Entering into the 1990's, Madonna was already on top of her game following the highly successful "Like a Prayer" album, but that would be the last of 80's Madonna, as the superstar once again reinvented both her music and her image into something that would lose her some fans, yet gain her even more, pushing the envelope once again amidst seas of controversy.
Blond Ambition was Madonna's third world tour, performed in support of the Like a Prayer CD. It was this tour that would set a new standard for concert tours, as the entire show was done in a series of carefully choreographed vignettes that were highly entertaining and visually stunning. A critically acclaimed documentary film, Truth or Dare, accompanied the tour and showcased what would be one of Madge's all-time best tours...named the greatest concert tour of the 90's by Rolling Stone Magazine.
One of the most inventive, and controversial, scenes in Blond Ambition was Madonna's performance of her standard, "Like a Virgin." Lying on a bed surrounded by two male dancers with decidedly pointed breasts, the singer works her way through a slowed down, erotic version of the old pop tune, coming to a climax, literally, at the end. In the film, this particular performance almost got her into a heap of trouble in the "fascist state of Toronto," hehe. Check it out:
Strike a pose!
Blond Ambition
Blond Ambition was Madonna's third world tour, performed in support of the Like a Prayer CD. It was this tour that would set a new standard for concert tours, as the entire show was done in a series of carefully choreographed vignettes that were highly entertaining and visually stunning. A critically acclaimed documentary film, Truth or Dare, accompanied the tour and showcased what would be one of Madge's all-time best tours...named the greatest concert tour of the 90's by Rolling Stone Magazine.
One of the most inventive, and controversial, scenes in Blond Ambition was Madonna's performance of her standard, "Like a Virgin." Lying on a bed surrounded by two male dancers with decidedly pointed breasts, the singer works her way through a slowed down, erotic version of the old pop tune, coming to a climax, literally, at the end. In the film, this particular performance almost got her into a heap of trouble in the "fascist state of Toronto," hehe. Check it out:
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Dick Tracy and Vogue
Madonna began the 90's with a brand new film and her second compilation album. She was cast as temptress Breathless Mahoney alongside then-boyfriend Warren Beatty in the film version of the cartoon detective Dick Tracy. Though she didn't win many accolades for her performance in the film, the soundtrack, "I'm Breathless," included a song that would end up being one of the top songs of the decade.
Grouped together with all of the 'period,' campy songs on that album was the song "Vogue," an homage to a dance craze that had become popular in the gay dance clubs of New York. "Vogue" quickly became one of Madge's all time greatest and most loved hits and she's still performing the song.
Sex
A few months after the release of Dick Tracy came what many regard as the singer's "sex" period. Starting with the release of her "Immaculate Collection" album, Madonna entered a new realm of electronic, bassy music, with many of the songs featuring risque themes. For the collection, the singer added two new songs, one of which became her most unlikeliest of number ones, soaring to the top through a cloud of controversy.
Justify My Love is a bass-driven song full of sexual themes, and its video was considered too racy for MTV and thus banned. Ever the entrepreneur, Ms. M had the video packaged as a DVD single just in time for Christmas and voila! The video became the highest-selling such DVD in history and the song hit the top of the charts, but that was only the beginning...
In October of 1992, Madonna entered what would end up being one of the oddest periods in her career, a time when backlash against her would work to lose her a lot of respect and fans, although the music of Erotica was among her best to date. Coupled with the new CD, whose title song featured explicit themes of homosexuality, bondage, water sports, you name it, came Sex, a coffee table book featuring explicit photos of the singer and others in all their glory. Sex was by far the singer's most controversial project to date, and it unfortunately cast a shadow over a wonderful album.
The backlash, as one could imagine, was huge. That was the point in time where fans of the singer in the 80's were lost for the most part, yet hardcore fans like me grew stronger in their appreciation for her artistic prowess. In all, Erotica spawned six singles, three of which hit the top twenty (the title cut, #3, "Deeper and Deeper," #7, and "Rain," #14). The album is chock full of great stuff, from beautiful, tender ballads to hard-driving, sexually charged club songs and intelligently-written mid-tempo stuff. To me, it's still one of her all time best! Check out the disco-infused "Deeper and Deeper":
Well, there you have Ms. M at the start of the 1990's. Though she definitely struck up probably the biggest of her controversies ever during this time, she was also at her artistic best. Madonna wasn't finished after "Erotica," though. There was much more to come in the decade. Stay tuned for the rest...
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