Madonna

[Westen]

Since everything is so instant these days i hope she chooses not to have an 'era'. Eras are very short these days and if singles flop before the album, hype is dead. I think she should just announce date of the album 2-3 weeks in advance, maybe one music video that week when album is out and that's it. Tour few months later.

[Yoshie]

Essential Albums: Madonna – Erotica

Madonna's 1992 visual album represents a landmark in queer and feminist pop music, argues News Editor Gregory Robinson

1992 was a pivotal year for pop music icon Madonna. Two years after the release of her international smash hit ‘Vogue’, which bought underground gay ballroom culture from the streets of New York to the rest of the world. And a year after the release of the The Immaculate Collection, the highest selling compilation by a solo artist, Madonna’s career was on a constant upswing both creatively and commercially.

As the world’s favourite provocateur entered the second phase of her career, her fame grew, her artistry matured and the themes of sexuality and religion, which have deep roots within Madonna’s career tracing all the way back to 1984’s ‘Like A Virgin’, pushed ‘Deeper and Deeper’ into territory never before explored by a mainstream pop star. As you can imagine, the world was very different in 1992. Even I, who was not even alive during one of music’s most pivotal eras, can understand that a female artist breaching the boundaries of sex and religion would be unthinkable for many people.

Leading up to the release of Madonna’s fifth studio album Erotica, signs of Madonna’s incessant need to rebel were laid bare. From ‘Like A Prayer’s’ burning crosses, black Jesus starring in the video to the theatrical Blond Ambition Tour of 1990, and the film Truth or Dare, that documented the tour, the world should have forecast Madonna’s next creative adventure to make seismic waves in the world of pop culture. They did not.

On 20th October 1992, Madonna released her visual-concept album Erotica simultaneously with Sex, a coffee table book containing explicit images of the singer shot by fashion photographers Steven Meisel and Fabien Baron. The visual album was met with stagnant reviews from critics whilst contemporary fans, many of whom identified as part of the LGBT community, celebrated the project.

The year 1992 not only marked a year of animosity from Madonna’s critics but also an era of suffering for the LGBT community as a result of the AIDS epidemic. Madonna has always been an outspoken advocate for the LGBT community, especially during the height of the AIDS epidemic. In a similar fashion to the safe sex pamphlet inserted into copies of her Like A Prayer album in 1989, Madonna used Erotica as a platform to discuss safe sex to the point of the Sex book being packaged in a condom inspired wrapper. The album’s final ballad ‘In This Life’ pays tribute to two of Madonna’s close friends who died of AIDS. ‘He was only twenty three / Gone before he had his time / It came without a warning / Didn't want his friends to see him cry / He knew the day was dawning / And I didn't have a chance to say goodbye’ she croons on the sorrowful eulogy. ‘In This Life’, much like the chart topping single ‘This Used To Be My Playground’, released three months before Erotica, shows Madonna’s emotional fragility.

It may come as a surprise to discover that Erotica is not the grossly carnal sex album you may expect. The album’s tracks range from deeply personal anecdotes: ‘In This Life’, ‘Rain’, ‘Secret Garden’ to disco bops: ‘Deeper and Deeper’, ‘Fever’ and gritty New Jack Swing confessions: ‘Bye Bye Baby’, ‘Where Life Begins’, ‘Thief of Hearts’ to a dancehall tinged call for world peace: ‘Why’s It So Hard?’.

Madonna crafted the album’s unique combinations of sounds with her co-producer and co-writer Shep Pettibone, who had previously remixed several of Madonna’s 1980s hits by turning them into modern 1990s house anthems. He also and produced ‘Vogue’. Pettibone kept a diary detailing his studio sessions with Madonna, with the first entry dated November 1991. According to Pettibone, Madonna wanted the album to sound raw ‘as if it were recorded in an alley at 123rd Street in Harlem.’ As a result, the album’s blend of hip-hop, jazz, New Jack Swing, funk, disco and house are sprinkled throughout the record and give it an authentic, cinematic quality which could overlay a picturesque scene of New York’s bourgeoisie and the rebels of the clubs and ballrooms.

The title track, lead single and album opener ‘Erotica’ is narrated by Madonna’s alter ego Dita. ‘If I take you from behind / push myself into your mind / when you least expect it… / will you try to reject it?’ is a playful reference to Madonna’s relationship with her critics. The song is somewhat of a companion to ‘Justify My Love’ which, like ‘Erotica’, has spoken word verses which are also utilised on the album’s jazzy closing track ‘Secret Garden’.

The rest of the album unfolds much like a journal in which Madonna reflects on her past relationships and lovers in the hip-hop tinged ‘Bye Bye Baby’, ‘Waiting’ and ‘Words’. ‘Bad Girl’ tells the fateful story of a drunken, chain smoking woman whose bingeing cannot stop her feel dissatisfied with her relationship with an unknown male. The high concept music video, directed by David Fincher stars Christopher Walken as Madonna’s character’s guardian angel.

Not only is Erotica filled with sorrow, it also explores sensuality. ‘Where Life Begins’ is a hip-hop slow jam in which Madonna cheekily celebrates cunnilingus. Though she has never been regarded as a powerhouse vocalist, Madonna’s crystal clear vocals carry ‘Rain’s’ trip hop melody to extraordinary highs and at some moments, evoke Karen Carpenter. The songs turbocharged middle-eight section seamlessly leads into Madonna’s dual recital of lines through both right and left channels, further showing Pettibone’s exquisite production and Madonna’s keen ear for a catchy melody. The ‘Vogue’ sampling ‘Deeper and Deeper’ is the album’s most gleeful song takes listeners back to the disco era, as Madonna takes on the persona of a young man coming out. She declares ‘This feeling inside, I can't explain / But my love is alive, and I'm never gonna hide it again’ over a nineties house beat before leading into a flamenco guitar breakdown. The surrealistic visual pays tribute to the work of Andy Warhol and 1970s disco culture.

Despite the lyrical and musical strength of Erotica’s songs, the album, and its singles were considered flops in comparison to blockbuster eighties hits ‘Material Girl’ and ‘Papa Don’t Preach.’ Erotica was Madonna’s first album not to top the Billboard 200 albums chart and sold “only” 6 million copies worldwide. For contemporary critics, the hits were not big enough and in their eyes, the world’s biggest pop star was unable to back up her ‘gimmicks’ with sales receipts. The Erotica era became the perfect time for the society, both men and women, to crucify the woman who defied everything in the unwritten rule book of pop.

When I first became a Madonna fan around six years ago, it became clear that Erotica and the Sex book were seen as blemishes in Madonna’s otherwise smash hit filled career. Even from a modern perspective, in which every female pop star has used elements of the Madonna Blueprint, the album and its visuals maintained their astonishing impact. Erotica is an essential album because it is incredibly bold – both for 1992 and a quarter of a century later. Madonna’s fight for the free expression of sex, religion and romance for all is interwoven throughout her work and is most prominent during the Erotica era. Erotica’s legacy has birthed Beyonce’s visual album Lemonade, and has inspired the today’s biggest pop divas; Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Ariana Grande, Katy Perry, Pink, Christina Aguilera and Nicki Minaj et al.

Erotica is an unconventional ode to feminism and homosexuality before these concepts became popular trending topics. This is one of the many reasons why the album was listed by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in August 2017 as one of the most revolutionary albums of all time. ‘...few women artists, before or since Erotica, have been so outspoken about their fantasies and desires. Madonna made it clear that shame and sexuality are mutually exclusive. In the end, Erotica embraced and espoused pleasure, and kept Madonna at the forefront of pop's sexual revolution.’ It is safe to say that no one will ever be able to top Erotica.

http://www.redbrick.me/music/slider-mus ... a-erotica/

[menime123]

Since everything is so instant these days i hope she chooses not to have an 'era'. Eras are very short these days and if singles flop before the album, hype is dead. I think she should just announce date of the album 2-3 weeks in advance, maybe one music video that week when album is out and that's it. Tour few months later.

Madonna loves to have an era.

[menime123]

Tbh , feel so good now,regarding her next release.
I mean,after the massive letdown of MDNA and the never before seen leakage of Rebel Heart ,i swear to God,i don't expect anything.
Saleswise,soundwise,imagewise...nothing !
This is so good. I feel like I've reached the nirvana as a fan

The thing with the leaks, has that actually ever happened to someone before? I know stuff leaks and has done for years - I am a Madonna fan afterall - but I would argue literally every track she demoed for this album leaked in advance of the album being finished, let alone announced. Plus it wasn’t just 1 demo - multiple demos leaked for some songs.

[RayRay]

Tbh , feel so good now,regarding her next release.
I mean,after the massive letdown of MDNA and the never before seen leakage of Rebel Heart ,i swear to God,i don't expect anything.
Saleswise,soundwise,imagewise...nothing !
This is so good. I feel like I've reached the nirvana as a fan

The thing with the leaks, has that actually ever happened to someone before? I know stuff leaks and has done for years - I am a Madonna fan afterall - but I would argue literally every track she demoed for this album leaked in advance of the album being finished, let alone announced. Plus it wasn’t just 1 demo - multiple demos leaked for some songs.

It happend to Toni Braxton's 2010 album "Pulse".
And just like Madonna she left off some great tracks and replaced them with mediocre songs.
And some she did release were remixed for worse...

[BodyShop]

Tbh , feel so good now,regarding her next release.
I mean,after the massive letdown of MDNA and the never before seen leakage of Rebel Heart ,i swear to God,i don't expect anything.
Saleswise,soundwise,imagewise...nothing !
This is so good. I feel like I've reached the nirvana as a fan

The thing with the leaks, has that actually ever happened to someone before? I know stuff leaks and has done for years - I am a Madonna fan afterall - but I would argue literally every track she demoed for this album leaked in advance of the album being finished, let alone announced. Plus it wasn’t just 1 demo - multiple demos leaked for some songs.

Exactly! It's unprecedented!
And that's why i feel so not worried now ! Everything (bad) that could've possibly happened to her,is old news.
Like:"ok,first single leaked and it's awful. No prob,that happened with GMAYL".
"Oh,the whole album leaked in advance,no one's going to buy this when it's out. Fine,that happened to Rebel Heart".
"Oh,she's releasing an album and there's absolutely no promo,she's going straight to tour now. So what? Same happened with Hard Candy and MDNA"
"Oh,there's so many generic songs in this album,albeit i love a couple of the others. What's new? MDNA all over again"
"Wow,her second week sales are terrible ,what a flop! Really? ! Honey,this is so 2012"

Like,whatever... Im only enjoying the music now everything else is a 'been there seen that" kind of situation

[Benjamin]

Just the thought of a new Madonna album makes me happy.
Especially because it seems like she's inspired by Portugal and Portugese music and artists.
Should be good.

[Westen]

Since everything is so instant these days i hope she chooses not to have an 'era'. Eras are very short these days and if singles flop before the album, hype is dead. I think she should just announce date of the album 2-3 weeks in advance, maybe one music video that week when album is out and that's it. Tour few months later.

Madonna loves to have an era.

And yet her last real era was ROL...

[menime123]

Since everything is so instant these days i hope she chooses not to have an 'era'. Eras are very short these days and if singles flop before the album, hype is dead. I think she should just announce date of the album 2-3 weeks in advance, maybe one music video that week when album is out and that's it. Tour few months later.

Madonna loves to have an era.

And yet her last real era was ROL...

[Westen]

Prove me wrong tho.

[KEY9481]

What was Rebel Heart then?
Single releases? Check.
Videos for each single? Check.
Cohesive imagery throughout the project? Check.
Promotion campaign for singles and album? Check.
Tour for the album? Check.

[Westen]

What was Rebel Heart then?
Single releases? Check.
Videos for each single? Check.
Cohesive imagery throughout the project? Check.
Promotion campaign for singles and album? Check.
Tour for the album? Check.

lol she released 6 songs and then disappeared for almost 2 months. And then she promoted few times over next 2 months because she was forced after the leaks. And it was the first time it happened since Music era. But then again Music era started only after she gave birth and then promoted few times Music and DTM, she cut era short because she was a bitch.

AL was tragic. Coadf was just frontloaded (tragic videos tho). HC is tragic. MDNA is nothing. So no she doesn't have proper era for almost 20 years now.

[menime123]

Prove me wrong tho.

COADF:

1. Hung Up #1 in over 40 countries
2. COADF #1 in over 40 countries
3. MTV EMA performance
4. Grammy Award performance
5. Michael Parkinson 1 hour interview special with 2 performances
6. Promo gig in London - streamed online for free
7. 30 minute documentary of how the London Koko was made
8. Free song given away to ICON members
9. 1st ever bonus song on special edition of album
10. Horseride through NYC for Letterman
11. First ever festival set - Coachella
12. TV performances in France
13. TV performance in Germany
14. Promo visit to Japan with interviews and performances
15. Promo gig in London’s GAY
16. Motorola TV advert featuring Hung Up
17. TV performances for Children in Need
18. Ellen interview + tour announcement
19. 5 music videos (although 2 were live performance footage)
20. ILNY demo - first ever officially released Madonna demo
21. Confessions Remixed - official remix album
22. Hundreds of press junket interviews
23. Lots and lots of magazine interviews and covers
24. Consecutive album and single artwork - including the first time Madonna ever used a fan photograph as a single cover (for Sorry)
25. 2 UK #1 singles - 3rd time ever.
26. Hung Up was top 10 in the UK for 10 weeks, including 3 at #1
27. Brit Awards for Best International Female Artist
28. Grammy Award for Best Dance Album
29. Matched Elvis with the most top 10 singles in the US ever
30. Highest grossing tour by a female with Confessions Tour

That sir, is what I call an era

[Westen]

What does chart success has to do with era overall? Or bonus track. Sorry you didn't prove anything.

She promoted COADF only few weeks around its release (and then at Grammys).

She released 2 worst videos of her career at the time and 2 among her weakest. And then she went on tour.

Performances on local tvs in Zimbabwe and Luxembourg are irrelevant.

Last time she really had an era, kept it exciting for over a year, or kept having relevant appearances was during ROL era.

[menime123]

What does chart success has to do with era overall? Or bonus track. Sorry you didn't prove anything.

She promoted COADF only few weeks around its release (and then at Grammys).

She released 2 worst videos of her career at the time and 2 among her weakest. And then she went on tour.

Performances on local tvs in Zimbabwe and Luxembourg are irrelevant.

Last time she really had an era, kept it exciting for over a year, or kept having relevant appearances was during ROL era.

So record breaking chart success in local and global charts, performances at the biggest TV shows, interviews with some of TVs biggest names, magazine covers in the biggest magazines, free music for her fan club, performances and album promo in The US, Europe and Asia, surprise club appeances, free streamed promo gig, unannounced free documentary on how the show was made, critical acclaim from everyone and basically becoming Queen of The Universe isn’t an era?

You make it sound like ROL was promoted daily for a year. Hell she dropped the ROL era to make a movie for gods sake

**** sake, Beyoncé drops an unannounced album and she supposedly revolutionises the industry without leaving her bed. Madonna travels the world, promotes the hell out of her record, gets the album into the Guiness book of records, makes the album sell more than double her last album, reclaims her throne after the whole AL era, breaks US chart records without any radio support and still it’s not an era?

You should be beaten with a VHS copy of Evita

[NoAngel]

You should be beaten with a VHS copy of Evita

For this blasphemy he proclaimed he deserves nothing less than Swept Away

[Westen]

Beyonce films video for each song and promotes on every single relevant platform and is winning relevant awards. Everything from Lemonade was dropped in one day and yet era felt like it lasted for over a year. And i don't even like her or live in country where she is relevant!

Madonna films shi*ty cheap video and gives interviews talking about her kids and wearing grills at 60. Sorry if that's enough for you, it's not for me.

Difference between those 2 is that it seems like Beyonce gives zero fu*ks when in fact she's not. She's campaigning for everything she gets (same for Gaga, look at that til it happens to you era, it lasted longer than last 3 Madonna's eras).

[menime123]

Beyonce films video for each song and promotes on every single relevant platform and is winning relevant awards. Everything from Lemonade was dropped in one day and yet era felt like it lasted for over a year. And i don't even like her or live in country where she is relevant!

Madonna films shi*ty cheap video and gives interviews talking about her kids and wearing grills at 60. Sorry if that's enough for you, it's not for me.

Difference between those 2 is that it seems like Beyonce gives zero fu*ks when in fact she's not. She's campaigning for everything she gets (same for Gaga, look at that til it happens to you era, it lasted longer than last 3 Madonna's eras).

So... if Madonna was promoting on every relevant platform in 2005, winning Grammy awards and Brit Awards (aka RELEVANT music awards) and did more promo in one week than Beyoncé has in a decade, how is that not an era?

NoAngel is wrong. You don’t deserve Swept Away. This sort of ignorance requires Mariah’s Glitter

[Westen]

lol drop your stan goggles. Effective promo > bunch of crap promotion slots.
Beyonce performs at every.single.relevant. show. (and yet somehow she didn't promoted Lemonade according to you: Superbowl, Grammys, VMAs, Country Music Awards, Bet Music Awards.
Giving few 'epic' performances per era is better than having trashy non event performances or bunch of morning shows interviews.

But go ahead and enjoy those amazing performances from Italy and France that she gave during COADF era in those few weeks she promoted era before it died

And don't give me that crap "more promo in one week than Beyoncé has in a decade" when 4 era is basically the most promoted era in pop history.

[menime123]

[QueenMadonna]

Erotica is an unconventional ode to feminism and homosexuality before these concepts became popular trending topics. This is one of the many reasons why the album was listed by the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in August 2017 as one of the most revolutionary albums of all time. ‘...few women artists, before or since Erotica, have been so outspoken about their fantasies and desires. Madonna made it clear that shame and sexuality are mutually exclusive. In the end, Erotica embraced and espoused pleasure, and kept Madonna at the forefront of pop's sexual revolution.’ It is safe to say that no one will ever be able to top Erotica.

Amazing review! I agree with everything

[QueenMadonna]

What was Rebel Heart then?
Single releases? Check.
Videos for each single? Check.
Cohesive imagery throughout the project? Check.
Promotion campaign for singles and album? Check.
Tour for the album? Check.

I loved the promo to Rebel Heart. I hope that she repeat it again in her next era.

[BodyShop]

Westen,as much as I like you,you are dead wrong this time.
Confessions was a hell of exciting era! Ugh ! How i miss those days.
You had Madonna on the news everyday! She had effective promo both in Europe and the US. She even traveled to Japan for the first time in 8 years to promote Hung Up.
She went to Germany,France,Italy,not to mention ,obviously,the UK where she was living back then.
Her promo slots were top notch ! All of them !
She had promo gigs in iconic clubs in both Europe and America ...AND JAPAN !!!!!
She had support,she had acclaim,she had hype and she delivered ! Big time !
She annoumced her world tour right after she left the Grammys on THE ELLEN SHOW and everyone was in awe !
If you ask me,the Confessions era was waaaaay more exciting than Ray of Light.
Whether the videos were good or bad is up to anyone's taste as that is subjective but. She definitely had a direction,cohesiveness,she came for blood.
Hell she even shot the video for Jump in Japan one year after the album released and during her final days of touring !!! Again,if the video is good or bad is a whole other story but then again,she put A LOT of effort into that (keep in mind her kids were still that:kids and she still delivered all that).
I'm sorry again but besides being wrong you are being really unfair to her
As a fan,I couldn't have asked for anything more. The world was once again reminded who the Queen was and there was absolutely no doubt about that !

[MrLeonix]

And yet her last real era was ROL...

Westen, I've learned to appreciate your posts, but "Confessions" was an era, good or bad videos it was an era, performances and promotion for TV shows around the world in every continent, 4 singles, a brilliant tour, Interviews on every show, a theme and well designed concept, great image, etc. It was an era, and a great one!

"Music" and "American Life" were eras too, they just were shorter but still were eras with a theme, a concept, music videos, promotion, televised performances, DVDs and tours.

Not every era can be like "Ray of light". That doesn't mean it was her last era

[BodyShop]

^Absolutely,Leonix.
The fact she did all the promo she did for Music after giving birth at the age of 42 speaks volumes of how big of a fighter she is.
And she didn't cut the era short 'cause she was a bitch'.
She had her artistic vision and Warner simply.didn't allow her to do what she wanted.
She had delivered Ray of Light and Music was already a huge success so ,why didn't they allow her to go with Impressive Instant instead of Amazing?
I can totally understand why she was pissed and,if you ask me,that's the difference between being a 'label puppet' and being Madonna.
Standing ovation for her !!

American Life was a very well planned era as well. The only misstep was the withdrawal of the original AL video .
Promo was fantastic and very on point. MTV was kissing her ass from the get go. Her voice was better than ever and for the first time in her career she was singing old hits along with her new songs (as Like a Prayer, for example) .
Too bad people didn't connect with the album and she was blacklisted in America.
Keep in mind she shot and released the Love Profusion video months after the album was released and was already a certified flop everywhere
That gives you a dimension of how much she cared for the album.