Published on Sep 15, 2003
The most recent chapter of Madonna’s evolution (or devolution)
is
American Life. No one has approached her level of worldwide
chart consistency with singles and albums since she willed her way
on to the scene way back in 1983 with “Lucky Star.” Consider that
nearly every solo female star or female-dominated group lists her
as a major influence both musically and as a self-made icon. If you
doubt me, read up on Britney Spears, Kylie Mynogue, Pink, etc. The
only active commercial star that could claim that status for the
past 20 years is Michael Jackson, but his star has dimmed greatly
as the result of various celebrity-killing forms of controversy and
plain unapproachable weirdness. Queen Madonna has no peers, only
some jesters that keep her chair warm for short periods of
time.
After
Music, I had no idea what to expect. Her career has never
lost its luster because it’s been consistently changing, while
usually striking the appropriate chord. Madonna has always been
calculating, but is also a committed and brilliant business
person/market forecaster. Considering that she is a London resident
and her CD is titled
American Life, an anarchist’s approach is perceived.
Madonna was so confident in her albums that hit singles like,
“Crazy For You,” “Into the Groove” and “Beautiful Stranger” were
omitted. Before listening to the record, I noticed the inclusion of
“Die Another Day.” This was the first song she has included on an
album that was initially featured on a movie soundtrack and then on
an original studio recording. Interesting…
The album as a whole reveals an underwhelming lack of effort. In
a career that featured at least five or six immediate standout
tracks on each album, this one had three; “Like A Virgin”-esque
“Hollywood,” the heavenly Latin-tinged acoustics of “Intervention,”
and the haunting, ambient and revealing “X-Static Process.” The
rest of the titles are left-handed attempts at a milder Music with
blatant retro appeal, which includes the scattershot dance pop of
“American Life.”
My impression is that this should be Madonna’s last complete
studio offering. With
American Life, she has gone full circle. She revisits old
sounds, but the lone ‘breakthrough’ was that this was a synth-pop
record enhanced with modern technology. Sure, it crosses genres at
times, but it’s only a hiccup.
American Life is Madonna’s least ambitiously realized
release of her career (outside of
Dick Tracy). For the 1st time in her career, there was no
noticeable expansion of her music and content. She is content to
retread and play to the pop radio-listening public. As a result,
her general lack of artistic effort left me disappointed.
Fans holding on to the pipe dream that Madonna is still at her
prime, may point to her lyrics. My response is that Madonna is
certainly no Morrissey. They spew out of her diary like the aimless
prose of an eight-year-old child. There is no sense of storytelling
or humor, and the results are internalized as the depressed
ramblings of a financially wealthy middle-aged fallen idol.
To paraphrase Sylvester Stallone (Screenwriter,
Rocky III): Madonna, this is not 1983. Back then, you were
young, hip and had the verve of a flesh-eating and crapping beast.
Now look at you; you’ve gone civilized. There’s no going back.