Madonna’s American Life

There is no question that Madonna is one of the biggest successes in pop music history. There is no question too that the Material Girl is not only an artist. She is also a marketing genius with an almost uncanny knowledge as to how to sell her wares, and this means both as a musician and media personality. Being such, it is also a given that she always has an excellent idea about what is going on and how it will affect her. She is abreast with changing trends and knows how her lifestyle choices will impact on her market. And as she has proven during these past two decades, she has some tricks ready to pull out from up her sleeve when interest in her is waning and she does not appeal to as wide an audience as before.

Madonna is in great need of some of these tricks nowadays since whatever she has utilized since the release of her latest album American Life a month ago does not seem to be working. Her promo blitz for the album got off to a bad start when her video for the title track was taken off the air because of her anti-war sentiments. The album was released while the US was in the thick of its invasion of Iraq. Take note that a video is now a very important part of the album promo, more so in the case of Madonna, whose popularity owes greatly to her always watchable, albeit controversial videos. I do not know if her anti-war stance affected her sales but American Life spent only a week in the number one slot and has since been steadily going down. American Life is now number 49 in the Hot 100 after five weeks of release and has already sold almost 500,000 copies. Not bad at all but not good either when you are Madonna.

This is most unfortunate because American Life is brilliant and must be one of Madonna’s best. It is quite simple musically. The sound is a blend of the Beatles, hip hop and Eurotechno but it shows a precise pattern so that must have been her intent. The melodies and the lyrics often echo other popular tunes but these are not at all imitative since as the title suggests, Madonna is singing about the American Life and those songs are part of America. Then her vocals are more Crazy for You than Don’t Cry for Me Argentina but I doubt if full-voiced singing would have worked for her new songs. If you will listen beyond these shortcomings, you will see that American Life is a well thought out production that is serious and brilliant with lyrics that speak about what it is like to be Madonna to the women of her generation. She is not always admirable but she is real, she knows what she wants and she has the guts to stand up for her beliefs.

American Life, Hollywood, I’m So Stupid, Love Profusion, Nobody Knows Me, Nothing Fails, Mother and Father run the gamut from rap to dance to lullaby to love song. It is a wide swathe. It is Madonna at 45, married, a mother but also a pop star.

Touch My Soul The compilation album is titled Touch My Soul and it is indeed soulful. Truth to tell, it must be one of the best R&B collections of hit tunes from the past decade put together. Be prepared to sigh with each cut. Find time too to admire new stars like Craig David, to marvel at the success of the likes of Jennifer Lopez and R. Kelly, to feel sorry for the loss of some acts like TLC whose member Lisa Left Eye Lopes died or for those whose members outlived their togetherness like En Vogue, SWV or The Fugees. But no matter who you are or where they are now, you will surely agree that their music survives time.

Some of the songs included are Emotion by Destiny’s Child, Walking Away by Craig David, Angel of Mine by Monica, Stutter by Joe, Anything by SWV, If You Had My Love by Jennifer Lopez, Unpretty by TLC, I Believe I Can Fly by R. Kelly, Unbreak My Heart by Toni Braxton, No Woman, No Cry by The Fugees and Don’t Let Go Love by En Vogue.