Music

by Madonna

Overview

Filled with vocoders, stylish neo-electro beats, dalliances with trip-hop, and, occasionally, eerie synthesized atmospherics, Music blows by in a kaleidoscopic rush of color, technique, style, and substance. It has so many layers that it's easily as self-aware and earnest as Ray of Light, where her studiousness complemented a record heavy on spirituality and reflection. Here, she mines that territory occasionally, especially as the record winds toward its conclusion, but she applies her new tricks toward celebrations of music itself. That's not only true of the full-throttle dance numbers but also for ballads like "I Deserve It" and "Nobody's Perfect," where the sentiments are couched in electronic effects and lolling, rolling beats. Ultimately, that results in the least introspective or revealing record Madonna has made since Like a Prayer, yet that doesn't mean she doesn't invest herself in the record. Working with a stable of producers, she has created an album that is her most explicitly musical and restlessly creative since, well, Like a Prayer. She may have sacrificed some cohesion for that willful creativity but it's hard to begrudge her that, since so much of the album works. If, apart from the haunting closer "Gone," the Orbit collaborations fail to equal Ray of Light or "Beautiful Stranger," they're still sleekly admirable, and they're offset by the terrific Guy Sigsworth/Mark "Spike" Stent midtempo cut "What It Feels Like for a Girl" and Madonna's thriving partnership with Mirwais. This team is responsible for the heart of the record, with such stunners as the intricate, sensual, folk-psych "Don't Tell Me," the eerily seductive "Paradise (Not for Me)," and the thumping title track, which sounds funkier, denser, sexier with each spin. Whenever she works with Mirwais, Music truly comes alive with the spark and style. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	06/10/2008
Label:	Warner Bros.
UPC:	0093624786511

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Madonna   Primary Artist,Vocals
Paul Stacey   Guitar (Acoustic)
Rupert Everett   Vocals (Background)
Guy Sigsworth   Guitar,Keyboards
William Orbit   Drums,Guitar,Keyboards,Vocals (Background)
Steve Sidelnyk   Drums
Mirwais Ahmadzai   Keyboards,Guitar (Acoustic)

Technical Credits

Damian LeGassick   Composer
Traditional   Composer
Chris Ribando   Assistant Engineer
Joe Henry   Composer
Talvin Singh   Composer
Don McLean   Composer
Jake Davies   Engineer,Pro-Tools
Geoff Foster   Engineer,String Engineer
David Torn   Composer
Mark "Spike" Stent   Mixing,Producer
Madonna   Composer,Producer
Mark Endert   Engineer
Sean Spuehler   Engineer,Pro-Tools,Programming
Michel Colombier   Arranger
Mirwais   Producer
Guy Sigsworth   Composer,Producer,Programming
William Orbit   Composer,Producer
Howie Weinberg   Mastering
Mirwais Ahmadzai   Composer,Producer,Drum Programming
Dan Vickers   Assistant Engineer
Jean Baptiste Mondino   Photography
Kevin Reagan   Design,Art Direction
Matthew Lindauer   Design
Nik Young   Composer
Brad Munn   Engineer
Tim Lambert   Assistant Engineer
Ciccone   Composer
Tim Young   Mastering