Madonna - I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (W/Dvd)
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Free Music Notes for I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (W/Dvd)
Free Music Review: Madonna Comes Full Circle
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm more of the neo-generation of Madonna fans. I remember her peak in around 1989-1990 (I was five) when Madonna literally hit, one of her many, zeniths with songs such as "Like A Prayer" & "Vogue". But I cognitvely began to experience her in the 1990's, with material like "Rain", "Take A Bow", & "Ray of Light". Basically, I watched as she grew up. I mention this because there are those who may only appreciate her earlier era, & those like me who appreciate latter day Madonna, as well as early Madonna. There are those who don't get latter Madonna, so they might not enjoy this documentary as much, it depends really. If you enjoy evolution, then this is for you.
This is a part two of sorts to the 1990 "Truth or Dare" documentary shot during her Blonde Ambition Tour. "I'm Going to Tell You A Secret" is filmed during 2004 on her Re-Invention Tour. This originally aired (and I watched & taped it then) back in October of last year on MTV, MTV 2, & VH-1 as one of the many launch pads for her then upcoming opus, "Confessions On A Dancefloor".
What you get her is a two-hour revelation. You see a woman who has come full circle as a human being, artist, & mother. Madonna has grown up. But she stills like to get down & have fun. Some of the things I liked about this is how you got to see her dancers more & that the dancers were far more diverse that on "Truth or Dare". These people came from all walks of life & that diversity showed in their exuberant performances. Madonna, still the mother hen, manages to be the boss, the fun lady, & cultural teacher (she takes them to Paris for a spot of culture).
Madonna herself has clearly found something to give her a path in life: her silly, comical husband Guy Ritchie, & two adorable children Lourdes & Rocco, & faith. So to me, I never saw her as "preaching" as someone disrespectfully stated, but rather imparting wisdom that is there to take or not to take.
From a performance point of view, Madonna still has it. She is one of the last pop icons we actually have, & for further proof, just watch the concert clips of "Vogue", "American Life", "Nobody Knows Me" (excellent!), or "Holiday".
The actual editing of the documentary is done well, Jonas Ackerlund is very talented. The performance stills are in color & the rest is black & white usually.
This set comes with a live disc of selected material from the Re-Invention tour. It is actually pretty good. I enjoy how Stuart Price, such a genius, re-worked some of her classics. The most original is the "Susan Macleod/Into the Groove" number. He interpolates the Irish element, then mixes in the "Into the Hollywood Groove" from the GAP commercial she shot in 2003 with Missy Elliott. "Vogue" sounds so refreshed here, like it was resurrected.
Madonna is ever the stylist supreme. She isn't Aretha Franklin, but the woman can sing, & sing well. She not only holds the tune, she belts it out with a power & charismatic passion rarely seen in pop. You feel her conviction. A last highlight, is the original edit of a cut from the "Confessions" album, "I Love New York". Though I prefer the cut that made the album, this is a great bonus for fans.
In conclusion, buy this if you are a Madonna fan, if you aren't buy it anyway it might just make you one. It shows one of the last epic artists of our time doing her thing.
P.S.-Saw her at the 7/13/06 "Confessions Tour" gig in Philly, my first Madonna show. My world was totally rocked, she is a live artist in every way, go see her!
Free Music Review: Madonna is the Queen of Live Shows!
Hit: 5 Stars
While I would like for this package to include all of her material from the tour, at least we finally have a live CD to sink our teeth into! I have never seen Madonna live (I would gladly give my right arm) but I am a huge fan of her work in music, video, and performance. The songs sound great, and even the rather stale by comparison American Life tracks sound good when performed live. I love that she did "The Beast Within" as the intro and then kicked it up with "Vogue". All the songs flowed together nicely and I always enjoy her interaction with the audience. There is so much energy and passion in what this woman does, it's just amazing. Could the live version of "Like a Prayer" be any more amazing? And who would have thought a Scottish bagpipe intro would lead to "Into the Groove"? How about her amazing cover of "Imagine"? Incredible! Next time I just hope if she does another live CD, maybe she could include all of the songs. But I'm not complaining! She's Madonna and she can do whatever she wants! As far as the DVD goes, I love it. I saw it when it aired on TV a while back but I didn't get to see the whole thing. Like all of the other Madonna DVDs, I enjoyed this one alot. Truth or Dare, it's not. Still, it's provocative in different ways now, and even though Madonna is no longer controversial for her sexual antics, she still is for her religious imagery/comments/beliefs and her newfound political agenda. On the DVD, we see Madonna raising a stink with some fans after the show for being a bit too preachy with the state of the world and the importance of voting. "Madonna should stick with music", one says. What? Isn't that the point of making music? To send a message? Just like in 1991's Truth or Dare doc, I'm Going to Tell You a Secret chronicles Madonna's ever evolving attempt at "waking people up"-with mixed reactions from the media and the public. This time, the action is not relegated to just stage and backstage. We go to Israel with her (against the wishes of her security), we chat with her adorable kids and adorable husband. We see the auditions for the dancers. Alot of people say this one is more about Madonna and her family rather than Madonna and the dancers, who she once called her "children". But actually we learn a little more about the dancers this time around and they don't seem to be as catty and dramatic as the ones who were on Blonde Ambition. Nikki and Donna are hardly shown at all, and actually I don't think Donna was even on Re-Invention (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I love the scenes with Guy singing drinking songs and with he and Madge going to the pub and she's bored out of her mind. I always enjoy seeing her dad and her step mom Joan. This time, it shows where she grew up and it has more about her dad as he recalls how Madonna was as a child and his feelings about some of her "naughty" behavior in her career. The best stuff though is the music. I think this one shows more performance highlights than Truth or Dare did. Personally I will always think Blonde Ambition was the best show she's done, but I love them all. This one is no exception. It was well executed and the DVD does a bang up job of documenting the blood, sweat and tears put into the show. Even if you're not a huge fan of Madonna, I think you could appreciate the sincerity, heart, and talent put into this piece of work. I found it to be informative, inspirational, funny, and thoroughly entertaining. While she is not the same Madonna she was back in 1990, one thing hasn't changed: she still keeps our attention.Free Music Review: quite like her new moi!
Hit: 5 Stars
I'm not your typical Madonna fan. This means I won't spend two days before the concert to be in the front row. But I am a follower, from a distance, yes, but still a follower. I've been watching her for 20 years now.
I went to see the concert showed in this DVD, in Anhern (Netherland). The last time I saw a Madonna concert was in Buenos Aires (Argentina). It was her "girlie show", and the time 1993.
More than ten years later, the show is less about being a circus, less about just having fun, about trying to shock us with sex and mainly showing everything off. This time, it's about big, very big screens and a tiny Madonna, just in front of `em. That, with some dancers moving all over her.
She was so tiny in front of those huge screens.
How could she manage to keep up with the myth, she herself created?
How could she give this direction or this message she speaks of to 80'000 persons?
To me, on a unique personal level, she failed.
This DVD gives you the reasons why. Trying to be spiritual using the Madonna machine : no one can do that. She should have tried it differently. Or not. "Let it will be" is one of her new dance songs. She goes back to what her "cage", as she says herself, allows her to do: entertain people, not make them think. Yep! That's a lot and pretty much, it.
I read a comment about the last part of the DVD, her trip to Israel. Well, when it comes to the part when the show is about to be over, I though I would go depressed for a week just like when I finished to see "truth or dare". But no, not this time. This last segment took this awful taste out of my mouth, that a nostalgic ends always gives; and instead brought me hope, it gives a beginning, not an end. And that's a good thing.
"Truth or dare" was about being God. It was raw, unconscious, power. "I'm gonna tell you a secret" is about how small we are. It's about a person who though was God and discovered her true small human nature and learned, just passing by, some humility. Does that make us dream? Probably not. Can or should a Popstar be like this? Neither. Is this healthier, well damn' yeah!
It is true that Madonna.com said it would be a tour "for the fans" and that she would sing all those songs she said she'd never, again, sing, those songs like "material girl", for example, or "crazy for you", sang virtually over the fans, or better, "burning up" (the greatest moment, with "nobody knows me", from the show. I just BURNED!).
All of this is absent from the DVD. Actually, the "entertainment part", is cut out, left I don't know where. And it's obvious why.
So, don't expect a good review of the show (it isn't her best anyway so you won't miss it! Just kidding!). It isn't.
It's more about what she's now. About what she cares for. And in that matter, she delivers.
After all this years, Madonna is still the most intriguing performer this planet carries on. I can't wait to keep watching, learning, doing.
PS: sorry Lourdes, "I'm gonna tell you a secret" it's not: "je vais te dire un secret", but " je vais te raconter un secret". Keep working on your french girl (as I will continue to work on my very miserable English!)!
Free Music Review: Awesome buy!! amazingly spectacular and intriguing
Hit: 5 Stars
CD Review:
The first cd is a first ever live production of Madonna's Re-Invention concert. The tracks flow one after the other and although the album is live content, the beats hit just as hard as any studio album! It grooves and thumps its way along the highlights of the concert!My favorite tracks are Nobody Knows Me, Vogue and I Love New York, but don't worry they all rock!
DVD Review:
First off, this look behind the scenes of the tour is twice as good as the original tour documentary. This is the best documentary I've seen EVER. I watched it with great enthusiasm and extreme admiration the female pop-star. She -once more- proved that she really is the Queen of Pop, a tremendous trend-setter as far as fashion, politics and religion are concern. Her show was clearly provocative but was extremely inspired and glamorous. Madonna stands alone between two worlds... The stage and her family. There are numerous juxtapositions inside the film...Madonna is spectacular on the stage, but she is also a woman with political and ethical values. Madonna shows that she pulls out all the stops and never fails to push the envelope in any department, in this case it's political. "I'm Going To Tell You A Secret" chronicles the events of her 2004 "Re-Invention World Tour" and Madonna showcases herself as a pop sensation, devoted Mother and Wife, political warrior, and most of all, her true self and her devotion to the study of Kaballah. From the beginning with the opening of "The Beast Within", Madonna begins with her partnership with music producer Stuart Price and having a very candid conversation about God and her beliefs and throughout the documentary, voices her opinion on the political and material world we live in today, yet she never comes across as preachy. There are several clips of her performances from the concert and her views on life off stage. It's genuinely touching, making us realize that we all have to be grateful for the blessings that we have in life and to not take them for granted. Want what you have and not what you don't is one of the most important messages. Her rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine" is absolutely mind blowing. The images depicted of the poverty stricken countries during the song is enough to make the toughest of people cry their eyes out. She delivers many important messages with her dancers and states that we all enter the world as better people than who we are and have compassion for all mankind and take into consideration the pain and suffering that is going on in the world. Without taking responsibility for your own actions and watching what you say to others makes your talents useless. This is so true. Madonna never ceases to amaze and impress and expose the world to closeted issues that must be tackled. In her own words, we are all responsible for making the world a better place. You could not ask for a better documentary. Even the if you're the least bit involved in her art/music and not an aficionado, anyone would appreciate this masterpiece. It is highly recommended.
Free Music Review: Hyperkinetic Madonna
Hit: 5 Stars
The more things change, the more they stay the same...
Well, given the fact that Madonna doesn't like to tour in Texas anymore (her last Houston concert was for Blonde Ambition), this is, above anything else, a chance to finally see live clips from her Re-Invention Tour, since it hasn't been released on DVD yet. Madonna- give the fans a real treat; how about a box set of all of the tours from Blonde Ambition on?
Anyhow, I'm Going To Tell You a Secret will put some people off, but ultimately will please the fans. Yes, Madonna discusses her spiritual outlook almost non-stop, but it's mostly digestible. There are only two things that made me gag. The first was the overly cliche argument about God's existence with Stuart Price, who happens to be an atheist. The second was when Madonna waxes about not just waking people up, but giving them a "direction." That bit of hubris should have been left out- how dare she even THINK about giving anyone a "direction?" Just open the door, and let us find our own way, just like you did!
What's funny is that for all that Madonna's changed, she's still very much the same person. She still likes to be Queen Bee and Den Mother, carp about the hotel rooms, tell people to "f" off, write hokey poetry, complain about not getting enough attention from her man, etc. The parallels between the Madonna we see here and the Truth or Dare Madonna are innumerable. It's just a slightly more mellow, stable version this time around.
For my money, this documentary replicates the best aspects of Truth or Dare, without being a cheap imitation. Above all, Madonna never ceases to amaze you. She will bare her soul one minute, like when she tearfully thanks her dancers on the night of the last show of the tour. Then, the next minute, she becomes imperious and aloof, like when an off-camera dancer asks her when she will grace them with her presence for an outing.
There are two parts of I'm Going to Tell You a Secret that really made me laugh. The first is when Lourdes describes how she read from The English Roses at a children's hospital, and then tries to explain the moral of the story, only to be drowned out by her brother. The second takes place in the pub in London for her Guy's birthday. She looks so bored, begging to go home, and then resorts to taking a nap on a small wooden bench! I remember nights out with friends when I felt exactly the same way.
Jonas Ackerland is to be commended for the style of the documentary. He cannily evokes the feel of Truth or Dare, while blending in his own elements, such as beautiful full-color images of cities, and kinetic live concert shots. My favorite example of the latter is Nobody Knows Me.
Some negative reviews point out that Madonna's vocal chops aren't great enough for the accompanying live CD. Nevermind the vocals- it's worth it for the reworked versions of some of her best songs, including the bagpipe intro to Into the Groove.