What Is Your Worst Madonna Albums?

[like a light 60]

Respect for all opinions, yes.   I don't think I'm disrespecting anybody by saying it's very sad to be Madonna fans that can't appreciate her music.

 

[pawn_shop_blues 548]

Every project she did is interesting. My least favorite is Hard Candy except songs like Miles way and Voices

[into the erotico 972]

maybe 'mdma' apart from two songs

[Jackie 8,028]

For me, the worst was Hard Candy - I liked some, but the majority was a skip for me! The best, gosh, there's too many!

[MAX_donna 386]

22 hours ago, like a light said:

There is no worse album when an artist is this good.  At least for the good listeners. Not only the album has to be good, the listener must be good too.

If we're gonna claim, it should be about the strange, not much sticky melodies in Like A Prayer, or the simplicity and desperate commerciality of Confessions.

Not about the lack of popularity of albums as great as always, that simply can't be popular because they didn't had the media treatment the others had.

I really agree. Of course, everyone has an album they like less (sometimes really less), but she doesn't have a "worst" album (at least, imo). They are all complementary to each other, thanks to their different ambiances, their different genres/styles, their different productions (as well as other factors)... but also and above all, thanks to M's talent of reinvention, over the years, the decades. It's a real chance to be a fan of an artist with such a longevity, synonymous with (re)discoveries. 

[like a light 60]

Of course we all have different tastes and if someone dosn't like rap or black sounds at all,  won't connect with Hard Candy, but I guess the main factor is that was the first album marginalized by the musical media in the moment when all the older artists were rejected and only  teen products were allowed to exist in a music world changing for worse.  And with Madonna turning 50, what a "sin" !!!

There's no reason to think HC would not be popular and praised if it would had the same airplay and great mediatic moment LAP had. It's even so much more funny and accesible for different sorts of public, and so much more sticky (and sweet).

So it's not HC failing, who's failing is people thinking it's not a good M record.

And I guess I can say it, when I enjoy it that much!

 

[Drownedboy 1,657]

To me the brilliance of True Blue, LAP, ROL or Music is not on other albums of hers. but hey it´s my taste. I agree almost all her albums are interesting, but I really don´t like Madame x, her singing, the sound, the lyrics..with some exceptions (I rise, Crave, Faz gostoso..)

[like a light 60]

I just can't understand  how can anyone like Music and dislike American Life when they are "brothers" with the same sound, style, even similar songs, being AL the "smart  brother" with deeper lyrics, more evolved ideas and gorgeous maturity...

[Justice 326]

On 2/7/2023 at 7:50 PM, like a light said:

Respect for all opinions, yes.   I don't think I'm disrespecting anybody by saying it's very sad to be Madonna fans that can't appreciate her music.

Not liking an album or thinking it was bad doesn't mean fans don't appreciate Madonna's music in general.

On 2/8/2023 at 4:48 PM, like a light said:

There's no reason to think HC would not be popular and praised if it would had the same airplay and great mediatic moment LAP had. 

Hard Candy was a successful album with a mega hit.

It will never be on the same level with Like a Prayer when it comes to quality and artistry. 

[Inco 9,843]

1 MDNA

2 Hard Candy 

3 Erotica 

 

[Would You Like To Try 8,317]

On 2/7/2023 at 3:34 PM, Jackie said:

For me, the worst was Hard Candy - I liked some, but the majority was a skip for me! The best, gosh, there's too many!

Voices in that album seems like a unfinished demo,the beat overpowers the vocals and the team doesn't seem to remember the song isn't a reguetón 

[gst6662000 288]

everything after confessions.....

[Markdonna 692]

My least favorite is HARD CANDY.  (Although it has its moments. Miles Away. Incredible. Heartbeat. Give It 2 Me.)

I still really LOVE the album MDNA.  I’m A Sinner. Love Spent. Some Girls. Gang Bang. The hatred that album gets baffles me.

Same with AMERICAN LIFE.  Hollywood. Nobody Knows Me. I’m So Stupid. Nothing Fails. Die Another Day.  Hell, even the title track has aged well. I still don’t think people get that the rap is supposed to be a send up of celebrity.

MADAME X was wildly experimental and just a whole lot of fun. I dunno. Yeah. I was surprised at how many people didn’t like that album. Surprised and disappointed.  It was such a bold direction and yet had amazing echos of the past.  I Don’t Search I Find / Vogue.  Medellin / La Isla Bonita.  And GOD CONTROL is the most amazingly fabulously bonker Madonna song ever.  I was just so blown away by that on first listen I think I would up hitting repeat 10 times before even moving on to the rest of the record.  And Future seems like madonna was playing psychic with regards to the coming pandemic.  Just eerie some of those lyrics.  Also, damn. What a fantastic slate of videos.  Like the best she had done since — what? Maybe Ray of Light? I mean as far as sheer number not to mention looks and variety.  I mean really classic Madonna stuff.  But so many fans just shrugged.  I honestly don’t know what people expect. 

To me the greatest albums are LIKE A PRAYER. EROTICA. RAY OF LIGHT. MUSIC AMERICAN LIFE. CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR. MADAME X,

[NothingReallyMatters 634]

MDNA. 

 

[Chris 1,021]

the only album that i have liked zero songs on is hard candy.

if gang bang and girl gone wild were stand alone singles, the rest of that album could have been tossed tbh

(also, i never liked Ray of Light, but i have enjoyed Frozen a lot)

[LongIslandTea 1,584]

AL

MDNA

RH

MX

[Drownedboy 1,657]

I really don´t like Madame x because of her way of singing, very robotic and like without any vibrato, like singing in the car, and the autotune. And the lack of strong melodies in my opinion, cause I love the Madonna that does strong melodies with Patrick Leonard.

About MDNA, Rebel Heart and Hard candy, I love them cause when they came out they were very important in my life. I love several songs on them, I really think they had been overlooked. My favourite of all them might be MDNA, I liked that era a lot, She was wonderfully fit and beautiful and the album and the tour had many many highlights.

I always loved American life, music, COAD and of course ROL. She was so loved those years, and in amazing shape. Then I adore True Blue or LAP for the melodies and the work with Patt Leonard. But I really can´t connect with Erotica, I don´t like so much that urban Madonna pusshing the limit, you know? Still it was an interesting album. I must say that for me she was a very strong vocalist from 1995 to 2004! I love her voice those years, then she paid less atention to singing great, although each era had its moments, except from Madame X.

[Blue Jean 15,132]

MDNA is her worst album.

In saying that it has 9 good songs, 5 of them are outstanding. But it has more tripe than she's ever put out on the 1 album.

[rgdlee 274]

46 minutes ago, Drownedboy said:

I really don´t like Madame x because of her way of singing, very robotic and like without any vibrato, like singing in the car, and the autotune. And the lack of strong melodies in my opinion, cause I love the Madonna that does strong melodies with Patrick Leonard.

I have the same feeling about her vocals on Madame X. Some of them sound too nasal to me. Maybe it’s creatively intentional sound effects? I really dunno. 🤷🏻‍♂️

However, the vocals at the very beginning of God Control are very interestingly done with the sound effect. They sound like muffled, echoing the album cover where her lips are sewn.

[Drownedboy 1,657]

1 hour ago, Blue Jean said:

MDNA is her worst album.

In saying that it has 9 good songs, 5 of them are outstanding. But it has more tripe than she's ever put out on the 1 album.

5 outstanding songs and 4 good make quite a good record or not? You can skip the 3, 4, 5 you don´t like and be happy about it. Voila!

My problem with Madame x is that I like 3 songs, love 1 and the rest is terrible for me, quite a lot of bad songs for my taste!!

[rgdlee 274]

Hard Candy used to be my least favorite Madonna album. It sounds so NOT Madonna to me, perhaps because it was the first time since Like A Virgin that Madonna had stepped back and simply let other artists produce her songs. 
 

But in recent years it’s started to grow on me. It’s a great companion record for aerobics, which makes me wonder if this album was made and designed for her fitness franchise, a project that she launched later.

[Drownedboy 1,657]

Hard Candy is great pop album, the problem is that after ROL, Music, American Life and CODF people expected something more personal, artistic and less commercial. 

 

But she was hitting the 50s and wanted do something lighter, funnier, hip and fresh, and more after American Life, she wanted to be the opposite to trascendental and have succes in US again. But I don´t think it´s a bad record by any means. What I don´t like about that era is the bad face surgery, the messy album promotion, and the veruy succesful but tacky tour, after all the class she showed on the confessions tour.

[into the erotico 972]

4 hours ago, Drownedboy said:

Hard Candy is great pop album, the problem is that after ROL, Music, American Life and CODF people expected something more personal, artistic and less commercial. 

 

But she was hitting the 50s and wanted do something lighter, funnier, hip and fresh, and more after American Life, she wanted to be the opposite to trascendental and have succes in US again. But I don´t think it´s a bad record by any means. What I don´t like about that era is the bad face surgery, the messy album promotion, and the veruy succesful but tacky tour, after all the class she showed on the confessions tour.

..'and the veruy succesful but tacky tour, after all the class she showed on the confessions tour.'

I think the 'fashion' that she started with MDMA - rush to the cd, rush to shop the tour' maybe started at this point.

[Blue Jean 15,132]

15 hours ago, Drownedboy said:

5 outstanding songs and 4 good make quite a good record or not? You can skip the 3, 4, 5 you don´t like and be happy about it. Voila!

Not really when you compare it to every album that came before it. Almost every song was good before the Interscope era.

And yes Madame X has almost as much filler as mdna. But at least there was some kind of direction/cohesiveness/theme. So it’s a better album overall.

[Future Lover 1,004]

Her worst is Like a Virgin and I’m tired of pretending it’s not. It speaks to her magnetism that an album that is dominated by forgettable filler was that successful and is considered a classic.