American Life

I'm, I've no doubt of that.

And of course something like "Like a Prayer" resonates with the 19-year-old me, and of course, um, Ray of Light is a work of art and I, or, you know, the, I, as soon as I start thinking of Erotica or American Life, I love all these albums as well, but I'm gonna say that Confessions Tour is my favorite album because I can see already it is a, an incredible piece of work and I have, like you, I've never been as obsessed with an album on its release as this.

I just think, I don't know what she's put in between those grooves, but it's, it's, it's got me completely addicted.

And I, I think a lot of it is, is Stuart and obviously his skills, but I've always felt with Stuart, especially when he's reimagined her older hits for the tours, he knows more than any of us what the DNA of a Madonna song is and what it is probably more than Madonna knows

It's so unfamiliar, but it's almost like you've had two of her albums smashed together in one track.

Yeah.

It's got that weird bit in the middle where it suddenly goes into an American Life track with the acoustic guitar and stuff.

And then, then I remember texting you guys when I first heard it, um, and saying, "JDP, it just reminds me of poppers." I don't know why, but I imagined you on the dance floors with a bottle of poppers listening to this song, and it, it, it does, it's got that brilliant feel to it.

Remix Revisited, you know, the sort of, all the B sides.

Evita, I played that so much that it warped, like, uh, so, so I sort of immediately when I got obsessed with that, and then con- no, and then, oh, what was the order? American Life came out, which I would say is her best record.

Mm.

But everyone would disagree.

I don't know what Madonna would say.

American Life's getting, getting some love these days.

I feel like.

I c- there's, there's b-

It also has some lineage all the way back to Love Song from Like a Prayer, the duet with Prince, which is one of my favorite Madonna and Prince songs ever.

But yeah, it's also extremely Catholic, so... has that lineage of like a prayer erotica and then sort of like slightly american life i feel like there's like that sort of like existentialism to it but yeah as a longtime fan who was you know oh the other song in the lineage just like it or not sort of the kabbalah version of love song and uh well basically the whole erotica album Yeah, I love it.

This is one of my favorites.

I still don't have a 16 ranking.

And Madonna's not going to give us that.

Um, but yeah, the instrumentation, the production of the song is great.

It sounds like some, one of the better introspective tracks from Madame X, um, and American life.

I, for some reason it takes me back to I'm so stupid thematically and lyrically.

Yeah.

In a way, I'm torn because I low key think maybe it is American life for me.

And that's controversial.

No, but it's having a moment right now.

That music video is everything.

American Life.

I'm so stupid.

I'm so stupid.

2000, she marries Guy Ritchie, releases the album entitled Music, gives birth to son Rocco.

2003, American Life.

That was not one that I had gone back to.

It's a pretty bad album.

The Companion album to Dick Tracy, I'm Breathless in 1990.

Erotica is 92.

Bedtime Story is 94. ray of light 98 music so she's just continuously every two or three years she's got a new album out so she's very consistent uh music 2000 american life 2003 confessions on a dance floor 2005 hard candy 2008 mdna 2012 rebel heart 2015 madame x 2019.

So what makes Confessions, in your opinion, what makes Confessions on a dance floor one of her most critically acclaimed albums in her discography?

It's just like

pop music can be so many things, can it? You know what I mean? I wrote in my notes, it's so funny because this album comes out like two years after Madonna's American Life.

And I was kind of just like, okay, like maybe this is like what American Life like wished it was in a way.

Like this like protest kind of like angular electronic record that like is somehow trying to like find the middle ground between like party and dance music and like saying something political.

But like this album is 10 trillion times more successful at doing so than American Life is.

And also another like record that's in response to like the Iraq war and like these ideas of violence and like whatever.

Anyway, so Arular becomes basically like this critical darling.

Yeah, totally, totally.

Nothing from American life.

100% agree.

Hung up.