Madonna

Bedtime Stories

Her Most Underrated Album

Review Score:

(10/10)
"Bedtime Stories" was Madonna's follow-up to "Erotica," an album so cooly received that it started a nasty backlash against the singer. So, it's not surprising that she comes across as a bit defensive on a couple of tracks: on "Survival" she promises that she's "gonna be living to tell" and she lashes back at her critics in the dynamite "Human Nature." Elsewhere, "Bedtime Stories" was her most self-reflective album at the time, and it's also her most r&b-sounding disc since her debut. Dave Jam Hall, Dallas Austin and Babyface all supply the onetime Material Girl some solid beats and rhythms that wouldn't sound out of place on a Mary J. Blige album. The hits, "Secret" and "Take a Bow" show up here, but other tracks of note are the infectious "Inside of Me" (a tribute to her late mother) and "Don't Stop," which should have been released as a single but wasn't. This album didn't flop upon release, but it sold less than it deserved to, mainly because people were looking for a "Vogue 2" in this record. Nonetheless, "Bedtime Stories" is a straight-up r&b record that deserves a second chance.

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