P.Viktor

Madonna – The Best That Never Was, Part Two

In light of the collaborative blog I wrote with Dan (see my selection and his selection) I decided to compile an album of the songs we chose as a kind of 'best of' that never was (hence the title). As well as the five songs apiece Dan and I selected from across Madonna's career, I have added four other songs to represent all eleven of Madonna's studio albums, hence the inclusion of Physical Attraction (from Madonna, 1983), Till Death Do Us Part (from Like A Prayer, 1989), Inside of Me (from Bedtime Stories, 1994) and Let It Will Be (from Confessions on a Dance Floor, 2005) all of which represent the strongest non-singles on those albums. Think of it as a retrospective of a number of Madonna songs often overlooked when people think about her huge catalogue of work. I hope you enjoy it.

Madonna – The Best That Never Was, Part One

When fellow blogger Dan suggested recently that we should collaborate on a blog post I thought is was a genius idea. I have been reading Dan’s blog, This Man’s World, for a number of years and we have very much bonded – as well as bloggers can on opposite sides of the Atlantic - through a love of music, books, and film, though our main passion in common is the music of a certain diva – Madonna. It seemed obvious what the subject of our first collaborative blog post should be about. Dan suggested we both pick our top five Madonna album tracks which we feel should have been released as singles but which were instead consigned to the albums they are from. We both rose to the challenge, obviously having strong opinions on her Madgesty’s music and surprisingly we only overlapped on one song (we traded in the end). Below are the five songs I chose, in descending order, and go on over to Dan’s blog to read his top five.

Madonna | Veronica Electronica – Songs from 2000 - 2009

Madonna - Veronica Electronica. Few contemporary artists can boast a career that spans three decades and still be culturally relevant and commercial successful, but then there are few artists quite like Madonna. Although her musical peak occurred in the eighties and she was perhaps most famous in the early nineties, there is no denying the fact that since 2000 she has had something of a musical rebirth, a process kicked-started by her most critaically acclaimed album - Ray of Light (1998). From this sonic rebirth some of Madonna's most experimental electro-pop albums have stemmed, starting with her first for the decade, Music, released in 2000. What was clear from the outset was that Madonna had her eye on fashioning electro-pop that would come to define the latter end of the decade, including her best single from this period, Music (here in a rare and unreleased extended form), as well as the album cuts Amazing and Gone. Another of Madonna's best singles from this album, What it Feels Like For A Girl, is presented here in the wonderful live version for her Drowned World Tour (2001) sung completely in Spanish (it is one of Madonna's best live vocal performances). Also from this period and produced by William Orbit is the best single Madonna never released, Time Stood Still, taken from The Next Best Thing (2000) soundtrack (which should have been chosen over the awful single American Pie) and the rare unreleased track Liquid Love recorded for the Music album, an ebullient pop track. Mirwais, who was behind her futuristic Music single, was the producer of Madonna's most underrated and misunderstood album, American Life (2003), represented here by a remixed version of Nobody Knows Me, Mother and Father, and the beautiful ballad Nothing Fails. He is also responsibile for an unreleased song, Triggering (a brilliant disco romp) and the acoustic ballad Is this Love (Bon D'Accord), which was intended for the musical Hello Suckers and whose lyrics can be heard on the song Voices which appears at the end of this album. Madonna's most commercially succssful record after Music was 2005's Confessions on a Dancefloor, from which the single Get Together and bonus track Fighting Spirit is taken. Madonna's last studio album, Hard Candy, was something of a misstep, and the first time Madonna followed trends rather than created them by employing well-known R&B producers. The Pharrell William's produced Give It 2 Me and Timbaland's Voices are included here. The album closes with Madonna's most recent single, Celebration, a return to dance pop that was included on the greatest hits package of the same name released in the summer. Madonna is currently woring on a film musical, and is said to be recruiting new producers such as David Guetta for a possible new album in 2010.

1. Music (Extended Version) (5:51)
2. Nobody Knows Me (Mount Sims Old School Mix) (4:47)
3. Mother and Father (Radio Edit W/Out Rap) (3:25)
4. Triggering Your Senses (3:29)
5. Fighting Spirit (3:32)
6. Give It 2 Me (Video Edit) (4:03)
7. Get Together (Radio Edit) (3:57)
8. Celebration (3:27)
9. Amazing (3:43)
10. Liquid Love (4:28)
11. Time Stood Still (3:48)
12. Lo Que Siente La Mujer (Live Edit) (5:29)
13. Nothing Fails (4:49)
14. Is This Love? (Bon D’Accord) (3:05)
15. Gone (3:28)
16. Voices (3:40)

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If you do download this album, please be sure to purchase an album by this artist. The purpose of this download is to promote the artist's work and will be removed if requested.

Official Website of Madonna

Best of Decade | Female Artist Compilations

To celebrate the end of the decade I have put together four compilation albums featuring my favourite artists - Madonna, Bjork, Tori Amos, and Alanis Morissette. Each day this week will showcase an album by one of these artists made up of songs recorded and released between 2000 and 2009, including well-known singles, album tracks, b-sides, and rare unreleased songs. The point of these albums is to celebrate the unique talent of four of the most enduring female vocalists and songwriters of our time who have all had continuing success before and after the turn of the century. These albums represent some of my favourite songs and some of their best songwriting and vocal performances. Each download will be available for a very limited time only and if you do download a copy please make sure you purchase music by the featured artist. Enjoy.

Official Website of Madonna
Official Website of Bjork
Official Website of Tori Amos
Official Website of Alanis Morissette