Jump to content

Where Do We Stand: Madame X


Shoful
 Share

What Are Your Current Feelings Towards Madame X?  

130 members voted

  1. 1. What Are Your Current Feelings Towards Madame X?

    • Madonna's Best Album
      12
    • Love It, But Not Madonna's Best
      73
    • Neutral Feelings
      18
    • Dislike It, But Not Madonna's Worst
      13
    • Madonna's Worst Album
      14


Recommended Posts

The album Madame X seems to be a widely criticized and divisive album on the forum. It was praised by most critics as being bold, innovative, and exciting and as a return to Madonna the artist. The fans seem to have a much more negative reception towards it.

The album is approaching its 2 year anniversary and the inevitable release of the tour film, I thought this would be the perfect time to poll where this fanbase stands on the album! Please vote and I hope you will comment more so below. Remember to be accepting of other people's opinions!

200.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm sure most people on here know my obsession and love for Madame X. I regard it as her best piece of work yet! The music is so inventive and it featured the return of my favorite M producer: Mirwais. I remember listening for the first time and being blown away. I immediately fell in-love with the album. It did strike me as so different and bizarre compared to her past works but that's what made me appreciate it even more. It stands out so much in her discography and she once again served quality after years of writing camps and trend chasing. The music has so many layers, to this day I feel like I am still discovering new sounds in the songs. I feel as though she combined all of my favorite things into one album: politics, electronic, and experimental sounds. I think I will always hold this album as my top favorite!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I chose "mediocre" although it's not my exact feeling. I still listen to it, I like it but I don't love it and here are the reasons:

- extremely incoherent; the soul of the album goes from track 5 to 10, the Portuguese part; I never go after track 10

- wrong production that tries to appeal a young public; bad results with the choice  to sing with grillz and too much autotune

- very repetitive lyrics

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's not her best, but it's definitely up there. It was absolutely a return to form after two middling albums (MDNA & Rebel Heart). I think it really showed that M's fire and passion for creativity was back. I completely disagree with the idea that she's trying to appeal to a younger audience, the album is very much in its own bubble aside from Future. My only real complaints are that she didn't follow through with the whole alter-ego of Madame X aside from the mantra, and that some of tracklist could've done with some slight rejigging (I would've put swapped out Future, Looking for Mercy, and I Rise for Funana and Ciao Bella).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I chose mediocre as well. Some songs are stand outs for me and I love them but some songs I just have to skip by because they get right on my nerves.  I might have liked the album more if she used the looks she is using now for the cover. LOL  .. and I still haven't gotten over the strings to the face pic of Rebel Heart, just yucky lookin to me - especially knowing how good she looks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's my least favorite album of hers, replacing Like a Virgin which had previously been my least favorite. Madame X has a couple of bops now that I've taken the time to listen to it a bit more in the hopes that it would grow on me, but mostly I find it to be an unbalanced monstrosity that tries too hard to come across as avant-garde. It's contrived and pretentious, with few redeeming factors to make it worthwhile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think your poll is proving you wrong. Seems pretty high up there for most people. 

 

I think she knew the collection of songs was a bit all over the place and so she chose the "theme" of Madame X to bind them together. I think it was a decision made late in the process and I don't think it does a very good job. I also agree the tracklist kills the record flow. Im still trying to figure out the right formula myself but Killers and Extreme Occident should be the vibe and everything else falls around it. Omit Crazy and Loca and its perf. 

 

I think this is the tracklist I prefer:

 

 

Killers Who Are Partying

Medellin

Future

Batuka

Extreme Occident

God Control

I Don't Search I Find

Dark Ballet

Come Alive

Faz Gostoso

Crave

Looking for Mercy

I Rise

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The poll is biased, there isn't any neutral response; there are 2 positive and 3 negative categories.

I would be more neutral, it's a good album, different style from what she did in the past, but not always consistent.

My favorite are Batuka, Ciao Bella and Extreme Occident.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I put mediocre because it's closest to neutral. I don't love it but I don't hate. It's a step up from the three albums before IMO but it still has some inconsistencies, skips and her vocals sound robotic and lazy in places. I think she needs to cut off standard editions at 10 songs, and deluxe editions at 15. No more super deluxe editions because those songs add nothing. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, Husam Elzien said:

I put mediocre because it's closest to neutral. I don't love it but I don't hate. It's a step up from the three albums before IMO but it still has some inconsistencies, skips and her vocals sound robotic and lazy in places. I think she needs to cut off standard editions at 10 songs, and deluxe editions at 15. No more super deluxe editions because those songs add nothing. 

 

1 hour ago, CYSMM said:

The poll is biased, there isn't any neutral response; there are 2 positive and 3 negative categories.

I would be more neutral, it's a good album, different style from what she did in the past, but not always consistent.

My favorite are Batuka, Ciao Bella and Extreme Occident.

Is Mediocre not “Medium” in quality which is Neutral?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Shoful said:

 

Is Mediocre not “Medium” in quality which is Neutral?

I mean yes and no. Mediocre can refer to something not good and/or not bad but people usually use the word when they refer to something of low quality and barely passable. I think that's where the confusion on the use of the word is coming from because I view the word mediocre more as something that closely borders on 'it sucks' than something that's neither good or bad. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, deathproof said:

It's great, I love it. Even if there's a few skips, I still rank it very highly.

My only complaint is the mumbling vocal styling all throughout the album. I just wish that wasn't a thing. I pray for clear enunciation on the next album :pray: 

Blame Ariana for the mumbling. Girl sings with a mouth full of marbles 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

42 minutes ago, Husam Elzien said:

I mean yes and no. Mediocre can refer to something not good and/or not bad but people usually use the word when they refer to something of low quality and barely passable. I think that's where the confusion on the use of the word is coming from because I view the word mediocre more as something that closely borders on 'it sucks' than something that's neither good or bad. 

Okay I’ll just change to Neutral to avoid confusion haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The answer options are not sufficient for me too. On the one hand, I think the album is an exciting musical experience, but there is so much light and shade that I can't compare it to Ray of Light, American Life or Like a Prayer.

MX has the same problem as Rebel Heart: too many songs of extremely different quality, making it difficult to listen to in one piece on the side. It's like constantly changing extremely different radio stations. 

My answer option would have been: I can't classify it as awesome, mediocre or bad - but the album had the potential to be a masterpiece. Now I have chosen neutral, even if the term sounds a little harsh.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love the Madame X album and it's her most solid and cohesive work since Confessions. It's not my favorite favorite but it stands up better than Hard Candy,MDNA,and Rebel Heart (a few standout tracks but overall trash). There are a couple recycleable tracks (Bitch I'm Loca & Funana are the ones that came to my mind,the latter doesn't affect the album since it's just a bonus but it shouldn't have been released at all) but overall they don't hinder the overall scope of the album. I think her working with Mirwais again helped significantly as well as tightening up security on her hard drives so there wasn't a massive leak of the album before its release (Rebel Heart). I genuinely believe this album was the step in the right direction she needed to take and I hope her next album is even better than MX.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Love Is The Groove said:

 I think her working with Mirwais again helped significantly as well as tightening up security on her hard drives so there wasn't a massive leak of the album before its release (Rebel Heart). I genuinely believe this album was the step in the right direction she needed to take and I hope her next album is even better than MX.

Agreed, the lack of leaks made everything smoother because Madonna didn't have to go back and quickly re-mix everything. Her original vision for the songs made it through to the end.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I try to listen to it every minute of every day. I try to absord the personas of Madame X. I love, love, love the album! But everytime I'm in the shower and Dark Ballet's Tschiakowski part is about to start, I scream at Siri to skip to the next song. That's the part I loved live but HATE because I've listened to it so many times and it confuses me!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I love the production and the different lyrical topics of each songs even if it feels like she's taking on too many topics at once, gun control, all the minorities in killers etc,, i'm not sure what direction she will go in next

Certainly by Hard Candy in 2008 she was playing catch-up, spurring Timbaland and the Neptunes to some of their tamest work, a good five years after their pomp. MDNA tried to keep pace with stadium EDM, while Rebel Heart struggled to get its head around a newly global, musically cosmopolitan pop market, and just randomly glued collaborators together. The woman who had once led and set trends was following them.

Despite this, she has not done what many in her position would do: lick their wounds and sell a jazz album to BBC Radio 2 listeners (which i think most people want her to do, probably due to agesim) and that opens a bigger question, what does a veteran who has redefined pop stardom for decades do in her 60s and onwards

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Write here...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Restore formatting

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use