Madonna - American Life

[Yoshie]

I would've liked music videos for both Nothing Fails and Nobody Knows Me, and a more strongly executed one for Love Profusion; the concept of the video is fantastic, but the finalised result isn't as great as it should have been.

I echo minime's claim about the remixes this era. They're among my favourite of Madonna's career. I love the maxi singles and the reworkings give me so much life.

[RayRay]

I always used to love the remixes and look forward to the 12" maxi-singles... but after Secret (which had some great remixes) it went down hill for me. Only a few remixes (Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Frozen) have been played by me since then. Although I did buy every single that was released I've never liked them as much as I loved the 80's remixes.

[Artoo]

I would've liked music videos for both Nothing Fails and Nobody Knows Me, and a more strongly executed one for Love Profusion; the concept of the video is fantastic, but the finalised result isn't as great as it should have been.

I echo minime's claim about the remixes this era. They're among my favourite of Madonna's career. I love the maxi singles and the reworkings give me so much life.

Well LP was only ever a single and video made because Warner had licenced it for use in a perfume advert - the video is basically the same as the advert. That bloody dress was horrid

Nothing Fails could have been a hit imo and was the track that got all the pre-release buzz. A number of early reviewers called it the new LAP.

Nobody Knows Me did get a video of sorts - a remix with a montage video from Madonna being born right up to 2003. It started out as a fan video I believe but then was commissioned for official release.

The best NKM remix is the tour mix though.

[BlueScorpion]

It's hard to discuss what could be a single or not as to me this album has little commercial appeal.

[MrLeonix]

It's hard to discuss what could be a single or not as to me this album has little commercial appeal.

The selected singles were the most coherent choices. They picked the right singles IMO.

[breatheonme]

This is definitely one of her best albums
I love the honesty and minimalism in this album.

Concerning the singles. Hmm difficult question. It’s indeed not the most commercial album she’s done but I would choose these ones :
1. Hollywood
2. Nothing Fails
3. Die Another Day
4. Easy Ride

Nothing Fails could’ve been the successful song of the era. A pity they never went with that one.

No matter how much I love this album, I’m so Stupd & NKM remain some of her most horrible songs ever. These two really destroy the flow of the album for me.

[grooveboy]

[youtube:1glq1nyi]QMMlrsxBZ7k[/youtube:1glq1nyi]

<3 <3

[heppolo]

This record is bloated and incoherent at the core. I wish Madonna continued to evolve artistically rather than opting for simplistic sound.

[JJeffs]

This is definitely one of her best albums
I love the honesty and minimalism in this album.

Concerning the singles. Hmm difficult question. It’s indeed not the most commercial album she’s done but I would choose these ones :
1. Hollywood
2. Nothing Fails
3. Die Another Day
4. Easy Ride

Nothing Fails could’ve been the successful song of the era. A pity they never went with that one.

No matter how much I love this album, I’m so Stupd & NKM remain some of her most horrible songs ever. These two really destroy the flow of the album for me.

I'm with you on pretty much all of this. I may rank the songs differently, with Hollywood and Easy Ride as my two favorites, but I love Nothing Fails as well. And I agree about ISS and NKM being the weakest on the album, although I don't think they are terrible. "Stupider than stupid" is a lyric I can do without, but I like the production on that song.

[Yoshie]

The arrangement of the tracklist is perfect and I wouldn't change anything.

This record is bloated and incoherent at the core. I wish Madonna continued to evolve artistically rather than opting for simplistic sound.

No.

[MrLeonix]

I love "Easy ride" but IMO it wasn't single / chart / radio material.

"American life", "Hollywood", "Love profusion" were IMO the most instant single-potential songs, thats why I think they picked the singles right.

And the song with the most commercial potential on the entire album overall was "Die another day" which was previously released and unsurprisingly smashed charts.

[RayRay]

I agree with MrLeonix that they chose the right singles.

However, they I think they would have been more succesful in this order:

Die Another Day
American Life
Nothing Fails (with a brilliant video and promo)
Hollywood
Love Profusion

[heppolo]

No.

I wish she continued experimenting with Bjork, thus disappearing into relative obscurity, At least then ''Bitch I'm Madonna'' would have never happened

[Yoshie]

I wish she continued experimenting with Bjork, thus disappearing into relative obscurity, At least then ''Bitch I'm Madonna'' would have never happened

Bitch I'm Madonna is not part of the American Life album?

[MrLeonix]

^ I don't get his comments either, I think Madonna kept experimenting up until this album, it has this acoustic - folktronica sound that was really unique, cool and had this very Madonna / Mirwais touch. The album is pretty interesting and satisfying.

[Artoo]

I’d argue COADF was Madonna experimenting too. It’s easy to forget what the pop scene looked like in 2005 - and it was bleak. Stuart was all but an unknown producer at the time, but she saw something, which was Madonna experimenting in itself. Madonna was clearly onto something because Stuart Price went on to produce for Kylie, Take That and Robbie Williams.

[Yoshie]

^ I don't get his comments either, I think Madonna kept experimenting up until this album, it has this acoustic - folktronica sound that was really unique, cool and had this very Madonna / Mirwais touch. The album is pretty interesting and satisfying.

I agree. Blending the worlds of acoustic and electronic music certainly wasn't the norm when Madonna released American Life. For me, although Confessions on a Dance Floor demonstrated a lot of creativity and inspiration, American Life is the last truly experimental album Madonna recorded.

[Artoo]

This album is the definition of a perfect album. I don’t think I could ever express just how much I actually love this record. I find it a little odd how little has leaked from this era too - although we do have The Game, Set The Right and It’s So Cool... which perhaps are the best indicators we don’t need anything to leak. Still, I’d have liked a b-side from this era.

I love her vocals here. I really love it when she uses her lower singing register - more often than not she doesn’t warm up her voice for her studio vocals, which results in a higher singing register (Candyshop for example). Which I find odd because she clearly warms up her voice on tour and sings the songs in a lower register anyway.

Madonna has a seriously under appreciated voice anyway.

[Yoshie]

I love her vocals here. I really love it when she uses her lower singing register - more often than not she doesn’t warm up her voice for her studio vocals, which results in a higher singing register (Candyshop for example). Which I find odd because she clearly warms up her voice on tour and sings the songs in a lower register anyway.

Madonna has a seriously under appreciated voice anyway.

!!!!!!

She has a stunning low register, and this album displays her vocal talents beautifully.

[BlueScorpion]

I’d argue COADF was Madonna experimenting too. It’s easy to forget what the pop scene looked like in 2005 - and it was bleak. Stuart was all but an unknown producer at the time, but she saw something, which was Madonna experimenting in itself. Madonna was clearly onto something because Stuart Price went on to produce for Kylie, Take That and Robbie Williams.

2005 was a beautiful year in music. But regarding the current discussion I'd say Madonna was brave enough to go against the odds. R&B and Urban music was dominating all charts worldwide and she released a dance album that later set trends and paved the way for dance music.