49. MADONNA – “MADAME X” (DELUXE) Thirty-six years after her debut, Madonna doesn’t seem to aim for the pop charts in a calculated way. Sure, the politically-charged, “I Rise” is a rather traditional pop-anthem, but much of the record finds her in performance-artist mode. This is a spiky, tangled collection. Don’t let the chilled vibe of the Maluma-assisted, “Medellín” fool you. Sure, it is indicative of the Latin-tinged, digital haze heard across the record, but once “Dark Ballet” morphs into a computerized protest-fueled nod to Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite,” it becomes immediately evident that this is one of her strangest and most compelling albums to date. With highlights like “God Control” and the densely-constructed and blunt “Killers Who Are Partying,” Madonna makes “Madame X,” a cleverly-constructed protest record, meant to be examined as a piece of art. Madonna still courts controversy, but with a unique, globally-minded sense of maturity.
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