Say which flavour you like and I'll have it for you: Suedey's Madonna top 50

I definitely heard the "Till Death Do Us Part" comparison in that demo before I read your write-up. I kind of prefer that tempo! Not a huge fan of the final product tbh but I get the appeal.

LOVE "Angel" and the throat-tastic vox on "Rescue Me"
 

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42. Sanctuary (Bedtime Stories, 1994)​

I have to apologise to Bedtime Stories. When that album was released, I was 14 years old and fully immersed in Britpop and American grunge. Of course, I remained a loyal Madonna fan and purchased the album and the singles, but I slept on it for years and it was never really one of my favourite albums. Fast forward to 2021 and I find myself totally enamoured with this album. It is just so slick. Beyond the four singles it is packed with quality album tracks. ‘Sanctuary’ is what one would refer to as a ‘deep cut’ (never released as a single, never performed live) – so if any of you are unfamiliar with it, I urge you to give it a chance.

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It’s got that enveloping, trip-hoppy/Bjork vibe from that era, and her vocal is quite haunting. Nellee Hooper’s production is super-deluxe. Apparently didn’t get on very well with him at the time but they were photographed together at an event a couple of years ago, so maybe the hatchet has been buried. It would be great if she’d work with him again.

Lyrically, it is rather eerie, and has a very poetic feel to it in terms of the meter, and so it is no surprise that she quotes Walt Whitman’s poetry. And we all know that one has no choice but to stan a literary queen. It is actually songs like ‘Sanctuary’ that bring out the inner loon in me at times, rather than the big hits because the deep cuts showcase just how diverse her back catalogue is.
 
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Oh well now we’re hitting the good stuff.

you know JML must be a classic track when something as majestic as Rescue Me can’t even be a lead single. She was just in an imperial phase when she recorded that. She sounds remarkable on it, scratchy voice and all.

as for Sanctuary... when a smoky trip hop ballad does a slow 20 year infiltration of your brain and goes from cute album filler to career best. I’ll have to check but I think I even have it in my top ten. It’s spectacular.

this write up is Something To Remember Suedey. Keep it up.
 
I also word for word could have written that Sanctuary write up. If ever there was a slept on deep cut song from any artist.

Bedtime Stories is oddly also one of her more critically appraised albums, I say odd because on the surface it’s a white chick doing an R&B album with 90s mainstays Babyface and Dallas Austin et al. And she’s going about sex again. On paper it shouldn’t work. But it clicks, she resists the urge to go mainstream R&B but instead opts for the more underground groove sound mixed with some trip hop and electronica. I don’t know the background to the album and what journey it took but it’s an inspired piece of work and still my 2nd favourite studio album of hers to date.

interesting note about Hooper there. I can imagine there being tension between them, but I always thought they got on well? Not a year later, Hooper was pushing for I Want You to be included on the Protection album, and even fell out with the band when they rejected it. So he was obviously still very much in support of her music, though imagining them falling out is hardly a stretch.
 
There is a leaked letter from Madonna to William Orbit during the Ray Of Light sessions in which she mentions Nellee Hooper and the Bedtime Stories sessions in somewhat negative light. She she had initially approached Hooper to produce the tracks she had written with Leonard for Ray Of Light but he'd only agree if he got songwriting / publishing credit on the songs which she thought was 'ego'-driven. She also said she wanted to work mainly with one producer (i.e. Orbit) on ROL because of the 'nightmare experience' of working with too many producers on Bedtime Stories. Interestingly she would repeat this approach for her 2nd R&B-focused album Hard Candy but consciously chose to take a backseat in the producer seat that time around - much to the album's detriment in my opinion...
 
Interesting stuff.

I love all the notes around her inspirations for BS too. Without prior knowledge you’d think she was leaning on Toni Braxton, Whitney etc but she was listening to some amazing underground R&B at the time, no doubt influenced by her attraction to the NY underground club scene. Me’Shell and Joi are two artists I’ve heard mentioned and you can definitely hear influences. The album that I most hear on BS is Jody Watleys 1993 album Intimacy - the song “When A Man Loves A Woman” is like a blueprint to the whole BS album. Madonna was not following trends at this point - as was her entire 90s output (Evita aside), she was taking snippets of niche club music and making it pop. Her true calling card.
 
Nice Jody Watley reference @funky, yes ‘Bedtime Stories’ makes a nice sister album to ‘Intimacy’. Loved that Jody did the b-side and remixes as ‘When A Man Loves A Man’ to the ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ single (not a cover of THAT other WAMLAW) , progressive queens! In fact I’m going to play them back to back now.
 
funky said:
Interesting stuff.

I love all the notes around her inspirations for BS too. Without prior knowledge you’d think she was leaning on Toni Braxton, Whitney etc but she was listening to some amazing underground R&B at the time, no doubt influenced by her attraction to the NY underground club scene. Me’Shell and Joi are two artists I’ve heard mentioned and you can definitely hear influences. The album that I most hear on BS is Jody Watleys 1993 album Intimacy - the song “When A Man Loves A Woman” is like a blueprint to the whole BS album. Madonna was not following trends at this point - as was her entire 90s output (Evita aside), she was taking snippets of niche club music and making it pop. Her true calling card.
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I think it's a bit of both. Babyface was already a big hitmaker at the time and we all remember Whitney's take on it ("Before Madonna, it was face and I!").

Similarly, Dallas Austin had been working with TLC. Across the pond, Bjork's sound was becoming quite mainstream and I think what Madonna did (which she does very well) was to take both mainstream and lesser mainstream sounds and try to synthesise them into something that is more than the sum of their parts, and for the most part she's succeeded.
 
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41. Masterpiece (MDNA, 2012)​

I adore this song and I don’t care who knows it. It should have been the first single from MDNA and, had it not been for that ridiculous technicality, it should have been nominated for an Oscar. Nevermind, the look on Elton John’s face when he lost to her after badmouthing her a few minutes earlier on the red carpet was a meme for the ages.

Back to the music though, ‘Masterpiece’ is a wonderful latterday Madonna ballad (gloop gloop @dUb). Some of the lyrics are clunky (Mona Lisa Louvre etc.) but she makes up for it with a gorgeous, warm vocal delivery and some lovely usage of her vibrato. Interestingly, it was originally recorded with live strings but, perhaps somewhat inexplicably, they were scrapped in favour of synthesised strings instead. Not sure why as I love the demo version.

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The less said about the ill-fated W.E. film that ‘Masterpiece’ soundtracked the better. I will say this, however, visually the film was pretty good and I think she did a good job as a director. The music and costumes were also good and Andrea Riseborough’s performance was good but there’s only so much she could have done with such a weak script. Which is a shame because the era looked like it was going to kick off with a good start with the Golden Globe win and Super Bowl gig but as we have all gotten accustomed to since 2008, it wasn't meant to be...
 
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BoysForSeles said:
Nice Jody Watley reference @funky, yes ‘Bedtime Stories’ makes a nice sister album to ‘Intimacy’. Loved that Jody did the b-side and remixes as ‘When A Man Loves A Man’ to the ‘When A Man Loves A Woman’ single (not a cover of THAT other WAMLAW) , progressive queens! In fact I’m going to play them back to back now.
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The WAMLAW remix is one of my favourite songs of the 90s. It gives me all the feels. It makes me want to walk through Manhattan in the soaring heat in my white vest and baggy jeans :disco:
 
Suedey said:
I think it's a bit of both. Babyface was already a big hitmaker at the time and we all remember Whitney's take on it ("Before Madonna, it was face and I!").

Similarly, Dallas Austin had been working with TLC. Across the pond, Bjork's sound was becoming quite mainstream and I think what Madonna did (which she does very well) was to take both mainstream and lesser mainstream sounds and try to synthesise them into something that is more than the sum of their parts, and for the most part she's succeeded.
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to be fair, CrazySexyCool dropped after BS and if TLC were working with Babyface prior to that, it wasn’t noticeable (the first album in 92 was wall to wall new jack swing).

Whitney always had a cork up her ass about Babyface. She’s also quoted as saying “TLC think you belong to them but you know you’re mine” (paraphrasing) I think in an interview for the Waiting To Exhale album promo - no shade to TLC who she was a big fan of, she just always had to claim him. They worked together a lot in the mid to late 90s but he only did a couple of songs for I’m Your Baby Tonight and I don’t think they worked together on The Bodyguard. If anything, it’s Toni Braxton who can claim to be be his muse.

anyway I digress. The BS album was a success on all levels, maybe not commercially but she was in a low patch PR wise, and it held up ok vs Erotica. And it did, coincidentally, give Babyface one of his biggest ever hit singles.
 
Another funky 50 fact: my list contains no MDNA tracks at all :D the only Madonna album apart from Evita to be completely absent.

I guess you could say Masterpiece is one of my ‘bubbling under’ songs - I do really like it.
 

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40. Who’s That Girl
(Who’s That Girl Soundtrack, 1987; Celebration, 2009)
UK Chart position: 1​

Such was the quality of the back catalogue and her hubris that ‘Who’s That Girl’, a transatlantic No. 1 single and a song that her first world tour was named after, was banished from her first greatest hits album The Immaculate Collection in 1990. The sheer gall – we love to see it. As a result of that (and not being performed live until 2015), it has become one of those forgotten Madonna songs. However, it still does resonate with the GP from my own observational studies (hi Cwej) and I regularly hear it on the radio.

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Written shortly after ‘La Isla Bonita’, it is often unfairly compared with it and cast aside as a rewrite. It is not as good but I like the carefree element juxtaposed with the existential and introspective tone it took when she performed it on the Who’s That Girl Tour 1987 – showcasing her penchant for dramatic theatrics even as early as then. It was also performed on select shows on the Rebel Heart Tour 2015 and I was fortunate enough to be in the audience in a New York show – it was absolutely magical and the crowd lapped it up. I am glad that the fanbase lobbying for its inclusion on 2009’s Celebration compilation paid off because she does tend to be quite ‘forgetful’ (Mariah/J-Lo edit.)

And no, I won’t talk about the film.
 
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Love the last two - I'm afraid "Sanctuary" has never quite done it for me but I can appreciate it. My go to BS deep cut is "Inside of Me".

And I have a soft spot for the Who's That Girl film :shy: but I love Cyndi Lauper and she was basically impersonating her for that moment.
 
Catching up with this...

Rescue Me is one of those songs I only discovered after becoming a proper Madonna fan during RoL-era. It’s such a powerful song, I actually enjoy it a lot more than Vogue (which has always been there and have suffered from overexposure and overplay).

Dear Jessie is exquisite and sounds almost too cute to be a Madonna song, but it works so well both on its own as a ”festive” song and within the album. Again, apart from the three big singles, and Oh Father which was released here in the mid 90’s, I only became familiar with the lesser known singles and the album tracks in ”recent” years, ie about 20 years ago. I love how retro many of these songs sound, and by that I mean they sound even older than something released in the 80’s (if that makes any sense)...anyway, it makes the album even more perfect.
Dear Jessie is otherwise mostly known here for that awful Blümchen techno cover from the 90’s.
 
Love Sanctuary and I agree about everything said about BS above. @funky is right; what elevate this album and make the it so much better than just a regular r&b album are the trip hop and electronica influences.
I guess that’s why Take a Bow (as fine as it is) feels one of the least inspiring, because it’s the one that is just ”plain” r&b ballad.
 
Who’s That Girl, despite being a number one, is really overshadowed by La Isla Bonita which is a bit of a shame. I’ve a soft spot for it, the “light up my life...” segment is one of her catchiest earworms.
 
Rescue Me has always been essential and that MTV clip is just the best! I love her shot sore throat vocals.

I rediscovered , as it were, Dear Jessie the other day when me and my friend from school were discussing the Like a Prayer album (we both got it as a gift for passing our 11 plus ,,ahem) and it’s quite a sweet little song .

I anticipate the rest of this countdown obviously. Suede won’t let us down

*up down suite number one *
 

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39. Skin (Ray Of Light, 1998)
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‘Skin’ is a relentless, frenetic tour de force of a song – so good and yet, testament to its parent album, was never considered to be released as a single and has never been performed live. It is absolutely one of my favourite album tracks from Madonna. The seamless, almost underwater-like production is fantastic of course but to me it is her vocal delivery that makes the song. She swings from sexy to frantic to desperate within the span of minutes.


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Of course the Evita vocal training has paid off and is evident in this song as it is on many other tracks from Ray Of Light, but the essence of a true Madonna vocal remains: it is haunting, sensual and emotive without being over the top. I don’t think it could have been a single (“Sky Fits Heaven” would have been a better choice if they ever were to go with a 6th single but its fate was sealed when it was remixed for the ‘Drowned World’ single). However, I would still love to see this live in some shape or form and I wouldn’t be surprised if she wheels it out at some point. Oh, and of course that finale with the frantic "I'm not like this all time" blending with the Moroccan souk is just *chef's kiss*.
 
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38. Don’t Tell Me (Music, 2000; GHV2, 2001; Celebration, 2009)

Key live version: Drowned World Tour (2001)
Key remix: Timo Maas (2000)
UK chart position: 4
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I am probably not the only one who stopped their CD and put the track back on when this started. The now-iconic stop-start guitar was and remains fantastique of course. This was Madonna taking the Shania Twain/line dancing craze and giving it a bit of an uplift, and to be honest I lived. It is interesting how the lyrics have become a personal mantra of hers (she even recycled them in ‘Future’ from 2019’s Madame X) and yet she didn’t actually write them. The original by Joe Henry (linked below) is a jazzier, sultry affair (hi @Jark) without the Mirwais/Madonna ‘hip’ factor so to speak. I’d love for her to perform it in that vein some day.

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The video is one of my favourites from that era, and I think Jean-Baptiste Mondino really needs to be rehired (let bygones be bygones, Madge!). The Drowned World Tour live version remains the definitive although she has performed on several occasions since. The remix package was somewhat of a disappointment (Thunderpuss – bleugh) but out of all of them I suppose the Timo Maas remix has some redeemable features. And the single is one of the few in her catalogue which came with a B-side (‘Cyberraga’), so can’t complain too much.
 
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I thought Skin was Swim for a second and got excited. Swim is the living tits but I know she's a bit too cool for some queens.

That said, Skin, is perfectly acceptable. As is any song from ROL, really.
 
Funky list update

Rescue Me #30
Sanctuary #5 :disco:
Don't Tell Me #33

Don't Tell Me has fallen from grace, I think it used to be in my Top 10, but I still love it. I thought Who's That Girl would be in there but no. I much prefer it to La Isla Bonita sorry!
 
"Skin" is the only Madonna deep cut I've heard someone talk about IRL /cwej stat

It still sounds so fresh - one of my all time favorites from her.

I had no idea "Don't Tell Me" was a cover.
 
Oddly ‘Don’t Tell Me’ was a standout at for me at the time and I was sure it was one of her best ever but now I would struggle not to skip it.

Skin, of course, is wonderful.
 
I’ve had the opposite experience with Don’t Tell Me (and most of Music).
 
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37. Pray For Spanish Eyes (Like A Prayer, 1989)​

Another Like A Prayer album track, the high dramatics of ‘Pray for Spanish Eyes’ have always struck a cord with me. The vocal is just so raw and she even veers very slightly off-key in the chorus which I live for. The impassioned lyrics may be somewhat problematic in 2021 but cut her some slack, it was 1989.

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I just love the way the song just builds and builds – starting off with an acoustic guitar to theatrics for the ages, including some sexy male spoken word vocals in there. They should have gone for this as a single instead of ‘Oh Father’ in the USA with a lavish video – would have done much better. Whilst we’re on ‘Oh Father’, I also think ‘Spanish Eyes’ should have been on Something To Remember instead. I realise my write-ups are getting shorter and more erratic, but I think if there is any hope of me finishing this countdown you'll have to accept it. I could go into more detail about the instrumentation etc. but really, there's not much more to say here apart from the slight issue with the title - some album pressings had 'Spanish Eyes' but the updated ones all have the title as 'Pray for Spanish Eyes' and even the Japanese single at the time (pictured) had the updated title. I think there were issues with another song at the time called 'Spanish Eyes' or something. Anyway, onwards and upwards..
 
Suedey said:
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37. Pray For Spanish Eyes (Like A Prayer, 1989)​

Another Like A Prayer album track, the high dramatics of ‘Pray for Spanish Eyes’ have always struck a cord with me. The vocal is just so raw and she even veers very slightly off-key in the chorus which I live for. The impassioned lyrics may be somewhat problematic in 2021 but cut her some slack, it was 1989.

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I just love the way the song just builds and builds – starting off with an acoustic guitar to theatrics for the ages, including some sexy male spoken word vocals in there. They should have gone for this as a single instead of ‘Oh Father’ in the USA with a lavish video – would have done much better. Whilst we’re on ‘Oh Father’, I also think ‘Spanish Eyes’ should have been on Something To Remember instead. I realise my write-ups are getting shorter and more erratic, but I think if there is any hope of me finishing this countdown you'll have to accept it. I could go into more detail about the instrumentation etc. but really, there's not much more to say here apart from the slight issue with the title - some album pressings had 'Spanish Eyes' but the updated ones all have the title as 'Pray for Spanish Eyes' and even the Japanese single at the time (pictured) had the updated title. I think there were issues with another song at the time called 'Spanish Eyes' or something. Anyway, onwards and upwards..
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What a song! The way her voice cracks in that final belt of the chorus. It's one of my Madonna favourites! I only wish we'd had a video for it at the time.
 
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36. Take a Bow (Bedtime Stories, 1994; Something To Remember, 1995; GHV2, 2001; Celebration, 2009)
UK Chart Position: No. 16
Key live performance: American Music Awards (1995)
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One category of songs I’ve always loved about Madonna is the ‘song in cinemascope’. Now hear me out, if you will. She had her eyes set on Hollywood early on and while she never became an acclaimed actor, she more than made up for it when it comes to her acting performances in music videos and indeed, her songs. She has often said that she writes songs like she writes ‘short stories’, a figment of imagination often intertwined with kernels of truth. And nowhere is this quality more evident than the majestic ‘Take a Bow’. And of course the song is served up with a heavy dollop of Ciccone dramatics, quoting Shakespeare here and interpolating Asian strings there. Come through queen. They certainly do not make them like this anymore.

The Babyface collaboration was, of course, a stroke of commercial genius which restored her American fortunes post-Erotica (it remains her longest running number 1 single in the USA). Strangely enough, not one that has been performed that often – possibly because of the difficult vocal. Nevertheless, she dusted it off for select Asian dates on the Rebel Heart Tour in 2015-2016, so there is hope yet.

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As for the video, well, what can one say that hasn’t been said? Problematic – of course, but iconic for the ages and the ‘No Bull’ MTV Making Of special is compulsory viewing for any new stans. We've discussed its relative floppage in the UK elsewhere and reasons why (Christmas season, no remixes, etc.) so I shan't go over that again - suffice to say though, the fact that it broke her consecutive top 10 singles string in the UK still smarts even today...
 
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35. Dress You Up (Like A Virgin, 1984; Celebration, 2009)
UK Chart Position: 5
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‘Don’t worry – it’s gonna be alright’ – cue iconic drums and entrance. This was 1985 and she was already serving up iconography in her first ever tour. Lest we forget, The Virgin Tour was originally a theatre tour but demand was so high they had to move it to arenas as she was playing dates, so she never really did a proper ‘tour bus’ tour as a result. They were going to haul it to Australia and Japan but plans were stopped as she had already moved on to the next era. Nevertheless, I digress. The reason I do so, though, was because ‘Dress You Up’ will always be synonymous with the Virgin Tour for me – not least because the official video was the live performance.

"Madonna represents a contemporary fantasy figure that revives the glamour, innocence and raw sexuality of many of Madonna's own teen heroes, including Marilyn Monroe and James Dean. Like the early Monroe, Madonna may portray a bimbo, but there she's clearly no pushover" - Los Angeles Times Virgin Tour review, 1985

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It is interesting viewing this early ‘amoeba-like’ (her words!) version of her because, really, apart from a lower budget the very essence of ‘Madonna’ is still there. Make no mistake that every single wink, smile and nod to the camera is carefully choreographed. Anyway, back to ‘Dress You Up’ – it is probably my go-to Like A Virgin single (‘Into The Groove’ does not count) nowadays and, despite (or perhaps, because of) its 80s-tastic production, I think it has aged really well. Its relatively healthy YouTube views given that it is a live video (and in comparison to some of her more iconic videos from the '90s) also speaks volumes.
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