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Let’s talk about MDNA...


tonyamaya
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I’ve always wondered why MDNA gets so much hate in the fandom. It’s not her best, but it’s a solid body of work. It has great songs like: I’m addicted, I don’t give a, Girl gone wild, Gang bang, Masterpiece, and more. 

What do you think of this album, and why does it get so much hate? 

 

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The sound and lyrics are trash. Her voice sounds like a dying crow in half of the songs. The legit only redeemable tracks are: Girl Gone Wild, I’m Addicted, Love Spent, Masterpiece, Falling Free, Beautiful Killer. It should’ve just been an EP that accompanied her Super Bowl performance and toured more as a greatest hits. The tracks I didn’t list are practically unlistenable. Does anyone mentally sound actually go a play Superstar? :Madonna009:

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MDNA is the most basic record she's ever done. It has no soul. It already sounded dated when it came out. Of course this era has its moments, she gave us and amazing world tour, the Superbowl Halftime Show, the music videos for GMAYL and Girl Gone Wild were pretty nice (let's not even mention TUTR...).
The only songs I keep listening once in a while are Gang Bang, I'm Addicted, Love Spent and Masterpiece. Everything else is pretty much forgettable.

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I think MDNA has the greatest number of bad songs on one album. 
I like what she did on tour with them but most of the album never should have seen the light of day. The first two that make me feel a little second-hand embarrasment are Give me all your Luvin and B-day song. I mean... what is that even? With GMAYL she tried so hard to stay relevant and fit with the Superbowl narrative but she didn't learn with this one and tried even harder with B*tch three years later... The tour version of GMAYL was one I could bare to listen to. Some Girls... same story... why even try to put out such an overproduced piece of garbage. The ballads were somewhat solid. Love Spent (the uptempo version) would have made a great promo single, imho. Best Friend has only received attention an interlude which is a wasted oppoutrunity. I really liked Killer and the overall theme and I can see why she mixed it with DAD. Sadly it was only performed once. Superstar is somewhat catchy. I never liked it too much but now when my Spotify randomly plays it, I don't skip but rather sing along. I never got hooked with Falling Free, it's a nice ballad but it's just as forgettable as the finished version of Borrowed Time.  Masterpiece, on the other hand, bears its description in its name. I love the arrangement and I loved how the controversy got her more attention (again).

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I love MDNA! I think it’s under appreciated much like American Life. I love almost every song but hey, speaking of under appreciated (from her team atleast), Beautiful Killer should have been a single! Also,  Madonna’s voice on Masterpiece couldn’t have been at its finest. It’s one of her most stunning ballads in my opinion. 

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Guest Nobody Knows Me

If it had been a ten track album it'd be fine for me. The past three albums suffer from a clustered tracklist in my opinion, and if they'd been cut down a little then they'd all be solid from start to finish. For MDNA I would have kept:

Girl Gone Wild
Gang Bang
I'm Addicted
Best Friend
Beautiful Killer
I Don't Give A
I'm a Sinner
Love Spent
Masterpiece
Falling Free
 

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1 hour ago, tonyamaya said:

I’ve always wondered why MDNA gets so much hate in the fandom. It’s not her best, but it’s a solid body of work. It has great songs like: I’m addicted, I don’t give a, Girl gone wild, Gang bang, Masterpiece, and more. 

What do you think of this album, and why does it get so much hate? 

 

I think the album is very canned (as in food - I don't know if there's a better word for that). My favorite songs are "GGW", "I'm Addicted" - the best, should've been a single and "Beautiful Killer". By the way, I love "GMAYL" and in my opinion most people that hated it, it's because they feel old. The sound of the album is too loud, too noisy, and to tell you the truth, I used to listen to only the first seven songs, then "Love Spent", then "Beautiful Killer" and that's it. I personally don't like "Masterpiece", a beautiful song but it's like there's something missing. I'd hardly listen to the 'last' song, "Falling free" is beautiful, though I never understand the love many fans have for last album tracks like "Like It Or Not", "Voices" or "Mer Girl".

I don't like the tour also. The setlist, the outfits, the DVD cover... Everything feels like there's something missing.

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44 minutes ago, Shoful said:

The sound and lyrics are trash. Her voice sounds like a dying crow in half of the songs. The legit only redeemable tracks are: Girl Gone Wild, I’m Addicted, Love Spent, Masterpiece, Falling Free, Beautiful Killer. It should’ve just been an EP that accompanied her Super Bowl performance and toured more as a greatest hits. The tracks I didn’t list are practically unlistenable. Does anyone mentally sound actually go a play Superstar? :Madonna009:

It can seem 'silly', but it's a fun/cute song. More 'serious' fans - also the ones that dislike "GMAYL" will obviously hate it.

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I think MDNA (album and tour) served her best visuals since Confessions but there's too much filler and dodgy lyrics on the album for it to be considered a classic. The production already sounds quite dated and the remixes are unlistenable to me. Like Hard Candy, it's not a bad album, it's just a bad Madonna album. Rebel Heart works better for me as it's not just one genre, it's more general and less focused on one type of music.

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MDNA is a good album, but not her top best. Best tracks are:

* Girl Gone Wild (Her best dance track ever!)

* I’m Addicted

* Love Spent

* Falling Free

* Beautiful Killer

 

Also MDNA tour had the WORST setlist ever. Filled with the same repetitive songs. Wished she gave chance to her other underperformed songs, but she never does that. Guess she never cares for anything that isnt human nature or candy shop...

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1 hour ago, RCB said:

It can seem 'silly', but it's a fun/cute song. More 'serious' fans - also the ones that dislike "GMAYL" will obviously hate it.

I’m definitely a fan who likes the more serious stuff especially since those are usually my favorite albums of hers (MX, AL, Erotica) but I still enjoy the silly songs. It’s not the fact that MDNA is silly it just is really bad songs especially for an artist as amazing as Madonna. Hard Candy is in majority a silly album but it’s still a decent album. MDNA is not. It’s her weakest album ever and I don’t think it’s even debatable 

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I adore it. So I will just say again what I said about it in an old topic :smile:

"MDNA" was a good fun pop album - with a dark side exploring all the pain of her divorce.

I enjoyed it a lot at the time. It came a little late with the whole EDM/Dance pop cycle almost ending (Rihanna's "Loud", Gaga, Britney's "Femme Fatale", all the super popular DJs) but it was 100% current when it was released. There are some really good songs there. Artwork was excellent. Promotion could have been better. And single releases probably, too but "GGW" and "TUTR" are both bangers.

I know a lot of fans dislike the album but I always think that if "MDNA" had been a huge success the perception would be different.

The original tracklist worked better, IMO:

01. Girls Gone Wild
02. Gang Bang
03. I'm Addicted
04. Some Girls
05. I Don't Give A
06. Turn Up The Radio
07. Give Me All Your Luvin'
08. B-day Song
09. Superstar
10. I'm A Sinner
11. Masterpiece
12. Falling Free
13. Love Spent
14. I Fucked Up
15. Beautiful Killer

Then "Best Friend" was added at last minute and tracklist changed. And "Girls Gone Wild" became "Girl Gone Wild".

And don't get me started on THAT tour

8f86cbd0e347e0a8ebc576d795f43ea9.jpg

Amazing.

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I don't think this is an unpopular opinion but for me it is her worst record. That said, there are definitely some tracks I really enjoy on the album. I do enjoy revisiting it one in a while and enjoying some tracks on it. For example, Girl Gone Wild and I'm Addicted are some fun electro pop songs and very fun to dance to. Gang Bang and Some Girls aren't bad, I actually like coming back to them even though they're not the strongest on the album. Other than that, I do really enjoy Masterpiece, Falling Free and Beautiful Killer. The biggest disappoints for me were Give Me All Your Luvin', Superstar, B-Day Song and Turn Up the Radio. I did listen to them at the time, but I never listen to those songs anymore.

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I don't hate it, there are many songs I like, especially I don't give a, Masterpiece, I'm addicted.

Turn up the radio is very generic, I agree, but I like it and it reminds me driving to Nice to see the tour!

There are also two fan favourites that I don't fancy much: Beautiful Killer, which imo sounds too similar to other Orbit songs, and Falling Free, which I find repetitive and boring. 

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1 hour ago, Prayer said:

I adore it. So I will just say again what I said about it in an old topic :smile:

"MDNA" was a good fun pop album - with a dark side exploring all the pain of her divorce.

I enjoyed it a lot at the time. It came a little late with the whole EDM/Dance pop cycle almost ending (Rihanna's "Loud", Gaga, Britney's "Femme Fatale", all the super popular DJs) but it was 100% current when it was released. There are some really good songs there. Artwork was excellent. Promotion could have been better. And single releases probably, too but "GGW" and "TUTR" are both bangers.

I know a lot of fans dislike the album but I always think that if "MDNA" had been a huge success the perception would be different.

The original tracklist worked better, IMO:

01. Girls Gone Wild
02. Gang Bang
03. I'm Addicted
04. Some Girls
05. I Don't Give A
06. Turn Up The Radio
07. Give Me All Your Luvin'
08. B-day Song
09. Superstar
10. I'm A Sinner
11. Masterpiece
12. Falling Free
13. Love Spent
14. I Fucked Up
15. Beautiful Killer

Oh God no, that’s even worse.

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6 hours ago, Shoful said:

The sound and lyrics are trash. Her voice sounds like a dying crow in half of the songs. The legit only redeemable tracks are: Girl Gone Wild, I’m Addicted, Love Spent, Masterpiece, Falling Free, Beautiful Killer. It should’ve just been an EP that accompanied her Super Bowl performance and toured more as a greatest hits. The tracks I didn’t list are practically unlistenable. Does anyone mentally sound actually go a play Superstar? :Madonna009:

Cue guilty pleasure playlist?

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MDNA was probably the weakest of the 2010 albums, but in no way is it the worst. I feel like it was her most personal of the 3 since American Life. Rebel heart was the most inspired, and Madame x was the most artistic. Madonna was never the same after Hard Candy and i felt we experienced 3 different personas post Mrs Ritchie era.  the divorce really brought the angry side of her that's all over MDNA and the average listener back then was still biased over her style not being age appropriate and fast forward some years later and you have women now praising jlo for dancing in a pole in her 50s.

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Let's be real, she could have cared less. Her mind was on her other projects, endorsements and on the Superbowl. The album is weak and falls short of her standards, feels like autopilot Madonna recording other singers' demos and slapping her name on them. The mixing, the bad vocals, the rushed time frame to meet the Superbowl and then no promotion until the tour felt like the worst way to bring about a new chapter on a new label. It pretty much ended her on the charts and despite the payola for GMAYL, it extended her record but I feel the non-traditional promo backfired on her.

The album itself has good ideas and it is definitely a divorce record. You can see a lot of the songs become more evolved on tour and makes even the most simple songs seem bigger than they were on the record. I can appreciate her stab at the current music scene at the time. Gang Bang being one most loved due to how bonkers it was but leading with a song that most derided on its leaked demo form, GGW was better and TUTR felt like Hello 2.0. As Orbit mentioned, her mind and time was elsewhere besides the album and devoting the time to making this record feel finished. She had M.I.A. of all people and passed on a possible political or social song versus GMAYL and B-Day Song and some of the standouts are muffled through poor mixing and mastering that robs them of their brilliance they deserve.

She did excel at the tour and the visuals of both the album/tour/promotional run but the album itself feels like a contracted album with a "let's record whatever to go on tour". They're fun, faceless and guilty pleasure tracks mixed with some great ones like Love Spent, Masterpiece, I'm Addicted but the cons outweigh the positives. I enjoyed it when it was released but it hasn't aged quite well and you feel like her interest in recording definitely came back during Rebel Heart and especially Madame X. This was sorely missing during the MDNA session. 

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Oh man... MDNA for me is like this nasty, dirty stain in Madonna's discography / body of work that I want to forget but can't. IDK, I guess if one doesn't put their soul and their all to a project, it really shows... and that was the case for MDNA the album. Ugh, I just don't like it. I feel like it was a quick need for Madonna (or her team) to release something especially after the Madonna VS. Gaga comparisons of 2011. Because of it, it was half-assed maybe and the result was below subpar - very unlike Madonna.

The only listenable songs are Girl Gone Wild (really took a while to grow on me), Falling Free, and Masterpiece.

The MDNA Tour of course was a different story; at least there was that and it managed to garner Madonna a lot of fans/new fans. Her prowess as one of the best touring artists and performers of all time however was maintained because of the MDNA Tour.

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