As most people will know the difference between society in 2000 and 2003 was vast for one reason: The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. When the airplanes flew into The Twin Towers, it marked a cultural shift that has only become more divisive as the decades carried on. Then-President George W. Bush was about to start The War on Terrorism, and everyone was looking for ways to express themselves. Some people did it with compassion while others, like Toby Keith, gave into aggressive retaliation with songs like “Courtesy of the Red, White, and Blue.” Everyone in America was changed that day, and to discuss certain details of that time remains a headache.
The reason that this three-year span matters for this piece is because of one reason. In 2000, Madonna was on top of the world with the highly successful album “Music.” It was a late-career masterpiece that kicked off the millennium right, finding her just as vital as ever. However, as evident on her Drowned World Tour, she had to change iconography to match the sensitive times. Still, she was forming her own existential crisis about everything. Not only that, but 2003 marked a significant point in her career. It was 20 years since her 1983 self-titled debut, and it felt like time to celebrate such an icon somehow remaining relevant for so long.
The tapestry that would become “American Life” was definitely concerning before you get into the politics of it all. Madonna was still married to filmmaker Guy Ritchie, who had directed her in a career-low point movie Swept Away (2002). She was also about to release “Die Another Day,” the eponymous James Bond song that also served as another low point. Unless your name is GQ, most people list it among the worst 007 songs. Then again, there was something poignant about this collaboration, in that Madonna was celebrating 20 years and Bond was entering its 20th movie. Much like “American Pie” on “Music,” this song theoretically has nothing to do with the album it wound up on, and yet it’s one of those eyesores that are impossible to ignore when discussing it.
“American Life” was sold as a political album, working off of the concept that The American Dream is a sham. Take it from Madonna, who achieved it 20 years ago and had some of the highest-grossing world tours in history. When she says that it’s lonely and empty, she means it. This angle was meant to be sympathetic, but all it did was reflect a narcissism and shallowness that went against those 20 years of pop hits. She turned to donning Che Guevara iconography and preaching revolution, but the camouflage wasn’t enough. As Todd in the Shadows would claim, this is a demarcation in her career. What followed was “the end” of The Madonna Era™.
On paper, this should’ve been a solid follow-up. She teamed again with producer Mirwais Ahmadzai, who turned her previous album into a major hit. She loved his electronic sound and the use of stuttering. She was more open to his collaborations this time around, allowing him to submit ideas. Sometimes she would be reading newspapers and jotting down ideas. She encouraged him to use different effects, which were going to be mixed with a more acoustic sound. While she has never called it as such, it would be considered an exercise in “folktronica.” This was the new world, and she was about to surprise everyone all over again.
In one of the more questionable decisions, Ahmadzai encouraged her to provide a freeform rap one day. This would become the bridge in “American Life,” eventually fine-tuned despite becoming the most notorious part of the album. It was supposed to be a commentary on how shallow everything was, and yet…
I'm drinking a soy latteI get a double shot-eIt goes right through my body, and you know I'm satisfiedI drive my Mini Cooper, and I'm feeling super-dooperYo, they tell I'm a trooper, and you know I'm satisfiedI do yoga and pilates, and the room is full of hottiesSo I'm checking out the bodies, and you know I'm satisfied
Deep and provocative satire, this isn’t. It’s supposed to be seen as ironic, but it would become the pivotal reason that many saw Madonna being out of touch with her audience. All she was doing was providing a laundry list of privileges that was supposed to be seen as soulless. The issue is that it went against everything that made the “Material Girl” a star. If nothing else, one can argue that this album deserves to be read as a midlife crisis album, which makes all of its technical incoherency much more plausible. It’s been described as “psychoanalysis,” but it may have revealed too much about Madonna’s own shallowness as herself.
The music video was also provocative. At the time Madonna was wanting to incorporate war imagery with a fashion runway to reflect how war is marketed. She came out as vocally anti-war, though the brutal images of dismembered people and bombs going off didn’t sit well with audiences, eventually pulling it in favor of a vanilla video where she performs in front of flags. Considering that this wasn’t her first experience dabbling with controversial imagery, it’s strange how she backed down, especially when the point was to present a confrontational message that suggests that “war = bad.” Then again, some could see this as a response to The Dixie Chicks, whose Anti-Bush comments derailed their careers for a significant few years.
Among the more entertaining aspects of this album came when preparing to promote the album. To combat piracy, Madonna released audio recordings of her saying “What the fuck do you think you're doing?" followed by minutes of silence to various file-sharing websites. While this combated things for a short time, Madonna’s website was eventually hacked, presumably by people from Phrack, with the message "This is what the fuck I think I'm doing..." before posting actual links to the songs. It was taken down after 15 hours and Madonna claims that it wasn’t some form of marketing.
The artwork for the album featured an equally militaristic iconography. The album cover pulled from a famous Che Guevara picture called Guerrillero Heroico (which was also a popular shirt design around this time) as well as an image of Patty Hearst. The font was blood-red and meant to evoke patriotism and revolution, creating the sense that this would be more charged. After all, Madonna had taken on feminism, sex, and religion in the past. What did she have to say about the war? Based on the images inside, of her wearing camo and wielding an Uzi, it was going to be a wild time.
The thing is that none of it really comes across as a war album. “American Life” was more about the shallowness of The American Dream. The production was distracting and in a minor key that caused everything to sound sad and critical of the listener. Why are you listening? It was a manic production whose following songs fared even worse than the lead single. Where it was considered her worst single, it at least did better than “Hollywood”: her first song to not chart since 1983. At least that’s better than “Nothing Fails” and “Love Profusion,” which didn’t chart at all. However, it did become a success when it became the album with the most singles on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs in history.
This isn’t to say that the album was considered a failure. In the grand scheme of things, it definitely paled in comparison to every other album she had released. Despite a number one debut and over five million copies sold internationally, it became Madonna’s lowest-selling album to date (only beaten by later albums). Still, with two Grammy Award nominations, it was clear that there was some appeal. With that said, had the album not included “Die Another Day,” it would have the distinct honor of being the only Madonna album without a true hit (including one of the Top 5 most expensive music videos in history). It was also her second album with a Parental Advisory sticker following "Erotica."
It was clear that Madonna wanted “Hollywood” to be a big hit. It kept appearing everywhere, including in Gap advertisements. It was also part of a famous live performance where she joined Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, and Missy Elliott onstage at the MTV Music Video Awards. With Aguilera and Spears dressed in “Boy Toy” era wedding gowns, Madonna was dressed as a groom as the performed a medley of songs that included “Hollywood.” The issue is that it was overshadowed by a famous kissing moment where Madonna smooched her younger peers, metaphorically passing on her powers to them.
It was the only real controversy stirred up from this album that has any staying power in the popular consciousness. Everyone was talking about it, some even joking that Madonna gave Spears the curse that would lead to her mental health issues. Still, it was evident that even as her music was fading from public discourse, she was able to find “shocking” ways to stay relevant. Then again, it’s likely that this is less shocking in 2020. In 2003, bands like t.A.T.u. made whole careers off of public displays of lesbianism. People were more sheepish.
And this has to do with the war… how?
To be totally honest, it doesn’t. While I personally loved her going more personal on “Like a Prayer,” I find “American Life” to be a mess. While it has personal songs like “Mother and Father,” it’s buried under gimmicks like detailing her most personal sequence over a rap. It was clear that this was a disjointed attempt to hold the attention, of a pop star who could no longer keep up. There was no way to be relevant. The common complaint is that celebrities should stay out of politics. In this case, it feels true of Madonna – if she even got into it in the first place. Had this just been sold as another Madonna album, there’s a good chance it would feel less offensive or egregious.
Which makes it amusing that she released her second tour documentary I’m Going to Tell You a Secret (2005), focusing on her shift into spirituality and centeredness. Directed by longtime collaborator Jonas Åkerlund, it was closer to her goal of being more politically vocal as an artist. There was even a point where Michael Moore was scheduled to direct but opted out to focus on Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004). It wasn’t as big of a cultural landmark as her first outing, though it did help to update her personality in ways that unfortunately reflect her 21st-century narcissism, that she was never being open and personal with audiences.
Though to her credit, she is an excellent businesswoman. This was filmed during The Re-Invention Tour, which became the highest-grossing tour of 2004 with $125 million in earnings. It proved more than anything that audiences were still infatuated with Madonna, though the chances of them loving her new material were starting to wane. This was the first evidence that her appeal wasn’t going to be sustainable going into her next decade. Sure she still had a few hits in her, but there’s a reason that “MDNA,” “Rebel Heart,” and “Madame X” have all sold less than this album despite not having as terrible of a reputation. She may have struck out with a lackluster album, but people were still vaguely curious as to what she had to say.
I’m honestly curious about where things go from here. While I know one or two hits released after this, it feels like a time where the reputation has shifted significantly from being a trailblazer to an old guard. Whereas I’ve enjoyed almost every album up to this point, I worry that she’s going to be on cruise control from here on out. Given that it’s a solid 17 years of output, I hope that it doesn’t get depressing. For now, I look forward to discovering what sounds like her last gasp of air at the top of the charts with “Confessions on a Dance Floor.” I can only hope I’m not getting hung up on the wrong things here.
Comments
Post a Comment