Just when you thought you'd seen and heard it all about Madonna and her recent exploits, namely dating 20 year old Brazilian model, Jesus Luz, and adopting 3 year old girl Mercy from Malawi , the artist just confirmed she would be releasing her greatest hits album September 29th. It would be too modest of Madonna to release the album alone, hence it coincides with release of her two films: Filth and Wisdom and I am because We Are.
Filth and Wisdom released last year received tragic reviews, with critics claiming it was overpadded and underdeveloped. The New York Times Journalist said “ If this were the first film of a 17 year old who got a camcorder for his birthday..it would be called a vaguely promising first effort”. By contrast, I Am Because We Are, a documentary about the heartbreaking reality of children in Africa, is apparently sharply filmed and emotionally charged with Madonna’s appearance being kept to a minimum. Although it initially sounded to me like Madge’s attempt to rival Sartre in the title and Marie Theresa in its content, it apparently offers realistic solutions on offering children of Africa the chance to escape the misery and give them hope for a future. The title is based on archbishop Desmond Tutu’s belief that we are all interconnected and all have a duty to help each other. Tutu is himself interviewed in the documentary along with other notable figures such as Bill Clinton, African political figures and voluntary doctors who have worked in the area. The movie has already received numerous accolades and the reviews are all powerfully positive. For more info check out http://www.iambecauseweare.com/.
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For this new album, Madonna has collaborated with Paul Oakenfold and Lil Wayne on two exclusive new tracks, Celebration and Revolver respectively. When I listened to them the first time, I was quite impressed. This isn’t because they are both spectacularly good but outrageously catchy to the point that the melodies seem to have been calculated precisely for this purpose. The lyrics are also typically lighthearted Madonna, but I particulary liked the “I don’t recognise you with your clothes on” from Celebration and “My love is a revolver, my sex is a killer, do you wanna die happy?” from Revolver. She has cunningly chosen two radically different tunes, one more for the R'n'B lovers amongst us (Revolver), and the other for the more dance/house fans (Celebration), making sure she appeals across the borders. Surely that’s like dipping in both Democrat and Republican camps!? But if anyone can do that, it’s cheeky Madonna. Although the songs are brazen and upbeat, it’s a shame that Madonna fails to come up with a breakthrough sound. She seems to rely on her old revolutionnary material to do the work for the album, giving us two contrasting sounds of no genuine musical panache, which won’t go down in musical history. Having said that, there's no denying that with Lil Wayne’s notorious Grammy success and recent chart topping successes of the likes of Calvin Harris in the dance sector, she’s hit a guaranteed hit formula bound to fly straight to the top spot.
I'm actually listening to them right now and the urge to get up and dance is hard to resist...(I'm in an office with 900 people hence this is NOT an option). Try it:
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What I do like about this new album is that Madonna resorted to artist Mr Brainwash to design her album cover. The artist is known to take pictures of celebrities, “stuff them in a grinder” and paint the finished product. The result is an eccentric collage which is striking and could be labelled as futuristic Pop, a snapshot of popular culture orchestrated with movement and dynamism. We don’t know much about the artist himself, who keeps his identity very secret, resembling Banksy’s mysterious persona with whom he has already collaborated. Mr. Brainwash started his career in France as a documentary film maker to become later a popular street artist. He currently resides in L.A and where he is a well known graffiti artist.His work combines modern cultural icons, Pop and Graffiti art styles with bold colour and brilliant splashes of paint. No celebrity is safe from the Mr Brainwash treatment such as some of the legends who have already gone ‘under the paintbrush’: Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Barack Obama, Andy Warhol and even the Queen. With a major show in London coming up later this year, 2009 is turning out to be a very big year for Mr Brainwash. His site is a work of art in itself and I highly recommend you have a browse: http://www.mrbrainwash.com/.
The greatest hits album will be Madonna's last with Warner Records, with whom she sold more than 200 million albums. In October 2007, she ended her 27-year relationship with the label when she signed a reported $150 million deal with concert promoter Live Nation. With 34 record songs and these new addictive uptempo tracks that have just been added, I accept her invitation to the dance of life. At 50, she proves she’s still the trendiest Material Muscle-Mother around.
