When discussing the years following “Hard Candy,” it’s important to note that this was the period where Madonna went from a pop star into something more resembling an entrepreneur. While her decades have provided several amazing opportunities, including starting her own record label, there was something interesting about her striking out on her own. Her 2008 album was the last for Warner Bros., bringing a fruitful partnership going back to her self-titled debut to an end. While she continued to court controversy, this was also a period where, among other things, she started the Material Girl clothing line, opened Hard Candy Fitness centers, and a fashion brand called Truth or Dare by Madonna. Not only that, but she moved into filmmaking, directing the feature Filth & Wisdom (2008).
It was clear that the 2010s were going to be a more adventurous decade for her starting with the 360 deal with Live Nation that included a three-record deal with Interscope. Everything was in place for the next phase of her career, though one question remained. With everything that she set out to do, when would she return to making music? While “Hard Candy” was not her most celebrated record, it kept her name vital and carried any anticipation that would come by the time she released “MDNA” four years later. What did a Madonna on a new label sound like? To be honest, it’s arguably the start of the least relevant period in her entire career.
The story actually begins prior to “MDNA.” For her second feature, Madonna directed W.E. (2011) and received middling reviews. While it would receive an Oscar nomination for Best Costume Design, the biggest controversy came from The Golden Globes. When Madonna won Best Original Song for “Masterpiece,” it lead opposing nominee Elton John to complain that she didn’t stand a chance at an Oscar nomination. To be fair, John didn’t do much better with his Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) song, as both were ignored on the final ballot. Still, it was the perfect calm before a proverbial storm, where her career returned in the wake of a Super Bowl appearance and a reminder that yes, Madonna is still vital. Just ask her Facebook page where she kept in touch with her fans with regular videos.
One of the best and worst things about Madonna as an artist becomes more apparent as she has aged. She is not so much a trend-setter as a trend-spreader, and it sometimes makes her music difficult to be considered genuine. “Hard Candy” suffered because it was a producer-driven album whereas “Music” and “Confessions on a Dance Floor” were truer to some personal vision. “MDNA” is no exception to the trend-spreader concept, as it featured cues from EDM along with a baffling dubstep breakdown during “Gang Bang.” While it has the energy and exuberance to be a fun record, it’s once again just a pop album that lacks the personal side that made “Like a Prayer” or “Ray of Light” essential recordings.
The follies of “MDNA” could arguably be contributed by the fact that Madonna was also becoming an entrepreneur at the time. Along with her third greatest hits album “Celebration,” she was filming W.E. and enjoying her brand. There was little time to focus on something more cohesive even though she publicly would admit that she wanted to get out there and sweat. As a result, the recording wasn’t exactly a momentous occasion. It was considered to be straightforward and easy, even though she had trouble working with DJ Martin Solveig due to his inability to speak English very well. He also acquired guest stars Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. because she wanted women who had a strong sense of themselves.
The only amusing detail about this process was the creation of the album’s title. According to Madonna, it was M.I.A.’s idea. As they harped on the Sri Lankan’s stage name, they realized the potential in an abbreviated name. Thus, Madonna named it “MDNA” as a triple entendre. Along with being an abbreviation, it was a play on the scientific M-DNA and the party drug MDMA. To put it simply, the third entendre didn’t go over well with Cannabis Skunk Sense calling it “ill-advised” and Deadmau5 claiming that he didn’t endorse drug use following a live performance with her shouting “have you seen Molly?” in reference to a Cedric Gervais song.
The album was considered to be a duality that played with the cheekiness of EDM music and a reflection of something more personal. Like previous albums, it would explore a variety of emotions from happiness to depression through dance music, including the elaborate number “Gang Bang.” When asked about the song, she claimed that she was thinking of Quentin Tarantino when doing so, believing that he would make a cool music video. Tarantino has rejected all offers. The lead single was “Give Me All Your Luvin’,” which featured cameos from M.I.A. and Minaj and was a rousing cheerleader-like number. Various lyrics on the album would also reference her divorce from filmmaker Guy Ritchie.
Despite many claiming that “MDNA” lacked a great marketing campaign, it did have a fairly impressive venture when she was opted to do the Super Bowl XLVI halftime show roughly a month before the album’s release. It would be a big show, in part designed by Cirque du Soleil and featuring slacklining, and it would feature an overview of her catalog, including a performance of “Give Me All Your Luvin’” while M.I.A. and Minaj danced around in Egyptian outfits like cheerleaders. Other people involved included LMFA and CeeLo Green.
This did provoke two controversies. When M.I.A. was to sing “I don’t give a shit,” she was bleeped out while bestowing a middle finger. She was fined for this decision and The NFL apologized for not better censoring the moment. The other less noteworthy controversy came from what was not in the show. Madonna was threatened to not perform “Girl Gone Wild” because it infringed on the name copyright of Joe Francis’ Girls Gone Wild. Francis believes that this did anything to sway not playing it live, but it was more to distract himself from his own bankruptcy, blackmail, state and federal charges for a few days.
Everything panned out for Madonna as the sales of her back catalog began to increase. Prerelease numbers for “MDNA” began to improve. By the time that it was released, it only helped to inflate various records for Madonna in the music industry. In the world of singles, she held onto the title of most Top 10 songs. She also briefly replaced Elvis Presley in The United Kingdom as having the most number-one albums. In less impressive news, her second-week sales in the Billboard 200 featured a decline of 86.7%, which was the then-largest second-week percentage sales drop for a number one debut. Considering that it also only sold two million copies internationally, it remains one of Madonna’s lowest-selling studio albums.
To be honest, there isn’t a whole lot that is wrong with “MDNA” as an album. If judged as a collection of pop songs, it’s adequate. I honestly think that it’s got a lot more going on that’s worthwhile than “Hard Candy,” though there is not an essential song on the album. It’s the sound of a performer who sounds like she’s having fun. Even the choice to start with an act of contrition on “Girl Gone Wild” before exploring her own temptations has something there that could be worth exploring. However, it’s all goofy, finding a performer who doesn’t exactly sound like she even has anything creative to say.
Is this a result of burnout or growing old? I do think that it may have been contributed by her several ventures not allowing her to focus. There wasn’t that effort to make songs that were full of a deeper soul. Sure, I like “Gang Bang” for being experimental and going in some strange directions. However, the rest is a decent pop album that finds her doing everything that we’ve seen her done before. When the album’s name is much more interesting than any other song on here, it’s difficult to call it all a success. As the first outing for Live Nation, it’s definitely bold (it’s only her third Parental Advisory album after “Erotica” and “American Life”) but again… what is she saying that’s essential?
That’s the issue with being Madonna in 2012. There are already 30 years of incredible work to deal with. She has nothing left to prove and could ride out doing her hits for the rest of her career. Her choice to release new albums could get by on name recognition alone. While songs like “Masterpiece” sound like she’s trying, others like “Superstar” sound like B-Sides that should’ve been left on the cutting room floor. This lacks focus. On the bright side, it has far better decisions than “Hard Candy,” which at one point featured the singer in blackface. In that respect, this album is a vast improvement. Also, I’m convinced that “I Don’t Give A…” is a passive-aggressive attack on Lady Gaga.
Though if you’re being honest with yourself, one of the best parts of Madonna’s album releases is her tours. The story is a familiar one for The MDNA Tour. At the time it was listed among the Top 10 highest-grossing tours. It was designed to be a show that explored the transition from darkness into light. The themes would also include: violence, firearms, human rights, nudity, and politics. With $305.2 million revenue from 88 sold-out shows, it was more evidence that everyone wanted to see her perform even if it felt like the cultural permanence of “MDNA” wasn’t long for this world.
Among the noteworthy aspects of the show was its use of guns. At one point someone is shot in front of a screen that depicts blood splatter. While Madonna claims to not condone violence, she was using it as a commentary on how people can go astray with power. Another thing that was criticized on the tour was Madonna’s choice to at one point flash her breasts at the audience. Still, it wasn’t enough to derail a tour that brought with it the familiar titillation that many had come to expect.
At this point, one has to ask what they expect from Madonna. With a new record label, she still was trying to push buttons and prove her vitality to a new generation. The only issue is that she had become so much, including a film director and fashion mogul, that music was clearly no longer her only passion. It’s a point where albums felt less calculated and were more exercises to keep herself amused. This isn’t her best album and may be among her worse only in terms of how uninteresting it is. Even “American Life” has flaws that make it interesting to dissect. This is just an adequate exercise in sound.
Of course, there was still more to come. With “Rebel Heart,” she pushed her sound further with another Minaj cameo as well as work from Chance the Rapper and… Mike Tyson? Is Wikipedia punking me? I don’t know, but I can only hope this is going to reverse the declining arrow on her graph. If it doesn’t, then I fear we’ve reached the point of this series that I haven’t been looking forward to: the shift into irrelevancy. I’m amazed we’ve gotten this far and are barely now feeling it. I just hope there is still something to say in all of this mess.
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