Single Reissues Campaign - Causing a Commotion - OUT NOW

[Aiwa08 18,397]

6 minutes ago, BoyToyMark said:

That's what a remaster is, I think we're saying the same thing. :D

No, it's not the same. Adjusting the bass, treble, and other elements is part of remastering, while creating a master for different formats is a different process altogether. A master for vinyl is not the same as one for CD; they use different parameters to ensure that both formats ideally reproduce the same sound.

American Life doesn't need a remaster; it just needs to be released without compression (since an uncompressed master is available). The same goes for Music, MDNA, and others. However, it would sound quieter, and many fans would probably grab their torches and pitchforks.

[BoyToyMark 682]

10 minutes ago, Aiwa08 said:

No, it's not the same. Adjusting the bass, treble, and other elements is part of remastering, while creating a master for different formats is a different process altogether. A master for vinyl is not the same as one for CD; they use different parameters to ensure that both formats ideally reproduce the same sound.

American Life doesn't need a remaster; it just needs to be released without compression (since an uncompressed master is available). The same goes for Music, MDNA, and others. However, it would sound quieter, and many fans would probably grab their torches and pitchforks.

You're right, so the original mastering engineer Tim Young would have mastered the albums for various formats, CD, Cassette and LP. 

I was saying I would like a remaster, so from the multi-tracks, a new master created for the formats and distributed. 

A limiter would still be used in the process. Otherwise I should probably throw away my degree haha. 

[Aiwa08 18,397]

@BoyToyMark For example, this is 'Beat Goes On' with less compression than the CD version: 

 

This is the hidden content, please

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[BoyToyMark 682]

1 minute ago, Aiwa08 said:

@BoyToyMark For example: this is 4 minutes without compression: 

 

Hidden Content

• https://mega.nz/file/N01SQRRS#b_nXtc2Tj5RIpvyFucNRs1ZCNstKLKur3B5hONGqcOg

 

It sounds good! There is still compression on it though, its part of the mixing process

[Anapausis 6,605]

4 minutes ago, Aiwa08 said:

@BoyToyMark For example: this is 4 minutes without compression:

No way I'll share link, give superduperfan Aiwa08 their very deserved flowers.

¡¡¡Muchísimas gracias, amiguito mío!!!

[Aiwa08 18,397]

33 minutes ago, BoyToyMark said:

It sounds good! There is still compression on it though, its part of the mixing process

You're right. Bad example. I changed 4M for BGO. I think this is less compressed. Anyway this mixes are less compressed than the CD version.

[Anapausis 6,605]

By the way @Aiwa08 , did Heartbeat suffer that fate too???

[Aiwa08 18,397]

2 minutes ago, Anapausis said:

By the way @Aiwa08 , did Heartbeat suffer that fate too???

All her songs since Music have had this problem, although it was also present in Ray of Light, but not as much

[Anapausis 6,605]

1 minute ago, Aiwa08 said:

All her songs since Music have had this problem, although it was also present in Ray of Light, but not as much

How'd have got Heartbeat if it hadn't been compressed to hell, would it sound less "painful" to the majority of fans (to me, the MINORITY, it's perfect as it is, just like Candy Shop, Give It 2 Me etc. are)?

[Aiwa08 18,397]

9 minutes ago, Anapausis said:

How'd have got Heartbeat if it hadn't been compressed to hell, would it sound less "painful" to the majority of fans (to me, the MINORITY, it's perfect as it is, just like Candy Shop, Give It 2 Me etc. are)?

Sadly, a bad song is still bad whether the dynamic range is compressed or not, but with the dynamic range compressed, it's an even worse song to our ears.

[gst6662000 400]

LAP DEADPOOL RELEASED WOW SHOCKED THIS MINUTE

[Anapausis 6,605]

15 minutes ago, gst6662000 said:

LAP DEADPOOL RELEASED WOW SHOCKED THIS MINUTE

It's been out for approximately 30 hours afaik.

[gst6662000 400]

12 hours ago, Anapausis said:

It's been out for approximately 30 hours afaik.

yea i was not aware it was release until that time today 4 hours ago.... so unexpected ... yes madonna australia reported it was the other night....

[BoyToyMark 682]

14 hours ago, Aiwa08 said:

You're right. Bad example. I changed 4M for BGO. I think this is less compressed. Anyway this mixes are less compressed than the CD version.

Yeah they sound like the final mixes/bounces before they're sent for mastering.

But there will always be limiters and compression on releases, it's just about the engineer using a delicate balance to bring the level up but maintain dynamic range. Doing that is important for a listening experience. 

Unfortunately anything after 2010 has an an extreme amount used.

[BoyToyMark 682]

A couple weeks to go for the single.

This is cute, I've never seen this before

[Would You Like To Try 9,416]

 

I did my own Candy Shop EP lol now that we are talking about Hard Candy there's plenty to make a EP

[BoyToyMark 682]

3 minutes ago, Would You Like To Try said:

 

I did my own Candy Shop EP lol now that we are talking about Hard Candy there's plenty to make a EP

The Sticky & Sweet opening is glorious to me always.

[steady75 10,278]

I’d love an American Life remaster with some dynamic range especially for Nothing Fails. I often used to leave the American Life singles out of my CD compilations. The jump scare of Madonna’s 

“I’m in love with you” from Nothing Fails was a lot. They just don’t blend with her other singles. 
 

American Life will always be the anti-Madonna album for me. 

[Aiwa08 18,397]

9 minutes ago, steady75 said:

American Life will always be the anti-Madonna album for me. 

Out of curiosity, why do you say that?

[steady75 10,278]

5 hours ago, Aiwa08 said:

Out of curiosity, why do you say that?

Why do I think American Life is the Anti - Madonna album?

While I've grown to love the record I think it's a really hard album to digest. The music is spiky uninviting and aggressive. In your face. There's something quite punk about it. It lacks a certain musicality the same way punk music did.  It's her least melodic record for sure but as well as this the album lacks harmonies which I think is intentional as maybe Madonna felt she had none in her life at the time. Go listen again you'll be shocked how little there is even on choruses. There's a couple in the acoustic bit of the title track and Intervention. 

Instead of using traditional harmonies on most tracks, they opt for a quite aggressive double track lead vocal scenario. When you think of harmonising to any song on the album it's hard to think of any natural fits. Even on the acoustic ballad X-Static process. The few selected harmonies are presented almost like other thoughts she is having, happening at the same time as the main melody, rather than an actual harmony. They aren't synced and in one verse all the harmonies even waltz off into different lyrics, making it sound confused or distracted "i'm not myself myself right now"

I say it's the anti Madonna album because here was always a warmth to Madonnas music where it felt like there was a more positive resolution to the songs or record. American Life is so icy and cold and that's seemingly on purpose. It's a pure midlife crisis album and a major turning point in Madonnas career. She's miserable and in some cases moaning on pretty much every track. There's a sadness and bitterness about everything and the listen leaves you a bit depressed rather than uplifted or emboldened. I have always suspected that much of the album was driven by Madonna potentially miscarrying a child around that time, or being unsuccessful at conceiving again ? I don't know if this is true but she clearly wanted more children after Rocco, and David came very quickly afterwards,

There's lots of doom mongering negative language. Nothing Fails, Die / I'm So Stupid / Intervention / Nobody Knows Me / Easy Ride. The miserablism of the title track and Hollywood. There is so much confusion. There was a time I was happy in my life, Do You Think I'm Satisfied, I forgot that I was special too, 

There are so many questions in the lyrics or lines that hedge bets and leave room for failure or the inevitability of pain or loss or failure

• Should I lose some weight?
• Do you think I'm satisfied?
• This type of modern life, is it for me?
• This time it's got to be good
• How could it hurt you when it looks so good?
• Oh, mother why aren't you here with me?
• I guess I'll die another day?
• Jesus Christ will you look at me?
• Don't know who I am , Don't really know if I should give a damn
• I'm gonna wake up, yes and no
• I want to let go of all disappointment, that's waiting for me

The use of the word Don't & No. No-body, no-thing, lost and life / living happens often enough. Fear makes a few appearances or is at least a theme.

• "Dont want my dreams adding up to nothing"
• "I lost my memory in hollywood"
• "And I know, I know, There is nothing to fear".. (the second "I know" almost trying to convince herself)
• "I lost my reputation bad and good"
• "I have lost my illusions"
• "When I get lost in space"
• "Nothing fails, no more fears"
• I've climbed the tree of life"
• "Nobody knows me"
• I'm just living out the American Dream, and I just realized that nothing is what it seems
• "I used to live in a funny dream"
• "I've had so many lives"
• "I've got to calm him down now, I've got to save his life"
• "cause I used to live in a tiny bubble"
• Now I'm gonna try to improve my life"
• "No ones telling you how to live your life"
• "say hello to your life now you are living"
• "Nobody else could ever take the place of you"
• "What I want is to live forever"

 

Mother & Father is talking about the loss of her mother AND as a result of her mother dying she lost her father too. Intervention is about losing herself and sense of identity. Even the love song Nothing Fails is a double negative In its wording. "Makes me wanna pray you'll always be here" gives a sense of foreboding...Something doomed perhaps. The album is her most self reflective and self critical. 

The self reference with the use of the word "I" is phenomenal. Just look at the lyrics. American Life. Nobody Knows Me and Die Another Day pretty much start every line with I. The amount of songs that begin with I. If not the verse the chorus. 

Verse:

• I Tried To Be A Boy
• I Lost My Memory In Hollywood
• I'm So Stupid
• I've Had So Many Lives
• I'm In Love With You You Silly Thing
• I Got To Save My Baby
• I'm Not Myself When You're Around
• I'm Gonna Wake Up Yes And No
• I Want The Good Life

Chorus

• I go round and round just like a circle
• I got to give it up find someone to love me
• I guess I'll Die Another Day
• and I know that Love will keep us together
• I got you under my skin

and if it's not "I" it's "Me"

Lots of use of the word "don't" too, another negative phrase.

• I don't want, no lies I don't watch TV
• Dont want my dreams adding up to nothing
• Don't know who I'm supposed to be
• Don't really know if I should give a damn
• Push the button, Don't push the button
• Don't try to tempt me
• I dont want an easy ride
• When you're around I don't know who I am
• I'm not myself and I don't know how

Even the tracks that didn't make the album offer the same similarities as the above tracks

It's So Cool:

• Do you realize you pay the price?
• Do you know the cost of all your vice?
• Do you really know God's intention?
• Do you ever ask what it's all for?
• Isn't this the best thing you ever had?

Set The Right:

• Don't push me to the left
• Don't push me to the right
• I have learned Nothing is for free
• gather top your dreams just to stay alive

Many examples of duality of things. There's also lots of questioning, both sides of the argument, second guessing and evaluation. Analyse this indeed.

• Push the button, don't push the button. 
• I tried to be a boy, I tried to be a girl
• I tried to be a mess, I tried to be the best
• I'm not a Christian, I'm not A Jew
• I've had a million visions bad & good
• I'm bored with the concept of wright & wrong
• How can it hurt you when it looks so good
• adding up to nothing
• There are too many options, there is no one solution
• Sometimes it's such a pleasure, sometimes I want to tear it all down
• I always wish that I could find someone as talented as you, but in the process I forget that I was special too
• nobody else could ever take the place of you, nobody else could ever hurt me like you did
• I'm gonna wake up, yes and no
• I want the good life, but I don't want an easy ride

 

Some of these examples hold better than others but my point is it illustrates a picture of negativity. Which Madonna has never been about. She and her music have represented positivity, control, ambition, empowerment, life affirming and inspirational messages. This whole record is none of that. If anything is looking at the dark underbelly or drivers of the positive things in her life through the lens of fear and questions of self worth.

It's also the first time she ever refers to herself as a victim in Mother & Father

"I made a vow that I would never need
Another person ever
Turned my heart into a cage
A victim of a kind of rage"

This is unprecedented and a real insight in the mindset of her as a child and beyond. Madonna would never wish to be seen or to present herself as a victim. In fact for all the comparisons to Marilyn Monroe Madonna was once quoted as saying. 

"Marilyn Monroe was a victim; I’m not" or something to that effect.

 

In summary: If the "absolutely no regrets" //door slam// was the sound of Madonna 1.0 slamming the door (or coffin lid) and walking away from the fearless, bolshy incarnation of herself and first decade of her career (83-93), before her introspective decade (94-04), then American Life is the sound of Madonna exhuming the coffin, looking at the corpse of her former self and having a good think about why she did what she did, where it's bought her, why the fuck she did what she did, and what's next.

American Life is Madonna falling out of the centre of the whirlwind of her career, sitting in the quiet eye of the storm and looking at the madness she has created around her. She's going to war with herself, maybe she's tired of her self. (Army fatigues anyone?). Deconstructing, analysing herself, her past, her present and what she wants her future to look like, and she sits mustering the strength to throw herself back into the whirlwind again, but first  deciding if she even really wants to...but she will, and she does because she doesn't want an Easy Ride.  

Interestingly Easy Ride is the song that closes the album after she decided she'll Die Another Day. A joyless, droll, glitchy funeral march of a song. The sound of a never ending round and round of Madonna's Catholic guilt driving her to keep lashing her own back with a cat'o'nine tails. The female embodiment of Flagellant monk forming mortification of the flesh by whipping their own skin with instruments of penance. Fascinating really. I think she left a lot of herself behind before she jumped back into that Maelstom and for me it was the second death of the Madonna we knew and loved, submitted to record before the commercial backlash. An act of self sabotage?

It's a record that is so opposed to the Madonna brand musically and thematically. And in true ying and yang fashion it's the first album we saw her brand being exploited with the singles all being heavily corporately sponsored. Mini Cooper / Gap / Estee Lauder.

So yeah..that's why, (for me anyway)...it's the anti Madonna album.

[Aiwa08 18,397]

Thank you very much for your detailed response @steady75. It has been very interesting to read your analysis of American Life. There are quite a few points where I agree with you.

[Prayer 16,615]

Such a great read @steady75 Wow!

And while is one of my personal faves, I have to agree. While it's a window to her most depressed soul at the time, it's also aggressive, raw, non pleasant. There's no warmth at all. It's definitely a mid-life crisis album. One should wonder why she was so reflective and... miserable indeed? only two years after getting married to her so-called "soulmate".

Well, maybe now we know why?

I also think the Ritchie connection made her explore violence and raw darkness (not inspiring darkness) within her own creativity, maybe being inspired by his own work or maybe to try to appeal to his macho views. Explicit use of violence had never been part of the Madonna recipe up until she met him.

[MPowered 7,733]

6 hours ago, Prayer said:

Such a great read @steady75 Wow!

And while is one of my personal faves, I have to agree. While it's a window to her most depressed soul at the time, it's also aggressive, raw, non pleasant. There's no warmth at all. It's definitely a mid-life crisis album. One should wonder why she was so reflective and... miserable indeed? only two years after getting married to her so-called "soulmate".

Well, maybe now we know why?

I also think the Ritchie connection made her explore violence and raw darkness (not inspiring darkness) within her own creativity, maybe being inspired by his own work or maybe to try to appeal to his macho views. Explicit use of violence had never been part of the Madonna recipe up until she met him.

9/11, Bush presidency, becoming more and more annoyed with your home country & menopause.

She hated Bush to a boiling passion. She likely also reflected a lot on her career and life choices after she experienced motherhood along with an actual marriage. She was living a very different life than she did before 2001.

[MadonnaDave 145]

While we are talking about the merits of MDNA…

What does everyone think of Beautiful Killer?

I honestly don’t understand why it didn’t make the cut for the main track list.

It’s my most listened to track from MDNA by miles.

The Paris one-off performance mashing it up with Die Another Day would have been a highlight of the show for me if it had been part of the MDNA tour setlist. 

Even though it’s my personal top MDNA track, I’m not convinced that it could have been a hit single for Madonna however.  (If she had released a ‘violent themed’ song from MDNA as a single it would have been Gang Bang, the title alone would have been controversial if before you factor in a violence themed promo video clip). 

Revolver was a flop in the UK and didn’t make the main Billboard chart in the US. Would Beautiful Killer have been regarded as a thematic follow up?

Die Another Day was a very divisive Bond theme. Beautiful Killer feels like it would suited a Madonna take on a Bond soundtrack. I wonder how the song would have been received if it had been a second Madonna track contributed to the Die Another Day soundtrack?

 

 

[Prayer 16,615]

3 minutes ago, MadonnaDave said:

While we are talking about the merits of MDNA…

What does everyone think of Beautiful Killer?

I honestly don’t understand why it didn’t make the cut for the main track list.

It’s my most listened to track from MDNA by miles.

The Paris one-off performance mashing it up with Die Another Day would have been a highlight of the show for me if it had been part of the MDNA tour setlist. 

Even though it’s my personal top MDNA track, I’m not convinced that it could have been a hit single for Madonna however.  (If she had released a ‘violent themed’ song from MDNA as a single it would have been Gang Bang, the title alone would have been controversial if before you factor in a violence themed promo video clip). 

Revolver was a flop in the UK and didn’t make the main Billboard chart in the US. Would Beautiful Killer have been regarded as a thematic follow up?

Die Another Day was a very divisive Bond theme. Beautiful Killer feels like it would suited a Madonna take on a Bond soundtrack. I wonder how the song would have been received if it had been a second Madonna track contributed to the Die Another Day soundtrack?

 

 

I LOVE "Beautiful Killer" - except for the CHEAP shot FX sound at the end, I hated that bit since day one. xd

But the song, it's so good. It's so quintessentially her: her classic melodies, her classic tone of voice, even one of her classic type middle 8s. You can tell that one wasn't a bought track, she really wrote that one. It's so her.

A single? Don't know. A great track? Definitely.

Don't forget "Love Spent" was meant to be initially a Deluxe track and "B-Day Song" on the standard 12-track album. And "GMAYL" was track number 7 on the album at first. The tracklist decisions were a little bit all over the place on "MDNA", honestly.