MDNA
| Madonna
MDNA
MDNA is the twelfth studio album by American singer Madonna, released on March 23, 2012, by Interscope Records. The album was conceived while the singer was busy throughout 2011 with filming her directorial venture, W.E. Madonna started the recording in July 2011 and collaborated with a variety of producers such as Alle Benassi, Benny Benassi, Demolition Crew, Free School, Michael Malih, Indiigo, William Orbit and Martin Solveig, the last two serving as primary producers of the record. The recording process was smooth although Madonna found difficulty working with Benny Benassi who did not speak fluent English and had to use Alle Benassi as interpreter. A pop and EDM record, MDNA consisted of both introspective as well as upbeat songs. Lyrically the record explored themes such as partying, love for music, infatuation, as well as heartbreak, revenge and separation. The album's title was a triple entendre and its allusion to MDMA drew negative reception from anti-drug group. - WIKIPEDIA
Critic Reviews
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Pitchfork
Large chunks of MDNA are shockingly banal, coming across not so much as bad pop songs per se, but as drably competent tunes better suited to D-list Madonna wannabes.
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CoS
Madge feels the need to hammer in the idea that she’s still a bad girl.
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RollingStone
Yup, MDNA is our lady’s divorce album.
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SLANT
MDNA is surprisingly cohesive.
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The Telegraph
Madonna's 12th album MDNA finds her still in imperious pop mode.
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The Guardian
Neither triumph nor disaster, Madonna's new album is business as usual – but then this is no usual business.
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TIME
the bad girl struggles to sound fresh.
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CLASH
Yes, there are 'Did she really do that?' moments... But'MDNA' is mostly filled with moments when listening to Madonna still feels like the most thrilling thing any pop fan could possibly hope to experience.
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popMATTERS
Madonna's 13th studio album is a hypnotic clusterfuck of refreshingly raw emotion from an artist who has been much too calculated in her recent years.
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musicOHM
When it comes to partaking in pop, MDNA has easily set itself out as 2012's go-to drug of choice.
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BBC
It's got its faults, but MDNA isn't just a good pop album, it's a good Madonna album too.
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INDEPENDENT
MDNA represents a determined, no-nonsense restatement of the Madonna brand.
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Boston Phoenix
Luckily for fans of music and controversy alike, Madonna's compulsions reap musical dividends as she continues to bang into a dance-tastic G-spot, and the results are part sour, part sweet.
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Chicago Tribune
It's her best album since "Ray of Light" in 1998.
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American Songwriter
No, MDNA can't be hailed as Madge's best ever album, and it may not contain the most thought- provoking lyrics of her career but it is the reigning Queen of Pop's most inspired work.
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ALL MUSIC
All this exertion leads to an excessively lean album: there's not an ounce of fat on MDNA, it's all overly defined muscle, every element working with designated purpose.
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SPIN
The second half of this album is far more earnest; and in related news, far less fun.
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The New York Times
It's a bipolar collection that pumps out effervescent electronic pop before making way for a contentious personal agenda.
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NME
MDNA is a ridiculously enjoyable romp, but oddly not for the bits that are supposed to be fun. Instead, it's the psychotic, soul-bearing stuff that provides listeners with some of the most visceral stuff she's ever done.
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NOW
A few breakdowns and builds fly off the rails on the clubbier numbers, but the better songs balance shiny, modern production with exuberant melodies and timeless songwriting.
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DROWNED IN SOUND
It's Madonna's conservatism that drags her latest record down to the status of a ragtag collection.
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AV/MUSIC
An album that's competent, but equally perfunctory.
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FACT
MDNA runs the gamut of quality from ghastly to mediocre to brilliant, but it's not the unmitigated disaster that many feared.
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The Quietus
Continuing Hard Candy's pattern of awful try-hard title and 'show the young uns you've still got it' bangers, it's disappointing in its lack of ambition.
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Los Angeles Times
The album offers evidence that the singer has fallen behind, that she is no longer setting the conversation in a genre she essentially invented.
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No Ripcord
[The music] is not exactly bad, but has about as much creativity and passion behind it as a spreadsheet.
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BEATS PER MINUTE
I'd say that MDNA is at the very least "not bad," but frankly, it's worse than bad: it's mediocre.
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PRETTY MUCH AMAZING
MDNA is a jumble of lows and just a few highs, an exasperating portrait of an artist seemingly in the midst of crisis
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muumuse
Face it, she’s Madonna.
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MTV News
a collection of thoroughly pumping pop tunes, some of which are slices of sheer brilliance.
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Digital Spy
Not only can she pull off the latest trends, but she does so one better than most.
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pop crush
The album's sexual metaphors define the lyrics. That's 'MDNA' in a nutshell.
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nzherald
it's a mixed bag with numerous throwaway moments offset with some magical Madonna ones too.
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LBS
this album is that Madonna essentially took the best moments from her expansive 30 year career and fit them on one album.
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The San Diego Union-Tribune
Madonna still brings heat, beats on 'MDNA'.
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Vuture
If there’s one thing MDNA is extraordinarily good at, it’s reminding you of all the less businesslike and perfunctory music you could be listening to instead.
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Weekend Notes
no amount of duetting with big-bottomed rappers can save MDNA from falling rather short of the mark.
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Red
The queen of pop is back, and this time with an album that screams 'Im ready to dance'
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That Grape Juice
‘MDNA’ is solid pop art, yet nowhere near close to being as revolutionary as it should or could be.
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NUS
Some of the tracks are filled with anger and eroticism, others seem to be rather light-hearted and carefree.
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superADRIANme
MDNA may not be her best album, but for Madonna fans, it contains all the elements that will build continued loyalty to this pop royalty.
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express.co.uk
an album of edgy clubby numbers.
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REAL STYLE network
The tracks are catchy, but listening to them gets a little repetitive after awhile.
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The Daily Telegraph
MDNA is the many shades of Madonna finally brought together on one album.
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SLATE
Is Madonna too old to make Madonna-music?
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Daily Star Sunday
Full-on hardcore club mayhem, from lunatic murder fantasies (Gang Bang) to sweet love songs (Superstar) MDNA will leave fans in ecstasy.
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plugged in
she tries to wind the clock back to a sexier time, throwing herself with abandon into the familiar role of the unrepentant sinner, shamelessly thumbing her nose at Jesus and Catholicism as she goes.
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My Monumental Icons
as Queen Of Pop, she has much to do in order to keep leading the pack.
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Rocksucker
for the most part one of the most charmless and unnecessary albums this writer has ever had the misfortune to exist in the same realm as, it does actually have one or two redeeming features.
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Hypable
‘MDNA’ is a hollow pop record with moments of excitement.
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musikexpress (translated)
Lady who? A dance pop album, as if nothing had happened since Hard Candy.
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The Atlantic
It's a surprisingly honest, if musically uneven, album from the Queen of Pop.
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IDOLATOR
This Is A Dark Album.
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METRO
Madonna has never merely borrowed from other genres and subcultures, she acts like she owns them, and this album reasserts her claim on centre stage.
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madonnarama
MDNA is an album full of surprises. It’s more than just another dance record. It’s personal, dark, fun and even silly at times.
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POP! BANG! BOOM!
‘MDNA’ is a collection of interesting songs, rather than just a few singles and some filler.
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MatD
MDNA is not jaw-dropping but rather tries to follow the commercial Lady Gaga trend than to establish a brand new musical direction and without any surprise.
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My Bedroom Wall
Not a classic but not a turkey either.
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XOjane
MDNA” is a good dance album that bears repeat listens.
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The Social Sonic Traveler
MDNA proves that Madonna truly is a modern-day marvel who, once again, has remarkably found a way to amend her sound to the times for now the fourth consecutive decade.
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POPJOURNALISM
it's a return to form.
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OK!
She's always been an expert at tapping into current musical trends, and MDNA is no different.
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Yorkshire Evening Post
MDNA just doesn’t feel much fun.
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UWire
Where’s the energy? Not in MDNA.
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FACT
she now sounds like a woman groping in the dark, occasionally hitting on a trick that works but still unsure of what her voice should be.
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We Are: The Guard
this album is truly infantile and also insulting to anyone looking for more than a 55 year old woman singing sexual inuendo ditties made for 12 year olds.
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The Salt Lake Tribune
"MDNA" is the best Madonna album since 2000's "Music.
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the carillon
MDNA is a mediocre album. It really doesn’t push the limits of music, but can you really expect more from a 53-year-old mother of four?
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MOntreal Gazette
MDNA is often hard to resist.
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The Advertiser
it's not Madonna at the top of her game.
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Boston Globe
New album finds her tearing up the dance floor.
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The Young Folks
Madonna still keeps her throne as queen of pop but remains relevant with today’s music by adding an even more electronic sound to her repertoire.
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UPROXX
Madonna finds beauty in the beat on ‘MDNA’.
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DAILY ECHO
Madonna proves she's still worthy of Queen of Pop title.
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jennpops
MDNA offers is the ideal that pop doesn’t always have to be the newest, craziest thing to be effective.
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AURORA UNIVERSITY SPARTAN MEDIA
it’s clear that the woman who has spent over 30 years in the spotlight has nothing new to say.
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notabledance
MDNA offers little to set it apart from what the majority of artists are releasing these days. She does nothing better, but she also does nothing worse.
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Bitch Stole My Remote
MDNA is not perfect, but there are moments that work and are rewarding.
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TIME OUT
MDNA is big, certainly. And it’s canny, if not clever. But essentially, it’s the sound of a proven formula being tweaked. Again.
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gigwise
"It will leave even her most hardened fans feeling crappy once the buzz has passed"
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Rock Show Critique
just a dance record with a few solid Madonna pop songs thrown in for good measure.
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Jive in the 415
I think this album is worth owning if you’re a Madonna fan, and I give this album a solid
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WBEZ 91.5 Chicago
MDNA is in fact exceeding sparse on soul-baring insights—or soul, period.
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