Haze

Your dedication to never read anything I write ... call it Love Without Words

I haven't given my full thoughts on the album yet because it has me feeling a bit wistful and emotional to hear something with this much flesh and blood in the main pop scene again. It makes me pensive about my own likings in music, because I know I stan artists who's prime are 20 to 30 years behind them, and yet still they pull me in more than almost any current pop star. But why does an artist of 67 years old looking back on her life nail what it feels like to living my current life so much better? I genuinely don't believe myself to be a reactionary person, I don't want to glorify a past that I have not consciously lived, but what has been lost in modern culture for this album to arrive as such a sensory jolt of electricity and tension, for me to think Madonna was maybe the first and the last true pop star. And I fear that there has been a real dumbing down of experience, of the words and the music to put those transitory feelings of connection (through movement, through sweat, through eyes catching each other across the club floor, to a moment arising between persons from the moment itself, unplanned and spontaneous ... connections that transcend the unerotic aesthetics of attraction that are so prevalent now, of homogenous perfection rather than uniqueness) -- and Madonna sells that experience because she lived it. She sells it because she knows abandon in the way the current crop of stars doesn't, where their self image is almost equal to their self consciousness, and everything they do or say is filtered through the possibility of it being seen and interpreted in myriad ways. In that way they cannot sell me what Madonna has sold me throughout her career and life, namely that her (way of) life is an extension of her craft, that her artistry informs the way that she is as a person and vise versa. Madonna is the dancefloor as holy place, she shapes culture because she tries to live her life forwards, not in an attempt to capture the moment, to force a narrative, but to let herself be seized by it. She makes art because she is art, I am envious of her because of the depth of her life, not what she has achieved. And Confessions II is just a testament to all that. Confident but fragile, looking back but never to retrace glory, but to push her forwards psychologically and creatively. These songs have the length and space to breathe, every 'easy' moment comes in as a moment to underline that there is a danceable joy in finding what drives you. But the highlights for me are when she taps into the spiritual and emotional keys to her work, particularly 'One Step Away' with its 'Nobody's free until they're broken' line. And I think 'Betrayal' is one of the most devastating but so effortlessly chic songs of her career. ( @Démodé since you wanted to know my (pretentious as always) thoughts. )

The vocal arrangements with the angel witches at 4:40 ... stunning. Though this song does not need them the whole way through.

I think my favourite thing about this album is how everything has space to expand. Pop music in the streaming age almost always tries to make the most out of every second, cramming as much vocals and production flourishes into the tightest of spaces, but it is antithetical to dance music, and I love how Madonna just luxuriates in her soundscape here. There's room for a feeling to take hold; it's a sensory and sensual experience as opposed to a quick rush.

Now if I would've know The Wind would've gotten anywhere near the top, I wouldn't have talked about f*cking ringworm. Anyway, I love Rid of Me, but ever since hearing the live version the others just won't do. And I lowkey hate that! But as a Tori stan, that's also just part of the deal of listening to terrific musicians. This rate was a wonderful deeper dive into her work for me. I've grown really, really fond of her over the past months, in which my chronic illness had me locked inside my home. She's a wonderful companion for your darkest thoughts nnn. I find her a very healing voice because she just loves to roll around in filth of humanity and find some beauty in it. Thank you for the rate, @HonourableVomit. Loved your write ups, always great to have a fan guide you through an artist's work. Keep writing about music @Kabrona, it was lovely to read.

Rid of Me's brilliance is just not captured on the album recording

Top 2 are fantastic songs, but they would not have been in my top ten.

Rate CANCELLED. Angelene the rightful winner

@John Slayne months and months of shared trust building in our musical tastes ... I am broken, bereft, all my trust in the world, just gone

@Eeveelution you do remind me of Sylveon: an abomination

The host can just scrap 'honourable' out of his name now for accuracy

Also I thought the Garden could've been a winner. Wouldn't change a single thing about it, didn't give it an 11 because I thought it wouldn't need it

Good Fortune this high ... I genuinely thought it would crash out in the 40's or something.

I've had rough brain fog days so I haven't had the opportunity to really dig in, but I love what I've heard so far; the more breezy tracks are a breather for the heavier and more experimental stuff, which is what I hoped for after the singles run. It also remains incredible how hard Madonna commits to who she is at this stage in her career: these songs are very obviously Madonna songs, you can hear her identity as an artist, her very specific way of phrasing throughout which is all any fan can ask for any artist. I shouldn't have doubted her, but it's such a relief that CII is a continued exploration of her music and sound, and not an attempt to surf on the goodwill that the original album has.

Nobody wants to wake up to the news I woke up to etc etc. My twelve and three elevens all out in one fell swoop. White Chalk haters, may any white powder you consume be spliced with it! Tbh, any of the three final tracks of WC could've gotten my twelve. Perfect record, astounding finish. Prayer at the Gate was done dirty too.