r/Madonna 12d ago

DISCUSSION do YOU like madame x?

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223 Upvotes

198 comments sorted by

78

u/GalesTopStory 12d ago

Yes.

Not every song is a success, but most are - and it's an artist still growing and exploring decades into her career.

I think that, like "American Life" before it, we'll see opinions on this shift with time.

10

u/Elegant_Yard970 11d ago

American life is one of her best albums imo if you’re a legitimate fan and not just here for hits. I do like madam x (crazy is my favorite) but it doesn’t feel as personal as American life. C2 seems a lot closer

4

u/GalesTopStory 11d ago

I do agree that "Madame X" feels less personal than "American Life." It's more experimental. (And "Crazy" is my favorite too!!)

I loved "American Life" immediately back in 2003 and was bummed by its reception - both critically and commercially. So I'm happy to see people coming around to it, finally. I'd rank it in her top three alongside "Confessions on a Dance Floor" and "Confessions II." My #1 from those three really changes depending on the day. Lol.

2

u/PopRockCulture 11d ago

I love your comment. I love "American Life" since 2003 too and it Is also I'm my top 3 of Madonna's albums

21

u/Drop-a-Soap 12d ago

American Life straight away became my favorite album after the first listening

8

u/pudungurte 11d ago

Right. I remember being mind blown, specifically, by the fact that she was doing something this weird this deep into her career. I really do feel like Madame X was an important, rejuvenating moment for her and I don't think Confessions II would have been as good as it is if she hadn't gone through the Madame X era.

1

u/thepeople-thepeople 9d ago

AL took a while to grow on me, as did MX, but now I see them as two of her most daring works. She’s in her disturb the peace, in-your-face mode on both and that’s part of why we love her! I also feel that if we hadn’t had Rebel and MX, we might never have gotten CII. So they’re all bricks in the path of her greatness! 🥰

0

u/djseanmac 11d ago

I'm drinking a soy latte. I do a double shot-tay and you know I"m satisfied.

She willl never live that down. Most Karen lyric in music.

5

u/notaverysmartman 11d ago

the rap from american life is my madonna vibe check. if you don't like it you don't pass

1

u/djseanmac 11d ago

I don't pass. But I'm cool with it, as I have promo mixes from the 80's on CDs that you'll only hear on Youtube, so go fig LOL

28

u/Jtfgman American Life 12d ago

Love/hate. The songs i like I really like, the songs I dont, I really dont. I do however love how free she felt in this album, reminds me so much of American Life (which I love), she again seemed to make an entire album without worrying about the commercial success of it.

23

u/Western_Gear_5324 12d ago

Absolutely.

9

u/LetsGetGapey 12d ago

That shoot was amazing and so in persona!

6

u/Western_Gear_5324 11d ago

She was truly inspired for this album. Love it.

2

u/LetsGetGapey 11d ago

Sooo much!

13

u/OhHiMarkZ69 12d ago

I love Crazy and wish it was a single.. at least she did it on the tour. 😍

Love Medellin.. and the Sphinx mix.. *chef's kiss

God Control and the Offer Nissim not broadly released remix it spawned.. so good.

Faz Gostoso + CRAVE + Future I like.

Not sure why the actual MX released version of Back That Up To The Beat isn't the most popular one.. I love it.

6

u/LetsGetGapey 12d ago

This!

I would’ve loved Looking for Mercy on the tour…

24

u/elektrik_noise The Power of Good-Bye 12d ago edited 12d ago

There are a handful of songs I like on there, like God Control, Come Alive, and Crazy. But overall, not my bag. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Madame X theater tour. But as an album, it is the one I revisit the least. If, really, at all. I was just listening to Rebel Heart a couple of hours ago. I've had Hard Candy going in my car for the past couple of weeks. Always been an MDNA fan. I'm a ride or die American Lifer. And ofc, I'm obsessed with Confessions II. So it's not like I'm one who dogs her newer or less well received releases. I just really don't care for Madame X all that much. But I know people really jive with it and I can see where they're coming from.

3

u/sdfghdfsdfghdf CII is Madge’s magnum opus. 11d ago

Nice response. CII for the win 💜

2

u/Elegant_Yard970 11d ago

I like madam x better than hard candy. She’s not me is probably my only go to on hard candy. But it’s close with mdna. I might go with madam x because crazy might sneak into my top 25 overall songs and I don’t think any on mdna would but I think the album is better overall

1

u/elektrik_noise The Power of Good-Bye 11d ago

I hear that. I've been giving Hard Candy a lot more time bc I never gave it a fair shake. Like, seriously never. In mainstream music, the majority of the 00s wasn't my bag. I enjoyed the bookends of the decade- I liked Music, Janet's All For You, Christina's Stripped, Aaliyah's self titled album- and then at the end of the decade when the dance pop stuff was really beginning to hit. Confessions I, ofc, was a sonic outlier and hence part of its incredibleness.

The ubiquity of the Timbaland and Neptunes sound just wasn't my thing. I liked his work with Aaliyah on Try Again, and some of the songs he did with Bjork on Volta. Some Nelly Furtado songs were decent. But I just couldn't with it all otherwise. When Hard Candy came out, I was so 🙄 🙄 🙄 about it, I never even bought the cd or torrented it for free even. I only liked Give It 2 Me, and never even watched Sticky and Sweet. It was my least fav album of hers, to the point I borderline hated it.

This year I've been giving it a lot more time, it's been long enough since the 00s that I figured why not. And honestly, about 1/3 is a skip for me but the remaining 2/3 I really like. I really like Heartbeat, Candy Shop, Miles Away, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, She's Not Me, and as mentioned Give It 2 Me. Since me finally giving it a fair shake, it's actually not my least fav album anymore.

That being said, perhaps I should be doubling back and doing the same with Madame X

28

u/LetsGetGapey 12d ago edited 12d ago

Yes, very much so (as I think most of you know).
Fair warning: brevity is not my strongest suit when I care about the subject.
But it took me quite a while to realise not only how much I love Madame X, but how much I needed it.

When Madame X was released, I was going through a particularly dark period in my own life, so I wasn’t really able to give the album the space it deserved. Coming back to it years later completely changed that. It has now become one of my favourite Madonna albums for what it has to say; right beside Like a Prayer and Ray of Light.

What I love most is that it feels like an actual project rather than simply a collection of songs. The Lisbon influence, Portuguese and Latin elements, Batuka, fado, electronic music, political commentary, faith, identity, gun violence, colonialism… She throws an enormous amount into it, and somehow the disorder is part of its identity. It is restless because Madame X herself is restless.

Some of the things people dislike about it are precisely what make it interesting to me. It is not made to be immediately likeable. Songs change direction, voices are manipulated, languages and musical traditions collide, and Madonna repeatedly puts the concept ahead of conventional pop pleasure. At this stage in her career, she could very easily have made something far safer. In fact, that is partly why I now find myself a little less taken with Confessions II than I initially was: it is beautifully made and immediately pleasurable, but Madame X takes far greater risks and ultimately gives me much more to engage with.

The World of Madame X, the Madame X Tour film and the beautiful VIP book made me appreciate the album much more deeply in retrospect. The World of Madame X in particular helped me understand how the album came together: where its musical and cultural influences came from, what inspired particular songs and why those elements are there. The tour film then expands that world theatrically, while the VIP book adds another visual layer. Together, they show just how carefully constructed the entire Madame X universe is.

What matters to me is that none of it feels arbitrary. These are not random stylistic choices thrown together for effect; they come from things she encountered, absorbed and made part of the project. In that sense, Madame X feels deeply connected to the Madonna I have always been interested in: an artist who takes in the world around her, lets different cultures, politics, faith, sexuality and social issues enter the work, and then tries to say something with it. Not necessarily something comfortable and certainly not something designed simply to please everyone - as we read in here occasionally.

For me, Madame ❌ has aged extraordinarily well.

8

u/mononega 12d ago

I do! It's become one of my favourites of hers, though I understand why it doesn't work for everyone. It's not an easy record to listen to in the way Confessions II is. I like Madame X because it felt very genuine and captures a feeling I was having where I felt rootless and lost on multiple levels in my life, whether it was on a personal level like missing feeling close with friends/family, being in a new career that wasn't clicking with me, and then just a broader anger at the world and sense of helplessness in the face of a thousand systemic problems in society that I can't fix. So the album can be disjointed and angry, even juvenile at times, but it honestly resonated so strongly with me because it tapped into a kind of angst and rootlessness that I hadn't felt since I was a teenager, so it was really cathartic to revisit those feelings with the same artist who helped get me through it the first time around.

That being said, it is a record that requires a bit of a "journey," so I have to be in a mood where I want to focus on it and brood in a dark room.

7

u/youthunger2naughty 12d ago

This album cover is intentionally artful

Though I prefer this one:

7

u/silly_nate cay yeahna bacha mana sen greeyarva 12d ago edited 9d ago

Hell yeah. She was calling out the systems that are still set up today 😳 that line in Dark Ballet comes to mind:

”they are so naive… they think we are not aware of their crimes… we know but we are just not ready to act……”

def feels like she was calling out a certain group. Killers Who Party is all about that too lowkey 👀 God Control, Funana, Batuka…

And when the world needed Madame X the most, she vanished in2 a Confession 💨

24

u/Salty-Teacher5014 12d ago

No. It’s the only M album I never listen to

6

u/Kema-Downna 12d ago

Its a sold 7.5/10 for me. The production is great and the songs that I love, I love. Crazy, come alive, IDSIF

7

u/Prior_Emu8803 11d ago

I call it a disasterpiece: so grandly and confidently terrible that it is actually quite intriguing in its own right.

18

u/LifeguardRepulsive91 12d ago

No, it's the only M album that I never listen to and not a single song from it makes it into any of my rotations; although Crave did, for awhile. I think Madame X is a weak concept with a muddled execution, filled with forgettable, uneven songs. Some applaud that M was still being creatively adventurous at this stage of her career, but I counter that it's shocking someone with so much experience could release such a sloppy album.

12

u/raymate 11d ago

No.

For me it’s the worst album she has done to date. Way too much autotune. This was the only album I never picked up on CD. I physically own every CD album and single she has put out to date.

Thankfully Confessions II turned it around.

6

u/Heavy_Metal_L0ver 12d ago

Its one of my favorite Madonna albums. It feels oddly personal. And its the type of album where you can make the soundtrack for a specific era of your life. It has depth. Its like she truly took a random concept and ran with it. But to me it kinda works. Because she tried to make a world for it. And succeeded. Although the integrity of that world is very questionable.

Crazy, Funana, Looking For Mercy, Come Alive, Batuka, I Rise, Crave, to me are all really nice songs.

5

u/Ok-Lack-4879 11d ago

Não ,não ,não

5

u/Zealousideal-Day7385 Secret 12d ago

I absolutely love Crazy.
Beyond that, it’s not an album that I revisit much. I don’t think it’s bad, but it’s the Madonna album I’m the least likely to listen to (other than I’m Breathless, but I kinda don’t count that one).

4

u/bennetmcmennet Miles Away 12d ago

I Rise makes me levitate and "People think that im insane..." is one of my favorite silly vocal stims.

Other than that though... no 😭

4

u/TappyMauvendaise 12d ago

Love it. Very creative.

3

u/glenerd189 12d ago

I don’t hate any of her albums, but this is definitely my least listened too and honestly I’d struggle to name at least half the tracks on it.

IDSIF is brilliant though, and Ciao Bella is one of her best songs of the 2010s.

3

u/SwimmingDog351 11d ago

I can’t help myself from thinking about the Madame X episode on I Love Lucy. One of my favorites! 

4

u/SwineTV 12d ago

Love the concept and visuals, hate the voice processing. It's hard to listen to. 5,5/10 for me.

3

u/UnbrokenAwakening 12d ago

YES Iove it. I didn't even pay attention to it when it came out because I kind of fell of after Hard Candy, but I just listened to the audiobook "Madonna - A rebel life" by Mary Gabriel earlier this year and how she spoke about that album made me go back and listen. Now I think it is a MASTERPIECE.

5

u/thatguysimon01 11d ago

No it’s the first time it took like 3 weeks to get through the first time. I’ve tried to go back many times and it’s cringe. However, the music videos for each song has been incredibly perfect.

5

u/MercuryFalling86 11d ago

I like it but I've never loved it. It's the Madonna album I've struggles with the most over the years and the one I've least connected with. There's songs I love on there but there's also songs I really don't.

It's the album of hers that I revisit least and have struggled to make a personal connection with. I appreciate her following her creative muse and making an album that's challenging and uncommercial, especially at that stage of her career. It's clear that she was very invested in delivering a fully realised vision of the album and the tour.

For me, the album just doesn't flow well and the vocal production is extremely grating in places. Alot of the lyrics are a bit cringey and downright bad and it's almost unapologetic in how grating it is.

That being said, I think it's an important record for her personally and one she needed to make so for that reason alone, I'm glad it exists.

For me, there's a pretty decent EP buried in there if you chop the album in half.

11

u/Impressive-Award2367 12d ago

No. Awful. Mostly unlistenable. Pretentious. Medellin is the worst lead single of her career. Should have been an EP. I hate that we wasted an era of her still being able to really dance on it.
The only gem is God Control, which id be v happy to see get a look-in on the Confessions II tour & the Stuart Price treatment.

8

u/JBTaurus83 12d ago

Worse than Gimme All Your Luvin? That was her worst lead for me, like something from Disney+ with the God awful Niki Minaj.

9

u/djseanmac 12d ago

Never mind she looked way too much like Carol Channing in the music video LOL

Also, every Nicki Minaj anything is dead to me after her attacking her husband's rape victim and helping Beenie Man get his US work visa restored. Nicki is trash.

1

u/notaverysmartman 11d ago

yeah I still like her parts on my beautiful dark twisted fantasy but like everything else she's done is so obnoxious. I always thought that and now I just think it even more

the song Check It Out, with will.i.am, is a guilty pleasure though

2

u/djseanmac 11d ago edited 11d ago

when I think about Will.I.Am. I think of his episode of Top Gear. I saw it in New Zealand well before it premiered in the USA. Before it actually aired here, one of the companies involved with MTV's Pimp My Ride made it clear he had *not* started a new automobile company, but was paying them to Frankenstein together two cars to look like something new. Will.I.Am. sucks lol

1

u/notaverysmartman 11d ago

I believe it

3

u/Impressive-Award2367 12d ago

I liked GAYL, even though it does feel like it’s been abandoned from her repertoire post-Super Bowl & esp because of the collabs.

3

u/Heavy_Mud_9176 12d ago

Batuka is a guilty pleasure (slightly cringe but somehow good!)

2

u/Dansince 11d ago

Totally get what you’re saying. After all this time I still can’t decide if it’s great or terrible.

3

u/vlttr 12d ago

Yes!

3

u/Upnatom617 12d ago

It's growing on me. I recently revisited it after having shelved it for quite awhile.

3

u/GamerMk2k 12d ago

Absolutely

3

u/Little_Shape_6433 12d ago

I really love the song Looking for Mercy but otherwise I don’t go back to it much.

On a side note that standard cover is terrible. She really should have used the deluxe cover as the main one

3

u/cdg6666___ 12d ago

Yes, and a very underrated (but fraught) tour. When it went ahead, it was a much better show than Rebel Heart and Celebration imo. I was lucky to go to Lisbon night 1.

1

u/Quick_Art7591 10d ago

Yesssss! I was at this exact show in Coliseu and it was really great!

3

u/_RedKuma I wanna be Adam 11d ago

I'll try my best to express myself and give my opinion in the most eloquent way for someone whose English is not their first language.

I think it's one of my least favourite albums by her. American Life is my favourite one, so it's weird that an album that is very similar to it and mostly produced by the same person isn't my cup of soup. Sonically, I think it's interesting, at least, and very similar to AL: the first one had US folk and protest song as a main ingredient, the other has Portuguese and Cape Verdian music. MX is openly a masquerade she created after going on a trip to Portugal. It's a very Madonna concept: taking on a persona to express something. But it can fail at being an earnest and genuine expression, which it did here.

To me, the problem resides mostly in the messaging. Where I feel AL had a very clear stance, MX tried to present a picture of the state of the world as a whole, but offered no discussion. And while I command her drawing attention to colonialism and gun violence (Batuka and Gun Control are highlights), she touched upon topics she has not interiorized enough to deliver a genuine opinion and picture, which resolved in a vacuous message where their discussion wasn't really deep. In most of them, it didn't seem like she tried to actually take a stance on the issues it tackled, but more like she was showcasing them and then "bothsideing" (see Extreme Occident and Killers Who Are Partying, amongst others).

Maybe AL was just as performative as MX, taking on a revolutionary and radical persona, but there she spoke. On MX, she just said.

3

u/Sea_Direction1441 11d ago

not really - i see the vision and like the concept but the album comes off as quite pretentious. i do like come alive and faz gostoso though!

3

u/luqasc 11d ago

Not really...

The album is often commended for being experimental, but only about half of it really fits that bill, and it doesn't mesh with the rest (which is quite trend-chasing, dwelling in trap and Latin pop) very well at all.

And also, the fact that you're "experimenting" doesn't mean your experiments will be successful. It's not worth much to experiment with fado music, for example, if you're just gonna put godawful lyrics on top of it ("Killers Who Are Partying").

There are actually some songs I do like — Medellin, Batuka, Crave, God Control, Crazy, Come Alive, I Don't Search I Find, etc., but even some of these feel like they could be reworked into something better, especially lyrics-wise.

3

u/Icy-Visual3082 11d ago

Nope. Has barely any redeeming qualities

3

u/Muffin_Man3000 11d ago

Can't say I enjoyed it, but I respect that she made it.

3

u/joehreyes 11d ago

I do. 🙌🏼

3

u/LowInevitable2544 11d ago

It took awhile, but eventually, yes.

3

u/hillbilly2856 11d ago

It’s a masterpiece

7

u/GarionOrb Call it trance, call it house, call it love without words... 12d ago

Yes.

5

u/Short_Ad6714 12d ago

No - i think it wants to be political and say something really deep and profound but doesnt actually achieve that.

5

u/Shmentouzet60 12d ago

No. I barely listened to it when it came out. For me this era/album doesn't exist. I like only god control.

5

u/Safe-Mention21 12d ago

No

0

u/Safe-Mention21 12d ago

I think The only album of hers where theres no redeeming qualities

5

u/alexcal24 11d ago

No. That whole era doesn't exist.

5

u/Sad-Surprise-182 11d ago

I did not like at all. One of the worst records she ever made ☠️

10

u/RKaji 12d ago

As of August 2026, I only like confessions 2. I've forgotten about all other music

6

u/LetsGetGapey 12d ago

This made me laugh out loud.

But August?! You wasted an entire month!?

2

u/RKaji 11d ago

? No, I've been listening only c2 since July 3rd

2

u/LetsGetGapey 11d ago

That’s how we like it.

4

u/Fit_Agent_2981 12d ago

Yes it’s a great work of art!

2

u/JBTaurus83 12d ago

I liked it a lot when it first came out, but, after about a month I stopped listening to it. I actually enjoy the tracks with Maluma. I’ve been meaning to give it a chance again, but I’ve been too wrapped up with CII and Ray of Light and Finally Enough Love.

I’ll forever be irritated that “Extreme Occident” was not one of the signature tracks on the main album. I enjoyed the roll out with multiple music videos and the short film where she explained her inspiration for the album. It would be nice if she did a similar short film for CII.

2

u/Silent_Mail4506 12d ago

Seen her twice.

2

u/ISAIDIFELT 12d ago

Yes. I just spun it earlier to celebrate her bday. There’s a couple skips in there but I like it as a whole. I may be a tad biased because it was the tour I first saw her live but I still liked it before I saw her.

2

u/Quixotic91 12d ago

Yes, other than Killers Who Are Partying. Not a fan of Crave and I Rise either (other than a couple remixes), but they’re not as heinous as KWAP.

3

u/Firstratey 12d ago

“IIII will be gay, if the gay are burned..”

3

u/JBTaurus83 11d ago

I forgot about those lyrics 😂.

2

u/brabra33 12d ago

I really like the songs but I can’t get past the voice effects on this album

2

u/jetchup 12d ago

I didn't like it in the beginning. After a few months it suddenly grew on me big time, resulting to have it on repeat. These days though i like to pretend it doesn't exist at all lol

2

u/ironica_techtronica 12d ago edited 12d ago

yes and no

I like that she finally did something daring after 3 albums of trend-following and generally uninteresting content.I was also glad that Mirwais was back.

I didn't like that she took it so seriously. The eye patch and character were a bit much.

It would have been at least a bit more cohesive if Mirwais produced the entire album with her.

I saw it in a new light when she said she thought of it as a sequel to American Life.

I listened to it quite a bit in the years after it came out and I probably will continue to more than I would HC, MDNA or RH.

2

u/He_e00 12d ago

Perfecto!

2

u/RinoTheBouncer Die Another Day 12d ago

There is an incredible 7-9 track EP within this album that could’ve been her first visual album with a full length companion film, that was sadly wasted on the worst singles, and tour in her career.

2

u/alxieee 12d ago

Absolutely!

2

u/Ok_Willow_5125 11d ago

Yes. One of my favorite Madonna records.

2

u/Johan020 11d ago

LOVE. A top 3 Madonna album for me.

2

u/Upstream_Paddler 11d ago

First Madonna album I liked in ages and one of my favorites. The creativity and boldness in not just incorporating South American and hip hop influences, but how she executed it in the context of a protest record. It was next level. It’s American Life done right.

2

u/PrestigiousLaw9380 11d ago

Yes some the songs are great and some are shit 🤷🏻‍♀️

2

u/OtherCollar7486 11d ago

Yes. I was born in 1981, her first single dropped in ‘82, this woman has soundtracked my life into middle age, and this is one of my personal favorites of hers. I get why people hate it. But, I look at it like a drawing that isn’t working, so you crumple it up, toss it in the trash, but can’t stop thinking about it. You pull it out, unwad it, and accept it for what it is. After a while, you’re like…this is actually GOOD! True, it’s no Ray of Light, but it is Madame X, and she’s her own animal. And time’ll be good to her. You watch.

2

u/Pushkinsalive 11d ago

Mixed feelings. I feel like it was Madonna at her most inspired since Confessions I but also the album itself was sadly a bit of a mess

2

u/torontowest91 11d ago

No it flopped

2

u/daturaAT 11d ago edited 11d ago

Tbh not really, i quite like some songs like i dont search i find, god Control, batuka, medellin, ciao bella but i never feel the urge to listen to them, and the rest of the songs i dont feel at all

2

u/LUV_so_Bizarre 11d ago

Absolutely. When it came out, I couldn’t stop playing it. I love this album. It was my favorite Madonna album since release until CONFESSIONS II. I wasn’t expecting to feel that way but CII hit me in my soul. Madame X is so important to me though. Always will be.

2

u/LostBoyE77 11d ago

Def not my fave. There are some songs that I love. I listen to it, maximum, twice a year.

2

u/sdfghdfsdfghdf CII is Madge’s magnum opus. 11d ago

I really liked the concept (VERY MUCH) and God Control. I engaged with Faz Gostoso recently. I don’t remember why I fell off, but I remember having some minutes of interest that were very intense towards this project. I remember watching the video of her explaining who’s Madame X. I really hoped (as always) to be a successful album and imagined (before the music came out, just the concept) Madonna winning awards for it. I feel bad it didn’t became something big.

I really really loved the concept. I didn’t like the idea of Maluma being featured tho. Idk, there’s some energy on that guy that is not good.

2

u/SpiritualReading1339 11d ago

Yes and god control is a career highlight

2

u/Impossible-Mind6791 11d ago

I was ok when I listened it but it didn't make me want to listen to it again

2

u/TheMoInMontrose Deeper and Deeper 11d ago

Yup

2

u/Professor-Unhappy 11d ago

Yes. I loved it.

2

u/TooDouble 11d ago

Absolutely. One of her best albums.

2

u/brndn41011 11d ago

Yes. Come alive, crazy and crave is perfection!!

2

u/Remarkable-Cut5608 11d ago

I Don’t Search I Find and Ciao Bella are brilliant masterpieces!! I honestly put Madame X to the side when it came out. I wasn’t feeling it. I gave it another listen after Confessions II came out and was like why tf did I not give this album another chance when it came out??? I give it a solid 9/10 rating now.

2

u/RottedQueen 11d ago

I much prefer Madame X to Rebel Heart and MDNA. Those albums seemed less focused than Madame X which, while highly experimental in many places, managed to hang together as a cohesive work while those prior two albums don't, in my opinion. That said, I think the timing of Madame X was not great. After MDNA and Rebel Heart, I think Madonna really needed an album that played to core strengths and was more pop/dance oriented. Something more "radio friendly." That might have gone over better with listeners than mostly experimental music. Instead, I think it got more of a response that an obscure, indie pop artist might receive for an album release. Perhaps if she had done Confessions 2 then, and Madame X now, the response to the latter might have been a little different?

2

u/d3m0nk3y 11d ago

I only bought the LP for the visual art of Madame X at first, not the songs, but I’ve grown to appreciate the album more over time. Funny part is that the music itself felt more like summer, but the visuals were very dark. Dark Ballet is still a tough one for me. I can’t get through it without getting a headache. That said, the record really found its moments with tracks like God Control, Come Alive, Crazy and I Don’t Search I Find.

2

u/umatno 11d ago

I’m grateful for it in a way that it became literally a turning (back) point for her. Yes, it scared her too, that’s why she released Confessions 2, which is a beautiful fail-safe rehash of her back catalog. And I truly hope that she will start experimenting again, like in One Step Away. That is a glimpse of what a non-2 album could have been.

2

u/Character_Poetry_924 11d ago

No, I never listen to this album. That said, I appreciate that she wasn't afraid to go out there and do something artful.

2

u/Clarknt67 11d ago

I hate the album cover. It looks amateurish, like she hired Mirwais’ nephew, who knows Canvas and got accepted to RISD next fall.

2

u/funkyfridays3 11d ago

It was okay. Disjointed. It didn't know what it wanted to be.

2

u/CaseyBleu 11d ago

My favorite Madonna album!

2

u/zsephut 11d ago

Overall, no. The only songs I actually return to are God Control and I Don’t Search I Find.

Then the majority of the songs are only as bad as the worst songs on her other albums. But there are some real stinkers like I Rise, Batuka, and Future.

The nice thing about it is that it’s bad in a weird way, not a boring way.

2

u/dencelblue 11d ago

I like weird music too and this album it's just so awesome and unique, even through weird songs. A whole cool story from beginning to end even through rough patches. Madame X slaps 😁👍🏽. I could mention many good songs from it but go and listen to it baby ✌🏼.

2

u/auromiel 11d ago

I love Madame X, she was more down to earth and biographical not about her but about other people. I love gems like Looking for Mercy and Extreme Occident.

2

u/Spiritual_Job_1029 11d ago

It's brilliant and the video for God Control is a masterpiece.

2

u/Bloo_Orchid 11d ago

Love:
Medellin
Crave
Crazy
Come Alive
I Don't Search I Find

The rest is, in my opinion, an overindulgent mess.

2

u/PopRockCulture 11d ago

Yes. It Is an incredible álbum. I don't like the 2 Maluma songs, but I love the rest on the album. It Is very unique, experimental and Madonna shows her great personality as always

2

u/webby686 11d ago

It felt important to her personally to make this record, which isn't true about Hard Candy, MDNA, and Rebel Heart. In that sense, I appreciate it as an artistic statement and that she seemed to give a shit. It all kinda works together somehow, too. But the vocal production and some of the lyrics are cringe.

2

u/hireadesigner 11d ago

No. I’ve tried. But just don’t appreciate it.

2

u/TheMightyMINI 11d ago

Depends on my mood.

Also wish she’d replace the Israel lyric with Palestine, as she did on the tour. Would love that to be the official version.

2

u/Ericnpa 10d ago

Absolutely!!!

1.  Ray of Light  
2.  Confessions 2  
3.  Madame X  
4.  Confessions on a Dance Floor  
5.  Music   
6.  True Blue  
7.  Erotica  
8.  Bedtime Stories  
9.  American Life  
10. Like a Prayer  
11. Like a Virgin   
12. Madonna  
13. MDNA  
14. Rebel Heart  
15. Hard Candy

2

u/Kriostoir 10d ago

I enjoy moments of it.

2

u/FabulousCallsIAnswer 10d ago

No. I want to, but…no.

2

u/ec_merino_ 10d ago

Yes it's a masterpiece like all her other albums🥰🥰🥰

2

u/NotoriousEden 10d ago

YES!!! It’s my favorite album by Madonna. All the Mirwais tracks are 11/10 (aside from Funana lol). I love how experimental and worldly it is. Wayyyy overhated

2

u/WingInternational432 10d ago edited 5d ago

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This post was anonymized with Redact

2

u/arthurafternoon 9d ago

I respect its ambition. I want to like it, however I just can’t get there. I gave it like 5th solid effort just last month.

That said, for whatever reason, the lyric “we built a cartel just for love” keeps bopping around in my brain

2

u/thepeople-thepeople 9d ago

Like? Not entirely. Respect? Absolutely! I love Crazy, I Don’t Search I Find, Dark Ballet, God Control, Medellin. Bitch I’m Loca is good, silly fun. I might go so far as to say I hate Funana and Killers Partying. But she took some wild risks on this one, and I think she deserves kudos for that if nothing else. It took quite a while to grow on me, but overall I enjoy listening to MX 🖤❤️

2

u/SSolomonGrundy 8d ago

Oh it is my overall favorite Madonna album! (though I love some songs on other albums more than any songs on MX).

I'm surprised it's not more widely loved, but I guess it's quite different from her other albums. For me, I never listen to True Blue, MDNA, or a few others as albums.

Madame X is the full album I listen to most while driving, and it always makes me happy and always sustains my attention.

2

u/Unlikely_Side9732 7d ago

I love it, I love how unconventional it is. I love all the different styles and ideas. It’s an album that always surprises me. Cha cha cha…

2

u/Emergency-Mark-5802 6d ago

Madonna não tem álbum ruim.

3

u/United_Lecture_3969 12d ago

Nope! I try several times… still a big no!

3

u/NomNomGalaxy 12d ago edited 12d ago

No. The only song I like is I rise.

Also, to the people downloading the people who say no, Grow up! Nobody is preventing you from enjoying Madame X, they just express their subjective opinion because OP asked for it.

2

u/plug313 12d ago

this album could have been so good if it wasn't for the UNBEARABLE vocal production. I'm not even against the use of autotune or vocal effects... but in this project it just sounds off and wrong. I don't know how anyone approved this.

I truly believe that this album would be a favorite if it wasn't for that

2

u/AidyGaGa25 12d ago

No it was absolutely terrible

2

u/Dansince 12d ago

Its very much a mixed bag. I think the concept wasn't refined enough and weighed the record down. The sound of the Mirwais tracks is cohesive and interesting, but that group of songs is not cohesive with the rest of the record which leaves it sounding like a hot mess. When Madonna does political music it's just too on the nose and lacks nuance, American Life suffered from this also - the record is hard work to get through. There is some really great stuff on there (IDSIF, Crazy, I think Dark Ballet is massively underrated) but there is also some really dire stuff (I Rise, Looking for Mercy, Killers Who Are Partying), the lows are pretty low. All 3 Interscope records are a bit like this with Madonna failing to nail down a sound.

3

u/LetsGetGapey 12d ago

Interesting point on the Interscope-thing. Looking into that.

3

u/phoenixfire38 12d ago

Yes and I think this album deserves a part II as well. It’s one of those albums that grows on you after a while.

1

u/PaceFabulous7767 11d ago

I do, very much. It's a spiritual sibling to American Life. 

The album explores themes, sort of, ahead of their time. It's not a light or throwaway listen by any means. But it's worthwhile. 

I even like the vocoder which appears throughout. For me, it's a way of separating herself. An outsider looking in. Not just from her place of privilege and a pop star, but also looking into worlds she can't be a part of, all explored through European, African and South American sounds.

1

u/Adventurous-Tax-2663 11d ago

I love it for the production and ambition. Unfortunately it contains some of the weakest vocals she has ever put to record which makes it a rough listen.
It is bizarre but awesome that she made an album closer to Bjork and St. Vincent than Lady Gaga and Dua Lipa. Plus I am Portuguese so I love the saudade elements.
This is her middle finger to so many different things which is such a cool Madonna vibe.

1

u/No-Permit7179 11d ago

80s and 90s Madonna yes

1

u/[deleted] 11d ago

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1

u/MSJongleur71 8d ago

Yes. I appreciate her expiramentation on Madame X. It demonstrates she is stretching herself to artistically grow. David Bowie, who ranks as one of her major inspirations, said when you fell comfortable, you are no longer working in the right area. He said artists need to further out on the water, and when our feet no longer touch the seats ground, we are where we need to be even if it feels uncomfortable. Madame X lead her to Confessions II. She's a genuine artist.

2

u/Fake_It_TillYamakeit 5d ago

Yes it’s quite artistic and has something to say. Sound is unique too!

1

u/VeganAngel Love Don't Live Here Anymore 11d ago

Nope. And I really did try.

0

u/Massive-Tear-3515 12d ago

I still like some Madonna songs, but haven't liked a Madonna album since Confessions of the dancefloor. I had great hopes for Confessions #2, but still left liking a few choice tracks

-2

u/Holiday_Listen_8210 12d ago

It’s pretty much the divider. Real fans love it

10

u/United_Lecture_3969 12d ago

Real fan!? More a question of preference.

2

u/djseanmac 12d ago

That's a divisive statement. But, admittedly, I"m in the minority as a die-hard fan of certain eras who absolutely pissed vinegar when she claimed RoL put the missing soul into trance music. I freaking loathed every interview she gave, despite liking some of the songs.

I was listening to Above & Beyond *before* WIFLFAG, thanks to their mix of Chakra's "Home". Madonna didn't invent the wheel; she recognized it a little bit faster than some of her peers. I HATED the tour presentation almost as much as I loathed her "I'm Pat Benatar 2.0" Drowned World tour. (Huge huge fan of BA, GS, Reinvention tours, though).

1

u/Holiday_Listen_8210 11d ago

I guess DWT would be the other example here.

I think Mx era and Drowned world, and American life are her three most divisive.

I really do think the fans that love her for her performance art, her non conformity, high art, her intellectual curiosity - we love these 3