Yesterday, I wrote about Madonna’s knack for not standing in the same place, changing producers and musical styles from album to album with a professed goal of never repeating herself.
Well, she broke her own rules on her next release, 2003’s American Life. Teaming up again with producer/co-writer Mirwais Ahmadzaï, she delivered an album similar in sound to Music but less impactful.
Two things that have impressed me throughout this Madonna deep dive are her commitment to collaboration and her interest in evolving her sound.
After her debut album, Madonna was turned down by her label when she wanted to produce the album herself. She took advantage of that opportunity and sought out Niles Rogers, the first of many big-name producers with whom she would record over the years.
Following Bedtime Stories, Madonna waited four years to release her next studio album, the longest span between new records in her career to that point.
During that time, she starred in Evita, gave birth to daughter Lourdes, and found religion in the form of the Jewish mystical tradition of Kabbalah. Busy, busy!
The Evita role prompted her to work with a vocal coach, a decision that paid off on 1998’s Ray of Light.
Madonna suffered a fair amount of backlash after her Sex book and Erotica album were deemed offensive by the pearl-clutchers. A controversial appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, heavily censored due to profanity and subject matter, didn’t help.
As a result, 1994’s Bedtime Stories was positioned as a mea culpa. In a promotional video, she promised “no sexual references” on the new album, and a return to the “innocent” Madonna of the past. Holding her co-writer’s daughter on her lap, she promised to be a “good girl.”
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.
Meet Me In Montauk 