Best Madonna album of the 2010s.

What is Madonna's best album of the 2010s?

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Suedehead

Suedehead

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I think we can all agree it wasn't her strongest decade. But reflecting on it, we are now more than halfway through the 2020s and we are only just getting to have her first studio album of the decade - plenty of reasons of course, but let's not get into that here.
In fact, I'm pretty sure even she almost came close to disowning a couple of them fairly recently..

For what it's worth I think all three 2010s albums had their merits, but none of them even threaten being anywhere near her five best albums.

Anyway, if you had to pick one - which would it be?

MDNA.jpg

RH.jpg

MX.jpg
 
I’m not a fan of any if I’m honest, I will never go back to any of them. But Madame X has the two best songs on all 3 albums - Medellin and I Don’t Search I Find - and at least displays some musical creativity throughout. So that.
 
I never revisit any of them, but, at the time, I played Girl Gone Wild, Gang Bang, Love Spent, Masterpiece and Falling Free a lot. And I still like them. So I am going to have to say that I have kept more from MDNA than anything else.
 
Rebel Heart. All are very flawed but I played that lots when it came out. Madam X is likely the most interesting/inspired but I struggle to listen to it all the way through. The vocals wear on me.
 
Rebel Heart has the most properly good songs on it (a solid 4 or 5) so I'll go with that...

I maintain that DEVIL PRAY and Unapologetic BITCH are her best songs of the last 15 years (plus Medellín).
 
There are some gleaming jewels to be gleaned from MDNA (Love Spent, I'm A Sinner and more), Rebel Heart should be the best long player had a more judicious track list been compiled, but MX emerges as the strongest and most confident as a somewhat cohesive set. However, I choose the highs and it's MDNA I'd put on first easily.
 
I agree that all of them have their merits. Madame X is the most accomplished, but could have been even better if it were a little less bloated. I go back to MDNA much more than Hard Candy. I don't think I've listen to Rebel Heart in years.
 
Tough, because Rebel Heart needed some pruning, but its core songs are better than those on Madame X.

MDNA is not much cop at all.
 
I know we’ve discussed this ad nauseam but it never ceases to amaze me just how SHOCKINGLY POOR MDNA was. To use an American football pun, she really dropped the ball there. This was a post-Gaga pop universe and the stakes were really high for her return, especially after Hard Candy. The whole album instead had this lazy aura of “this will do”. The priorities were the super bowels, the tour, perfume, shoes and whatever else she was promoting. But not the music.
It’s probably unique in all her albums in just how half arsed it was.
 
I'm your biggest fan it's true
Hopelessly attracted to you
...
Ooh la la you're my superstar
Ooh la la that's what you are
:disco:
 
Suedehead said:
The priorities were the super bowels, the tour, perfume, shoes and whatever else she was promoting. But not the music.
Click to expand...

Didn't even Orbit confirm this? I think you've posted this before, him saying she wasn't around the studio that much and not very involved in the writing. Hence why some songs sound like Martin Solveig rejects :evil:
 
Suedehead said:
I know we’ve discussed this ad nauseam but it never ceases to amaze me just how SHOCKINGLY POOR MDNA was. To use an American football pun, she really dropped the ball there. This was a post-Gaga pop universe and the stakes were really high for her return, especially after Hard Candy. The whole album instead had this lazy aura of “this will do”. The priorities were the super bowels, the tour, perfume, shoes and whatever else she was promoting. But not the music.
It’s probably unique in all her albums in just how half arsed it was.
Click to expand...
The only iconic thing about that era was her destroying Gaga mentally with that tea-sip.

But in general, the drop in quality as the 00s rolled into the 10s was baffling. This was a woman who was the definition of quality control. And then we got MDNA, and whatever followed.
 
I think the sharp decline in quality control was probably very tied up in the divorce with Guy. maybe she had to hold it together after that and didn't have the energy to also put everything into music. wasn't Hard Candy made immediately before the divorce was made public? you can already hear her tuning out.
 
Pipo said:
Didn't even Orbit confirm this? I think you've posted this before, him saying she wasn't around the studio that much and not very involved in the writing. Hence why some songs sound like Martin Solveig rejects :evil:
Click to expand...
I remember him saying something very shady like "THE ARTIST was not available."
 
I think the decline between COADF and Hard Candy and then MDNA was just as sharp. Hard Candy was clearly chasing trends, and her most “anonymous” album to date, but MDNA as others have suggested was an afterthought/something to promote with the Super Bowl.
 
Hard candy was a mess and I agree it was chasing trends, but it was at least fun. There are some fun tunes in a mid noughties Nelly Furtado meets Gwen Stefani meets Fergie kinda way. And in amongst the silly double entrendre songs, bops like She’s Not Me felt thematically like classic Madonna and could have been so if the production had been a bit more interesting.

I still like the sterile R&B on there though. Fun for the gay who likes to go to dingy homo R&B nights at Heaven on a Wednesday night :disco:
 
Hard Candy has Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, which is a truly stellar Madonna ballad. As was Masterpiece to be fair.
 
Yes, Hard Candy may have been chasing trends but it was a big budget proper Madonna album. There was a lot of effort put into it. Yes, she may have taken a conscious backseat in terms of production but that was a conscious creative decision on her part because she wanted it to be big in the States.

MDNA was her taking her eye off the ball. That wasn't the case with Hard Candy.
 
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