TRAINWRECKORDS: "American Life" by Madonna

I'm sure that's not what she was going for... but what's with the burning crosses?

i was DEFINITELY following the music news at that time and i totally forgot about it too, lmaooo

surasshu

This is tangential to the video but... wait, Madonna kissed Christina Aguilera at that VMAs show too? And nobody talked about that??

Shiny Skunk

Good find with the college scandal comic. I miss Walt Handelsman (damn you paywalls).

Pietro Gagliardi

why does American Life have the same chorus structure as Borderline by Tame Impala??

Jordan Schmidt

Does Hail to the Thief count as a protest album? Because I think that one is pretty damn good

TectonicImprov

Lady Gaga is bi, so she's not writing "outside of herself," she's writing about her own experiences as a part of the community.

Zero Hutchinson

Die Another Day convinced me that Britney Spear's toxic was a bond theme in my memory.

sugarfrosted

Tbh, I think this episode highlights what Lady Gaga was able to do in the early 2010's that Madonna ultimately failed at. When Gaga tackled familiar yet weighty issues in 'Born this Way' (the title track, and some of the deep cuts as well), it felt like she was able to write outside of herself and put herself in the shoes of an often discriminated-against member of the LGBT. Madonna has always been pro-gay and pro-feminist of course, but it never came across in the actual text/writing in her music, possibly because of her seemingly narcissistic tendencies. And while Gaga hasn't made any more work so far that could sustain the impact of those first two albums, the image and the music of those eras still won her a decade's worth of fiercely devoted fans. Something Madonna never really enjoyed (to that extent).

Franco del Rosario

This album reminds me of Lindsay Bluth

Michael Furey

I do recall Elton John calling "Die another day" the worst Bond theme ever.

Gilbert Cortes

You know, it's funny that you release this video around the time that people are still watching Stranger Things season 3, which, need I remind everybody, has a montage set to "Material Girl". It just goes to show that Madonna could be provocative in no other time but the 80's.

Michael

Linkin Park also had a few good anti-war songs like "Shadow of the Day" and I think Mosh is one of Eminem's most underrated songs and I will defend it on my deathbed.

RedBedroomRecords

Yeah Madonna's failure to change with the times didn't help.

RedBedroomRecords

I actually like this album but I get why others don't, love that banned music video with George W Bush getting a grenade in his lap though, i'd love to see her do one like that for agent orange next.

RedBedroomRecords

I would actually love to see this - Adore seems like a great candidate for a career ender that is actually really good (or at least *I* like it a lot)

Lindsay Ellis

Well, I've never been really a fan of Madonna but American Life is the only Madonna album I like. But "Look what you made me do" is the only Taylor Swift song I like so what do I know... :D

Robert

Were you thinking of covering any albums which were considered commercial failures at the time but are actually good? I was thinking along the lines of Adore by the Smashing Pumpkins.

He mentions both of those songs in the video.

Charles Kieser

It's always been my impression that the real reason that the 60s got good protest music wasn't because of the war itself, it was because of the draft. Bunch of 18-to-20-year-olds dragged off to a war not even out of a misplaced sense of patriotism instilled by a recruiter, but against their will? Right at the age their friends in the states are starting bands of their own? Probably lent a LOT to the righteous indignation at the time.

Rick Griffin

I had no idea there even was an album between Music and Confessions. At the time of Confessions, it did seem more like a comeback than a continuation of a legacy when I watched the Hung Up video get promo on TRL, and it's easy to see now in hindsight that it's because American Life was rightly and completely ignored.

Saffron C

See my previous comment.

HankMan

This video made me realize that the only Madonna song I can actually name after 4 Minutes is Give Me All Your Loving, and that's only because of MIA.

Graeme

That Glen or Glenda clip! Such a quotable movie for all the wrong reasons...

chunkusmanhunkus

You think the Trump administration would be giving us some decent protest music but not so much it seems.

love Trainwreckords

Kathrin Shawcross

I wonder if Madonna's severe drop off on the Hot 100 was also partly because of the music climate. If you look at the top 40 from the week American Life got in there, there's shockingly few pop songs that aren't R&B-tinged or just adult contemporary. Of course, American Life is not the song that was going to break that hegemony https://acharts.co/us_singles_top_100/2003/17

Matt Ryan

Hey, leave Adam Granduciel out of this. :p

Mark Grondin

You want to know why we didn't get any good music out of the Iraq War? Because of the War on Drugs.

HankMan

American Life? Definitely a flop, but wasn't Confessions on a Dancefloor a big hit soon afterwards? It wasn't quite as popular in the US as it was in Europe, but it was still heavily acclaimed and "Hung Up" was one of the biggest hits of the decade around the world and made it into the top 10 of the Hot 100. There was also "7 Minutes" with Justin Timberlake in 2008.

Jacqueline Sailer

The best of Todd comes out when he gets to geek about Madonna

I was just wondering if we'd see a new Trainwreckords! This is going to be a treat.

Owen W