flood

@ Northern: well, in this way I can agree with you a bit more; I don't completely agree that it ages in a few years (there are far more productions that age), but it is undeniable that the main purpose of that genre of music is to capture attention at the moment the product is released. However, this can still be done with "class" and good taste... I always recommend looking at who the producers have been over the years that worked with Madonna (and the artists she collaborated with) to draw "parallels" with other much more acclaimed artists and to realize that the musical proposal was anything but thrown together.

Northern would just need to read the list of all the people Madonna has collaborated with (plugging his eyes and ears for a couple of terrible gigs) to realize that the "musical" aspect is not so foreign in his productions, quite the opposite... the list is long and prestigious, let's not fall into clichés.
Anyway, for me, the final rating is 3.5, so I lowered my previous 4 a bit.

I believe this is still her best-selling album...it's a sort of small greatest hits, her "thriller." Perhaps the sounds and production are starting to age, but they were still light-years ahead of contemporary dance-pop productions. The review is ironic, but you could have provided a bit more "technical" detail, like the fact that this is the first album where Madonna participates in the writing of all the tracks (not all of which are successful; Love Makes The World Go Round is one of her most embarrassing songs) and it’s the first time she takes on the role of co-producer. The following year, Patrick Leonard (definitely her most important and “characteristic” collaborator, with all due respect to Orbit) would team up with Bryan Ferry to produce Bête Noire (of which he was also a co-writer on many tracks) that shares quite a few affinities with this album (obviously in terms of sounds).

Very good... and then this is my favorite Bowie album!

This review is anything but useless; it is well-written and truthful, and, above all, it is a well-argued critique of a bad album, made with knowledge of the subject and not written just to slam a band that one doesn't like. Unfortunately, in my collection, I have both this album and the even worse Liberty, while I don't possess their better works... unfortunately, this prevents me from wanting to explore Duran's music further (of which I still appreciate numerous singles); I'm still too burned!

The album is perhaps a bit too homogeneous, especially in the production, but it is undeniably captivating, with several classy songs. Moreover, I find this latest one to be much more "Smiths-like" than You Are The Quarry (which I actually liked a bit more). I will never understand, though, why Viva Hate is so popular...

I like it more and more with each listen, really a great album, and it's definitely superior to Guero. However, I didn't find it convoluted or rambling at all; on the contrary, the listening experience feels quite pleasant and smooth despite being such a long album. I agree that 1000BPM is the weakest track (but that's the only flaw).

I find them a bit tedious (after a while they wear you out) and indeed a bit (very) ridiculous (but that's a matter of taste)...but all in all, this isn't a bad record; it's well-packaged and designed to entertain (and of course to sell), and I see nothing wrong with that. On the other hand, the review seems too uncritical (and quite nitpicky) and extremely subjective, too biased not only against the band in question but also against a certain type of music in general.

Mariaelena is reviewing all my favorite albums... and always very well! The review is written very well, maybe a bit too "emphatic," but you have a very recognizable style.

Come on, I don't think Coming Up is so bad that it should be completely disregarded...sure, it's inferior to the first two albums and what's harder to digest is that it's stripped of those very excesses, both sonic and otherwise, that made them so captivating up to that point. However, I find that its songs are quite good; with that album, Anderson reinvented himself (it was inevitable after Butler's departure), making everything more carefree, deliberately more "plastic" and less dramatic...it's their more frivolous side, but that doesn't make it any less inspired; it deserves a rediscovery.