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Madame X: 'A Combustible, Political, Musical Manifesto'


steel

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My Fellow Little Madonnsters in GagaDaily, let's discuss the colossal masterpiece that Madonna is about to drop into the world in June 14. Here's a recent write up on the album from Vogue UK:

                                     1585144942_Screenshot2019-05-12at00_15_1

 

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A few questions to get the discussion going:

 

1. What do you think they mean about the album being political?

2. What about the release strategy? Do you think there's been an intentional  launch of the most commercial songs first to save the most experimental tracks, those with a more philosophical or political nature for when the album is released in order to avoid a backlash similar to the one that followed American Life? So far we have heard 3 of 6 songs produced by Starrah (Crave - single / I Rise - promo single / Future - promo single) and 1 out of 7 produced by Mirwais (Medellin - single).

3. Which unreleased songs are you most excited about, based on the album tracklist and what we know about them?

4. How would you rate the 4 tracks released so far ( Medellin, I Rise, Crave, and Future) from favourite to least favourite, and why? What do you love about them? And what would you like to be different?

 

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Respond to as many as you wish, and please contribute to the discussion respectfully and positively, avoiding personal attacks to members or the artist.

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bionic

If it's anything like "I Rise" then the politics will be nothing as forward as compared to American Life.

 

Medellin is my favourite. The others do nothing for me. Medellin > Crave > I Rise > Future.

stream bionic
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LOVEDRUG

For me the ranking is Crave > Future > I Rise > Medellin

And I'm super excited for Dark Ballet, God Control, Extreme Occident and Killers Who Are Partying

 

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My own take on the different questions:

1. When I read the editorial and saw them referring to the album as political, my first thought was that it would be political, but it would be in a very different sense to American Life. I think it will be broadly political in the sociological sense that the violence, the volatility, the lack of transparency and the confusion of our world have so radically reshaped the human experience both intellectually and metaphysically at such a rapid pace in our current era... that M as a mother, as a person of privilege, and as an activist, has found new ways to express herself through the concept of Madame X.

2. I do think this has been intentional, and the songs have been chosen to appeal to very specific segments of the market, which as a legacy artist, is a very savvy business decision.

3. I can't wait to hear Dark Ballet and Extreme Occident! All of Mirwais productions with M actually. The two of them together always produce absolute brilliance.

4. I'm absolutely in love with all 4 songs released so far. love how experimental and different each song is and the way each integrates different world music traditions in them, which makes ranking them tricky, but maybe: Crave > Medellin > Future > I Rise.

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elijahfan

Well, so far the released tracks go from barely enjoyable to mediocre, so I have yet to see the masterpiece aspect of it :crossed:

American Life is brilliant through and through, so they're being real bold comparing the two records...

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FfFfFfFF

1. Her essential political moment in her career was American Life and it was a masterpiece. I think she is using this more for the aesthetic this time around. Not saying that she cares but I think/ fear she will end up dragged by woke community either way.

2. I hope these are the most mainstream songs and then come the experimental ones!  Also, I personally don't enjoy this strategy of releasing multiple tracks before the album. I prefer to listen to the whole body of work when it's released and let songs grow on me as I replay it. This is the best experience imo. With releasing many songs before the album I also feel like I need to like them and in this case it doesn't happen so I worry about if I'll enjoy any of the songs, listening to the full album at once allows me to pick my favorites. Also, I hope there will be no more snippets because they sometimes give an inaccurate impression on the quality of the song and I end up being disappointed. 

3. Dark Ballet and Extreme Occident! I found the snippet she performed at Met Gala better than all she released.

4. Future > CRave > Medellin > I Rise

Future is very Unapologetic Bitch sounding and I loved that song! It's pretty catchy, the horns are good, I think it will grow on me!

Crave has a nice guitar but her mumbling set me off and there is something that is still not letting me connect with it.

Medellin has interesting moments but her vocals sound too thin, the beats are washed-out, I  feel like it's too long. 

I Rise has pretty interesting production but I still don't enjoy it. The melody is not that strong imo.

Overall I wouldn't place any of these songs on my all time list of favorite Madonna songs and I'm disappointed because I tried to like them, but it's not happening. I don't think any of these are on the same level as the better songs on Rebel Heart.

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BOMSHELL

Can’t wait to see what she cooks up for the tour. Watching her tours with professional filming is always a treat.

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4 minutes ago, bionic said:

If it's anything like "I Rise" then the politics will be nothing as forward as compared to American Life.

No, I Rise is very tame in comparison for example with American Life (the song). But if you look into American Life the album, it's not really that political as a whole. It's a very philosophical, personal and introspective album, at least to me.

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5 minutes ago, WarriorPhoenix said:

And I'm super excited for Dark Ballet, God Control, Extreme Occident and Killers Who Are Partying

Yessss, can wait to hear all those! Just for the titles themselves. :tony:

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LOVEDRUG
Just now, steel said:

Yessss, can wait to hear all those! Just for the titles themselves. :tony:

Omg ikr, I swear Dark Ballet is a retitled Beautiful Game too...

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whore
17 minutes ago, steel said:

3. Which unreleased songs are you most excited about, based on the album tracklist and what we know about them?

I'm wondering if "Beautiful Game" made it to the tracklist under a different name maybe? But the song seems kind of different from the theme she's going for, I'm wondering if that song was made before the concept of Madame X, and she didn't want to waste that song? I don't know :saladga:

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4 minutes ago, elijahfan said:

Well, so far the released tracks go from barely enjoyable to mediocre, so I have yet to see the masterpiece aspect of it :crossed:

American Life is brilliant through and through, so they're being real bold comparing the two records...

Yes, they are being bold, but when you think of it, American Life had a terrible response and did badly commercially, but now it's a complete fan favourite and considered a masterpiece of her discography.

And hang in there... I totally get that you might not like the songs released so far, but I think they are saving the best for last. All the songs released are very current to appeal to wider segments of the musical landscape, that's why we are also getting all the features first, but the deeper songs will be the ones not released during the album campaign.

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7 minutes ago, Loeppke said:

I'm wondering if "Beautiful Game" made it to the tracklist under a different name maybe? But the song seems kind of different from the theme she's going for, I'm wondering if that song was made before the concept of Madame X, and she didn't want to waste that song? I don't know :saladga:

Beautiful Game has apparently been retitled, as some people Shazamed the Met Gala snippet and got Dark Ballet as the name of the song. I'm really curious to hear it though, because at the Met Gala it sounded great and with lots of potential. 

Dark Ballet comes out June 7th, so not long now. 😊

 

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ThisGuyTony

In the Madame X announcement video, what's the song playing in the background? That's the one I'm looking forward to.

Medellin has grown on me so much. Idk if it's because of the lackluster Crave and Future (both which are forgettable). 

I Rise is my favorite song thus far.

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30 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

1. Her essential political moment in her career was American Life and it was a masterpiece. I think she is using this more for the aesthetic this time around. Not saying that she cares but I think/ fear she will end up dragged by woke community either way.

Yes, totally with you on this. And I think she is aware of the risk of getting dragged by the woke community. Just look at the lyrics in Future

You ain't woke
Come here woke and
Hear the broken
Come give hope
Come give life
Only get one, so we gotta live it right

If she gets dragged, it won't be her first rodeo, and she might actually be expecting it. 😄

30 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

I personally don't enjoy this strategy of releasing multiple tracks before the album. I prefer to listen to the whole body of work when it's released and let songs grow on me as I replay it. This is the best experience imo.

Yes, would much prefer this too. It's completely different getting the album as a whole and hearing it for the first time, just having heard a single or two. I think this strategy in her case specifically has to do with the position she is right now. She is primarily a legacy artist still putting out original music, so the best option is to focus on the album and maximise its visibility.

30 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

3. Dark Ballet and Extreme Occident!

Yessss. Me too. 😊

30 minutes ago, FfFfFfFF said:

4. Future > CRave > Medellin > I Rise

Really interesting that you place Future in the first spot. Seems to be the most divisive of the 4. And yes, hang in there, there's still lot of new music to come. :)

EDIT: And thank you for all your responses.

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