Least favourite Madonna era(s)

Which era(s) do you not like very much

  • Madonna / The First album early years

  • Virgin / Susan era

  • True Blue / Who's that Girl era

  • 1988 Speed-The-Plow / fallow year non-era

  • Like A Prayer / Blond Ambition / Breathless / Immaculate Collection era

  • Erotica / SEX / Body of Evidence era

  • Bedtime Stories era (with Girl 6/4 Rooms micro-era)

  • Something to Remember / Evita era

  • Ray of Light era (including minor Beautiful Stranger and Next Best Thing micro-era)

  • Music / Drowned World Tour / GHV2 / Britdonna era

  • American Life / Re-Invention Tour era

  • Confessions On A Dance Floor era

  • Hard Candy / Sticky & Sweet / Celebration GH era

  • W.E. / G.A.Y.L.U.V. / Superbowl / MDNA era

  • Rebel Heart era

  • Madame X era

  • Finally Enough Love / Celebration Tour micro-era

  • Confessions II era

  • OTHER

Results are only viewable after voting.
Hard Candy still feels like a backstep she never recovered from. I get not wanting to repeat Confessions again, but it's the first instance of feeling like she chased a trend instead of setting it. Even the album cover is a career worst.
 
Didn't like Hard Candy one bit, I only bought the 4 Minutes CD Single BUT I loved Sticky & Sweet not because my first Madonna concert ever but because I loved the setlist, the show and overall vibe. I wasn't fond of American Life either but the Re-Invention Tour was everything.
 
This may seem controversial but in retrospect Madame X is by far my least favourite era. Everything about it was ugh.
 
It was pretty hard to connect with anything from the Madam X and Hard Candy (and to a lesser extent Rebel Heart) eras.
 
She's had inconsistent/start-stop eras but HARDLY bad. Madame X was a strange one, including the small set of live shows she did where no cameras were allowed, like WHY?
 
If Hard Candy had been a category of its own I’d have choose that but as it is I went for the MDNA option.

Madame X potentially could have been a much better explored theme musically, she was citing the Luso influences but it just ended up less than a half baked exploration of that, or maybe she just didn’t grasp it properly.
 
I’ve paid almost no attention to her career at all in about 20 years. I could say they were least favourites, but Hard Candy is literally the last full album I’ve even heard in full and Confessions was the last one I bought. Still have so much love for the first half of her career.
 
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Suedehead said:
This may seem controversial but in retrospect Madame X is by far my least favourite era. Everything about it was ugh.
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It's my favourite era post Confessions I (and not including Confessions II yet). The main issue I have with it is that she didn't lean harder into Fado and samba.

Plus I didn't like a lot of the imagery, but then that has been pretty much a constant post Confessions I.
 
A lot of the later eras (and the one where she was in a David Mamet play and nothing else I guess) are a given, but I've never really connected with Bedtime Stories, except 'Human Nature' (and even that's more to do with the ludicrous video and less to do with the song/production).
 
Hard Candy has banger after banger, it deserves to be re-appraised. To me, it's a classic. 4 Minutes as the lead single ruined it. Big mistake. You don't need young upstarts like Justin Timberlake or Sabrina Carpenter, Madonna.
 
I'm sure we probably have reappraised Hard Candy more than once.

But I'm not subjecting myself to it again. On the whole rather an unedifying piece of work.
 
Madame X just felt exhausting, from the imagery and her public appearances to the threat of cancelled tour dates and concerts that were cut short due to her injuries. Not to mention the start of COVID coinciding with the tour...
 
Debbie Jellinsky said:
Madame X just felt exhausting, from the imagery and her public appearances to the threat of cancelled tour dates and concerts that were cut short due to her injuries. Not to mention the start of COVID coinciding with the tour...
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Exactly. And Eurovision of course.

The only other era where I was so exhausted from being a fan in terms of constantly trying to defend my position was actually Erotica/Sex.
 
Hard Candy era or Madame X era for me.

I saw the Madame X show in Chicago and it was amazing but otherwise the era was pretty non-existent for me. My friend Rob spent far too much money the night before and got one of the Polaroids she was auctioning off

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Hard Candy era just felt like the first time she was chasing a trend and falling behind. There’s a few songs I don’t hate but I can’t remember the last time I played the album.

The S&S Tour was amazing of course but she really has never had a bad tour no matter if I like the related albums or not.
 
I've been re-listening to Hard Candy in the run up to Confessions II and it has a good number of bops on it. I didn't like the era itself but I get a fair bit of use out of Beat Goes On, She's Not Me, 4 Minutes, Dance 2Night and Devil Wouldn't Recognize You.
 
GNL said:
A lot of the later eras (and the one where she was in a David Mamet play and nothing else I guess) are a given, but I've never really connected with Bedtime Stories, except 'Human Nature' (and even that's more to do with the ludicrous video and less to do with the song/production).
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I've tried with it but it is mostly just BORING
 
She would've had a far more consistent tranjectory commercial wise had she stuck with Warner after hard candy. Her chart demise beginning with MDNA was incredibly shocking to be honest. Warner would have never let her pick give me all your lovin or living for love as lead singles. Medellin was a brilliant single in 2019, the album also quite interesting and a return to form, however that rollout and creative direction were the epitome of turning Madonna into a freak. Eurovision omg what a trauma (ironically the confessions II album campaign would have been ideal for using the Eurovision promo platform but oh well)
 
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Lobster said:
She would've had a far more consistent tranjectory commercial wise had she stuck with Warner after hard candy. Her chart demise beginning with MDNA was incredibly shocking to be honest. Warner would have never let her pick give me all your lovin or living for love as lead singles. Medellin was a brilliant single in 2019, the album also quite interesting and a return to form, however that rollout and creative direction were the epitome of turning Madonna into a freak. Eurovision omg what a trauma (ironically the confessions II album campaign would have been ideal for using the Eurovision promo platform but oh well)
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Sounds very on the money. What's the deal with her leaving Warner? I don't know any of this.
 
I only became a fan really in 2002 so American Life was probably more exciting for me than most, since it was the first time I paid much attention to her and she did a lot of promo for her it compared to what came later. I slept on everything pretty much after COADF, given how early she gave up on those campaigns (and then the music suffered too). I am intrigued by this era for the first time in awhile though.
 
From my little knowledge she just wanted more money out of touring, which is understandable. However she ended up with a recording contract that did not acknowledge her legacy and cool factor
 
Massive Live Nation Deal: In 2007, Live Nation offered her an unprecedented Artist Nation partnership (worth $120 million over 10 years) to control her new albums, touring, merchandising, and brand. Warner Bros. walked away from contract talks, concluding that matching such a massive financial guarantee did not make business sense.
 
Lobster said:
She would've had a far more consistent tranjectory commercial wise had she stuck with Warner after hard candy. Her chart demise beginning with MDNA was incredibly shocking to be honest. Warner would have never let her pick give me all your lovin or living for love as lead singles. Medellin was a brilliant single in 2019, the album also quite interesting and a return to form, however that rollout and creative direction were the epitome of turning Madonna into a freak. Eurovision omg what a trauma (ironically the confessions II album campaign would have been ideal for using the Eurovision promo platform but oh well)
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I think it was just her time to flop. The signs were already there in 2009 - Celebration didn't smash the way; Hard Candy had been given a middling reception. Her instincts were off from the late 00s, for a good decade.
 
To be fair I can't really say as the last time I bought a Madonna album was Confessions. HOWEVER I will be buying the follow up.
 
We shouldn't really conflate eras with musical quality though.
For instance, Madame X is a far better album than MDNA but let's face it, the Madame X era was far worse than MDNA.

Sue me!
 
Hard Candy is too often maligned but there are some bops on there, She's Not Me, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, Give It 2 Me. It's just the first time she was following not setting the agenda and the album art that brings it down. Whereas I remember when she announced the names of albums MDNA and Madame X that I remember cringeing. Medellin and I'm Addicted as the keepers, otherwise least fav eras. Rebel Heart would be a great era if it didn't have 85 tracks on it
 
The MDNA era's only highlights were the Superbowl (minus the special guests) and obviously when Marge leveraged Gaga's fame and notoriety for a cute viral moment and a vicious inclusion in her tour setlist
 
Loufoque said:
The MDNA era's only highlights were the Superbowl (minus the special guests) and obviously when Marge leveraged Gaga's fame and notoriety for a cute viral moment and a vicious inclusion in her tour setlist
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MDNA era gave us several wonderful moments:

1. Girl Gone Wild (song) = bop
2. Girl Gone Wild (video) = cunt
3. Girl Gone Wild (Avicii remix) = yassified bop with problematic and out of touch festival appearance "I just wanna SAY! Has anyone here seen MOLLY!!!??!?!!?!?"
3. "It feels... reductive. Look it up!"
4. Turn Up the Radio Offer Nissim remix
5. MDNA Tour with several highlights including Express Yourself/Born This Way/She's Not Me
6. Super Bowels
7. MDNA / MDMA wordplay yeah it's eye-raw-nick!!!
8. WTF is MDNA from Cher
9. GAYLUV payola US top 10


Madame X era gave us

1. Eurovision disaster
2. Tour cancellations and delayed starts disaster
3. Health problems


I rest my case.



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