RobDeWittBukater

I'm always surprised at the love I keep seeing for C, XOXO on here. I tried listening to it once and found the songs to be very droning and unengaging. Bionic on the other hand houses several great songs and definitely had ambition in spades (plus a moderate hit in Not Myself Tonight IIRC) so I'll have to hand it to Miss X

I guess when you stan excellence it just kind of predisposes you to recognizing excellence more easily Idk. Our minds are so creative like that!

She has amassed such a strong collection of songs already, Chemical Reaction, I Want You, Where Have All the Good Men Gone and Kool Aid are all top tier pop songs in my estimation

Going Down and Crystalize (!!!) are immediate SOTY contenders on first listen, oh wow

Everything, Bizarre, Fragile But My Sins Are My Savior, School and Danceteria are all vying for a spot in the top 3 as well. Which is nothing to say about fellow contenders Betrayal and Love Without Words

Act I - Journey to the Future: 1. I Feel So Free, 2. Ray of Light Sasha Twilo Mix Edit x Good for the Soul (Medley), 3. Future Lovers, 4. Love Sensation, 5. Celebration Act II - The Club of Love: 6. Lucky Star (w/ elements of the Levitating Remix), 7. Bring Your Love, 8. Into the Groove, 9. Love Without Words, 10. Get Together Act III - Character Study: 11. Vogue, 12. Danceteria, 13. Music x Everybody (Mash-Up), 14. Impressive Instant, 15. Everything, 16. Sorry (w/ elements of the PSB Maxi-Mix) Act IV - The Master and the Student: 17. 4 Minutes, 18. Popular, 19. Read My Lips (w/ elements of Deeper and Deeper), 20. My Sins Are My Savior x Justify My Love (Mash-Up), 21. School, 22. Thief of Hearts Act V - Journey to Freedom: 23. Jump, 24. Nothing Really Matters x One Step Away x Rescue Me (Medley), 25. Like a Prayer, 26. Fragile Encore: 27. Bizarre, 28. Hung Up

A CHORUS for the summer!

It hit me today that we need a medley of Nothing Really Matters, One Step Away and Rescue Me performed at the next tour / Glastonbury headlining slot Also Vogue into Danceteria into Music into Impressive Instant into Everything into Sorry is a MUST!

This song has one of her most gorgeous bridges EVER and the chorus is just such a classic Madonna melody, it gives me that anthemic "guitar-led singalong by the campfire" feeling she captures so well on songs like Miles Away, Time Stood Still etc. I also adore the pre-chorus melody ("This is the part I hate the most...") and I wish it was longer. Madonna's ability to create a song that is so heartfelt yet so majestic and far-reaching is one of the things that makes her so singular

One more thing about Everything... I love how alive that song is. It feels like the song forms as you listen to it - it transforms, crests, collapses in on itself and eventually comes full circle with the gorgous vocoder-backed (very Sorry/Jump/COADF-coded!) outro that echoes the song's opening. She really was in her Sky Fits Heaven/Amazing/Impressive Instant bag with that one as many of you all have already said

Now that the forum is back, I can finally give my flowers to my trinity: Bizarre, Everything and Fragile. The way I knew these songs would be distinguished, excellent pop songs just based on their sleek and simple titles and the way they've surpassed even those lofty expectations Bizarre has all the grandeur and thump that I'd expect from a Confessions sequel song, I adore the drama of its melodies and the way that the final chorus just explodes into this euphoric add-on section/post-chorus Everything perfectly combines sophistication and brashness into an adventurous banger. I love when Madonna gets into her feelings on the state of the world/society lyrically. And when the song reaches that guitar-backed verse/segment, we're fully in Music theory and I ascend. Now, Fragile... one of her strongest pre-choruses ever ("This is the part I hate the most ..." - Excuse me Miss, I want it to be LONGER!) and just a classic Madonna "guitar singalong by the campfire" chorus melody. It's up there with Time Stood Still and Miles Away in my personal canon of favorite Madonna ballads already. This song really resonated with my boyfriend (he'a a lifelong Mariah stan) who's been going through a hard time lately, which was so touching to see My Sins Are My Savior, Betrayal, The Test and Danceteria are also firmly in my top ten for now. The Test reminded me of my dad and I and almost made me cry I love how it has this slightly disattached and melancholic dreaminess to its production, it fits in very well with these two songs imo: Overall, I am so happy with this album. I'll admit, I was doubtful based on the pre-releases (although Bring Your Love has become an obsession), but she really saved the best for the main course.

Been loving The Times so I am perched for this

Heart Attack, Made in the USA, Without the Love, Something That We're Not, Nightingale, Shouldn't Come Back This album soundtracked summer 2013 for me (along with Stars Dance ) so it's just laced with nostalgia for me. Some of her best and biggest melodies as well (the bridges of Made in the USA, Heart Attack and Without the Love in particular, whew).

All the Lovers is my favorite song overall while the title track, Closer and Everything Is Beautiful make up my album track trinity Such a wonderfully produced album, and the visual execution of the era (ATL mv, GOOMW mv, Aphrodite Les Folies) remains her best ever imo.

In my heart of hearts I know that R9 is Rihanna's 'Black Diamond' / 'Masochism', a much-teased release that will never materialize, but a part of me still wants to believe.