Madonna - Something to Remember

Great songs, cool collection, not essential.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/RYVZCB5D66M3R My name is Jeremy Gloff. I am a musician and music collector. Feel free to check out my website. This is my review of Madonna's album "Something To Remember". June 3, 2008

good ballad collection

I'm not a huge fan of Madonna but I do love her ballads. This album - Something To Remember - contains her most popular ballads from the late 80s and early 90s. Definitely worth purchasing. January 22, 2008

Great Ballads

This is a great collection of Madonna's greatest ballad hits. It also includes some new songs, "I Want You" (and an orchestral remix), "One More Chance", and the defiant "You'll See" to name a few. This is the more easily accessable place to find "This Used To Be My Playground" which was recorded (but not used) for the 'A League Of Their Own' but was later placed on the hard-to-find CD, 'Barcelona Gold'. It's a wonderful well rounded collection. Rumor has it that Madonna will release a volume 2 of ballad hits in the future. When, who knows?
October 10, 2007

Something to Believe In

The Madonna image has often overshadowed the Madonna artist. Even she conceded the point after the controversy surrounding Erotica and (to a lesser extent) Bedtime Stories. So in 1995, this unadorned collection of ballads appeared, with a CD case that had no back sleeve and a spartan cover photo and inlay. This was Madonna begging to be taken on her own terms, musically. No flash, no little girls squeaking and no dance floor manipulation.

It works. The first song that cracked the mold is here, "Crazy for You." It was the first time the same woman who belted out dance kitsch like "Material Girl" and novel hits such as "Like A Virgin" came forth with a set of chops. It's also here with Like a Virgin's Rose Royce remake "Love Don't Live Here Anymore." While they did help Madonna establish that she was more then ditzy pop hits, it is interesting to hear her voice then and compare it to the richness she gained by the time another movie track, "This Used to be My Playground," topped the charts. Casting aside the drama and distraction helped to reshape Madonna as a vocalist to reckon with; 1995 was also the year she was preparing to take on the film Evita.

The result for me is the one Madonna album that has outlasted all her others in my collection. While the range of tracks fluctuates greatly (the sweet and sexy "Rain" sits right next to the bitterly personal "Oh Father"), it is also the least gimmicky collection of her work. That alone makes it a worthy listen, and a CD worth getting out of the rack on occasion. October 4, 2007

Great effort

"Something to Remember" attempts to counter the claim that Madonna is not a gifted vocalist. It's true that she is no operatic powerhouse, but her vocal gifts come through in nontraditional ways and should be no less respected. Her talent for writing and singing catchy hooks, even on ballads (which is tough for any artist to accomplish), should put her up there with the greatest acts in recorded music.

My biggest qualm with this album is the material that it's missing. In lieu of the double inclusion of "I Want You," I feel one of Madonna's strongest ballads, "The Look of Love" from the Who's That Girl soundtrack, would have been the perfect addition to this album (and as an audiophile I would've loved to own a digitally remastered version).

Other dynamic material missing from this collection includes "Bad Girl," one of the only interesting cuts from Erotica, and "Spanish Eyes" from Like a Prayer, with its noticably pained vocals. Considering the sometimes off-key performance in "Oh Father" that still made it to the final cut, I think the weeping heights of "Spanish Eyes" would have made a more appropriate choice.

As an aside, this is the first CD I ever owned, so I have some bias towards it. Santa brought it for me along with my first CD player and copies of Michael Jackson's "Bad" and "Thriller" on CD in 1995. It was a good Christmas. :) March 18, 2007

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