Madonna - Confessions on the Dancefloor

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Latest on COADF Limited Edition, according to Amazon.

According to Amazon, "Confessions On A Dance Floor" Special Edition includes:

40 Page Picture Book

80 Page Blank ’Journal’ Book (includes some diary entries from Madonna)

1 Bonus Track (Fighting Spirit)

Fan Club Membership

Slip Case

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Op dinsdag 11 oktober 2005 10:51 schreef SCH het volgende:
Rabbijnen boos om song Madonna


Een song op het nieuwe album van Madonna heeft tot kritiek geleid van enkele rabbijnen. Het nummer, Isaac, gaat over Yitzhak Luria, een 16e eeuwse joodse kabbala-rabbijn. De rabbijnen vinden dat Madonna de naam van Luria misbruikt, aldus The New York Daily News van maandag.

Madonna is een fervent aanhanger van kabbala, een eeuwenoude joodse mystieke stroming. Onlangs nam ze de Hebreeuwse naam Esther aan.

Volgens rabbijn Rafael Cohen verbiedt de joodse wetgeving het gebruik van de naam van de heilige rabbijn voor winstdoeleinden. ''Haar daad is echt onaanvaardbaar. Ik voel slechts medelijden omdat ze er later van de hemelen voor gestraft zal worden.''

Madonna's album Confessions on a Dance Floor komt half november uit.

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ANYONE who thought MADONNA might have abdicated as the Queen of Pop can kneel at her throne once more.

I’m the first journo IN THE WORLD to have heard her new album – and it is an absolute belter.

Confessions On A Dance Floor wipes the, er, floor with her critically acclaimed CDs such as Ray Of Light. It is an hour of pure electronic dance/pop heaven.

Madonna says: “I want people to jump out of their seats. It’s about having a good time straight through and non-stop.”

And she’s absolutely right about that. There are no gaps between tracks so listening feels like you are having a private DJ session at the Ministry Of Sound.

I can’t find a weak track, and I’m confident the album will be hailed a masterpiece on its November 14 release.

Below is my track-by-track guide, with ratings out of ten.

Confessions On A Dance Floor
Track by Track

HUNG UP: Featuring a sample from Abba’s Gimme Gimme Gimme this is a massive floor filler and a clear No1 single.

While there’s no way on earth a straight bloke could be seen dead dancing to this camp tune it will go down a storm when she performs it at London’s G.A.Y. nightclub next month. 9

GET TOGETHER: Upbeat track which borrows the bass line from the Stardust dance classic Music Sounds Better With You. She sings, “Do you believe we can change the future?” 8

SORRY: One of the best tracks on the album and likely to be the second single. You’ll recognise the infectious bass line on the chorus as it’s a sample from The Jacksons’ 1981 hit Can You Feel It.

The opening features Madonna saying “sorry” in lots of different languages. 10

FUTURE LOVERS: Madonna wrote this with Mirwais Ahmadzai, who produced her No1 album, Music.

It’s heavy on synths and you can spot a sample from the Donna Summer/Moroder club anthem I Feel Love. 9

I LOVE NEW YORK: Banging dance tune with lyrics featuring a pop at George Bush and his home state. She sings: “If you don’t like my attitude then you can just f off. Just go to Texas, that’s where they play golf.”

The chorus is: “Los Angeles is for those who sleep, Paris and London baby you can keep, No other city will make me dance like New York” 10

LET IT WILL BE: Oddly titled track uses the string opening from Papa Don’t Preach played on a synth. The track is reminiscent of Ray Of Light.

An Eighties-sounding string of chords takes the track into the following number. 10

FORBIDDEN LOVE: This is Kraftwerk inspired and features computer generated, vocoder style vocals.

It sounds very Eighties and is slightly slower than the rest of the album (there are no ballads at all on the CD). 8

JUMP: Features classic Madonna vocals and is reminiscent of Into The Groove. She sings: “The only thing you can depend on is your family.” 9

HOW HIGH: All about Madonna analysing and evaluating her fame and success. She sings: “It’s funny I spent my whole life wanting to be talked about, Was it all worth it? I guess I deserve it, How high are the stakes?” 10

ISAAC: By far my favourite track — a stunning combination of wild rhythms, a hypnotic jewish chant and loads of strings and guitars. The ending is borrowed from Die Another Day. I defy anyone to not be blown away by this track. 11

PUSH: A love song for Madonna’s husband Guy. It’s got a funky La Isla Bonita vibe about it and is ear-marked as a possible single.

She sings about Guy: “I owe it all to you, It’s because you push me, Keep on pushing like nobody.” 10

LIKE IT OR NOT: A bit like her hit Fever, this song is once again Madonna analysing herself and saying, take me as I am.

She sings: “You can call me a sinner or a saint, This is who I am, You can like it or not, You can love me or leave me, But I’m never going to stop.”

This track completes the album beautifully with a classical guitar ending. Quite clever to put out a wholly electronic album – and close it with an acoustic guitar. 10

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From DrownedMadonna:

Review of Confessions on a Dance Floor.

Our Friend John just send us his review of Confessions on a Dance Floor:

Well after much speculation, I finally heard Confessions on a Dance Floor this afternoon.

The official listening party was at the swanky Soho Hotel in London, made up mainly of journalists and media luvvies.

As soon as I got there, I could see huge posters, specially made promotional wall hangings (one including flashing lights) and a couple of giant disco balls (No, not Jimmy Mac’s).

Unlike the American Life playback, no phones or bags were allowed in the screening room, but annoyingly the lights were turned off as moving logos and graphics were played on the cinema screen for each track. And it’s bloody hard to write in the dark, let alone read it back afterwards. So bear with me.

Before I continue, this review is based on one hearing of the album only. I’ll probably change my opinion when I hear the album again on some tracks, but for now, this is just what I reckon to each song. So when you all hear the album, don’t crucify me for being off the mark with this write-up!

I’m also very harsh with my marks out of ten on all records – I’m not going to give Madonna 10/10 for everything, like I wouldn’t with any other song by any other artist that I hear.

So without further ado, I present my review of Confessions On A Dancefloor.

Hung Up
You’ve all heard the album version of this, so there’s no point in me telling you about it. I love it, it’s a great opener. 9/10

Get Together
As the clock ticking of Hung Up goes from that song to this, it begins with an alarm clock ringing and what sounds like a siren. With a heavy bass, the vocals fade in and out and there’s more than a hint of Music Sounds Better With You to start with, but not the whole way through, and the drum sounds like its played backwards in places.
“Do you believe in love at first sight?” she asks.
The vocal style reminds me a little of Substitute For Love, very gentle and melodic, at odds with the instrumental.
“Do you believe we can change the future,” she asks.
The dance beat comes in and out throughout, which sets the style for much of the album. When it comes back, it’s with the line ‘it’s all an illusion, there’s too much confusion.’
The rhythmic beat is like a heartbeat, I really like this track. 8/10

Sorry
As Get Together fades out with orchestration, Sorry begins with her saying sorry in a variety of different languages. Muffled vocals and the words ‘I’ve heard it all before’ (which appear a lot in this song) repeat to a climax until the chorus kicks the song off properly. There are shades of The Jackson’s Can You Feel It, but this sounds more like the Tamperers version from a few years back. To me, it uses the vocal style of Words.
The song fades out and she says sorry in English, then more languages and builds up background vocals of ‘I heard it all before’ repeated again and again until the chorus re-appears.
The end fades out with the words ‘Don’t explain yourself cos talk is cheap, I don’t wanna hear, I don’t wanna know’. The last words are vocodered and slowed down as it launches into Future Lovers.
Another strong song, and worthy of a single. 8/10

Future Lovers
Obvious references to Donna Summer’s I Feel Love here, and oddly, Kylie’s Light Years! It takes a while to build up and kicks off with spoken vocals and a strong synth line. It’s a strong album track, but for me, no single. The vibe is very ambient trance.
‘I’m going to tell you about love’ she preaches, ‘There’s no love like future love’.
There’s also loads of weird vocal affects, she sounds like she’s singing ‘give me evidence of its brilliance,’ but I’m not sure. This is a very Goldfrapp meets Kylie style song. A perfect title for it, as its very futuristic. Like most other songs, the synths burst in and out, go quiet, build up and crashes back into your ears. She’s singing at least three things at once in parts with layers of vocals. 7/10

I Love New York
This is a strange kettle of fish. Odd lyrics, a strong dance beat, kind of catchy but kind of cold.
“Other places make me feel like a dork” she rhymes. “LA is for people who sleep. Paris and London baby you can keep.”
It tanks along for a couple of verses and choruses before she repeats the words ‘baby you can keep’ over and over again til it fades out. “If you don’t like my attitude you can F-off’ – no Fuck, just an ‘f’.
“New York is not for little pussies who scream.” Fair enough, Madge.
Some of the lyrics are partly sung, partly spoken. With some prudent editing, this could be a single. Not an immediate one for me though. It ends with an instrumental of the song and police sirens, with orchestral stabs like Die Another Day. 7/10

Let It Will Be
Nope, not a Beatles cover but a real Euro-pop style track, one of only couple of pop-based songs on the album. There’s more of a diversity of chords to this, a faint glimmer of Love Profusion with a 70s style disco beat. The lyrics are a bit banal, and the orchestration stays strong throughout. But it’s one of my favourites. 9/10

Forbidden Love
As Let It Will Be Fades out to just vocals and orchestra, Forbidden Love begins with a strange almost Japanese like intro, just a synth then vocals under the influence of the vocoder, a bit Daft Punk-ish. Actually, it could have easily come from a Royksopp album as its very ambient. I thought I heard shades of the Scissor Sisters’ Comfortably Numb in the instrumentation. Although I could be just deaf.
“Just one kiss, just one touch, just one look” she pleads. Again, not a single ,but an OK album track. 7/10

Jump
This ironically jumps out at you, I adore the start of this track, a thumping 1970s bassline, spoken intro vocals. It’s the most retro track on the album.
“Just get ready to jump, take my hand” she asks, and I’m with her the whole way down. Synths, a handclapping machine, and lyrics about how you can only rely on your family. It’s a sequel (lyrically) to Keep It Together. A nice positive message. 8/10

How High
Ohh, this is a dark little bastard. Vocoders again, robotic-like vocals, like Stuart Price used in his remix of Missy Elliot’s Out Of Control’.
It’s an aggressive, angry start, with self questioning lyrics like ‘Was It Worth It seeing my name in lights?’ In places, vocally she sounds like Texas’s Sharleen Spiteri. She questions ‘Will any of this matter when I’m gone?’’
Yes Madge, it probably will. This has the potential for some great remixes. Once again, there’s shades of Die another Day orchestration meets Studio 54. 8/10

Isaac
This is the one I was looking forward to hearing the most, and it’s certainly the most unique track on the whole record. It starts off like a classical tune, with plucked violin strings, followed by a man chanting; he keeps coming back throughout. The guitars come in, fast drum beats and spiritual lyrics like ‘May angels call your name til you hear what they are saying.”
There’s Eastern influences in this, and this to me, is an amalgamation of Don’t Tell Me, Ashanti and Die Another Day. She also uses the ‘mmmmm’ bits from Frozen. It’s very hard to explain. It’s not a single, and although it works, I think after a while I’ll be skipping over it. 7/10 (for now)

Push
Wow. Here the pace changes, its sharp, phat, hip hop drums meet electronica are not what you are expecting. It’s the slowest song, she repeats the words ‘you push me’ over and over. The verses have sparse very dark music behind them, but the chorus is totally different, it’s incredibly uplifting. It’s a very unusual record, but one that I love.
“Every move I make, every step I take, everything I do, because you push me.”
Again, some of the instruments at times appear to be played backwards. My favourite track on the record, but it will divide a lot of you. 10/10

Like It Or Not
I didn’t. Once again starting orchestrally, sounding like a classical song, the Goldfrapp style beat kicks in and it goes in a different direction. ‘Celebrate me for who I am’ she yells. It’s an attack on the people who dislike her, albeit a very kaballistic version. “Your names will never hurt” she says defiantly.
It’s full of spiritual bible references, and some tragic lyrics. The worst being ‘ I’ll be the garden, you’ll be the snake, all of my fruit are for you to take.” Oh Christ, it’s the tree of life all over again isn’t it? It ends with classical guitars and is not the best song to end an album with. I don’t think much of this, although it could be a grower. 5/10

Johnny’s final word:
So there you have it. I’m tired after hearing it, it’s exhausting. It’s so well layered, I imagine hearing new things every time I play it. It’s not as fun as I thought it would (for fun, see uplifting tracks like Cherish) but it’s very clever and very enjoyable.
You’ll see Stuart Price has a formula, built up intro, verses, choruses, fade out, fade back and end with synths and orchestras. But nothing on this sounds tired or old, it’s fresh and it’s a bloody good listen. Final rating: it’s up there with the best, you won’t be disappointed. A solid 8/10.

PS: The goody bag was a black bag, complete with a promo CD single, mouse mat, turntable slip mat, pixie sized T-shirt, press pack and poster. Not great

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From MadonnaTribe:

A review from the album by D-Reporter

Our reader D-Reporter had the chance to be among the lucky guests at the pre listening of Madonna's new album held today in London and he wants to share the experience in this exclusive report he wrote for our readers to enjoy.

From me to all you Tribers! I just got back from the album playback in London. Press and record company guests sat in a cinema to listen to the first play in the UK.
All I can say is that I've been a Madonna fan since day one.... and it's blown me away. It's completely not what I thought it would be. It tests, it provokes and it pushes you to the limits. It's also one of her simplest ever albums.

Lyrics are fairly light throughout. Stuart Price and the rest of the guys have made this album with M that will prove she's yet again pushing barriers.
It is political at times but more than anything it made everyone want to get up and dance.
Madonna's PR Barbara Charone was literally swaying with every track - it was hilarious. As far as I'm concerned this is her best album since Ray Of Light.
It's the album we've all hoped for. New, original and amazingly cool.

Hung Up
Take a sample of Abba's Gimme Gimme Gimme and add a tonne of camp disco grooves. It's definitely the most commercial song for release. It's completely out there and the perfect first single. After hearing the rest of the tracks on COADF I realised Hung Up was just the tip of the iceberg. Fantastic song, but for fans the album delivers more.

Get Together
Trippy and trancy but chilled at the same time. This wouldn't be out of place in Ibiza's Mambo bar for sunset. I've been to Ibiza alot and this would be perfect for chilling out and dancing on the beach at sunset. Close your eyes and you are literally in another place. She sings: "Do you believe in love at first sight?" and "If it's bitter at the start then it's sweeter in the end."

Sorry
Very commercial, up beat and definitely written about someone she's never ever going to forgive!
All the lyrics were aimed at someone Madonna clearly doesn't like that much. "Save your words because you've gone too far," she sings. You really get the feeling that it's about someone who's trying to apologise but will never succeed in getting through to someone.

Future Lovers
Really good track which makes you go for it from the start. Really Donna Summer-esque and makes you want to get up and dance. It will do great in the clubs. There's a lot of moaning and groaning in the song and alot of spoken vocals towards the beginning with that Erotica style yearn in her voice. Very happy song. She says at the beginning: "I'm going to tell you about love. Would you like to try?"

I Love New York
Ok, she got political with this one. She's kicking George Bush's butt and the chorus is literally thew most catchy chorus on the album I think. Even though it's so upbeat it really feels like quite a sinister song and there's something dirty about it. I think there was a big point to be made about New York being a place where she started and where she loves.

Let It Will Be
If anyone has heard of Faithless (which I'm sure you all have) then it's alot like there style. Heavy bass lines teamed together with really trippy funky house grooves. The vocals are really raw for this track and it sounds great. Her voice is great and they've left in all the gasping Madonna does for breath before singing which gives the song a really raw feel.

Forbidden Love
It's so Scissor Sisters style with a heavy Japanese style twang. Heavily synthesized vocals make this song rough and ready and it really gets you going. It's nothing like the last Forbidden love that's for sure!
There is quite a chilled feel to it underneath all the music - I liked this one and the beginning is great.

Jump
This track does exactly what it says on the can - makes you want to jump. Madonna sings: "I'm ready to jump. Just take my hand, are you ready?" Everyone in the playback was literally getting up and wanting groove for this one. Jo Whiley was there and she loved this one too.

How High
Extremely clubby and up-beat with lyrics referring to her old days of wanting fame and fortune. She's talking about how selfish and self centred she once was as she entered the music industry. It's actually really cool to know that she's learnt so much growing older in the industry and that she's able to put this into such a good track.

Isaac
I hate to say it - but Victoria Newton was right about this one in The Sun. The best song on the album! It starts with this overwhelming burst of Israeli chanting which is teamed together with fast rhythms and loads of strings.
It blew me away listening to it. It does a bit of chanting and then a burst of her. It really should be a single - but whether it could be released and overcome the industry who would probably be slightly against having all the chanting on commercial airwaves.

Push
This one has a really heavy 80s vibe that sounds so up to date and on the mark. It's really uplifting and will take you back to the days of shoulder pads, bubble perms and bangles. It has a scratchy record vibe at one point.
She sings: "You Push Me" and then bursts into a quickly spoken bit. It's hard to explain but it works.

Like It Or Not
Heavily influenced by her cover of Fever as everyone has been saying in the press. It's uncanny how much it's been lifted for this new song. It's sultry, stylish and lyrics that tell you not to mess with the her because she'll be tracking you down otherwise.
She says: "You can like me or leave me coz I'm never gonna stop." It must be a real finger up at all the people that slate her for keeping going and pushing the button.