SCENESTER FILES

Music Scene: To Be More Famous Than I Am! --Madonna
By: Partrick Antosh

The chameleon of modern music, Madonna has resurfaced with a new album.  As the high priestess of pop she’s morphed from harlot to virgin and back again, dragging believers and non-believers along with her. I remember Like a Virgin shocking its way to an MTV ban. 20 years later the little vixen is a married mom writing children's books and praising the Lord.

NO MORE! At least on the surface. With the release of Confessions on a Dance Floor the Madge fan is lulled back into yesteryear, a welcome trip after the disappointing American Life.  A purple clad roller boogie queen is a much hotter visual than a Patty Hearst Commando and the disc reflects the triteness of her new look.  Before I go too far I want to make it clear that I like this album, I just don’t know for how long. Listening to it is like a one night stand that reminds you of an ex.  A really good idea at the start but by the end you remember why you dumped them in the first place.

The 12 tracks are a seductive bump and grind.  The Abba inspired Hung Up grabs you easily and later the multi-lingual Sorry recalls the euro styling of Falco.  Any ear over 30 will probably recognize riffs from the 80s in most, if not all the songs.  For a woman who’s been around longer than most of the music she samples, Retro seems like a double negative.

After her last few cloistered years Madonna recently said, “People might find it hard to believe but I still want to be even more famous than I am”.  Now with public attacks on her from Sharon Osborne, her own feud with Paris Hilton and even being found guilty of plagiarism over Frozen the diva is using her patented recipe of media and medley to hype her new album.  All together it’s a simple pop album that’s easy to like but will be just as easy to forget.