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[steady75 10,301]

I personally think Beautiful Killer is over rated by the fanbase. I think it’s testament to how poor the album is in general that a mid track like Beautiful Killer gets flowers.  Zero shade to anyone who loves it, I’m all love here but I just don’t get what the song is all about. It’s superfluous to anything on that record. As is Birthday Song. What were they thinking? At least songs like Best Friend and I Fucked Up relate to the subject matter of her divorce. MDNA was such a smash and grab era. 

[Veronica-Electronica 356]

@steady75 thankyou for that thoughtful and detail analysis of AL. Since its release it immediately became one of my favourite Madonna albums, one that I still love and listen to regularly to this day. I loved it because it did feel like something really different from her, but your analysis clarified a lot of the reasons I like it that I had never fully comprehended, or at least taken the time to attempt to understand why it appeals to me. 

[Adonna 21,116]

@Veronica-Electronica, I feel like Beautiful Killer is definitely a highlight of the album. I think a lot of it has to do because the style of the song which is reminiscent to some of her older pop/disco styled songs.  I agree it's one of the stand outs to the album and should have been among the regular edition.  I also have no issue with MDNA.  I think it's a fine album. I listen to it often like most of her albums.  For me, the tracks she did with Orbit are not as impressive to me as the other tracks produced with others. A lot of it, is because the songs sound too much like what he's done in the past with her.  This is why I am not really sympathetic to his complaints about album and his opinion that she wasn't very focused on that album.  It's apparent he's just upset that she and him didn't work like they did together on ROL.  Maybe if he brought something more cutting edge to the table, she would have been more inclined to work with him more on that album. Still, I enjoy the songs he did with her on that album, but again, I feel there are far better songs than just the ones he produced with her. Maybe she had multiple things going on while working on that album.  But that's the case with most of her albums.  There is no perfect formula when making an album.  What works one time, doesn't necessarily work again.  Madonna is an artist who really evolved and while MDNA may not been a huge step forward, the album is still very enjoyable and a stark difference to Hard Candy and then what followed with Rebel Heart.  Beautiful Killer definitely became a fan favorite and I'm sure a lot of that is because the song was a good dance styled song with some catchy lyrics. 

[MadonnaDave 145]

2 hours ago, Prayer said:

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.

The feeble gunshot at the end isn’t great. It’s an overly obvious sound to sign off with. Maybe if it didn’t sound so cheap and stock FX it would come off better. 

B-Day Song making the standard 12-track album would have been shocking. 

MDNA is a funny old album.

 

Girl Gone Wild is ok, but somehow less than the sum of its parts. It starts well. Spoken Intro, Verse 1 and Pre-Chorus. Then Verse 2 and the Bridge are strong. But overall it doesn’t have major replay appeal to me.

Gang Bang is odd but interesting. I like it.

I’m Addicted. An album highlight.

Turn Up the Radio. This is where Madonna’s EDM horse throws a shoe. Terrible single. Unbelievably trite lyrics. 

Give Me All Your Luvin’. I heard the leaked demo and thought it was a bizarre choice for a lead single. But it grew on me and I much preferred it to the official version when that came out.

 

Some Girls. It’s ok, but knowing how much Madonna’s songwriting has matured over the years, songs like this  felt like a big step backwards. She’s better than this and too grown up for it too.

Superstar. I skip it.

 I Don’t Give A. A comparative highlight for me. Could do without Nicki though.

I’m A Sinner. The Choruses are the high points, but in the main it kind of plods along. 

Love Spent. Compared to trite and juvenile lyrics elsewhere, this feels more like a classic Madonna song. 

Masterpiece. It gets close in parts, but I can’t get into this one.

Falling Free. After some juvenile sounding tracks it really feels more like the Madonna we know from Ray of Light, American Life, etc, is back. Poignant, introspective, yearning and beautiful. 

My track listing for MDNA would be:

1. I’m Addicted

2. Gang Bang 

3. Give Me All Your Luvin (based on demo version though)

4. Girl Gone Wild

5.  I Don’t Give A F***

6. Beautiful Killer

7. Best Friend

8. I F***ed Up

9. Love Spent 

10. Falling Free

 And if there had to be a bonus disc:

11. Masterpiece

12. I’m A Sinner

13. Some Girls

14. Give Me All Your Luvin (feat. LMFAO)

(Turn Up the Radio, B-Day Song and Superstar would go in the bin lol) 🗑️ 

 

 

 

 

 

[MadonnaDave 145]

Interesting to hear these MDNA demos

The following definitely aren’t sung by Madonna

Girl Gone Wild (demo 1)

Turn Up the Radio (demo)

Some Girls (demo 1)

Some Girls (demo 2)

I’m A Sinner (demo)

Love Spent (demo 1)

Falling Free (demo)

 

 

 

[Adonna 21,116]

8 minutes ago, MadonnaDave said:

Interesting to hear these MDNA demos

 

Wait? Why is this the first I'm hearing about "Baby"?  I never knew this even existed?  

[Aiwa08 18,474]

4 hours 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.

 

I also love 'Beautiful Killer,' and I think it's one of the highlights of the album. I don't understand why it's not part of the main album either. I suppose it was included as a bonus track to 'force' casual fans to buy the deluxe version. I don't know if it would have worked as a single, but I think it could have inspired a great music video.

What frustrated me most about the MDNA era was the number of great songs that could have had amazing videos (even though I love the videos for Give Me All Your Luvin' and Girl Gone Wild). I miss the old days when her albums had four or five music videos.

[DoneGone 16,709]

6 hours ago, MadonnaDave said:

Give Me All Your Luvin’. I heard the leaked demo and thought it was a bizarre choice for a lead single. But it grew on me and I much preferred it to the official version when that came out.

 

The most frustrating thing about the final "GMAYL" to me was losing the glorious full madness middle 8 of the demo, by far the best part of the song in all its dubstep/Robynesque/8 bit video game glory.

But again, Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. had to be featured somewhere and it was the obvious place. Plus that dubstep trick was a little bit a thing of 2011 and it was meant to be released in 2012 in the end.

I still can't believe how they missed to release a pre-advance single of any kind in late 2011. I understand she's Madonna and wanted the big lead single and everything but it was already 2011. Artists already did advance pre-tracks, buzz singles, things like that.

[maxijazz 120]

Some albums, (LAP, HC, Confessions, etc.) appear to have most songs updated to 24bit/44.1kHZ as opposed to 16bit/44.1kHZ  previously on Apple Music. Are you guys seeing that too? Do they actually sound better(er)? Do you see EY and 4 minutes still only in 16bit/44.1 in their related albums?

[luckypierre78 321]

6 hours ago, maxijazz said:

Some albums, (LAP, HC, Confessions, etc.) appear to have most songs updated to 24bit/44.1kHZ as opposed to 16bit/44.1kHZ  previously on Apple Music. Are you guys seeing that too? Do they actually sound better(er)? Do you see EY and 4 minutes still only in 16bit/44.1 in their related albums?

There's some Madonna singles that are in what Apple Music calls "Hi-Res Lossless" which is ALAC up to 24-bit/192khz.  It's not available on any albums, but for singles it's on Everybody, Lucky Star, Material Girl, Gambler (really??), Frozen (Fireboy DML Remix), Frozen feat. 070 Shake, Frozen On Fire, Material Gworllll, and Hung Up On Tokischa.

Almost all of Madonna's catalogue is in standard lossless (24bit/44.1 kHZ) besides a few singles (Beautiful Stranger, one of the Hung Up singles, and Get Together Remixes).  What's frustrating is that I can't see what quality is playing out of my HomePods when it plays :(

[Would You Like To Try 9,462]

Amazing songs! 

 

 

[steady75 10,301]

If MDNA's lead single had been Love Spent things would have felt so much different.

Listening to the demos its such a mix of Britney and Rihanna. 

I actually love Some Girls.

Love Spent, I'm A Sinner, Some Girls,  would have been a good singles run (possibly Falling Free / Gang Bang double A as a fourth)

With GMALY a Super Bowl exclusive. Masterpiece a standalone single for the film and those two songs included on the deluxe as a bonus. It still wouldn't make the album any better as a whole but at least the best work would have been showcased.

[Aiwa08 18,474]

Considering the situation in 2012, MDNA was almost destined to fail. That year, the music scene was driven more by eye-catching YouTube videos than by the quality of the songs themselves, with a strong focus on upbeat rhythms. The album was eagerly anticipated, largely to compare it with those of the 'new' artists emerging at the time. Inevitably, some were ready to criticize it immediately, eager to defend their new idols. And when you add Interscope’s involvement and the poor choice of singles into the mix...

The good thing is that, despite all that working against it, MDNA reached number 1 on the sales charts in 19 countries and the MDNA Tour was a resounding success.

[Alpha 1,959]

2 hours ago, steady75 said:

If MDNA's lead single had been Love Spent things would have felt so much different.

Listening to the demos its such a mix of Britney and Rihanna. 

I actually love Some Girls.

Love Spent, I'm A Sinner, Some Girls,  would have been a good singles run (possibly Falling Free / Gang Bang double A as a fourth)

With GMALY a Super Bowl exclusive. Masterpiece a standalone single for the film and those two songs included on the deluxe as a bonus. It still wouldn't make the album any better as a whole but at least the best work would have been showcased.

Love Spent is seriously the most Britney out of all the tracks. Lyrically its like a Blackout reject and sonically it's a Femme Fatale reject. I can understand the appeal of most madonna songs i don't like like La Isla Bonita or I'll Remember, but Love Spent is beyond wretched and not only a downer but you can tell shr was being serious when doing it. Just friggin awful. And then those banjos!?!? People complaining about gunshots but have nothing to say about the banjos!? 

[Would You Like To Try 9,462]

I'm honestly grateful that I can't hear too much between mp3 and flac and that I think that I can master music on my phone or remaster! Knowing so much about it must be stressing especially compression 

Personally I can't hear any differences between mastered & unmastered music! If I was a artist I would just ask the mixer to do their best job and release it like that! - for the complainers do it yourself on your phones and computer lol

[Aiwa08 18,474]

27 minutes ago, Would You Like To Try said:

I'm honestly grateful that I can't hear too much between mp3 and flac and that I think that I can master music on my phone or remaster! Knowing so much about it must be stressing especially compression 

Personally I can't hear any differences between mastered & unmastered music! If I was a artist I would just ask the mixer to do their best job and release it like that! - for the complainers do it yourself on your phones and computer lol

I think you might be mixing up some concepts:

•  For instance, the difference between MP3 and FLAC files might not be noticeable unless you’re using high-end equipment (not just a cell phone or tablet), in addition to being an audiophile with a trained ear.
• Also, it's important to distinguish between unmastered and mastered tracks. An unmastered track is essentially a raw recording that hasn’t undergone the final adjustments to optimize its sound quality. A mastered track, on the other hand, has been professionally processed to ensure it sounds balanced and polished across different playback systems (Believe me, you would notice a huge difference between an unmastered and a mastered track.).
• Additionally, there's a difference between a remastered version and the original master. A remastered version involves taking the original master and applying new techniques to improve its sound quality, often using modern technology. This is different from the original master, which is the version as it was first recorded and processed.
• And don't forget, there's also a significant difference between dynamic range compression and uncompressed audio. Dynamic range compression is a process used during mastering to reduce the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of a recording, making the overall sound more consistent. Uncompressed audio maintains the full dynamic range of the recording, preserving the natural variations in volume. You can’t do anything on your computer to restore the original dynamic range. Once it’s compressed, there’s no going back (unless, of course, you keep the original master untouched and stored).

[Would You Like To Try 9,462]

4 minutes ago, Aiwa08 said:

I think you might be mixing up some concepts:

•  For instance, the difference between MP3 and FLAC files might not be noticeable unless you’re using high-end equipment (not just a cell phone or tablet), in addition to being an audiophile with a trained ear.
• Also, it's important to distinguish between unmastered and mastered tracks. An unmastered track is essentially a raw recording that hasn’t undergone the final adjustments to optimize its sound quality. A mastered track, on the other hand, has been professionally processed to ensure it sounds balanced and polished across different playback systems (Believe me, you would notice a huge difference between an unmastered and a mastered track.).
• Additionally, there's a difference between a remastered version and the original master. A remastered version involves taking the original master and applying new techniques to improve its sound quality, often using modern technology. This is different from the original master, which is the version as it was first recorded and processed.
• And don't forget, there's also a significant difference between dynamic range compression and uncompressed audio. Dynamic range compression is a process used during mastering to reduce the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of a recording, making the overall sound more consistent. Uncompressed audio maintains the full dynamic range of the recording, preserving the natural variations in volume.

True! Homever what I mainly ask for Madonna's album are uncompressed audio at this point and we both would love that

Also Voices mixing is a disgrace, the mixes I heard or demos already had that distorted beat so that must mean that it was always there!

[Aiwa08 18,474]

4 minutes ago, Would You Like To Try said:

True! Homever what I mainly ask for Madonna's album are uncompressed audio at this point and we both would love that

Also Voices mixing is a disgrace, the mixes I heard or demos already had that distorted beat so that must mean that it was always there!

You’re right, some of Madonna's recordings originally have distortion. But not all of them, and not always. 

I might be wrong because I’ve barely listened to Rebel Heart or Madame X, but I think Madonna has paid much more attention to the sound quality in her last two albums. But again, I’ve barely listened to those albums.

[Would You Like To Try 9,462]

5 minutes ago, Aiwa08 said:

You’re right, some of Madonna's recordings originally have distortion. But not all of them, and not always. 

I might be wrong because I’ve barely listened to Rebel Heart or Madame X, but I think Madonna has paid much more attention to the sound quality in her last two albums. But again, I’ve barely listened to those albums.

It's true! Homever Madame x is full of pops and glitches that I think even the least knowing person of mastering culture could have solved it avoided in the mastering process

[Would You Like To Try 9,462]

Fun fact: I remaster, edit, and hear music on my phone and I haven't noticed any problems either I am very ignorant about it but it only has ONE speaker yet sound amazing for a phone 

[Robertthenurse 3,379]

On 8/12/2024 at 8:19 PM, Adonna said:

Wait? Why is this the first I'm hearing about "Baby"?  I never knew this even existed?  

I LOVE M.I.A. I wish they worked more on this. And I mean the lyrics. I’m Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba like what lol

[maxijazz 120]

13 hours ago, luckypierre78 said:

There's some Madonna singles that are in what Apple Music calls "Hi-Res Lossless" which is ALAC up to 24-bit/192khz.  It's not available on any albums, but for singles it's on Everybody, Lucky Star, Material Girl, Gambler (really??), Frozen (Fireboy DML Remix), Frozen feat. 070 Shake, Frozen On Fire, Material Gworllll, and Hung Up On Tokischa.

Almost all of Madonna's catalogue is in standard lossless (24bit/44.1 kHZ) besides a few singles (Beautiful Stranger, one of the Hung Up singles, and Get Together Remixes).  What's frustrating is that I can't see what quality is playing out of my HomePods when it plays :(

Yes, those Mike Dean produced remasters and singles were always available in “Hi-Res Lossless” on Apple Music from the get go. Some albums now appear to have most songs in 24bit/44.1 kHz which is theoretically an improvement from the 16bit/44.1 kHz format they were previously only available in. Some songs on those albums remain in 16bit and I was wondering if you guys were observing the same thing. And if you guys were hearing an improvement in quality a well (dynamic range?).

For your HomePods, if you have Lossless and Hi-Res Lossless enabled in your Home App for them and in your Music App on your iPhone, they will be able to play songs up to 24bit/ 48 kHz for stereo songs and Dolby Atmos versions of those (if available) if you have the regular HomePod (not the mini).

[MPowered 7,776]

MDNA is a bunch of rejects from other artists and you can really tell it is if you compare it to Rebel Heart, Hard Candy and Madame X. Most of the songs on that album haven’t been written by Madonna despite writing credits saying otherwise. She added a few words and has gotten credit. SHAMEFUL!

It's also embarrassing that she has gotten more or less bad tracks from the producers. The "good" songs are only good by comparison and not because they are career highlights. The bad songs are some of the worst crap she has ever released.

Superstar, I Don't Give A, B-Day Song, I Fucked Up, GMAYL… these songs are Funana's big sisters.

[Aiwa08 18,474]

1 hour ago, MPowered said:

MDNA is a bunch of rejects from other artists and you can really tell it is if you compare it to Rebel Heart, Hard Candy and Madame X. Most of the songs on that album haven’t been written by Madonna despite writing credits saying otherwise. She added a few words and has gotten credit. SHAMEFUL!

So what? Many of her biggest hits were songs nobody else wanted, and she just tweaked a word here and there, and we never complained about that (Holiday, Like A Virgin, Open Your Heart, La Isla Bonita—a song originally for Michael Jackson, Justify My Love..........) Let's not be hypocrites now with this issue when we talk about MDNA...

One of Madonna's greatest talents has always been her ability to take songs written by others and make them her own.

[Alpha 1,959]

42 minutes ago, Aiwa08 said:

So what? Many of her biggest hits were songs nobody else wanted, and she just tweaked a word here and there, and we never complained about that (Holiday, Like A Virgin, Open Your Heart, La Isla Bonita—a song originally for Michael Jackson, Justify My Love..........) Let's not be hypocrites now with this issue when we talk about MDNA...

One of Madonna's greatest talents has always been her ability to take songs written by others and make them her own.

Ray of Light says hello!