blackleatherbookshelf | Entries tagged with madonna

Graduation of Glee
3 Out Of 5 Stars

I'm not sure why the cast seems so slighted on the Glee Graduation Album, but this leans very heavily on the "senior class" of McKinley High. It also pulls very hard on the pop spectrum, which leaves the usual mixture of classic songs, show tunes and current pop off this disc. For instance, Artie is totally absent. Santana and Brittany are merely background this time. No songs from the warblers or other groups, and no Sue cameos.

Which blands the material out significantly. "The Graduation Album" is more like a K-Tel album than the usually well balanced Glee offerings, saved mainly by Matthew Morrison's excellent reading of Bob Dylan's "Forever Young" (made popular by Rod Stewart) and Lea Michelle doing a great take on Beyonce's "I Was Here." Often, though, some of the songs sound like karaoke ("Glory Days" being the worst offender) or uninspired (a totally unnecessary "We Are The Champions"). Given a couple of highlights of the year's season not on disc ("Paradise By The Dashboard Light," "Mean"), some of the overused artists (Madonna again?) could have easily been bumped. It makes me wonder if there will be another offering before the new season starts.

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Current Mood: accomplished
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "School's Out" Glee Cast

A Not So Immaculate Collection
4 Out Of 5 Stars

If you want to look at a history or road map to the pop landscape of the 80's and 90's, Madonna's "Celebration" is a perfect place to go. Madonna was the first 80's female star to take control over her image and fashion her career accordingly, something that often overshadows her accomplishments. However, has it just been a voice and a hook, everyone from Stacy Q to EG Daily would still be stars. Madonna was savvy enough to feed on the trends in music but somehow always manage to be about a half-step ahead of everyone else. It's a skill that evaded almost every other star of the period and makes Madonna one of the most influential female singers outside of Dianna Ross.

"Celebration" (I'm speaking mainly of the 2-Disc edition) compiles all these trends and moments with varying degrees of sucess, and I will leave it to better minds to argue over things like what was or wasn't included, whose mixes should have been here or what LP Vs Single edits were dissed by their inclusion or not. But the music overall silences these discussions. Madonna's evolution from such fluffy dance fare like "Everybody" and "Burning Up" to the sex-charged "Like a Virgin" and "Material Girl" to the maturation of "Like A Prayer" and "Papa Don't Preach" show a talent that never stood on past laurels. She embraced pop, club, new wave, techno and showtunes while finding the producer to best suit her and her desires of the moment. Some of the collaborations were as fearless as they were over the top; she was writing with Bjork and William Orbit when most folks had no idea what these artists were doing.

Maybe my only gripe is the sequencing; hearing the thickness of Timbaland's work on "Four Minutes" makes the thin 80's dance pop of "Hoilday" too much of a clash for me. Putting the songs in chronological order would have made this more interesting. The number of songs not here could have gone to a super-deluxe three disc set and still left off significant hits. So when's the singles box set going to arrive? Don't be surprised, as this album wraps up Madonna's contract with the WB. Comprehensive as "Celebration" may be, I'll guess there's more to come.

Current Mood: amused
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Hung Up" Madonna

Drop Kitchen Sink Here
4 Out of 5 Stars

Lady Gaga is a product of delicious, kitschy, wretched excess. She wallows in it like a bubble bath. She throws it into the air like so many bags of glitter and confetti. If there's something flashy, she lunges it for it before anyone else even sees a flicker. And more to the point, she makes absolutely no apologies for madly, passionately being in love with what she's creating and the ingredients she is building her home for Little Monsters from. This is what make Lady Gaga and her "Born This Way" so lovable.

Like Madonna, Elton John or even David Bowie before her, Gaga spares no excess when it comes to her music. Does she want to emulate Springsteen? Then not only will there be a sax solo, Clarence Clemmons himself is going to play it ("Hair," "Edge Of Glory"). Does she think Madonna's expression of Catholic guilt on "Like a Prayer" was a high point of 80's dance music? Then "Judas" and "Black Jesus" are where it's really at for the 2010's. That cover image of Gaga as a human motorcycle is no accident, either. To meet that expectation, she gives herself up to her "Heavy Metal Lover" and then mashes cute girly kitsch with a road-warrior meme on "Highway Unicorn." There's nothing Gaga won't try, nor any room for subtleties.

The bonus disc of the deluxe edition proves this point even more by including the "country road" version of the title track. (The other tracks are useless remixes). Gaga is as calculating and cunning as she is creative and wild. The song "Born This Way" references Madonna's "Express Yourself," "The Queen" (one of the deluxe edition's extra tracks) references Queen's "Killer Queen" while Brian May plays lead guitar on "You and I." "The Edge Of Glory" - along with the title song, my favorite on the album - takes its cues from all those 80's Bon Jovi and Springsteen anthems. The Mother Monster knows that this is her moment and she's using it to both pay tribute to all the influences that came before her as well as establish that she is every bit their creative equal. That's what makes "Born This Way" a terrific pop album and Lady Gaga herself such a fascinating artist.

Current Mood: chipper
Current Location: Philadelphia
Current Music: "Hair" Lady Gaga

I wish they all could be California Gurls
3 Out of 5 Stars

Katy Perry pulls off a serious surprise on "Teenage Dream": she goes from low quality candyfloss to fine spun sugar cotton. Not only is this album song for song a better deal than "Me and The Boys," the album is a pure-pop tease of silly sexiness, adolescent yearnings, girl-power can-do and a modern-pop hookfest. Granted, this is an album geared towards having as many hits and radio spins as possible, but sometimes a purely well crafted guilty pleasure can brighten a dull day. Katy Perry recognizes this truism and pushes it as hard as she can.

Besides, there is no way to avoid the fact that both the title track and "California Gurls" are ear-worms of the highest caliber. She'd already learned her way around a good hook as songwriter before becoming a star, on "Teenage Dream" she increases the confidence and the firepower. While not the greatest of singers (and autotune rears its head a bit too many times), she uses enthusiasm and dramatic flair to bring the songs home.

She's also unafraid of doing purely dumb songs, which never hurts a flirty image. "Peacock" is her answer to "My Humps" or even the X-rated niece to the long ago "Mickey" by Toni Basil. "ET" is the miss in that division, as there are too many forced metaphors to make the joke work as novelty. It's also hard to balance this kind of contorted silliness with the 'serious' songs ("Circle The Drain" and "Pearl"). Bragging that you want to see a guy's pea-cock-cock-cock undercuts the intended message of the strong willed woman urging her girlfriend to dump the abusive creep in "Pearl." Well done confections like "Firework" and even the melodramatic "Not Like The Movies" (which sounds like it means to be Katy's version of Pink's "Glitter In the Air") are endearing without sounding schizophrenic in the context of the whole album.

Yet who am I to say. While I enjoy the choco-pop-ice cream that is "Teenage Dream," the teen girls dreaming of stardom and empowerment will likely think "Pearl" is dead on, and that is where Perry gets her juice. The bulk of the songs are top-notch (don't believe me? Find the Glee rendition of "Teenage Dream" and tell me it's not a glorious bit of songcraft). Much like Cyndi Lauper before her, Katy Perry is making the best of her individuality, her sense of fun and her genuine talents.