Confessions on a Dance Floor vs Confessions II

Which album do you prefer

  • Confessions on a Dancefloor (2005)

  • Confessions II (2026)

Results are only viewable after voting.
Suedehead

Suedehead

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You wanted hysteria and hyperbole? Well you’ve got it now! Come on teletubby connect to the sky future lovers ride.
 
To early BUT thus far there are no songs I hate on Confessions 2 which I can’t say for 1 :side-eye:
 
Sheena said:
TOO SOON TO SAY

But I think II, I'm amazed to say.
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Agree on both counts.
Mr Suede laughed at me when I said it though.

It’s strange though because they really are very different beasts. It’s almost wrong to compare them even though it is of course inevitable.
 
Joseph said:
To early BUT thus far there are no songs I hate on Confessions 2 which I can’t say for 1 :side-eye:
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I don’t think I hate anything on Confessions though? Ok I’m not a huge fan of Push but I don’t hate it..
 
On hearing Hot Sauce, this is what Superpop had to say:

How do I put this? Well it’s dance music, I will say that .. but what I do has class to it. I will say that.
 
Confessions II and I think it's not close actually. it has 16 good to great songs.

COADF has one ultra-super-LEGENDARY song and another 6-7 good to great/classic status, but also 3 or 4 fillers and not a lot going on artistically/conceptually beyond the very stellar production. I find it hard to love albums that go seriously off the boil toward the end.
 
I can't say yet. But II certainly doesn't have any of the relative lows of I for me.
 
lolly said:
I can't say yet. But II certainly doesn't have any of the relative lows of I for me.
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I think that's where I am. The absolute high points of I beat out II (Hung Up, Get Together, Sorry) but there are more "it's just ok"s on I than II for sure.
 
I haven’t had a chance to listen to II yet as pesky people keep getting in the way and I want my first listen to be a concentrated one. I’m glad it’s been well received by the sounds of it.
 
A big difference is CII captures emotion beyond the excess of a dance floor. It lacks the sheer bloodbath of Hung Up's volcanic eruption and subequent lava flow of Sorry (I've only recently decided I love it - sorry not sorry), but it absolutely envelopes you on every track with an absolute majesty we've not had since the wondrous Ray of Light. CoaD rarely budges from it's sturdy approach (where it does, Forbidden Love and Get Together in particular, it finds more common ground with Confessions II), and when it comes to its bonus tracks I honestly find it hard to play this album all the way through. Confessions II is a journey and many of the songs themselves have their own heart and disco strings tugging them in all sorts of directions you didn't think they'd end up in). Madonna found her ambition again, draped it in pulsating rhythms beyond the sonic scope of CoaD and has a surging build (soundscape and emotion) that had me absolutely dumb struck as to what song I'd play again first. It's a 10/10 album (although, sorry, Read My Lips, still hasn't got me like the rest has).
 
I've also only recently come around fully to Sorry. I think it suffered at the time from following up such a BEHEMOTH as Hung Up.

I'm leaning towards 2 right now for the poll, but I'm giving a week or 2 & some more listens before voting as I don't want RECENCY BIAS to effect my judgement.
 
I never really warmed to Sorry and the hideous video was the nail in the coffin. BUT I do recognise it’s a proper banger.

Its II equivalent, Bizarre, is vastly superior though!
 
I preferred Sorry to Hung Up at the time and although I still love it, time has rectified that error.
 
SHA-FRA-ZI TO THE BEAT :disco:

Ok. I genuinely thought the Queen was done. I had only listened to Bring Your Love (which I’ve always loved) before hearing the whole thing and I feel euphoric. Welcome back Madonna :o
 
II is just much more balls deep about the concept element - so it’s like with the narration element threading through some of the tracks its more like deeper cut new york disco of the early early 80s - just before everyone started dying. Its like its both referencing that but also before that and also, in some ways, like an alternative history where that didn’t even happen. I almost think the first 7 or so tracks are of a piece, and then the rest are a bunch of tracks that work on and of themselves. It’s Madonna’s disco take on Hounds of Love. Fight me.

And yeah it leaves CoaD in the dust.
 
Not fair yet but at the very least they are utterly equal.

The first has higher highs, although let's also admit that's in part due to commercial success... Danceteria is just as good a song as Sorry. The second feels more raw and, well, confessional.
 
I always though C1 was a bit overrated. I saw it as inferior to American Life, Music, and especially Ray of Light. It's always slightly bothered me that it was held up as "her best" in certain quarters of the gay internet.

It has undeniable highs (Hung Up, Get Together, Sorry, Jump, Forbidden Love), but it's also got quite a lot of filler (I Love New York, How High, Push) relative to the run time.

It's too early to judge C2 and whether it stands up, but it's definitely more sonically interesting and confessional, which in itself makes it a more interesting proposition.
 
I really like the kind of tour guide element of things yes, it also reminds me a bit of Giorgio by Moroder a bit. It definitely glues it into more of a concept. It's also just got a lot more intent behind it - like the first Confessions was really just an album title and some dancy songs - this was a lot more thought through.
 
I much prefer Confessions I. It's just a great album that locks into Moroderesque disco enough to have a really cohesive sound start to finish. Alongside 'Hung Up' - 'Future Lovers', 'Forbidden Love' and 'Isaac' are up there with her best songs for me, personally.
 
The last part of the album kind of remind me of what she was trying to do with some of REBEL HEART too
 
I never really cared for the Conf 1, so, thus far it's looking good for Conf 2.
 
It’s an easy one for me. I was never a major fan of the COAD album, outside of a few amazing tracks and the fabulous tour.
 
And the only thing that ties them together for me is 1) they’re dance albums and 2) they have confessional/reflective themes.

Enough for a solid link. But musically, they are on either sides of a big threshold. One is a celebration of the origins and evolution of house music with some EDM (big tick) and the other is an EDM album with some house (small tick)
 
Oh and it’s only just occurred to me, but on the subject of a celebration of house music, this album succeeds way way WAY more than Renaissance does.

WAY more.

And I’m a big Beyoncé fan.

So that’s a poll we should really put out there and fan some flames :)

:hostage:
 
I love COADF, absolutely, but I do think @Loufoque is right- it gets lumped in often with her absolute top tier, and I don't think that's true. It's 6th or so on my best Madonna albums list.
 
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