I don’t want to hear
I don’t want to know
Please don’t say you’re sorry
I’ve heard it all before
One continuous mix of tracks that spans the length of the twelve tracks, dance euphoria is an unapologetic disco triumph. It’s a triumph but it’s not something that you necessarily grow into. Because of the essentially ‘pop’ nature of the dance mixes, these are not all songs you’d listen to many times, nor an album you will play the entirety of, as would have been the case with Madonna’s previous dance album, Ray of Light.
There are some excellent songs, namely Hung Up, Sorry, Let It Will Be & Isaac. Isaac is one of the most interesting songs on the disc, starting off with the words of a member of the London Kabbalah Center named Yitzhak Sinwani. ‘Isaac’ would presumably refer to Isaac Luria, the founder of the Kabbalah religion that Madonna follows to much public mocking. The song has produced accusations of blasphemy for using the religion’s prophet for profit, but as a song it’s intriguing as it’s so different. Madonna’s standard lyrics of not-really-meaning-anything words that that fit into the beat have been mixed with a fantastic baseline and chanting that has some sort of symbolism.
Staring up into the heavens
In this hell that binds your hands
Will you sacrifice your comfort
Find you way in a foreign land
The rest of the album is good, but not the ‘believe the hype’ revelation that some like NME would have us believe. The use of a single continuous mix has been much lauded as selling point, but it’s not all that noticeable when listening to the songs. The tracks tend to fade in and out like most albums do, but here they just fade out slightly less than most. It’s not unique and it’s not all that special. It works but we shouldn’t think of it as anything more than a simple ‘why not?’ style decision. If this is a dance album it’d be much more strange to not have the tracks mixed together. Think Daft Punk’s album Discovery for a perfect example of how this works and how it worked in 2001. In contrast to Daft Punk’s work, don’t expect to play any of the songs straight from the CD in a club; they’re simple made-for-radio versions of dance music, not anything a dance fan would deem worthy. Dance music proper has beats that fade in and overtake you with they rapid all-pervasive variety; there are highs and lows to appreciate.
This ‘dance’ is really just pop with a faster beat and a some interesting guitar and synth work. It’s a more frail and considered album than the ‘American Life’ of 2003. Where that album boldly strode into the limelight with a Bush criticising music video, with symbolism that posed Madonna as a Che Guevara style, anti capitalist, anti war icon (if Guevara, a militant, could ever be seen as anti-war). The image fell flat as the American public, or at least the media, withdrew their support. Burned and apparently out of touch, Madonna’s new album is safer. A studio mix that never goes too far, never holds out too long to bring the beat back but as a result never really fulfills. It’s a fearful and calculated mix that’s hoping to appeal to vast numbers of people, but doesn’t actually say anything about the singer herself. Where ‘American Life’ fell because it revealed too much, this one falters because it doesn’t reveal anything at all. ‘Isaac’, the Kabbalah disco-chant, is interesting but it doesn’t how any weakness or any love. The soul of the Ray of Light album was pulsing and strong, but here it feels like the bars on some sheet-music; nothing to write home about no matter how perfectly executed.
Confessions on a Dancefloor by Madonna. Worth listening to, worth buying, but don’t hold your breath for a techno salvation.
Popularity: 1% [?]
I just wish she hadn’t rhymed “New York” with “dork.”
lol! I know! Weird writing madge…
I was reading about some of her lyrics on allaboutmadonna.com where they listed the Madonna-est lyrics for each song on the album. Hilarious!