Music
Store

MUSIC: short, simple, fun dance hit, already a #1 hit, bound to be a Maddy classic. 9.5/10

IMPRESSIVE INSTANT: very weird track but wonderful club track. Her entire voice is all filtered and vocoded in the most weirdest ways imaginable. The lyrics aren't all that, but the production work is wonderful. Maybe too avant-garde to release to radio, but then again so was "Music". 9/10

RUNAWAY LOVER: okay, good club track. Somehow this reminds me of Cher's "Strong Enough". There's something kinda 70s-ish about this song. 7.5/10

I DESERVE IT: slow ballad where Madonna discusses her love for her current boyfriend. Mirwais uses little electronica and this is where the album becomes folky. 7/10

AMAZING: Maddy teams up with Orbit again on this really cool dance track. While many say it's Beautiful Stranger Pt.2, it takes the sessions of ROL and Beautiful Stranger even further. The guitar hooks and effects are great, and Madonna's lyrics are very catchy. 9/10

NOBODY'S PERFECT: Remember Cher's vocals on "Believe", well Maddy's vocals on here are 100 times more stranger. This is a sad, emotional ballad with some slower sound effects. 8.5/10

DON'T TELL ME: Wonderfully catchy song that emobides folk, electronica/techno, and even R&B. Madonna's vocals on here are good enough, very upbeat and harmonizing. Love the parts where Madonna sings without the music background. Would make a great second single. 9.5/10

WHAT IT FEELS LIKE FOR A GIRL: Lyrically this is Madonna's best track on the album. A young girl's anthem on lessons in life by a woman who's been through it all and back. The production on this is also a bit slower, but otherwise a nice track. 8/10

PARADISE (NOT FOR ME): A very long ballad where Madonna mostly whispers her lyrics, some even in French. And her voice is vocoded while singing. The lyrics are quite ambiguous, and the song is very slow and haunting. Kind of like "Mer-Girl". 7.5/10

GONE: great closer to this album. Just one guitar, and some mid-tempo production with Orbit again. Lyrically and vocally Madonna is very cold and dry, and it works wonders for her. Too bad it's so short, it leaves you wanting more. 9.5/10


Not even worth downloading   October 10, 2000
 11 out of 13 found this review helpful

If you ever found yourself bobbing your head in time to the sounds that the little white ball made in the classic video game "Pong," then you'll love Madonna's new album "Music." I swear, this CD has more bleeps and bloops than a televisied network showing of a Joe Pesci movie. A friend of mine was playing this CD and I had to stop and ask her what all the noise was; I thought maybe the fire alarm had gone off again in our dorm.

This CD is nothing like what its title claims it to be. Madonna's last, "Ray Of Light," was different and innovative; her latest seems to be inspired by French rave music run through a casio keyboard anyone can buy at Toys R Us.


Long-time Maddie fan with an honest opinion   April 24, 2001
 11 out of 12 found this review helpful

I've been a Madonna fan since 1983 and I'll tell you this--I'm a fan, but I'm not a "yes-Madonna" fan. That is, I don't rate EVERYTHING that she makes 5 stars, which I find incredibly irritating when it comes to buying music. All musicians make great, good and okay albums and okay is what "Music" is all about.

First of all, if you're looking for another "Ray of Light" look again. Whereas "Ray of Light" was a great album, "Music" doesn't necessarily hold up. Toted as French-techo, this album is unique, but mostly acquired taste in my opinion. It truly sounds as if she was influenced by Cher's "Believe" album with the synthesizer-enhanced vocals and pops and squeals. It's not bad, it's just not that great.

The strongest song is pretty much "Music" which quite frankly has been played to death on the radio. The rest of the album I find that I hit skip, skip, skip looking for something good to leave on and suddenly the album is over. That isn't necessarily a good sign of a great album. "What it feels like for a Girl" isn't bad, actually is pretty good, although I prefer the suped-up techno version played with the banned video (which is being released on DVD -- more on that later.) The other one song I like is "Impressive Instant" which is because I like the dance-techno style and quite frankly get bored with Madonna's ballads because she really hasn't had one with much depth since "Take a Bow." Other than that, "Don't tell me" is okay, but the only other song worth listening to. The rest is pretty much forgettable.

The worst about this album would be the number of songs and the jacket content. She REALLY skimped on the number of songs as well as there's almost nothing on the jacket aside from diva-like posed pictures. There isn't any lyrics or even real personal messages -- just facts and of course, "Go to this website!" which bugs me. Madonna used to be about artistic expression, but I'm beginning to believe that she is now about money. Comparing to the quality of "Like a Prayer" which even had patchouli oil mixed with the glue to give the disc jacket a "church-smell" to it, this is a huge disappointment. "Like a Prayer" was a work of art--music and content-wise. "Music" is not. Basically, "keeping it simple" means getting more money out of you for a cheaper disc. Very disappointing as well as feeling taken advantage of.

So what do I recommend? Listen to it first before buying it. In fact, go download the MP3s somewhere (and don't feel that you're "cheating" her out of a profit because her whole album was on Napster for two months and ended up becoming the biggest selling debut of an album she's ever had...interesting, isn't it?) If you like what you hear, go ahead and buy it. If you like the techno version of "What it feels like for a Girl," go buy the DVD, which has the audio track on it rather than the album.


Dull, drab and despicably deficient!   September 23, 2000
 10 out of 16 found this review helpful

After RAY OF LIGHT, which was an epiphany of musical creativity and spiritual insight, MUSIC comes as bleak twilight with Madonna racing downhill with velocity! I loathed this album and would gladly enter a long queue for a refund. Full of gimmickry, voice manipulations and background cacophony, MUSIC sets your head reeling without reeling you in! Just because Cher used the synthetic voice technique to perfection in "Believe" does not licence Madonna to come up with her own version in the illusion that it will work wonders. The album totally lacks inspiration and one hears very little of Madonna amongst the bizarre noises and discordant notes. Even the title track fades in impact after a few listenings. Nothing grows on you, and the overall impression is that of puerile silliness: as if a young girl was screeching through a harmonica and calling her 'sounds', MUSIC! NOT ONE song on this track comes close to the brilliance of "Frozen" or "Power of Goodbye" from her last album. MUSIC is drab and wretched. Guy Ritchie and Rocco may have imparted great joys to the woman, but they have done NOTHING to her as a singer. I declare this to be her worst album yet. Do I hear Cher giggling in the distance?!!