One of the most rewarding deep dives I’ve done on the blog was of David Bowie, back in 2016 a few months after his death. I didn’t cover all 25 of his studio albums, but I did get to the 15 with the most acclaim and/or notoriety.
Because I hadn’t yet joined the streaming revolution at the time, I wound up buying the Bowie albums I didn’t already own, and as a result they now form a decent sized chunk of my increasingly outdated iTunes collection.
Here’s a song from Sheryl Crow’s 2008 album Detours, an album written and recorded after her 2006 breast cancer diagnosis.
‘Make It Go Away (Radiation Song)’ is rather obviously about her bout with cancer, and specifically the multiple radiation treatments she underwent to battle it. She made a full recovery, and soon thereafter split from boyfriend and fellow cancer survivor Lance Armstrong. Detours was written about that tumultuous period in her life.
Madonna capped off her historic 80s run with the 1990 release of The Immaculate Collection, a greatest hits compilation that spanned her first four albums plus various contributions to movie soundtracks. The album sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. and 30 million worldwide, making it her top-selling release.
Madonna started her new chapter by creating Maverick, a multimedia company with divisions dedicated to music, TV/film and book publishing. She released the steel-cover photo book Sex, which featured nude images of her and a rotating cast of partners both famous and unknown.
Madonna hit a rough patch between the release of the smash hit True Blue in 1986 and her next album, 1989’s Like a Prayer.
Her marriage to Sean Penn fell apart in ugly fashion, amid rumors of his jealousy driving him to acts of violence against Madonna and others. She has since denied those reports, though she provided the police with vivid details at the time and the stories were corroborated by witnesses.
Most iconic artists have the one album that cemented their status, breaking sales records and establishing their chokehold on the culture.
Michael Jackson had Thriller. U2 had The Joshua Tree. Prince had Purple Rain.
Madonna, arguably, had two such albums. Two years after Like a Virgin became a global smash and the top-selling album by a woman, she dropped True Blue in 1986 and managed to top herself.
Meet Me In Montauk 