Madonna's career is all about trilogies. Here's why.

Welcome back on Blogger! 

This is a different article, more about my own interpretation of Madonna's music.
I'm going to discuss Madonna's career and how it can be divided into trilogies, how her life and career have always gone hand in hand and how she progresses with every new release artistically and personally. 

Every trilogy has a defined theme, intent, coherence and story. 

Let's jump into this article!

The "Pop Queen" Trilogy

This trilogy includes Madonna's first three albums (Madonna, Like a Virgin, True Blue). During this era Madonna was at the peak of her pop sensibility. She was able to blend artistic depth and commercialism, she became a fashion icon and a visual artist. With every album she added something new to her status of "Pop Queen". Madonna was about her love for dance-pop music, Like a Virgin took that type of music and gave it an irresistible aesthetic, True Blue took both things and added concepts, better songwriting and visual storytelling. 

Who's That Girl and You Can Dance, which I consider an extension of the True Blue era, were the peak of Madonna "The Popstar".

The "Woman of Pop" Trilogy 

This trilogy includes what I call "The Rise" (The Like a Prayer album, The Blond Ambition Tour, I'm Breathless, Vogue, Dick Tracy, The Immaculate Collection, Justify My Love, Truth or Dare the Sooner or Later performance at the Oscars and A League of Their Own. Basically every moment that defined this golden era, between 1989 and early 1992). After that, we have "The Fall" (Erotica, Sex, Body of Evidence, The Girlie Show and the huge scandal, bad press and chaos that this whole era faced) and finally "The Recover" (I'll Remember, Bedtime Stories, Something to Remember, Evita). Madonna became the biggest star on the planet and unfortunately, when you rise too high the only way to progress is to fall down. After that she worked her way up to the top once again and built the prelude to another golden age. This trilogy features some of Madonna's most thoughtful, honest, controversial and personal works. 

The "Experimental" Trilogy 

This new trilogy includes Ray of Light, Music and American Life. On these albums Madonna experimented sonically and lyrically, getting critical praise. These albums serve still to this day as inspirations for many artists. Spiritualism is the key element of this trilogy, as Kabbalah became a regular part of Madonna's life, thanks to a spiritual englightenment following the birth of her daughter. Thanks to these three albums, Madonna became a master of electronic music and that very sound progressed on each album, becoming more and more unusual and abrasive. Another characteristic of this trilogy is how Madonna was able to blend different genres (electronica, new age, ambient, techno, trip-hop on Ray of Light; electronica and country on Music; electronica, folk and acoustic on American Life). 

The "Dancing Queen" Trilogy 

This trilogy includes Confessions on a Dance Floor, Hard Candy and MDNA. These three albums are haunted by Madonna's relationship with her ex-husband Guy Ritchie and they depict her pre, during and post divorce mood. There is introspection on Confessions on a Dance Floor, melancholia and desire for escapism on Hard Candy while MDNA is an album driven by anger and irony. In any case, the dance floor is where she externalizes her feelings. Three songs define this trilogy: How High, on which Madonna second-guesses herself, Miles Away, that deals with long-distance relationships and I Don't Give A, on which Madonna admits her ex-husband did nothing but restrict and diminish her true self.

The "Rebellious" Trilogy

We are in the middle of it and so far it includes Rebel Heart and Madame X. On Rebel Heart, Madonna does an introspective analysis, she is nostalgic, romantic, vulnerable, unapologetic, sexy, political, empowering, spiritual. Everything Madonna is about is on Rebel Heart, the album is a trip inside her mind. Madame X could have only been made after Rebel Heart, because self-evaluation is necessary before daring to face the world. Madame X is exactly that, a world album. There are influences and references from and to many countries like the US, Italy, France, Russia, Portugal, Africa, Latin America and India. Madonna discusses gun control, the future of humanity, women rights, freedom, bravery, marginalized people and she accompanies these topics with different types of music such as fado, disco, r&b, experimental pop, world music, house, doo-wop and baroque-pop. This trilogy also saw Madonna fighting against ageism. I know she wouldn't like her age to be highlighted again but if a 61 y.o. woman, looking as stunning as ever, wearing a wedding dress and marrying a 24 y.o. Colombian guy in one of her videos isn't groundbreaking and a total middle-finger to ageism I don't know what is.
Uncharted territory, that's where she is right now. She is, once again, the first of her kind and we are already anticipating the third and final chapter of this trilogy.

Let your body move to the music