Confessions on a Dance Floor (by Madonna, Pop)

Madonna's brilliance lies in self-promotion, performing flawlessly constructed dance hits, and cultivating her own special brand of old-school star quality. CONFESSIONS ON A DANCE FLOOR is no exception, offering nonstop disco beats. The instrumental arrangements offer complex, layered, and interesting support for her breathy, girlish vocals. Madonna's lyrics, on the other hand, are about as dumb and simplistic as could be, displaying none of the cleverness of past releases. Consider lyrics like "I don't like cities but I like New York/Other cities make me feel like a dork" ("I Love New York") or "Comet to the sky/future lovers ride/Their ambitions high/Would you like to try?" ("Future Lovers").

Madonna gets back to basics on Confessions on a Dance Floor, with slick, well-produced songs just right for dancing. But then there are the mundance lyrics, not to mention her well-publicized interest in Jewish Mysticism -- apparent on a couple of the songs and sure to provide a bit of cringe-factor for serious observers. If you're a Madonna fan, none of this will matter. If you're a newcomer to Madonna-land, however, you'd do better with some of her earlier albums -- before she took herself quite so seriously.

Released on: November 15, 2005
Label: Warner Brothers
Genre: Pop