Madonna Album: “The Immaculate Collection”

Here are just some of Madonna's early classic hits. When this compilation was assembled, Madonna already had too many hits to include them all on a single CD, hence the omission of Angel, Dress you up, Gambler, True blue and all the hits from the soundtrack, Who's that girl? Because of her continuous success in the years that followed the release of this compilation, a comprehensive Madonna hits collection would now require a triple CD. That is a measure of her brilliance, sustained over a very long period of time.

The set begins with three hits from her debut album, of which Holiday is the best but Lucky star and Borderline are also wonderful. Then come Like a virgin and Material girl, two of the singles released from her outstanding second album. Crazy for you, an excellent ballad, and Into the groove, a superb dance song, come next. Although the title track is omitted, four other major hits from the True blue album (Live to tell, Papa don't preach, Open your heart, La Isla Bonita) can be found here, each one of them a classic but very different from each other. Three major hits from Like a prayer include Express yourself and Cherish. Vogue (from I'm breathless) and two tracks not available on any previous album (Justify my love, Rescue me) complete the set.

Anybody who does not understand why Madonna has such a huge fan base only has to listen to this compilation to find out why. Catchy pop tunes with interesting lyrics (for those that bother to listen to the words) are Madonna's trademark, yet she manages to avoid becoming formulaic. Madonna has continuously changed her style, so you don't hear the same sound over and over again.

There is no definitive Madonna compilation yet but we may have to wait a few years for that. Until that time, this is the best introduction to her music that is available.

The Immaculate Collection delivers all the main hits by Madonna from the early 80's to aroung 1990. Although there are still a few hits missing ("Dress You Up," "Who's That Girl,"etc...), the Immaculate Collection delivers the goods. The cd starts out with the early 80's hit "Holiday" a nice, fun song, with a very happy beat. There is also the sorta bubble gum poppish sounding song- "Lucky Star" on the album. Madonna's hit "Borderline" which is also featured on first self-titled album, is a song about love. "Live a Virgin" the controversial song with a very controversial performance at the 1984 Video Music Awards is sure to get you into a good mood. "Into the Groove" which appeared on Madonna's movie, Desperately Seeking Susan, is sure to make you get into the groove for dancing. The slow, but powerful songs inlude "Live to Tell" and "Crazy For You". As the cd continues Madonna's voice sounds more mature and her songs start focusing more on sex. The hip song "Express Yourself" which has a steamy music video (not included on the Immaculate Collection, unfortunately:( ) has a good dance beat. There is the very elegant lady-like song "Vogue" the 1990 hit is featured on the Collection. There are two extra, experimental songs featured on the album- "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me". "Justify My Love" well...what can I say about it? Madonna'a sexy whispering voice creates the perfect sound and pulls off this song. The music video for "Justify My Love" was banned from MTV and VH1 for so much sexual and homosexual content. "Rescue Me" has a very disco, 70's ish feel to it.

Madonna was still hot in the 90's, but I personally like her beginning sounds much better. I liked how she constantly changed her image all the time, never knowing what she would do next to create controversiary.

The Immaculate Collection is by one of Madonna'a greatest albums out there. It is filled with the 80's hits by Madonna which will please everyone. I highly recommend this cd! Buy it! You won't be disappointed!

And let me tell you why. Most all of these songs are not the original versions. Many have been remixed ( read the liner notes, you'll see Shep Pettibone credited ), and many have been shortened. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. In the case of the later hits Express Yourself and Like a Prayer, I actually prefer the remixed "house" style versions remixed here by Pettibone. In the case of the earlier hits, it's butchery, plain and simple. Into the Groove is a travesty, a remixed shell of the orginal. It sounds sped up, and barely gets to the "now I know you're mine" part ( my favourite part, no less ) before the plug is pulled and we are on to the next hit. Holiday, Lucky Star and Borderline get the same treatment also. And that's just the singles that ARE here. SO MUCH is missing, so many hits, major and minor,like Dress You Up, that are not included. This could have ( and indeed SHOULD have ) been a two-disc set, with all the original hits, intact, as they were released. As it is, it is a perfectly acceptable, if economical and flawed, introduction to Madonna's early hits. What this woman needs is a box set. Plain and simple.

This is an okay CD, but it has some major flaws. ALL of the songs on here are NOT the original LP edits or radio versions. For example, the remixed "Borderline" is so distorted that you can barely hear the original keyboard arrangements! Also, "Like A Prayer" is a completely different version. Instead of releasing the promo versions of the Madonna songs we recognize on the radio, they released this. Also, there are an inexcuseable number of Madonna's other hits that were scrapped. "The Immaculate Collection" is not satisfactory for die-hard fans.

By 1990, Madonna had already scored enouh hits in a mere 7 years to warrant a "greatest hits" package. It did seem odd, as Madonna wasn't even half done with her chart conquest (which has cooled down since the top 10 hit "Die Another Day"). Plus, it leaves lot of good songs and legitimate hits out (including the number one "Who's That Girl"). But it still features some of the best pop music ever recorded by one i its all - time greatest artists.

The cd begins with "Holiday". Appropiate to start off th album since it was her first hit, it was with this bright, upbeat dance number that Madonna began shooting off a rapid - fire series of hit singles between 1984 and 1990. Songs like "Like A Virgin" and "Papa Don't Preach" made Madonna to be the bad girl of the 1980s', a sort of Janis Joplin of the decade. However, the undeniable sweetness in songs like "Crazy For You", "Open Your Heart" and "Cherish" (my personal favorite) proved to that the Material Girl wasn't all that bad. What this album goes to show that Madonna was much more than just a pop culture icon. She was a skilled musician whose talent rivaled many other "poseur" 1980s' artists who made it off with one or two hits. And "Vogue" proved that the 1990s' would bring more good fortune.

The hits not here aren't among her most popular. However, for those interested in just seeing what they were, I will give you the complete list of chart singles (which means that "Everybody" and "Physcial Attraction" won't be included since neither made the hot 100) up to the album's release date in 1990 that are excluded, plus their peak position on Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Chart. The missing singles read as follows:

"Angel" (number 5)

"Dress You Up" (number 5)

"True Blue" (number 3)

"Who's That Girl" (number 1)

"Causing A Commotion" (number 2)

"Oh Father" (number 20)

"Keep It Together" (number 8)

"Hanky Panky" (number 10)

When this collection was first released, Madonna recorded two new songs for the album. Both of these songs wound up becoming hit singles for the singer. First was the Lenny Kravitz - penned "Justify My Love". This steamy, provocotive song may well be the most controversial single of Madonna's caeer. MTV went as far as to ban the video, putting a huge mar on Madonna's reign as the music video queen. "Rescue Me" is a really dark number with a pulsating dance rhythm. This song became notable for entering the Hot 100 at number 15, the highest debut ever for a single release by a female artist. The song peaked at number 9.

This is a great collection of Madonna's msuic. I'm sure in the future that a more comprehensive, 2 - disc set will be released to acccomodate all of the missing tracks I mentioned as well as many of her later hits (e.g. "Erotica" to "American Life"). Until then, this set will more than do.