I could say something cliché and make reference to how Madonna has reinvented herself yet again or that she has changed the face of music as usual.
But I won’t. She has done much more than that.
“American Life,” her thirteenth album, is riddled with new sounds the regular Madonna fan will find refreshing and humble.
“Music” and “Ray of Light” left people thinking she had finally gotten too weird and would lose her appeal, which was my initial thought for this one too. But after a few listens, I think she’s got another winner.
The material girl shows off her classical guitar skills as well as her skills in the production booth.
For this album, she did seem a little indecisive when deciding on her signature sound.
In some songs, she remained consistently European techno-ish like her last few albums. However, on the rest of the CD she sounds overwhelmingly folkish.
Excellent examples of the latter are track seven and eight — “Intervention” and “X-Static Process.”
She sounds like a mix between Sheryl Crow, Joni Mitchell and James Taylor — sort of.
“Nobody Knows Me” and “Mother and Father” come back and hit listeners with a fiercely computerized sound.
I can’t wait for some DJs to get their hands on these tracks. People definitely will be dancing to these songs at clubs before the year is out.
To acquire this fresh sound, Madonna enlisted the help of Mirwais Ahmadzai, the famed producer that piloted her “Music” record, and gave his input on some tracks from her Grammy-winning “Ray of Light” CD.
As much as this record is stretching her ability, “American Life” really exhausts his ability as well. It pulls back from his electronica roots and forces him to work on his seamless producing.
In a 2000 interview with Billboard magazine Madonna said, “I truly believe that this man is a genius … I listen to his stuff and I think, this is the future of sound.”
I agree. Even though his forte is electronica, he proved himself to be a formidable force in the production world.
Overall, this album is pretty decent. The only thing I could live without is the rap in the title track. Leave the rapping to … well … other people.