MADONNA. Record-breaking feats.
MADONNA is out to get her pop throne back from Lady Gaga—and, as “MDNA,” her 12th studio recording proves, she isn’t playing coy about it. In the track, “I Don’t Give A,” after she takes a snipe at former husband, director Guy Ritchie (“I tried to become all that you expect of me/ Diminished myself/ You were so mad at me/ Who’s got custody?”), Madonna gets guest Nicki Minaj to hurl a crisp expletive after she declares, “There’s only one queen—and that’s Madonna!”
True enough, when her latest album debuted on top of the Billboard 200 last week, it looked like the Material Girl was on course to get what she wanted—“MDNA” became her eighth No. 1 album, shipping 359,000 copies on its first week!
The album’s reign at the top was short-lived, however—because, this week, it registered the biggest second-week drop (88 percent) in chart history, with “only” 46,000 discs sold!
Those “precarious” numbers aside, it’s hard to deny Madonna’s mastery over the dance genre that helped turn her into one of pop music’s most influential icons. By fielding pulse-pounding dance numbers like “Girl Gone Wild,” “Give Me All Your Luvin” (with Minaj and M.I.A.) and the mindlessly candy-coated “Turn Up The Radio,” she keeps herself pertinent to the music biz’s young, record-buying demographic.
The downside: These electronica- and techno-driven dance-floor scorchers—which make up the first half of the album—seem melodically interchangeable!
The profanity-ridden “Gang Bang” simulates a pounding heart as the dance diva sings her epiphany: “I discovered it couldn’t get worse/ You were building my coffin/ You were driving my hearse.” And, “I’m Addicted’s” swirling arrangement can’t hide the tune’s irresponsible reference to “MDMA,” known in the party scene as the psychoactive pill, ecstasy.
The latter half of the repertoire sounds less generic and perfunctory when Madonna finally lets the rave-inspired numbers rest: The Eastern-tinged “I’m A Sinner” is a deliciously irreverent spinoff of “Ray of Light” in which she implores Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and Saints Christopher, Sebastian and Anthony to “catch me before I sin again!”
“Masterpiece’s” down tempo ushers in a breath of fresh air: The Golden Globe-winning theme song of “W.E.”—Madonna’s second directorial effort (after 2008’s execrable “Filth and Wisdom”)—benefits from glorious harmonies and the singer’s luscious vocals.
Surprisingly, “MDNA’s” bonus tracks are alternately more confessional (“Best Friend,” “I Fu**ed Up,” wherein Madonna apologizes for her failed marriage) or idiosyncratic (the breezy “B-Day Song,” “Beautiful Killer”). And, finally, LMFAO’s Redfoo and Skyblu lend their hip-hop-shuffle appeal to their thumping remix of “Give Me All Your Luvin.”
DJ Redfoo rocks the Big Dome
Speaking of LMFAO, we braved the Cubao-bound traffic last Wednesday to catch the wacky duo’s second visit to Manila via Dayly Entertainment’s “Sorry for Party Rockin’ 2.” We laughed and danced as the loopy Redfoo tried to make up for the absence of his nephew, Skyblu—who was said to have hurt his, ah, “package” after too much party-rockin’.
Redfoo’s irreverence didn’t end there: As he wrapped up the one-and-a-half-hour concert with “Party Rock Anthem,” “Champagne Showers” and “Sexy and I Know It,” he and his Quest Crew stripped down to their shiny, skimpy undies as wine (literally) rained on the wild partygoers!