‘Niemand had interesse in dit huppel­kutje’ Dutch article on Madonna’s first visit to Holland

Madonna News

Nederland is opvallend vaak de ideale springplank voor de internationale doorbraak van ontluikende popsterren. Tom Steenbergen schreef er het boek Popparadijs Nederland over, dat deze week uitkomt.

Een van de wereldsterren die hij de revue laat passeren, is Madonna, de Queen of Pop die in de winter van 1984 voor het eerst naar Amsterdam komt. En dankzij Nieuwe Revu een fotoshoot doet die legendarisch zal worden.

Zondag 22 januari 1984 is een uitzonderlijke ijzige dag met een gemiddelde temperatuur van -3 °C en een gevoelstemperatuur van -8,4 °C. De zon laat zich de hele dag niet zien. Na een nacht met veelal matige vorst, komt het die dag voor het eerst tot sneeuwval. De meeste sneeuw valt in een strook over het Rijnmond-gebied, het Westland en de regio Amsterdam.

Op deze koude winterochtend staan WEA Records-labelmanager Fred Schröder en press & promotions-manager Jan Abbink in alle vroegte op Schiphol te wachten op de aankomst van een vlucht uit New York met aan boord een totaal onbekend zangeresje. Fred heeft onderweg nog een bosje bloemen weten te bemachtigen bij een benzinestation. Hij was daags tevoren gebeld door Seymour Stein, de grote baas van Sire Records, in Nederland vertegenwoordigd door WEA Records, met de woorden ‘Take good care of my baby, she is my top priority!’

Het jonge zangeresje luistert naar de naam ‘Madonna’. Fred noch Jan hadden ooit van haar gehoord, maar ze kenden Seymour Stein als een man die wel vaker grote woorden gebruikt. Ze balen dat ze op zondag moeten werken en zullen wel zien hoe het uitpakt.

Een klein fragiel meisje

Uiteindelijk komt Madonna, een klein fragiel meisje, door de douane in het gezelschap van een danseres en een danser. De laatste blijkt haar jongere broer Christopher te zijn. Naast haar een enorme stapel koffers. Jan stelt zichzelf en Fred voor. Fred overhandigt haar de bos ruikers die ze meteen aan de danseres geeft. Zonder een woord van dank wijst ze op de grote stapel koffers en zegt: ‘Carry my suitcases!’ Jan en Fred kijken elkaar aan. Gelukkig is er een limo geregeld die hen naar het Sonesta Hotel in Amsterdam brengt.

Jan Abbink, wel gewend om met buitenlandse artiesten te werken, vertelt: ‘We hebben haar in het hotel afgeleverd en haar verteld wat we de komende twee dagen aan promotie zouden doen. Op maandag hadden we wat interviews gepland. Maar ondanks alle moeite die we daarvoor deden, bleken geen van de grote muziek- en dagbladen – laat staan de publieke omroep – ook maar enigszins geïnteresseerd te zijn in, wat zij aan de hand van de foto’s die ik had gestuurd, dit “huppelkutje” noemden.’

Lees het volledige artikel op REVU (premium artikel)

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Madonna performs at KOKO in London 15 years ago today – a personal live report and video!

Madonna News

Fifteen years ago today Madonna performed a historical promotional gig at KOKO in Camden London. I was one of the lucky ones who was there.

I distinctly remember traveling to London in the cold without a ticket for the much talked about album launch at KOKO in London. At that point no information was given whether tickets for the gig would be given out at the door or not. In a day and time without internet access on my phone I had to rely on the internet cafe’s in London to catch up on my Madonna news. 

It was right in Piccadilly Circus, right near Boots where I remember paying for the use of internet and reading that fans were queuing up outside KOKO already. Tickets were indeed be given out to the first 200 fans who took the effort to go out and queue at the KOKO venue. Since it was freezing cold me and my friend decided not to queue this instant (even then I was rather lazy than cold) but to wait until the early hours in the morning. Happy but anxious at the same time we made our way back to our hotel.

Early morning we took the very first tube to Camden and from there made the long walk up to KOKO in the freezing cold. Quite a few fans had spent the night outside and we queued up behind them, I was a very respectable number 72 in the queue. We spent the time chatting to the fans in front of us setting out for a long and very cold day. You can imagine our shock when we were told that at only 11am we were already allowed to go inside and collect our wristbands and tickets to tonight’s performance. The crew told us it was then up to us whether we chose to queue again in order to settle for the best seats, or do as you please and come back a little before the doors were to open.

I remember right before I went in that various reporters were interviewing the fans outside and I was asked some questions too. Inside we were asked to write down our full name, address and phone number before we were granted our holy wristbands and tickets. We were told later that Guy Oseary had told fans all 200 there would be invited to the official UK premiere for Madonna’s ‘I’m Going To Tell You A Secret’ premiere later that month. We went home with the fans we met there to watch the Parkinson interview with Madonna before heading to our hotel for a beauty sleep.

We met up again at 3.30pm at KOKO to sit out the rest of our queuing, the queue was about the same as I had left it that morning. Many reporters came by again and also interviewed me on camera and I had absolutely no idea what it was for. I just remember answering to the questions asked ‘that it all was very very good.’ (see video)

When we finally got to go inside the tiny but beautiful venue we found a perfect spot at the right side of the catwalk of Madonna’s stage. The place reminded me a bit of Paradiso in Amsterdam, but much more intimate. The show was to be broadcast live so thank heavens for that as she started almost right on time! When Madonna emerged on stage……wow…..just wow!! The place went absolutely insane! I am sure you have seen the performance so I won’t need to explain why as Madonna was ON FIRE!!! If there is one performance of Madonna I have to label as flawless, it is without doubt this one. It was the first time I was treated to the new remix of ‘Let it Will Be’ (Paper Faces mix) and I was BLOWN away. The vibe you get from watching the broadcast…..it was even more insane being cramped up in there with your fellow fans and Madonna sticking her hand down her pants while rocking to that track. It was unreal, surreal, it was simply incredible. 

When Madonna finished her performance with ‘Everybody’ (see our sneakily filmed clip from that track here) everybody was soaked with sweat. I remember a couple of fans trying to get Madonna’s used bottle that was left on the stage, but security was stern. While making our way out of the venue we found out there were posters and shirts on sale as well as a little ‘photo booth.’

Outside we ran into Bob Geldof and he agreed to take a photo. We took some posters and two of the disco ball tiles that were placed outside on the street. Our pictures didn’t turn out that well as we had the camera on the wrong setting, so instead of one Madonna most images produced two. The images are in the gallery below and are quite trippy. I tried to enhance them just a bit, but improving these is quite the impossible task. 

Check out my full original report HERE

Check out our album page HERE

 

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Mirwais live interview French TV transcript (in relation to his work with Madonna)

Madonna News

From the live interview with Mirwais that aired just now on France 5 en direct

“Madonna is a music extremist, she could die for a good sound!” “She’s extremely impatient and asks me all the time, why does it take so long to become cool (in relation to my work to put her songs to music!)”. “She always wants to have the last word when we talk, so I talk to her about Spinoza and Freud to find something she can’t get her hands on…” (laughing) “Artistically I support her 1000%, but I don’t envy her at all, I have no desire to be in her entourage, I have no desire to live in her wake”. “However I always defend her, I find it disgusting that she is criticized for her artistic choices or even for her physique or her age… She fights for the music and for a real fight… We need more like her!” “I have been working with her for 20 years (we recently did Madame X together) and I can assure you that she has never changed! She has her feet on the ground and she is whole! She fights above all for the music”

Mirwais presented his new album which will be released on vinyl (and not on Deezer type internet platforms) he wants to release a collector’s item and many remixes and find the physical support is essential to the music.

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Destination Jam: Top 5 club-ready songs of 2020 to give you a party fix and forget Covid-19 news for a moment

Madonna News

Dua Lipa: ‘Levitating’, featuring Madonna and Missy Elliott (The Blessed Madonna Remix)

Pop sensation Dua Lipa released a club-ready remix version of her critically-acclaimed album ‘Future Nostalgia’ on August 28. Aptly titled ‘Club Future Nostalgia’ the song featured several contributions from famous names including Blackpink, Gwen Stefani and more. One of our favorites from the album is the collaborative remix for ‘Levitating’ which featured Missy Elliot and Madonna. The remix carries a funky, cybernetic energy and kicks up the tempo a few BPM as opposed to its ’80s, disco-toned original.

 

More at MEAWW

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‘Four Rooms’ limited Mediabook release (222 copies) with 3 choices of artwork (Germany)

Madonna News, Madonna's Filmography

On December 10 Four Rooms will be released on mediabook (Blu-ray+DVD) in Germany. It is a limited edition of 222 copies with three different versions of the artwork.

Extra’s include:

• Documentary ‘Four Directors’

• Four Friends

• Featurette

• Original trailer

• German trailer

• The four episodes (text)

• Trivia

• Production notes

• 16-page booklet with text by Christoph N. Kellerbach

ca. 94+98 Minuten
Freigabe: 16
Sprachen: Deutsch: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Englisch: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Französisch: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Untertitel: Deutsch, Englisch, Französisch
Bildformat: High Definition (1.85:1) – 1080p
Ländercode: 2+B

Pre-order:

Mediabook cover B

Mediabook cover C

Mediabook cover D

Thanks to Basti

 

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TIDAL Adds Millions of Master Quality Tracks, Offering Extensive Catalog of Highest Quality Streaming Audio

Madonna News

MQA Users have Doubled Since 2019 on TIDAL

TIDAL HiFi Users Now Stream 40% More Tracks in Master Quality than Last Year

NEW YORK, Nov. 12, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Today, global music and entertainment streaming platform, TIDAL, added millions of tracks in MQA from Warner Music Group to its Masters catalog. TIDAL, in partnership with MQA (Master Quality Authenticated), provides guaranteed delivery of the original sound recording with TIDAL Masters. Now music fans can listen to an expanded Masters catalog, featuring iconic albums from artists such as The Notorious B.I.G., Missy Elliott, LCD Soundsystem, Madonna and more.

MQA, led by Bob Stuart, who this year became the first audio engineer to receive the Prince Philip Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering, has pioneered an entirely new way of coding digital audio based on key insights into how humans hear. Key to the technology is MQA’s built-in authentication to confirm that the listener is getting the exact sound created in the studio. Additionally, MQA addresses the issue that when analogue sound is turned into digital, the process introduces time-smearing artefacts that blur sounds unnaturally. MQA solves these problems, and then the MQA decoder in the TIDAL app ensures the conversion back to analogue preserves the music’s pristine clarity.

Bob Stuart, MQA Founder, explained, “By paying great attention to the nature of sound and the way we hear, MQA opens a clear window and delivers all the detail and nuance of the original song. The music industry’s catalog contains millions of significant performances from the early days of CD where, sometimes, the recording was created in 44.1kHz 16bit and where no alternative existed. We are delighted that Warner Music Group is bringing this content to TIDAL.”

“TIDAL Masters offer the best sound available. As consumers’ expectations of high quality experiences increase, TIDAL’s audio innovation sets the bar for music listening,” said Lior Tibon, TIDAL COO. “Not only can members hear music exactly as their favorite artists recorded it, but with recent platform enhancements, the experience is as seamless as ever.”

In response to listeners’ requests to make it easier to listen to and discover more Masters tracks, TIDAL has added ‘Master Edition’ Artist Radio and Track Radio. TIDAL members can listen to radio stations in the best quality available containing  Masters only songs, uninterrupted. In conjunction, TIDAL is adding the Master Edition of My New Arrivals, a personalized playlist of new music in full master quality audio for members based on their listening habits. Using less bandwidth, MQA technology packages and delivers master quality audio to music fans making MQA files accessible to listeners on-the-go, with any headphones.

To further support a harmonious listening experience, TIDAL recently launched the “Connect” feature, which allows users to stream music from its HiFi tier directly to connected devices, including: Bluesound, Cambridge Audio, DALI, KEF, iFi audio, Lyngdorf, Monitor, NAD, and Naim Audio. Through TIDAL Connect, the platform’s unparalleled lossless audio quality can now be seamlessly experienced on members’ favorite devices with the touch of a button. For more information on how to connect, visit TIDAL.com/Connect

TIDAL offers the largest MQA catalog outside of China. In addition, TIDAL offers music lovers unlimited access to its extensive catalog of over 70 million tracks across all genres, thousands of expertly curated playlists by TIDAL’s seasoned editorial team, and endless artist radio stations.

TIDAL HiFi at a Glance

A TIDAL HiFi membership allows you to listen to the best quality sound based on your settings, selected playback device, and data availability. The HiFi tier offers a number of streaming options, including:

HiFi – High-fidelity sound comes from uncompressed music files. TIDAL HiFi utilizes FLAC, a more robust file format. In contrast, MP3 files are compressed to decrease file size, which can remove audio details, which can reduce sound quality. FLAC offers CD-quality audio in its purest form (1411kbps or 16bit / 44.1kHz)

Master – Authenticated and unbroken files with the highest possible resolution—as flawless as it sounded in the mastering suite. And exactly as the artist intended.

Dolby Atmos – An immersive audio experience. Dolby Atmos Music allows sounds to be precisely placed, adding dimensionality to create a full audio atmosphere.

Sony 360 Reality Audio – An immersive experience using Sony’s spatial audio technology to map out sound at any point or distance from your ears. This new listening experience is the culmination of years of acoustic and physiological studies of how we hear and place sounds.

Learn more on tidal.com/sound-quality 

About TIDAL
TIDAL is an artist-owned global music and entertainment platform that brings artists and fans closer together through unique original content and exclusive events. Available in 56 countries, the streaming service has more than 70 million songs and 250,000 high quality videos in its catalog along with original video series, podcasts, thousands of expertly curated playlists and artist discovery via TIDAL Rising. With the commitment of its owners to create a more sustainable model for the music industry, TIDAL is available in premium and HiFi tiers—recordings which includes Master Quality Authenticated (MQA), Sony’s 360 Reality Audio recordings, and Dolby Atmos Music.

About MQA
Using pioneering scientific research into how people hear, MQA has created a technology that captures the sound of the original studio performance. The master MQA file is fully authenticated and is small enough to stream, while also being backward compatible, so you can play MQA music on any device. MQA’s award-winning technology is licensed by labels, music services and hardware manufacturers worldwide and is certified by the RIAA.

For more information visit www.mqa.co.uk
Follow MQA on: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn
Press site: www.mqa.co.uk/press-and-pr

SOURCE TIDAL

Related Links

https://tidal.com

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Madonna’s “Justify My Love,” “WAP” and 10 Other Music Moments That Scandalized America

Madonna News

Double standard? Sure, but that’s nothing new, particularly if you’re a woman and/or POC. In fact, it was 30 years ago this month that Madonna released “Justify My Love,” a breathy trip-hop single co-written by Lenny Kravitz and Ingrid Chavez that was fairly PG in its lyrics but broached sadomasochism, androgyny and bisexuality in its accompanying video … which, of course, was banned (this all during the time when metal bands could pretty much treat women as literal objects in their own videos).

Given the anniversary — it’s also 30 years since 2 Live Crew’s own obscenity brouhaha, which we’ll cover below — we thought we’d look back at the songs, performances and videos that have scandalized the world over the years, and determine how they’d fare in 2020. (That “shocking” Madonna clip? Feels like an art film in today’s climate.)

Read full article at InsideHook

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’90s Flashback: Madonna’s Underrated “Rescue Me”

Madonna News
CREDIT: Sire Records

’90s Flashback: Madonna’s Underrated “Rescue Me”

In this franchise, we look back on our favorite bops — both hits and underrated gems — from the 1990s.

Every now and again, a music anniversary will make your head spin. And The Immaculate Collection turning 30 this week is one of them. Madonna’s landmark greatest hits compilation not only ranks as one of the best-selling albums of all time (it sold more than 30 million copies worldwide), it also serves as a time capsule of the 1980s. If you want to know what that decade sounded like, just press play. More importantly, it charts the Queen of Pop’s progression from bubblegum-pop diva to the risk-taking, rule-breaking icon she went on to become in the 1990s.

The two new songs, “Justify My Love” and “Rescue Me,” underscore this shift. Of course, the former is the best-remembered cut. Not only was it very, very good and highly controversial, the sexy anthem also topped the charts becoming Madonna’s ninth number one. Unfortunately, the other original has become something of a footnote in M’s holy discography, which is a shame because it was a groundbreaking bop in its own way. In some ways, “Rescue Me” can be thought of as a companion piece to “Vogue.” The execution isn’t as majestic, but it plays with the same ideas.

For starters, Madonna was experimenting with spoken-word or rapped verses. “I think when love is pure you try to understand the reasons why and I prefer this mystery,” the enduring hitmaker dictates, almost in a stream of consciousness. “It cancels out my misery and gives me hope that there could be a person that loves me.” The understated verses are juxtaposed with a massive, gospel-tinged chorus. “Rescue me, your love has given me hope,” Madonna belts over Shep Pettibone’s house beats. “Rescue me, I’m drowning, baby throw out your rope.”

“Rescue Me” was released as a single in early 1991. It was something of an afterthought and only really happened because radio started playing the song, forcing Warner’s hand. The single cover was recycled from “Justify My Love” and the banger didn’t even get a music video. Nonetheless, “Rescue Me” still became a sizable hit around the globe — peaking at number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. On the 30th anniversary of The Immaculate Collection revisit the album’s most underrated cut below.

More at IDOLATOR

 
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Confessions on a Dance Floor releaseparty FAME Amsterdam 15 years ago today! Check out the photo gallery

Madonna News

Fifteen years ago today we got to experience Madonna’s Confessions on a Dance Floor for the very first time in a worldwide premiere at FAME Music in Amsterdam.

In collaboration with Warner Music we celebrated the very first ever Dutch Madonna releaseparty at this location and it was a huge success! A lot of fans showed up and for many it was their ‘very first time’ to listen to Madonna’s brand new album. People had to queue outside at the side entrance to the store (right near the DAM) and once inside they got to purchase the album first before hitting the store’s disco dance floor. 

One lucky winner who dressed up the best to disco dresscode was rewarded with the mega rare official promotional Confessions on a Dance Floor disco ball in box (an item everyone wanted to win.)

There was a ton of beverages to consume and at the end of the night the megastore felt like a bar, beer cans everywhere! FAME had done their very best to transform the store into a disco and there were Confessions on a Dance Floor posters everywhere. 

It was a dream I had cherished ever since attending Mariah’s ‘The Emancipation of Mimi’ releaseparty at the very same store. I remember sitting there thinking what an awesome job DMCA (Dutch Mariah Carey fanclub), record company and FAME did and how amazing it would be to organise one for Madonna. 

Needless to say it has become a tradition with every new Madonna release. FAME has moved to two different locations since and the turn out hasn’t always matched the one of the debut party, but it has always been a pleasure to help. For Madonna’s last album Madame X the releaseparty was moved to Concerto in Amsterdam. 

Check out the pictures of the releaseparty and see if you can spot yourself!

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The Immaculate Collection turns 30!

Madonna News

Madonna’s best selling album of all time was released 30 years ago today! Today it still stands as one of the best selling albums of all time and THE best-selling album compilation by any artist ever!

The Immaculate Collection was originally titled ‘Ultra Madonna – The Immaculate Collection’ which was later shortened to just The Immaculate Collection. An early wea sales sheet from Holland tells us that the worldwide smash hit ‘Who’s That Girl’ WAS originally included in the tracklist and one new song only.

That idea was later replaced by scrapping Who’s That Girl all together and not adding one but two brand new tracks to the compilation (Justify My Love and Rescue Me.)

Check out our discography HERE

Check out our album page HERE


 

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Madonna’s ‘The Immaculate Collection’ Turns 30 | Anniversary Retrospective

Madonna News

Happy 30th Anniversary to Madonna’s The Immaculate Collection, originally released November 9, 1990.

Like so many of my generation, I grew up on a staple diet of ‘80s mullets, sitcoms of every kind, Cabbage Patch Kids and, of course, Madonna. The girl from Michigan covered in lace, hairspray and crucifixes immediately took the world by storm by positioning herself front and center, while provoking a ridiculous amount of discomfort among many of her observers, mostly to do with perceptions of sexuality, both hers and ours.

Smashing down the door that had been cracked open for her by those that walked before her, Madonna’s shock value was so much more than a calculated act, it was shaking up the patriarchy and prompting conversations that had largely remained taboo up until that point. Whilst many of those taboo subjects have now lost their edge and become more accepted, Madonna still manages to spark conversation on a range of topics and for the most part, we still listen.

In late 1990, Madonna again stimulated dialogue with the release of her first greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection. Given that the singer had only released her debut album Madonna seven years beforehand, it left many wondering “why so soon?” The curiosity paid off. It captivated listeners’ interest and Madonna delivered the goods with fifteen hits from her impressive ‘80s canon and two new tracks, “Justify My Love” and “Rescue Me.” The compilation has gone on to sell in excess of thirty-one million albums worldwide and it remains the best-selling compilation album by a solo artist and one of the most commercially successful albums of all time in its own right.

The first three tracks from the album—“Holiday,” “Lucky Star” and “Borderline” —cemented Madonna’s star power as she entered the world of pop. “Holiday” and its infectious upbeat “dance all night” vibe most definitely sets the tone for this album and without sounding facetious, shows just how far Madonna has come. “Lucky Star” continues the catchy, semi-vacuous lyrics, but it is with “Borderline” that we start to see the emergence of a woman who was beginning to master the art of the pop hook. Madonna’s awareness of her words and the art involved in being a true wordsmith was taking place.

By 1984, Madonna’s image was as much a topic of conversation as was her music. Like A Virgin, her second album, took on all the trimmings of the punk influence it aspired to be. Lace, fishnets and of course the crucifix were fast becoming every teen girl’s go-to accessories. A fashion moment was being born, and so was Madonna’s controversial fame.

Like A Virgin was Madonna’s first poke at sexual innuendo and with lines like “It feels so good inside” and “touched for the very first time,” this song not only became a smash for the star, but created a controversy that upset everyone from politicians to the Catholic Church. Madonna had people talking and she reveled in it. Taking a more feminine, female empowered turn with “Material Girl,” sass and dominating the male world were slowly being incorporated within her personal brand. Her feminine, sexual, but incredibly strong disposition coupled with her penchant for not suffering any fools was not only being channeled through her art, taking her to the top, but was also proving to be culturally iconic—something that many modern day singers still reference as a source of their inspiration.

Maturity in her lyrical game was becoming increasingly clear with the release of True Blue in 1986. “Live to Tell,” “Papa Don’t Preach” and “Open Your Heart” all highlight this beautifully. As Madonna sings about an unplanned pregnancy on “Papa Don’t Preach,” we are offered insight into not just a topical theme at the time, but also a view into Madonna’s own relationship with her father, her sole caretaker after her mother passed away when she was five years old. The raw emotion in the song isn’t just elicited through her words, it almost feels as if she is singing directly from experience. Either way, this was yet another cultural moment for Madonna. 

As The Immaculate Collection draws to a close, the Like A Prayer album comes into full swing. By this stage, Madonna had already been crowned as the “Queen of Pop” and her stratosphere was further expanded by the album’s lead sing and title track. With its topical fusion of racism, social injustice, religion and authority, needless to say that Madonna and her black Jesus were again in controversial territory. 

With conservatives and the church now firmly up in arms against the Queen of Pop, Madonna continued with the anthemic “Express Yourself,” calling on her listeners to not “go for second best baby, put your love to the test,” again reasserting herself as a kind of newfound feminist guru unafraid of her femininity and sexuality, and she wanted all who listened to follow suit. “Vogue,” Justify My Love” and the video-less “Rescue Me” continued this theme providing banned videos, denounced lyrics and a courage and fearlessness not seen in any female performer up to this point. She wasn’t just knocking at the patriarchy’s door—she was kicking it down.

It’s incredible to think that The Immaculate Collection covers just seven years of the singer’s career, but those seven early years are also a major part of a decade that saw so much change and was determined to welcome in even more. This album represents so much more than a narcissistic collection of hits—it is a musical diary that highlights the cultural moment that Madonna initiated, developed and conquered. This is the moment when female empowered lyrics took control wholeheartedly and its facilitator, Madonna, proved time and time again why she deserved the title of “Queen of Pop.”

A collection of immaculate songs it is, The Immaculate Collection it will always be.

LISTEN:

More at Albumism
 
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