Bedtime Stories 30th Anniversary Poll!

[RUADJAI 16,237]

There’s a new Bedtime Stories Theme if you guys are interested…

[Adonna 22,271]

4 minutes ago, RUADJAI said:

There’s a new Bedtime Stories Theme if you guys are interested…

Wow!  Thanks!  I prefer the darker themes made here due to the lighter ones are too bright for me, but I might actually use the "light version" because it just works perfect with the album theme. 

Thanks again!!!  Much appreciated!!

[RUADJAI 16,237]

16 minutes ago, Adonna said:

Wow!  Thanks!  I prefer the darker themes made here due to the lighter ones are too bright for me, but I might actually use the "light version" because it just works perfect with the album theme. 

Thanks again!!!  Much appreciated!!

Same. It feels fresh and light. 

[Boombox90 5,048]

50 minutes ago, RUADJAI said:

There’s a new Bedtime Stories Theme if you guys are interested…

How do you change themes again? 
 

Thank you for the new theme! 
 

EDIT: nm it’s at the very bottom of the page. 

[Adonna 22,271]

41 minutes ago, RUADJAI said:

Same. It feels fresh and light. 

I also wondered if it would look even cooler if the white was a light pink to somewhat match the pink Text from the album.  Though, I know mods names appear in pink, so it may not work, but you could test out different shades of pink to see what workds. A lighter/pale pink might work?

Anyway, it's just an idea, but looks great "as is".   Thanks again.

[Boombox90 5,048]

33 minutes ago, RUADJAI said:

Same. It feels fresh and light. 

It’s perfect the way it is. ❤️

[Ian 2,507]

Love the Theme!

[Alibaba 1,652]

I am trying to stay out of my head today due to some stressful events, and so I figured it would be a great exercise to revisit this fantastic album with a review of sorts:

Bedtime Stories is one of those rare albums that really takes me to a specific time, place, and mood. It is probably what I'd consider to be Madonna's most ethereal album. There is something haunting about it as a body of work. Even when a song like Don't Stop is limited by relatively shallow lyrics, there is a slightly melancholy aspect to the music. It's a nostalgic album without the songs themselves being too anchored in their era. I wasn't that fond of it when it was released. I wanted a more aggressive sound - mostly because I wanted more house music, even if that would have been repetitive and unchallenging with hindsight (She obviously thought the same when ditching Shep!). It's ironic that she once stated (and I paraphrase) that Bedtime Stories was her hardest album to make due to the multitude of producers, and the subsequent challenges of making the album cohesive. I find it to be her most cohesively flowing album. I'd rank the tracks as follows:

1. Survival: There is something about the airy bounce of this track that just always brings a smile to my face, and her vocals are gorgeous. And then there is the (by then) rare addition of Donna DeLory and Niki Harris. 

2.Inside Of Me: The fragility of the breathy vocals: impassioned, girlish and yearning. The simplicity of the pulsing soundtrack to this deeply emotional confessional does everything it needs to keep the balance just right. 

3. Love Tried To Welcome Me: Like many of the tracks on the album, vulnerability drives the mood. This one adds a certain maturity and experience to the mix, and it has aged like a fine wine. The orchestral arrangements are delicious. 

4. Secret: Subdued, but with no lack of conviction, Secret is a unique song in Madonna's vast back catalog with its acoustic guitar and live instrumentation up front and center. There's a slightly lulling quality to the melody that isn't for every mood, but its earnestness is felt with every note. 

5.Take A Bow: There's little left to be said about this now undeniable classic other than noting how much it has stood the test of time to become an example of pure pop grandeur. While it is in every way a Madonna classic, for me it stands as a rare example as a major hit that belongs more to its genre than to Madonna herself, and I mean this with the utmost respect, in the way that the sound of Burt Bacharach songs like Say A Little Prayer or Alfie might not only be Dionne Warwick's, but they also kind of are. 

6. Bedtime Story: As evocative of what lay ahead for Madonna as Bedtime Story was, it was also very much an album outlier at the time. As a result, even if I thoroughly enjoy it as a standalone track, it ranks lower overall as it doesn't lend itself as well to the flow of the tracklisting in my very humble opinion. While the album version fits this flow better with its more reserved beats, bassline and synths, I think some of the remixes gave the track the extra boost it needed. 

7. Human Nature: One of Madonna's true growers, I didn't care for this one at all when the album was released. While never that moved to listen to a wide array of rap/hip hop, I had spent a good deal of 1993 and 1994 listening to NWA, Ice Cube and Public Enemy because of a ridiculous hetero crush I had. When I heard Madonna go full tilt with the heavy bass and drum loops I had associated with Gangsta Rap, I think my inner homo was subconsciously triggered by all the blatant homophobia that genre's artists displayed with such seething violence. As it has been a mainstay on all but one of her global tours since 2001, she has remained fiercely determined to make it a classic in her repertoire, and she has succeeded.

8. Don't Stop: The instrumental. Period. That is what I love about the song the most, and while Madonna's vocal is pleasant enough, it is also somewhat undermined by abysmal lyrics that sound like an exercise from a forced stop at the hit making factory.  I had spent some quality time with Snoop's Doggystyle throughout the summer of 1994, and so "la di da dee" was a hard no for me as one of the few times I found Madonna trite. It's an album track that I'm occasionally prone to skipping depending on my mood. I always felt it had a slight resemblance to Smile On on Deee-Lite's 1990 debut album. 

9. I'd Rather Be Your Lover: The Lou Donaldson sample that drives the track is everything, and Me'Shell's bass guitar gives it the kick it needs to make it the funkiest song on the album. Madonna's vocal is soulful enough, but there's a plodding quality to her delivery that I feel could have been eliminated with a faster bpm or more work on the lyrics, particularly in the pre-chorus. I could also do without the rap by either of the features. 

10. Forbidden Love: One of the only times I can think of when an artist later eclipsed one of their own compositions with another identical song title, Forbidden Love has all the warmth of a cup of tea you forgot you made, and then sip when it is just short of tepid. Babyface's whispering rap undermines Madonna's vocals throughout to grating effect, and the instrumentation is too meek for its own good. The West Coast Hip-Hop synths are another big no for me personally, and if rejection is the greatest aphrodisiac, kill me! That said, Madonna's vocal, particularly her pining outro, still manages to make the song of note.

11. Sanctuary: I know this ranking is sacrilegious to some, but I hate the Herbie Hancock song it samples, and I find the use of Walt Whitman's poetry lazy. She couldn't come up with her own words? I get it...The poem Voices is about the power of speech, and the song segues into another song all about no longer using words. It could have been way more clever, but it just doesn't get there for me. There's some good trip hop DNA in the instrumental, but it is ruined by the inclusion of production elements that are more Enigma than Massive Attack. With a little revisitation and remixing, it could be a much better song. 

12. Bonus/Let Down Your Guard: As a B-side to Secret, this track could easily have fallen into the novelty bin for hardcore fans only, but between the stuttering production that (for me) makes it Don't Tell Me's much older, forgotten cousin, the Yoko Ono-isms of what I always thought were Jenny Shimizu voiceover samples (is there any confirmation of this anywhere or did I just imagine this because I am that limited?!) and the Japanese synth sounds, all held together by a serious Prince vibe make me sometimes wish it had replaced Don't Stop on the album. 

13. Bonus/Your Honesty: A much more successful use of the West Coast hip-hop synths blended with an old school pop/R&B melody reminiscent of Madonna's early years makes this a no brainer as a bonus track, and it could also easily replace one of the lower ranking tracks to my ears! I love her vocal, and the lyrics work perfectly with the rhythm. 

BEDTIME STORIES: 8.8/10