by 53-year-old Madonna and 62-year-old Lionel Richie continue to show the “young kids” that the vets still have it going on.
Four years after (the really pretty bad) urban-flavored Hard Candy, Madonna is back with her new release, MDNA.
People have been trying to classify MDNA by comparing it to previous Madonna albums, but it is, in fact, a mishmash of her entire career. The electronic beeps and banjo of Love Spent, a not-too-subtle jab at ex-husband Guy Richie‘s divorce settlement, harkens back to the sparseness of 2003’s acoustic American Life, while Girl Gone Wild and I’m Addicted sound like the modern disco of Confessions on a Dance Floor. Producer William Orbit’s influence is apparent on the Ray of Light-like ballad Falling Free, and Masterpiece is Madonna-Evita, circa 1996.
One thing that stands out on this release is its coldness. Even when letting her newly-divorced heart bleed on disc, Madonna sounds detached and unattainable, a trait that seems to grow, for better or worse, with each new release. Only the retro-Madonna, early-80s sounding Turn Up The Radio shows any warmth.
Track to check out: The angry, throbbing ode to Quentin Tarantino, Gang Bang.
As opposed to the Queen of Pop, Lionel Richie‘s only real widespread exposure to speak of for the last decade or two has been the reality fame of his daughter, Nicole. In an attempt to remain relevant in a musical landscape that has left him behind, Richie has released Tuskegee, a duet reworking of his past career that works much better than it should.
With country music superstars such as Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, and Jason Aldean assisting on classics like Hello, Endless Love, and Dancing on the Ceiling, a Southern twang is applied to even the poppiest of hits from the former Commodores frontman.
Track to check out: A personal favorite, Stuck on You, which is given an impressive treatment alongside Darius Rucker.
