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23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Four and a half, to be precise, 28 April 2003
Okay, the dust has settled. I've had 'American Life' on my CD player for a week now; it's time for the verdict. Let me start off by saying I am a fan of Madge, but not blind to her faults. 'Erotica' for instance, was dreadful, and 'Bedtimes Stories' average at best. After the sheer joy of 'Ray Of Light', I found 2000's 'Music' album rather disappointing - a handful of decent tracks, but also a surprising amount of bland non-starters, plus the truly awful 'Nobody's Perfect'. There was far too much of the irritating vocorder effect for my liking, and even William Orbit's meagre contributions were shockingly weak. The overall problem, to my mind, was Mirwais... so you can imagine my horror when it was announced that he would be taking the reins once again on this album. I expected the worst.The lead single and title track seems to have divided opinion even amongst Madonna devotees, although why the same people who embraced 'Music' should detest 'American Life' (the song) is a mystery to me. It may be defiantly uncommercial, but I find it's aggressive beats far more enticing, and the rap parody (yes, you ignorant humour-free critics, it is CLEARLY a parody, not an "unintentional" joke) is simply brilliant. However, for all those people who hated the single, don't despair - it's far from representative of the album's contents. Until you reach the halfway point in the album, however, you may have lingering doubts. The second track, 'Hollywood' is apparently favourite to be the follow-up single, but it's actually one of the least impressive cuts. Jangly guitar with a humming electronic beat and not terribly original lyrics about how appealing and yet unpleasant Tinseltown can be. Next up is 'I'm So Stupid', which I hated on first listen but which has grown on me since then. It's the wig-out rock track, with Madonna's voice coming over all rough and growl-y, and has an excellent chorus but poor verses. Shortly after comes the worst track on the album, the only one with no redeeming features: 'Nobody Knows Me'. It's just a horrible bleepy whine all the way through without any tune whatsoever. So far, so unremarkable. Suddenly, things begin to look brighter. 'Love Profusion' is the first sign of what's to come. It's a fairly gentle accoustic strum with - hurrah - the album's first great hook: the sweet melody of it's undeniably catchy chorus. Then comes the Big Ballad, 'Nothing Fails', and you know everything's going to be alright, because Madge has clearly not lost her touch. It starts off as a straightforward love song with just a guitar accompanying the vocal, then the strings set in, and finally a gospel choir. It's sweeping and tender and just...incredible. There isn't another poor song on the album from this moment on. 'Intervention' is another country-esque song with a sweet chorus and impressive harmonies (Madonna's voice sounds stronger and more accomplished on this album than it ever has before). 'Mother and Father', despite it's confessional subject matter, is actually the closest thing to a disco track on the album, with a dancefloor beat straight out of the late '70s and a surprising, oriental-style vocal. There's 'Die Another Day' and finally 'Easy Ride', another string-laden ballad to round things off. Finally I can see why Madonna holds Mirwais in such high regard; their songwriting partnership has born fruit at last. The once-beloved vocorder is largely absent; the electronic effects are far more subtle this time around, or perhaps they are just blended into the accoustic elements with more finesse.It's the accoustic that dominates here - the melodies are everything; electronica is just the icing on the cake rather than forming the basis of songs as it did on 'Music'. In fact, my favourite track features nothing but a guitar and Madonna's vocal harmonies. 'X-static Process' is perhaps the simplest song she's ever recorded, but it's also one of the most beautiful and affecting. The lyrics deal with Madonna's somewhat ambivalent attitude to religion (the 'X' or 'cross' of the title refers to the crucifix, apparently) and appears to bring her to some kind of healthy resolution, in spite of the painful struggle endured to reach it. It is moments of sheer brilliance like this which remind you why you loved Madonna in the first place. So, despite a couple of weak moments early on, 'American Life' grows into a work fit to stand amongst the very best of Madonna's output. She still reigns supreme.
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