Monday, 30 November 2015

Madonna's 15 albums ranked from worst to best

Who's that girl: Madonna's changing image on her album sleeves


The EDM one. On which Euro house artists like the Benassi Bros help Madonna onto the sweaty electronica bandwagon but – despite peppy contributions from Nikki Minaj and MIA and a reunion with William Orbit – she fails to make an emotional connection. More album filler than dancefloor killer.
The political one. For which the Material Girl yanked on a black beret and hoisted her guitar aloft to break the shocking news that fame and money don't make people happy. Though she admits to "feeling super-dooper" while driving her mini cooper, she suspects world peace might, on balance, prove more satisfying in the long run.
The one with the cowboy hat . "Hey Mr. DJ, put a record on, I want to dance with my baby." commanded Queen Madge, feeling playful again after the serious trance of Ray of Light. Warped on other songs, her vocals were clear and true against the guitar loop of "Don't Tell Me" written by her brother-in-law.
11. I'm Breathless (1990)
The Dick Tracy one. Madonna took up smoking to achieve a suitably breathless voice on the jazzy film soundtrack. But the standout single had no connection with the movie. The glorious Vogue was sexy, smart and irresistably danceable. Strike a pose, there's nothing to it.
10. Rebel Heart (2015)
The New One. Hurrah! A return to form as after the trend-chasing sounds of Hard Candy and MDNA Madonna sounds like she cares again – and not about what anybody else is doing either. “I poured a beer into my shoe and got my freak on” she sings. Welcome back Madonna!

 Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/madonnas-15-albums-ranked-from-worst-to-best/

Tuesday, 17 November 2015

Madonna Wrong to Think Terrorists Will Stop by Giving Them ‘Dignity and Respect’

Screen Shot 2015-11-15 at 7.29.17 PM


Madonna stopped her Saturday concert in Stockholm, Sweden to pay tribute those who died in the “tragic killings” and “assassinations” in Paris on Friday night, but after crying for the victims and their families, she wrongly told the audience at the Tele2 Arena that while people do “atrocious, degrading and unforgivable things” to one another, among the reasons for these senseless acts of violence is that we don’t treat “every human being with dignity and respect.” Her view of terrorists, namely ISIS, is naive and downright foolish. See Madonna’s speech below.
Madonna started off in the right direction when she paused her performance and said, “I feel torn. Like, why am I up here dancing and having fun when people are crying over the loss of their loved ones,” before adding in tears, “However, that is exactly what these people want to do. They want to shut us up. They want to silence us. And we won’t let them. We will never let them!”
The singer, who’s set to perform in Paris on December 9, then said, “I was going to cancel my show tonight but then I thought to myself, ‘Why should I give that to them? Why should I allow them to stop me and to stop us from enjoying freedom?’” Before veering off course, Madonna rightly continued, “All of the places where people were killed were places where people were having fun. People were enjoying themselves, eating in restaurants, dancing, singing, watching a soccer match. These are freedoms that we take for granted, of course, and we must not but they’re freedoms that we deserve. We work hard and we deserve to have fun, and there is no one in this world that should have the right to stop us from doing what we love.”
But after making a number of valid points, Madonna blew it big time. She first acknowledged, “There are people who have no respect for human life, and there are people that do atrocious, degrading and unforgivable things to other human beings, but we will never ever, ever change this world that we live in if we do not change ourselves, if we do not change the way that we treat one another on a daily basis.” Madonna then misguidedly added, “We must start treating every human being with dignity and respect, and this the only thing that will change the world… Only love will change the world, but it’s very hard to love unconditionally, and it’s very hard to love that which we do not understand or that which is different than we are, but we have to or this will go on and on forever.”
While in broad brushstrokes, there’s no argument that spreading love and treating one another with “dignity and respect” will make for a better planet, but ISIS doesn’t play by those rules. ISIS detests our way of life. ISIS wants to wreak havoc on the Western world.
Does Madonna really think if we gave ISIS “love unconditionally” they would no longer perpetrate horrific acts of violence? And can Madonna really “love unconditionally” a group that beheads, throws over the sides of buildings, and stones to death men for being gay?
There was no act of love or kindness nor any show of dignity or respect that could have been done by the government of France or the 129 people who were murdered that would have changed ISIS’s resolve to kill and injure as many innocent people as possible. Perhaps those who are terrorized can learn to “love unconditionally,” but it will never sway the terrorists’ hate.
Following her mostly well-intentioned speech, Madonna then launched into her 1989 hit, “Like A Prayer.” Sadly, though, it will take more than dignity, respect, love or even prayer to stop ISIS.
Source:http://www.mediaite.com/online/madonna-wrong-to-think-terrorists-will-stop-by-giving-them-dignity-and-respect-and-love-unconditionally/

Tuesday, 10 November 2015

Madonna is anti-social



The 57-year-old singer thinks it is essential she is ''very disciplined'' and stays focused on her career in order to stay in the shape required to cope with her strenuous stage shows.
She said: ''I have a very disciplined life. ''I don't do a lot of socialising. My life revolves around my show and my four children and trying to live a very healthy lifestyle. ''The only thing I'm lacking now is sleep.''
Madonna - who is mother to four children, Lourdes, 19, Rocco, 15, Mercy and David, both nine - is currently on her 10th world tour and admits as time goes on, it become difficult to put together a unique concert experience and she often has to ditch something she loves, just to refresh the production.
She admitted: ''It's hard to choose. Sometimes I have to let go of things I love because they don't sound right or go with the theme. ''Or I go, 'Oh I did that the last three shows. Even though I love that song let's do something new.' '' And the 'Ray of Light' hitmaker has to drop her favourite songs in favour of what she knows her fans want to hear.
She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: ''I tend to like my more abstract, less commercial songs, but I realise I have to have songs that people are familiar with and want to sing along to. ''So I have to balance it out and not just do a creative show that is going to please me. ''I have to be quite brutal sometimes. It's kind of like editing a movie because there are scenes you love but they just don't help tell the story and you have to let them go.''
Source:http://www.timeslive.co.za/entertainment/celebrity/2015/11/10/Madonna-is-anti-social

Thursday, 5 November 2015

Madonna’s ‘Rebel Heart’ fails to match previous tour success

Madonna’s ‘Rebel Heart’ fails to match previous tour success

With the first leg of her “Rebel Heart Tour” now ended, Madonna has found it difficult at times to match the box office success of her previous tour.
At many of the stops along the 14-concert part of the tour, ticket revenue fell 50 percent below that of 2012’s “MDNA” tour, according to Billboard’s Boxscore data.
For example, at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on Oct. 5 and Oct. 6, Madonna’s two shows grossed $3.4 million — less than half the $7.5 million in tickets she nabbed for two shows at the same arena in 2012.
At a one-night stand at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ, Madge sold $1.5 million in tickets for “Rebel Heart” — 48 percent less than the $2.9 million recorded for her only show in the same arena in 2012.
The Material Girl did relatively better in her hometown of Detroit on Oct. 1 — raking in $1.2 million in ticket sales. But that was down 33 percent from the $1.8 million take for a night’s work at the same Joe Louis Arena in 2012.
The fall-off in ticket sales in some cities comes during a relatively healthy year for concerts.
US concert grosses for the first nine months of this year grew 19 percent (to $1.9 billion) over those in 2012, when her Madgesty last toured, according to statistics from Billboard.
It’s not that the “Rebel Heart Tour” has underperformed quality-wise.
Billboard gave the concert four out of five stars, while the UK’s Guardian went all out with five stars for Madonna’s Madison Square Garden performance.
Remarkably, Madonna accounts for 12 of the Top 17 highest-grossing concerts, according to Billboard’s most recent data.
Source:http://nypost.com/2015/11/04/madonnas-rebel-heart-tour-fails-to-match-previous-success/