What Are You Listening To?

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "american life"  cd 2003

her nineth studio album
still has a few dance orientated tracks but lots of ballads and a couple of acoustic tunes also
written in the shadows of 9/11 and the serious tone of most lyrics
despite the dour nature of most of it the album managed to sell 5 million copies which i guess was a commercial failure by her previous standards but still a great effort for someone 20yrs into her career
theres songs about the 'loss of the american dream' following that terrorist tragedy like the title track and "im so stupid"
but also songs offsetting that seriousness by highlighting the allure of america in songs like "hollywood"
elsewhere we have the theme song for the 007 Bond movie "die another day" which incidently, is the only track on here i do not like.
oh sorry, i forgot, theres another i dont like, one that is steeped in autotune voice effects
so i love six tracks, like three and dislike two giving a ranking of 2.4 which means
I LOVE THIS ALBUM

toss up for fav between "hollywood" and this one

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA   "confessions on a dancefloor"  cd 2005

her tenth studio album
all dance stuff on here
i think the album flows really smooth and seamless from one track to the next.
i could imagine a DJ putting it on in a club and letting it play all the way through because it just works that way
samples from Abba, bee gees, depeche mode and pet shop boys
nothing really bad on here but nothing really outstanding either
album sold 10 million copies worldwide and that is why she is the biggest female artist ever, she really was unstoppable.
album would rank around 2.3 for me which means...
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fave:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "hard candy"  cd 2008

her eleventh studio album
from Lynne's cd collection, as are the final three albums after this one
almost all of the tracks here were collaborations between her and Pharrell Williams
the remaining three or four of the twelve are co-writes with Justin Timberlake
thus giving the album a slightly different dance-pop vibe than  previous albums
the fresh sort of modern vibe was certainly a plus simply because both Williams and JT had a different perspective on the genre
there isnt anything really wrong with this album but there are only a couple of tracks that stand above the majority
the album sold what could be considered a low quantity by her standards but 4 million sales wasnt too bad considering this was the era of the real emergence of streaming and download platforms and she suffered as much as any artist
this album's ranking is 2.0 which means
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav was not even a released as a single:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "MDMA"  cd  2012


her twelfth studio album
this one is from Lynne's cd collection
on the first of two listens i disliked the first three tracks but it got better after that
then the second listen was even better, liked those first three and loved several others along the way
album still has her dance orientated vibes on the first half but theyre more retro sounding similar to her debut album
the remainder could have almost been left over tracks from the 'true blue' sessions,
that said, the album still sounds fresh, bright and modern
album sold a mere 2 million copies thanks to bloody streaming platforms,
(the lack of sales surely have to be corelated to streaming/download platforms because an artist who regularly sells 10 million albums with each release cannot suddenly drop to 20% of that overnight)
a surprisingly good effort from Ms Ciccone ranking at a surprisingly good 2.2 means
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav has a slight Gwen Stefani/Toni Basil vibe going on which i really like

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA   "rebel heart"  cd,  2015

her thirteenth studio album
another from Lynne's collection because i didnt buy albums 11 to 14...
the first half of the album was very run of the mill EDM-pop which i could just take or leave
the second half had ballads and general slower songs which i preferred
overall, not that bad that i wouldnt play it again but certainly not my 'go to' album of hers
love the album cover art, just the contrasts in 50 shades of grey i guess
again, the whole streaming/download industry has finally killed music with this one selling less than 2 million copies worldwide
album would rate 1.7 for me which means
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav was not even released a  a single:  

[CRAZY-HORSE]

MADONNA  "madame X"  cd  2019

her fourteenth and most recent studio album
the final one from Lynne's  cd collection
firstly, i love the cover art, almost Goth in nature with a hint of Marilyn Manson weirdness.
so, on with the music
lets say trip-hip, world, art pop and dance
overuse of autotune throughout and even vocorder on one track
this one is trying to be something to all people when in actual fact it fails on almost every level,
too much of everything yet not enough of anything thus making it a musical mess for me
had to listen twice and i still couldnt find anything remotely that i could honestly say i liked
should probably score a 1.2 or similar but due to the cool cover i raised it to 1.5 but that still makes it the worst album of hers i have heard.
I DO NOT LIKE THIS ALBUM

lead off single:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

JESSIE J   "who you are" cd 2011

a revisit
her debut of five, i own the first three
UK pop singer
similar in style and sound to Christina Aguilera and Lily Allen at times
vocals are strained at times when she tries too hard to hit some notes but overall she does it quite well
album contains the worldwide smash hit "price tag" which incidently is the best track on here
probably the weakest of the three i own but would still rank around 2.1 which means
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

BUCKINGHAMS  "time &  charges"

from the MH  vinyl collection thread
US pop band
released in 1967
their second of a dozen albums over the decades
almost bubblegum-pop in places, pop-rock in others
nice little album of radio friendly pop, would rate 2.0 from a first up listen
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fave was the b-side of one of the singles (stupid record label execs)

[CRAZY-HORSE]

NEIL SEDAKA  "steppin' out"   vinyl 1976

from Lynne's vinyl collection
we are both big Sedaka fans but i have never heard this album
side one is pretty much a disco album but it works IMO
the second side is more pop and pop ballads, the usual sounds he is best at
its Neil Sedaka through and through, he is a polished songwriter and rarely releases anything demeaning to his legacy
a couple of songs i really loved and i liked the rest giving this a rating of 2.2 which means....
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav:

[CRAZY-HORSE]

CARLY RAE JEPSEN   "kiss"  cd, 2012

a revisit
Canadian singer
her second album of seven,
this is the only one i own
good solid pop songs on here
still love "call me, maybe" and a couple of others too
anyway, album would rank 2.1 which means
I LIKE THIS ALBUM

fav:





^^
interesting to see that i have posted three pop albums today and all three have different sounds
im ALL popped out now so something a bit more substantial tomorrow