Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 12/15/2007
Run Time: 39:47
True Blue is the album where
Madonna truly became
Madonna the Superstar -- the endlessly ambitious, fearlessly provocative entertainer that knew how to outrage, spark debates, get good reviews -- and make good music while she's at it. To complain that
True Blue is calculated is to not get
Madonna -- that's a large part of what she does, and she is exceptional at it, but she also makes fine music. What's brilliant about
True Blue is that she does both here, using the music to hook in critics just as she's baiting a mass audience with such masterstrokes as
"Papa Don't Preach," where she defiantly states she's keeping her baby. It's easy to position anti-abortionism as feminism, but what's tricky is to transcend your status as a
dance-pop diva by consciously recalling classic
girl-group pop (
"True Blue," "Jimmy Jimmy") to snag the critics, while deepening the
dance grooves (
"Open Your Heart," "Where's the Party"), touching on
Latin rhythms (
"La Isla Bonita"), making a plea for world peace (
"Love Makes the World Go Round"), and delivering a tremendous
ballad that rewrites the rules of
adult contemporary crossover (
"Live to Tell"). It's even harder to have the entire album play as an organic, cohesive work. Certainly, there's some calculation behind the entire thing, but what matters is the end result, one of the great
dance-pop albums, a record that demonstrates
Madonna's true skills as a songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
;)
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