Published on Sep 20, 2000
After setting musical trends for nearly 20 years, Madonna finds
herself in a unique position this time around – she’s the one
behind the eight-ball.
Her latest album,
Music, all but abandons the trip-pop style of music that
marked her last release
Ray Of Light for a dive into sparse techno beats and
annoying use of devices like the vocoder. She sounds as out of
place as she looks in her K-mart western wear she sports on the
cover.
Working again with producer William Orbit (as well as French
wunderkind Mirwais this time around), Madonna finds herself
chasing the tails of artists like Cher who have captured the
essence of popular music today through dance-oriented top 40. She
also seems like she’s trying to outgun the latest
“Baby-One-More-Genie-In-A-Larger-Than-Life-Bottle” by trying to
become hip. What Madonna forgot in the process is that she doesn’t
need to prove herself after all these years… nor does she
have to try and sound hip.
The title track is symbolic of the trouble this album is in from
th get-go. This variation on a single G-chord, with nothing more
than an electronic beat and light synthesizer work backing up
Madonna’s vocals, makes it sound like she was given a
synthesizer/drum machine for Christmas, and she used this song to
learn how to program the basics of the machine.
Music shows off a Madonna who is confused as to which
direction she should go with her music. “Runaway Lover” tries to
move her back to the direction of
Ray Of Light, but the lyric “You’re set adrift with no
direction / Just like a ship that’s lost at sea”… well, that
seems to sum up Madonna’s dilemma.
The vocoder is overused just by its sheer presence on
Music – cripes, Madonna has one of the best voices in pop
music, so why ruin it with a computer? “Impressive Instant” and
“Nobody’s Perfect” show just how annoying this device can be. Even
songs which are being targeted by outsiders as singles, such as
“What It Feels Like For A Girl,” just don’t have enough substance
to allow them to stand on their own.
“Paradise (Not For Me)”… you know, there was a time when
record companies saved the extended remixes for the 12-inch
singles… oh, wait, this
is the track. This track can be summed up in one simple
word: boring.
Yet
Music is not without hope. “I Deserve It” may be lacking in
instrumentation, but it is the first sign that not everything is
going south. A powerful vocal performance and introspective lyrics
save this one. Likewise, “Amazing” is the song which mirrors
“Beautiful Stranger” from the
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me soundtrack, and is
reminiscent of the direction many thought Madonna would take on
this album.
So what went wrong with
Music? I personally don’t think Mirwais helped; if anything,
his presence clouds the direction of the album, and sets Madonna
back. Had she worked solely with Orbit, maybe he could have brought
out more in the music.
Music is an album that strikes a bad chord with me, and
suggests that Madonna has lost sight of the musical ideals she
rediscovered on
Ray Of Light. Did I expect or want this to be a carbon-copy
follow-up? No… besides, that isn’t Madonna’s style. But let’s all
hope this is a brief flirtation in the Material Girl’s world.