Mandatory Madonna: The Directionless Acoustic Experiment
Written: Feb 13 '04
Product Rating:
Pros: When it's good it's good. The guitar is beautiful. So is Madonna's voice.
Cons: When it's bad it's baaad.
The Bottom Line: Even though some of the songs on this album are terrific, some of them are awful, and it lacks a sense of direction or purpose, making for a mediocre effort.
LindsayBW's Full Review: American Life [PA] by Madonna
Have you ever seen that show on E! called "It's Good To Be..."? I'm sure they did Madonna once, but I don't watch the trash. Anyway, I have to disagree that it's good to be Madonna. Sure, sure, the money must be great, but imagine this if you will: you release a fantasticly fantastic personal album to amazing reviews and good sales. Then you make a smart move and release a fun, basically meaningless dance record to good enough reviews and (more importantly) good sales again. Amazingly, even after 20 years, the public isn't tired of you, so you have to release another album. What do you do? Do you do the personal thing again? Or do you just have inane pop dribble? And then you have to remember that you're the queen of reinvention. So what kind of music are you going to do? You've already done basically everything. You released great pop albums, great dance albums, some terrific R&B, a throwback to swing, and even a popera soundtrack. Really, the only things you haven't done are break into rhyme and headbang to thrashing guitars! So what do you do now, Miss Ciccone?
Listening to American Life, Madonna's 2003 release, it's pretty obvious what she decided. And that's to not ask herself any of these questions and just do whatever the heck she wants. *sigh* Whatcha gonna do? It is Madonna.
The album kicks off with American Life, and Madonna asking us "Do I have to change my name? Will it get me far? Should I lose some weight? Am I gonna be a star?". It has Madonna's honest vocals over a techno beat very reminiscent of Music, but the high point is definitely at the chorus when a gentle, surprising acoustic guitar simply backs her up as she gently coos "American life, I live the American dream, you are the best thing I've seen, you are not just a dream." The lyrics are basically a jab at celebrities and their lifestyles. Okay, I don't care what anyone says, I like this song, especially the blossoming guitar at the chorus and the feel of the entire thing. But remember how all Madonna hasn't done is rap and metal? Well... scratch rap. Yes, a 45 year old white woman busts into rhyme on this track, and yes, it is godawful, but it's pretty dang funny too. So if you just laugh at her, you'll forget it's horrid and maybe be able to enjoy the rest of the song.
I think the acoustic guitar is a very beautiful sound, which is probably why I love Hollywood so much. There was a time last year before this song was known for those kisses, and it was a decent track. It's kind of a midtempo, with a very summery feel to it throughout. It's especially good at the chorus when it's just that guitar and Maddy's now matured vocals. At points, the dance elements are thrown in, but for the most part, this is a pretty subdued song. The random shouting of "Push the button! Don't push the button! Trip the station! Change the channel!" is unexpected to say the least, but it's not as bad as the rap. The lyrics are about how Hollywood is a destructive place, but people can't get out... or something. Anyway, I like it a lot.
This album has gotten a pretty bad rep. After the first two tracks, it's not too obvious why, but I'm So Stupid really clues you in. The guitar is nice, but the production is just weird. With that sudden, layered, scratchy "Iiiiiii" just gets to you. It's in a minor key or something, and the arrangement is just pretty lazy. And as a poet, I think I can safely the word "stupid" is just not a very good poetic word. Speaking of the words, they are a retrospective on all the things Madonna used to want. They wouldn't be so bad if she hadn't been talking about it for two albums. Drowned World comes to mind, and it never uses the word "stupid." Overall, this song is a sleeper, though I've got to admit, I love the blunt ending of Maddy yelling "Everybody's looking for something!"
She calms down though on Love Profusion, a track which boasts her voice sounding lovely over an even lovelier acoustic guitar. A midtempo beat kicks in and this song has a very simplistic feel to it, even with a few computer effects thrown in a little later on. "I've got you under my skin." she sings. It sounds very sincere, and I love the how the optimism kicks in lyrically at the same time it does musically. Unfortunately, her lyrical skills aren't anything to write home about: "I know I can feel bad when I get in a bad mood." You don't say? I'm pretty fond of this song, but I really prefer Headcleanr's Rock Remix, which can be found on Remixed & Revisited.
The tempo comes up again on Nobody Knows Me, a track full of now familiar effects - blips, bleeps, spinning, whirrs, and even what sound like baby voices in this one. With a strange synthesized melody consistantly pulsing through this one, it's just strange. It all really sounds like deja vu from Music, or perhaps a left over, and nothing is very terrific about it, even if it's not god awfully horrible either. It's just... there.
Fortunately Madonna knows when she's got to pick things up, and that's exactly what she does with Nothing Fails. This track has got the terrific guitars throughout with a lovely midtempo melody. Her voice sounds terrific on this one, even if the lyrics are a bit cheesy: "I've climbed the tree of life, and that is why I'm no longer scared if I fall." I'm not sure what this song is about, really, probably devotion to her husband, but it doesn't really matter because it's so catchy and sincere. The real bonus is when the gospel choir kicks in towards the end completely out of nowhere. Some may say it's over the top, but the woman released a book with Vanilla Ice porn in it. I think this is pretty tame for Madonna. This is the best track on the album.
The lovely acoustic guitar keeps its gently strumming going on Intervention. I love how beautifully simple this track is before the drum beat and back up vocals kick in. Just Madonna and the guitar. Throughout the track, her voice sounds beautiful. Probably its best on this album, with soft sincerity and a lovely tone. This song reaches a peak at the bridge where Madonna wisely observes "In the blink of an eye, everything can change." I really love this song, and think its pretty underrated.
Speaking of loving songs... X-Static Process. I am all for simplicity and this track delivers on that front, never moving from anything but an acoustic guitar and Madonna singing alongside herself in terrific harmony. The melody is gentle and lovely - not really a ballad but a soft, subdued midtempo. And the lyrics are terrific too. The real kicker: "I always wished that I could find someone as beautiful as you, but in the process I forgot that I was special too." This song has a gorgeous intimacy to it, and is one of the high points of this disc.
But it's quickly forgotten as you hear Mother And Father. God. I really despise this song. We've got that retrospective lyric thing going on again, but when Madonna looked back, she must have accidental picked up that horribly annoying voice from Bye Bye Baby. Why, God, why?! It was bad enough we had to hear this in one song, but two? Kill me. There is some really odd choices of production in this song, and Madonna sounds like she tries her hand at rapping again, which also has me begging to be shot. I'll admit, some of it is a bit catchy, especially "I've got to give it up, find someone to love me" line that pops up a few times, but as soon as you think of that horrible, whiny, high-pitched voice, you're ready to kill yourself. Or you could just opt for skipping onto the next track, which I just love to do.
Some may say it doesn't get much better from there, because the next track is Die Another Day. Okay... remain calm... but I like it. (Killing me is looking good about now, right?) Okay, I don't think it's the best Bond theme, but as a pop song I think this has some awesome elements. The strings over the strange, oddly paced beat and swirling sound effects is awesome. And the melody is dang catchy - there is a reason this got a lot of airplay, and I'd like to think it's not just because it's Madonna. (I don't know about you, but I never heard What It Feels Like For A Girl on the radio.) I love the production of this song, and though I can't really imagine it with Piers Brosnon on a super spy mission and jamming to it, I still like it.
The strings continue in the beautiful Easy Ride. They are accompanied by the lovely acoustic guitar, and Madonna's vocal is very honest. "What I want is to work for it. Feel the blood and sweat on my finger tips." The lyrics are awesome in this song, and when good lyrics are put to a subdued, yet catchy melody, it can only go well. Especially if the production is simple and elegant. Rest assured it is. This is a perfect high note to end the album on.
Overall, American Life has some terrific songs, but as a whole, it just seems like a rushed effort. If Madonna had taken the time to find answers to the questions we are all asking ourselves now, she could have produced an album of much higher quality. There are songs on this album that are terrific, but when it's bad, it's bad, and that's something nearly unheard of for Madonna. There's no real direction on what she was trying to do here, and she didn't reinvent herself really. It's more fitting to say she spun-off what she was trying to do with Music and added some political messages and more guitars in there. This album is simply decent.
Oh, so why is it mandatory? It's Madonna's least selling album! The woman needs to pay her pilates instructor, you know.
Madonna... More than 150 million albums sold worldwide. All of her previous 15 albums platinum, 13 of those multiplatinum; 14 Top 10, nine #1 or #2. M...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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