like a light

These are the dance, simple pop oriented fans, while others just care for the album version saying it's the best with its live drums, organic sound.... Both are great, it's all about tastes.   The best we can do is never trust in general opinions that can be so wrong, and just believe in our own point of view. And it's very fair to have faith in Madonna's taste, that is what made her music what it is.
So the best Open Your Heart is what you like the best,  I'd personally say the extended version is top of 80's remixes, and the Immaculate version is not as strong as the original, but it's another alternative we have to enjoy.  Let's not be reductive.

I could listen to Finally exhaustily too. She should make a cover.
 
 

Open your heart to me, darling. I'll give you love if you, you turn the key...
 Don't take it personally. When I said  "let's not be reductive"  I was talking about ALL of us.  We have to admit we all  tend to forget sometimes that our opinions are personal and subjective,  obvious as it is.  It's also obvious that the definitive version is the album one, with the video version being the same with longer intro. 
About the faith in her taste against the majority of fans,  good for her not being too dependant of that, or her art would  not be so great and fans would always cut her wings, as poor Kylie and many others.

Bridges are meant to appear twice.  Song's structure  is perfect the way it is.
 
 

It's good to know that I am one of the lucky few who consider American Life one of Madonna's best albums. That is why I don't care what a trashy magazine thinks that perhaps minimizes this wonderful album based on certain nationalist traumas or simply to provoke cheap controversy. The antipathy of this magazine towards Madonna is already known, such as when it named Lady Gaga as the Queen of pop or another artist whose name I don't remember as the Best artist of all time and not even a shadow of Madonna.
That is why I am glad that this magazine is already in intensive care, as far as relevance and sales are concerned, and I hope that it will soon pass away, because the fact of not recognizing or minimizing Madonna's legacy seems to me, as an ultra fan that I am of her, something abominable.

I think M knew the album would challenge it’s listener ( production wise and lyrically). So, it was a hard sell. She new that. But she loved it and believed in it so much that she dove all the way with it. That’s how she is with her relationships too. She dove in with no prenup, didn’t she? But then she was hit with a backlash. Any other artist would have weighed the pros and cons of making such a video and would never have allowed it’s making in the first place. She is instinctual and a true artist in that respect. And the self censorship later was something that had to be done( for her family’s safety). But it came after the fact. It was already known where she stood and what she believed. The song would have benefited from a proper video. But that video had a short life. I don’t blame her manager or her or anybody. It’s what artists go through when they stay true to what they believe. You gotta admire!!

The way I recall the media (mainly FOX) made a big stink about the original video, even though it never aired in the U.S.  I remember Bill O'Reilly having a segment on the original video, painting Madonna as Anti-American-War.  Apart from that, I felt like it was just getting mix reviews.  I'm sure the artwork allowed people to come to the conclusion that it was "Anti-American" didn't help sales.  
At the end of the day, it's not her worst album.  It's just one of her worst selling albums.  It's greatly underrated and apart from the lead single and possibly Hollywood, the album probably would have come off much better, if it was marketed better and had artwork that was a bit more public friendly.  That said, I wouldn't change a thing.  I think over time, more and more people are going to rediscover that album and appreciate it more. 

I agree but without the video it might have merely been a beautiful song.
 

I never felt Madonna "over hyped" it.  I feel the media just misconstrued what it was about and the album artwork, the original AL music video, and her willing to discuss current events during her interviews didn't help things. 
I remember upon arrival, most fans loved the album, but as soon as it started taking a dark turn from the media, and not selling well, some fans just bought into media representation of the album and doomed it as a failure. 
I agree the album has no anti-war or sentiment to it.  But it's easy for the general public to think differently by looking at the artwork alone. The media misrepresentation of it, only fueled it more.

I think it’s unfair to call an album horrible but I do agree it’s pretty much a dull uninspired album - too much Mirwais and the single AL is probably one of her worst singles - I think the original video is very overrated- her vocals just sound so bored on most of this album and the artwork is terrible too 😴

I hate that album. I’m in agreement with them. It’s her worst. 

26th Place:
Madonna’s output from her 1983 debut LP all the way to 2000’s Music is one of the most impressive runs in the history of pop music. She went through Bowie-like stylistic changes with practically every album but always stayed on top of trends and never lost her ability to generate hits. All of that came to a screeching halt in 2003 with American Life. Released weeks after the start of the Iraq War, the album finds Madonna confronting a post-9/11 world and a desire to move beyond narcissistic desires. “I used to live in a tiny bubble,” she sings on “I’m So Stupid.” “And I wanted to be like all the pretty people that were all around me/But now I know for sure that I was stupid.” These are noble sentiments, but the music came at a time when she was just learning how to play guitar and rap. Her skills at both were rather rudimentary, and her decision to work with French techno producer Mirwais Ahmadzaï (who had been on board for the more successful Music) added yet another element that caused the whole project to become hopelessly muddled when it wasn’t just downright embarrassing. The world in 2003 had little use for Madonna the folk guitarist or Madonna the rapper. When she reverted back to dance music for 2005’s Confessions on a Dance Floor, it was a tacit acknowledgement that she’d made a horrible mistake.
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/horrible-albums-by-brilliant-artists-1234672895/
 
Language of the article is overall horrible and demeaning. Another piece of S written by a meh.

Anyone who says Causing A Commotion is “neat” has to go

Mine is a push back against certain opinions I find to be irritating and unhelpful for reasons I explained. What’s the harm in that?  

I sincerely believe that most fans who say Confessions is her last great album are the absolute worst Madonna fans there could be.  They are dismissive of all her endeavors that came afterwards. They are unwilling to broaden their interests in music, but more importantly discourage others / newbies from joining her fandom with their barrage of ridicule directed at her recent efforts. And her old fans are left feeling defensive in their presence. And they are everywhere. So, who do yo think are the worst type of fans? 

BTUTTB released on Greek radio on February 17.

I have to agree.  The "long end lens" excuse may seem a bit of a stretch, but it's obviously the media latched on a capture of her that isn't very flattering.  And I'm quite convince some have altered the image to make her look worse.  The snap shot Pier's Morgan uses iz obviouly altered too.  While I don't deny her face was a bit bloated, it wasn't as bad as in that pic they are using.  That said, I can understand how she can look jarring to someone who hasn't seen her in a long time, but it's weird how even fans go back and forth within days of her posting pics of herself, saying how good or bad she looks.  I will admit that Madonna tends to post unflattering shots of herself as well on Instagram.  Whether she's naive to it or doing it on purpose, I don't think she takes it as serious as others do, especially some of her fans.  It's also weird (even from her own fan base) that she shouldn't be allowed to use filters like the millions of other people do, just for fun on Instagram or Tik Tok.  At the end of the day, she still looks beautiful. 

Well,  sounding old shouldn't be a problem in a retro styled song...

For God's sake, there's nothing bad in Killers who are partying  lyric,  it's just a message of solidarity and empathy, so beautiful and wise.
It's clear that its political speeches cause rage against it.

Hard Candy is more  "Madonna sound"  than Confessions that is the one she was far from herself and serving the audience.  I call it Madonna Minogue, and really, even  Let it will be  instrumental seems  a copy of Fever. 
 HC is not dated Timbaland sound, it's the exerzise of taking that style, completely trendy at the time, and give a pop masterclass, being so much more creative and with so much more quality than all that other younger things.  Why don't people call it like it is and just say they don't like that sound, that's maybe too black and agressive for their poppy taste?

These are the dance, simple pop oriented fans, while others just care for the album version saying it's the best with its live drums, organic sound.... Both are great, it's all about tastes.   The best we can do is never trust in general opinions that can be so wrong, and just believe in our own point of view. And it's very fair to have faith in Madonna's taste, that is what made her music what it is.
So the best Open Your Heart is what you like the best,  I'd personally say the extended version is top of 80's remixes, and the Immaculate version is not as strong as the original, but it's another alternative we have to enjoy.  Let's not be reductive.

There's no doubt these are super catchy songs that with the right airplay would be the most popular.   I've always said  this.
Just look B day song in Spotify.  And I can tell in my school everybody was singing Jimmy Jimmy!

There's no doubt these are super catchy songs that with the right airplay would be the most popular.   I've always said  this.
Just look B day song in Spotify.  And I can tell in my school everybody was singing Jimmy Jimmy!

The released Rebel Heart is so much majestic and classy. The slower melody makes it so much powerful and emotional, such a hymn.
The  poppy version is only better for poppy people. (It's great too, of course, but the album needed the serious one)

The objective answer to the question is Vogue belongs to I'm Breathless,  being so close to Immaculate's release it feels like a single for both. 
Vogue is just a b side for the last  LAP single that was added to  IB  to have a commercial single in a less commercial album.
Personnaly I don't have any problem with Q Sound, but I think it's a fact  that drums in Immaculate's Vogue are very damaged. And drums are an essential thing in Vogue.