By Mona Johany
It appears that after exhausting every possible genre of music, and inventing a few on the way, Madonna has failed to perfect the most important one: rap. The life of a pop icon must be so difficult that it needs to be rapped about, and the subjects include: nannies, yoga, stylists and managers.
On her new album, “American Life,” the material girl (who hates being called that), has committed a material mishap.
While there is no doubt that Madonna deserves full credit for heralding in the new “tech/pop” craze, without which, songs like Britney’s “I’m A Slave 4 U,” and Kylie Minogue’s “Can’t Get You Out Of My Head” would never have made it, she fails to innovate on her new album.
With her last two endeavors, “Ray of Light” and “Music,” Madonna proved to critics that neither age nor motherhood could do anything to slow her down. She introduced Drum’N’Base and Techno to a whole new group of listeners, and even proved to be ‘ghetto fabulous’ while she was seven months pregnant in the video for “Music.”
Some of the tracks off “American Life” will no doubt get airplay; “Hollywood” and “Love Profusion” are easy to listen to, but the album is missing anything that stands out, sounding more like the songs that were scrapped from “Music.”
Every new Madonna album ushers in a new look, and this time is no different. Sporting dark hair and military garb reminiscent of Patty Hearst, she has adopted an edge missing in her new music; with lyrics such as: “I’ve got to save my baby/ because he makes me cry/I got to make him happy/ I got to teach him how to fly/ I want to take him higher/ way up like a bird in the sk.,” Where is the shrewd Madonna we’ve come to know and love? The old Madonna knew enough to stay away from such simple lyrics, knowing she lacked the voice to pull it off. She makes no attempt to disguise her whininess this time on tracks such as “Mother and Father.”
After recently moving to England, Madonna proposes to share her thoughts on American society. While many may interpret that as hypocritical, it is yet to be seen if the masses will do the unexpected and actually give “American Life” a listen before buying it.
Unfortunately, just because the latest Madonna CD has been released, does not guarantee it’s musical quality. A sure thing? Maybe next time.
