It's time for a little show-and-tell, and Madonna's finally ready to talk.
Her 10th studio album, "American Life," was made available as a streaming download on MTV's "The Leak" Web site on April 16, a first for both Madonna and the cable music network.
The title track, and the album's first single, is a pro-peace anthem that encapsulates the album's mantra: Through self-evaluation, peace is possible. The frivolities of a successful career can't compare with the inner peace of a complete spiritual soul, according to the one-time "Material Girl."
Producer Mirwais Ahmadzai's electro-landscape returns from 2000's "Music" album, as do the melodic acoustic guitars. If "Music" was Madonna's long-awaited return to her dance-floor roots, "American Life" is the gleaming afterglow, the cool down.
Up-tempo dance tracks are the minority on this record. Listening to the alternative, a series of contemplative elegies, it becomes clear why Madonna would want to take a break from the techno-whirlwind of 1998's "Ray of Light" and nearly all of her 1980s work.
"Mother and Father" is a mid-tempo ballad inspired by the death of her mother at a young age. It completes the circle of Madonna's life within the context of her marriage to British director Guy Ritchie, as well as Madonna's own motherhood. The sweet, personal exposition of this song is juxtaposed with a highly synthesized vocal effect and transfixing beat.
Other tracks are notable for their sweeping setting, such as "Intervention" and "X-Static Process" (the latter the most beautiful track on the album). "X-Static Process," in which an acoustic guitar picks away at a sweet folk melody, will likely be known as one of the best-written tracks of Madonna's career. Its layered vocals result in a duet, a trio, and finally a harmonious chorus of Madonna's un-enhanced voice.
In place of the provocateur that pop critics have sneered at, an introspective soul begins to unravel itself with "American Life."
It's been said over and over that Madonna is the mother of reinvention. "American Life" takes a bold risk, suggesting that her career is perhaps less about re-invention and more about re-evaluation.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
