing the back half isn't too different. Meh in every sense of the word. Exc3pt "Nobody's Perfect". That's straight ass. 2.5/5

I liked Gone, Music (mostly for nostalgic reasons) but the rest was very mid. Also the American Pie cover is sacrilege.

Madonna tried trip hop. At certain points the glitchiness feels overwrought, and at certain points they don't feel like Madonna songs, but more songs featuring Madonna. Somewhere. There are a few genuinely good tracks, but I don't think this record needs to be here. Favorite tracks: "What It Feels Like For a Girl", "Runaway Lover", "I Deserve It"

It's ok she's trend following on this one.

No standouts. The dance songs lack energy, the slow songs are bit dull. There are much better Madonna records.

Some of the singles hold up. It just felt a little soulless.

While I'm not really a Modonna fan, I can find stuff in her early work that I can enjoy and appreciate. This one could've been made by so many different people in the late 90s/early 2000s, it was just uninspired.

Most of the songs on this album don’t pay off the way my brain wants them to. I like Madonna’s earliest albums, but this one was very meh for me. Maybe too electronica for my tastes.

Cat: Some of the tracks musically are a lot of fun and maybe were trendy or groundbreaking at the time. The lyrics are mostly terrible. Madonna has a beautiful, distinct voice. AJ: Totally agree. The two singles were the two best songs. Couple random acoustic guitar songs thrown in with more random electronic noises. She sounds great, but the writing is elementary at best. 🤣

3/10. Wow, I really didn't care for this, but I can certainly see how it influenced 2000s music.

I'm not a big fan of cowgirl-electronica-Don McLean Madonna. 4/10

with the resources at her disposal she had to score a couple of cool tracks, but it just strikes me like gangsta rap: the expression of goals and desires that are fundamentally shallow and corrosive

Oh god, forgot about the early 2000s music, probably for good reason. The mixing is just interesting lol. Some definitely Daft Punk vibes which I'm okay with. But some of the fake instruments and voice effects are just grating. Lots of experimental more electronic stuff in the beginning, but the middle of the album slows down for more approachable, catchy, dance music. Lyrics vary, some are generic love songs. While some actually pose interesting philosophical questions. I get a lot of video games sounds from some of these songs. Some enjoyable parts, but overall 2/5 Favorite songs: Impressive Instant, I Deserve It, Amazing Least favorite songs: Music, Nobody's Perfect,

It's no Ray of Light, is it? That American Pie cover is so painful it makes the original sound great

Just dreadful. A mechanical canary

How anyone can call this music is beyond me

The title of the album is misleading cause this is anything but music. How does anyone listen to this?

I don't really understand what this record is doing on the list. I'm not a fan of Madonna, but I can recognize her influence on 80s pop music ; she clearly deserved to have at least one of her early albums here. But this ?... It's just noisy, commercial dance-pop, a genre that has dozens of more talented and more relevant artists. This artificial cash grab is so entirely devoid of soul or inspiration that I had to struggle to not rage-quit after three songs. ''Paradise'' was the only saving grace, but it was too little, too late. One of the most annoying albums for me so far, plagued by autotune and vocoder abuse. Fuck this junk and the industry that enabled it. 2/10

Probably the only Madonna album I can vaguely get through without despair. The dance-pop stuff is still pretty awful to my ears, but the three tracks that bring in more varied influences work noticeably better. Still, I won’t be coming back to this one anytime soon.

I can't help but think the only reason this made the list is because it's Madonna. The same album released under a different name, I don't think it makes the grade to be in the 1001 albums list. I mean it's better than Murder Ballads, but... Should be re-titled "Girls Gone Vocoder Wild". Tracks like I Deserve It with her pure voice coming through were substantially better than the pure disco house Veronica Electronica bits. Nobody's Perfect seemed to be her apology for releasing that painfully bad track. The day the music died was the day this was released. I was a 2 up until that last track...

I was really excited for this one because I've never run a full Madonna album. Sorely disappointed, though. Kinda just sounds like a middle aged woman trying to connect with the youths. Bunch of cheeky sounds of the time wrapped up in a body of work. I actually don't hate the exploration and trying new things, but my GOD are the lyrics bad. They lyrics are absolutely terrible. Who were the writers?? The title song does a LOT of heavy lifting. It's an undeniable banger. It almost dragged this up to a 2 but alas, fell short.

1.5

Madonna - Music This is dogshit kebab terrible. First off, her voice is characterless, dirgeful whine. Second her lyrics are infant school googoo gaga nonsense. Third, she just leeches off her collaborators. Case in point being that the tracks with Mirwais Ahmadzai and William Orbit would be perfectly ok as instrumentals. Best Track - None. But if I have to then Don't Tell Me Worst - I Deserve It. But we didn't. Absolutely fucking terrible. How the hell is this on this list? 2/10

Never heard boring Madonna until now

Nothing to see here…

Madonna stopped being interesting many decades ago! In fact, in my case, *Ray of Light* was one of the last things of hers that I could still take in and digest without too much trouble. But after that, I stopped paying attention to what she does—artists who shout from the rooftops that they’re reinventing themselves when all they’re really doing is trying to keep up with trends and rake in a few more bucks over and over again! Forget it. Real icons are people like Tina Turner, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen… they don’t go around acting like old people trying to be young; they keep up with the times without ceasing to be themselves, doing what they’ve always done and knowing when to stop and appreciate the journey! Here, with Madonna and this album, there’s little left to appreciate :-(

Es bastante malo. Principalmente hablando de la reina del pop.

I can make better music with my ballsack hitting a drum set

oof… I'm not a fan. Pop music from this era had very little for me to latch onto. And this is definitely no exception. After 4 songs, I'm ready to call it. But I feel obligated to the project to do my best to finish it. …Oh god!! Not the really tacky, bad autotune! Please make it stop! Hey! Someone figured out how to automate the mute button! "Please don't tell me to stop." I already asked you earlier, Madonna. Is she trying to conjure some Kate Bush in that last track? Okay. That's over. I've heard worse. But it's got nothing for me here.

Meh

Absolute trash

Why is this album included on this list? There are so many quintessential Madonna albums. This is not one of them.

This is a sad attempt at relevance from an aging pop star. Hardly worth inclusion in this list.

1. muzic - 2 2. inztant - 1 3. lover - 1 4. dezerve - 1 5. amazing - 1 6. perfect - 1 7. tell - 1 8. girl - 0 9. paradize- 0 10. gone - 1 11. pie - 0

What the hell was Madonna thinking on this one. And what the hell are critics thinking including it in this list? Appallingly basic electro effects, no semblance of good songwriting, a woeful cover of a classic. On Nobody’s Perfect her vocals are entirely auto-tuned. Why would someone with a voice as powerful and recognisable as Madonna use auto-tune? To sound like some awful pop wannabe? Truly awful album

One of her worst!!! American Pie is just awful!!!!!

Unlistenable

Never been a Madge fan and this is why. The first few were just plain awful. Wether the one that was auto-tuned all the way through was supposed to be ironic or not I really couldn't tell. To be fair the albumdid improve the longer you put up with it, but that is not difficult when it starts off that bad. And I have never liked her version of American pie.

486/1089 - That was bad. Autotune and acoustic instruments shouldn't mix and the production choices were really questionable throughout... I think. I forgot most of it after it ended. Apparently there's a Y2K style American Pie bonus track. I don't really get it. The point of the original song was talking about the plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Ritchie Valens and the tumultuous cultural changes of the 60s. I guess the internet and Y2K was a big change but the grit and worry isn't there in this version, it's a bit too fun sounding for me. Idk what I'm talking about, take it with a grain of salt. I didn't exist in the 90s but I kinda wish this album didn't exist in the 2000s.

Fun Fact: Madonna recorded "American Pie" as a parody of Weird Al's "The Saga Begins." This is largely seen as an act of revenge after their relationship fell apart and Weird Al survived Madonna's assassination attempt

I was so disappointed by this. I thought I had listened to it a lot when I was younger but I don't remember many of the songs and found it a bit crap.

Trashy

I did not enjoy this at all. Sorry.

Way too much autotune for my taste. Music still has a good beat, and Don’t tell me is ok, but the rest of the album is a bit blah.

I don't feel like this was an album I absolutely had to listen to, but I have and we now move on.

While I like most of her music, I don't care for Madonnica. 1.5/5

The content is as bland as the title. I agree that Madonna should be on this list, but I don't get why this album is here. It sounds like an album she put out just because she is Madonna and wanted to get over with it. It's not that bad, but it's not good at all. I don't find anything engaging to it. I don't understand this inclusion.

Między 1-2. Taki najpospolitszy pop. Nic ciekawego.

Dated pop from after she was washed.

hot doo doo from a butt sorry madonna

Brutal

Everything about Madonna makes me physically ill: her voice, her appearance, everything.

Late effort from our madge

Sleek electronic dance-pop built on pulsing synth loops, programmed beats, and processed, coolly controlled vocals cycles with hypnotic precision. Listening feels like being on a brightly lit dancefloor where the same groove keeps circling without much change feeling monotonous.

This record is terrible. It sounds so dry and soulless. Madonna was an interesting figure earlier in her career, but there came a point where she wasn’t about anything except what was trending at the time. These songs do not add anything. They exist, but it does not mean they are.

Not good.

Boring and derivative.

This was really bad and then the American Pie cover sooo bad

Wow, I hate this era of music.

Madonna lost her way in the 2000’s and to is is glorified electronic music

the beats are fresh but overall it really doesn’t deliver like other songs for me. and it sounds really bad when you have an acoustic guitar and synthesized drums in this era. auto tune and that’s it.

nahh