Well, here she is again. Everyone’s favorite 57-year old that acts as if she is the new, young hottest pop star on the planet. I absolutely love Madonna, everything about her, but I am also conflicted about her. Every new album that comes along I hope she continues what she started on her hit Ray of Light. Something just more … adult. More her age. But then I understand her point of view, that even saying that is ageism. She’s dead right about that. I don’t judge her negatively for still getting half naked and shaking her ass like she’s a 20-year old young woman with nothing to lose. I guess I just feel there’s a stage for everything in one’s life, and now that she’s approaching 60, that time to show a more mature side is now. I mean, is she going to still be doing this once she technically becomes a senior citizen? But then again, maybe she sees a longer lifespan for herself and sees no reason to rush. Who knows! As long as with every album she’s adding songs to her resume that could appear on a career retrospective, then it’s all good. And she certainly does that here. The only frustrating thing about this album is it could be a fantastic pop album if it was trimmed down. The standard edition is 14 songs, and not all of the tracks are gems. What she should have done in my view is remove some of the tracks, and replace with the great songs that were only included in the special edition that had an additional nine tracks – an entire album’s worth. She could have had one edition of this album, jam-packed with pop hits. But hey, that’s what playlists are for these days. The album has grown on me every time I listen to it, especially after seeing the Rebel Heart tour when it stopped in Boston. A lot of the songs – even those I wasn’t initially keen on – make more sense now. So this is one I say should be given time to sink in. Tracks like ‘Ghosttown’ for instance – in my view one of her best ever tracks. Beautiful, powerful, a great hook, and just sparkling from beginning to end, it’s the highlight of the album for me. Then the single ‘Living For Love’ feels like something from the Like A Prayer/Erotica era, and other gorgeous gems include ‘Joan of Arc’, ‘HeartBreak City’, ‘Holy Water’, ‘Best Night’, ‘Iconic’, ‘Beautiful Scars’, ‘Body Shop’, and of course the title track. I don’t need to describe the sound really, everyone knows Madonna, and what you get with Madonna. Just here, it sounds like the Madonna we know from her younger days is back, but from a 57-year old. Maybe she was right all along.

Label

Interscope Records