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Journalism of Courage
The Material Girl won’t give up so soon. Not for another decade at least.
Madonna hangs onto her Music wave in her new album American Life, which will kick up a ruckus on the club scene, but won’t do a thing for those who’ve grown up on her music.
The title track is a techno-based feel-good number that waxes eloquent about the Yankee way of life. Its video, surprisingly, packs in none of the punch, making do with the done-to-death imagery of national flags.
Unfortunately, both Nobody Knows Me and I’m So Stupid are very similar to Die Another Day because of the digitised vocal overkill. And only the more mellow Nothing Fails, very reminiscent of the singer’s True Blue days, gives away that Madonna isn’t a complete electronica convert. X-Static Process is a soul search and a love song that lifts the entire album with its impeccable string arrangement.
While Mother & Father has a tragic theme about a parent fixation and religious introspection (‘My Ma and Dad went out when I was five…I got to give it up, Find someone else to love’), the dance beats are completely out of place. Maybe it’s an artistic license, but the singer sounds like she’s celebrating her misery. Of course, many feel that the Bond theme Die Another Day, might not have lived upto Sheryl Crow’s or Duran Duran’s, but it’s definitely a chartbuster. Easy Ride again is set apart because of some excellent string work. Pick up the album if you are a Madonna freak.
