Madame X - A 2023 Reappraisal

[Cerro de Casa]

How do we feel about this album 3.5 years down the line?
Feels topical.



Deluxe version out now on Spotty Fry

 

[Ig Komme]

9. I really like it actually. It's the album with the least filler since Confessions.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

I agree.

1980s - Like A Prayer
1990s - Ray Of Light
2000s - Confessions On A Dance Floor
2010s - Madame X


I know the 2010s are slim pickings but at least it is a proper album in that sense. Rebel Heart could have been her definitive work of the '10s had the leaks not happened but we've only been over this 389 times so I'll spare you.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

Anyway, I'd rate it 7.5/10
So for the purposes of the POLE I'll round up to 8.

 

[Ig Komme]

Imagine how it would have been
with her early 2000s vocals.

 

[Marilyn]

10 Medellín
09 Dark Ballet
11 God Control
08 Future
09 Batuka
04 Killers Who Are Partying
10 Crave
05 Crazy
08 Come Alive
09 Extreme Occident
09 Faz Gostoso
06 Bitch I'm Loca
10 I Don't Search I Find
08 Looking For Mercy
08 I Rise
06 Funana
07 Back That Up To The Beat
06 Ciao Bella

 

[TiShh]

There are some dips but I can easily listen and RELISTEN to the whole thing gladly. It's an 8 or a 9 overall and I'm feeling generous today.

Some of the visuals were pretty sleek this campaign but some were horrible.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

There are some dips but I can easily listen and RELISTEN to the whole thing gladly. It's an 8 or a 9 overall and I'm feeling generous today.

Some of the visuals were pretty sleek this campaign but some were horrible.

OMG Madame X is Relistenable

I don't think anyone's ever quite described it that way before.

(If you know the two references you know)

 

[TiShh]

There are some dips

 

[Cerro de Casa]

View attachment 15403

(Artist Not Present)

 

[jivafox]

The Wedding Dress and Cowboy Ensemble was an Iconic Madge Look.

 

[Marilyn]

I think I understand why people get a gun
I think I understand why we all give up
Every day they have a kind of victory
Blood of innocents, spread everywhere

They say that we need love
But we need more than this

 

[Devil]

2013?

 

[VV]

9 - It's one of her most solid albums. Had it been released in the 90s or 00s it would have been huge.

 

[BoysForSeles]

The title made me think “fuck how has it been 10 years already?” Causing me to doubt my mind this early on a Friday is not good.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

The Wedding Dress and Cowboy Ensemble was an Iconic Madge Look.

Loved it so much

 

[Cerro de Casa]

However, I hated the cha cha instructor greasy 'chip shop' black wig

 

[Cerro de Casa]

I want to know what @lolly and @Sheena think of Madame X in January 2023.

 

[BoysForSeles]

I think I understand why people get a gun
I think I understand why we all give up
Every day they have a kind of victory
Blood of innocents, spread everywhere

They say that we need love
But we need more than this

I love the bits with the distorted vocals on this track and was disappointed that she didn’t write those particular lyrics herself.

 

[BoysForSeles]

I do like Madame X on the whole, I think parts of it really showed there is still a genuine creative artist at work. Personally I’d prefer her to have committed harder to integrating Luso cultural sounds throughout the album and have them more to the fore, even on the uptempos, as for me these are the best parts of the album.

 

[lolly]

I want to know what @lolly and @Sheena think of Madame X in January 2023.

I'd go a strong 7 off the top of my head. Many months since I last listened to it completely, though.

 

[funky]

I really don’t like it.

Medellin is amazing. One of her best post-Confessions tracks.

I Don’t Search I Find is also very good, the remixes better.

I don’t care at all for anything else so they’re not enough to save it unfortunately.

A dud.

 

[Jark]

Medellín is by far its best song and God Control is pretty good too. I also like a Killers Who Are Partying. however her vox are as bad as they've ever been on many of the songs so it's not something I ever revisit.

 

[funky]

Yeah it’s the vox for me too. She sounds downright terrible on some of the songs. She hasn’t learnt how to utilise or leverage the change in her voice as she’s gotten older, i Imagine largely due to her stubborn “I’ll write and sing whatever I want” attitude, but the dance styles of today are NOT her forte

 

[RJN]

I like it I guess, but when I want to listen to Madonna, I would never go for anything post 2010

 

[Cerro de Casa]

I like it I guess, but when I want to listen to Madonna, I would never go for anything post 2010

Gur Gon Wah says hi

 

[lolly]

I like it I guess, but when I want to listen to Madonna, I would never go for anything post 2010

Madame X is the first of her post 2010 albums I'd choose to play. I very much agree with @BoysForSeles in that I'd have liked her to have leaned into elements of it a lot more.

And I do think parts of the tour looked absolutely beautiful.

 

[Pipo]

I remember I kept God Control and I Don't Search (as well as the great lost single FAZ GOSTOSO), never cared much for Medellin

 

[RS]

Some songs might technically be alright but as mentioned above, I can’t stand her voice/way of singing anymore.

 

[Cerro de Casa]

MADAME X vocals were awful I agree
Rebel Heart had some nice/okay vox

 

[Say Sheena-na-na]

I want to know what @lolly and @Sheena think of Madame X in January 2023.

I agree with @lolly - it’s probably a 7 for me. Like most of her recent stuff, it lacks that balls to the wall 10/10 moment, but she comes closer than she has done in recent years.

Even Rebel Heart managed Ghosttown

 

[straightorbroken]

Ciao Bella is cutesy-gorge studio-stoned bliss. Sometimes I despair at how brilliant this icon can be.

 

[straightorbroken]

So 3 years, hu Sue (pronounced sway)? Now that the fillers have settled and I've inhaled the beauty of the dance-distilled gems such as Ciao Bella and I Don't Search I Find to the point of overdosing, I proudly give this album an 8 (grade A).

 

[Say Sheena-na-na]

I put this on this morning and I realised it's actually REALLY QUITE GOOD. Yes, there's some silly filler, but it's probably an 8. The opening three tracks are all really very good, and I think God Control might actually have been upgraded to the 10/10 I thought it was lacking a few months ago.

Like its predecessor, it would probably have been better with a bit of trimming, off the deluxe edition at least...

 

[lolly]

In my head it's a strong 7. Might revisit when I'm Tensioned out.

 

[Say Sheena-na-na]

In my head it's a strong 7. Might revisit when I'm Tensioned out.

Oh INDEED, I want it noted that it only followed two spins of Tension (and an Alexis Strum). I KNOW ITS PLACE.