The Look of Madonna

Welcome back on Blogger! One of the first elements, water has always been present throughout Madonna's career, both in her songs and her videos, every time with a different meaning. Today I want to discuss this topic using three "aquatic" songs by Madonna as examples. Let's get into this article! RAIN Let's start with one of the most beloved ballads of our Diva's career: Rain. In this song water could have two different meanings, it's up to you to decide what the metaphor means. The first interpretation identifies water with love, a purifying force that takes away sorrow and pain, while bringing hope for the future. The lines " Rain is what this thunder brings / for the first time I can hear my heart sing" and " I'm gonna stand out here on the mountain top/ 'till I feel your / rain"  create beautiful and vivid spiritual images as well. The second interpretation is more carnal, as the whole Erotica album pl...

(Photo by Richard Corman, 1983) Welcome back on Blogger fans!  It's been a while since my last article and things have sadly changed since then. Covid-19 has impacted our lives deeply and I hope all of you are okay.  Since we have to stay at home, what better way to spend our time with our favorite Diva?  Here is a list of Madonna-related stuff that I think we should all revisit. Let's get into this article!  Madonna: Like an Icon  Originally published in 2007 by music critic Lucy O'Brien, this book is always a nice read as it not only chronicles the life and career of Madonna but also tells about O'Brien's experience as a fan, what she thought of Madonna initially and what made her change her mind for the best.  This book keeps on getting updated as Madonna's life and career progresses and a new edition is apparently coming this year. I highly recommend it. Bedtime Stories   One of Madonna's most underrated an...

Welcome back on Blogger and happy 2020 to all of you! Madonna's YouTube channel has gone through many changes in 2019, hopefully for the best. Today we are going to discuss Madonna's 30 most popular videos on the platform, their views and how much they gained throughout 2019. Without further ado, let's jump into this article as we welcome the new year! Disclaimer: I am excluding the infamous double uploads, as since they've been unlisted they gain almost nothing. They count when it comes to the total number of views but they are irrelevant when it comes to daily views. POSITIONS 30-21 30. Nothing Really Matters :  20 million views 29. Music :  21 million views 28. Crazy For You :  22 million views 27. Into The Groove :  23 million views 26. Borderline :  23 million views  25. Express Yourself :  24 million views 24. Sorry :  27 million views 23. Justify My Love :  28 million views 22. The Power Of Good-...

Welcome back on Blogger! Today we continue with our celebration of Madonna's work from this decade. I recently revealed my ten favorite songs and today I'm going to discuss and rank her three albums MDNA, Rebel Heart and Madame X.  Without further ado, let's get into this article! 3) Madame X (2019) I already know some of you are going to be surprised but remember, this is my list, not yours. What can we say about this album? Well, while I appreciate Madonna's creativity and message, I have to be honest and tell you that this album never truly did it for me.  There are some amazing gems here like Crazy, Come Alive, Killers Who Are Partying, Dark Ballet and God Control  but the rest of the album offers things that Madonna has done so much better before. Vocally it is not one of her best but I understand her if she chose autotune for artistic reasons. The songwriting is the thing that places this album at the bottom of this list. Like I said, t...

Welcome back on Blogger! Can you believe the 2010's are almost over? A very singular decade musically, it started off with the energetic and colorful "club boom" which sadly vanished sometime in 2013. After that it came the time for bubblegum pop, tropical house, mumble rap and reggaeton, right in this order. But there's one genre that has been slowly increasing its popularity since the start of the decade. That genre is synthwave.  In this article I'll do my best to introduce you to this curious musical genre. Let's go! What is synthwave? It is a genre of electronic music, inspired by movies and video games from the 1980's. It is also called outrun or retrowave. The first synthwave artists appeared in the mid 2000's but the genre became an underground sensation only in the early 2010's. Where can we find synthwave music? On YouTube there is a channel exclusively dedicated to synthwave. The channel is called "NewRetr...

( photo by Francesco Scavullo) Welcome back on Blogger! We are nearing the end of our journey through Madonna's 80's catalog but we still need to celebrate her iconic music videos. Here are my ten favorite 80's videos by our Diva. Let's get into this article! 10.   "Live to Tell"  Madonna was coming off of the " Like a Virgin " era. Her iconic street-punk look was the one people identified her with, along with her girlie voice and the big dance tunes. She came back in 1986 not only with one of the best ballads (and songs in general) of her career but with a new image as well.  Susan was gone. Instead, a young woman with beautiful, wavy, golden hair, a simple floral dress and a subtle make-up took over.  This video, in all its simplicity, was the first major reinvention of Madonna's career.  9. "Papa Don't Preach" A reinvention after the reinvention. That's what this video was. After taking...

( The official album cover) Welcome back on Blogger! Earlier this year I started a series dedicated to Madonna's peers with my review for Cyndi Lauper's debut album She's so Unusual.  It's now time to add another piece to the series and review the iconic Please by the British duo Pet Shop Boys (Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe). Let's get right into this article! HISTORY A synthpop record, Please was released on March 24, 1986. It was preceded by two singles, the smash hit West End Girls, released in the fall of 1985, and Love Comes Quickly, which came out in February 1986. Two more singles, Opportunities and Suburbia, were released to promote the album in May and September respectively.  Please was an original release at the time, as the heavily electronic and dance nature of the songs was accompanied by socially conscious lyrics. This would eventually become the main characteristic of Pet Shop Boys' music. Also Neil Tennant's supposed bi...