Madonna

Something To Remember

Madonna gives us something to truly remember!

Review Score:

(10/10)
After the relatively poor success of her previous albums (Erotica and Bedtime Stories), Madonna returned to top form in 1995 with Something To Remember - a stunning collection of beautiful ballads from the Queen of Pop herself. The hits on Something To Remember span a total of 12 years, from 1984's Love Don't Live Here Anymore to 1996's One More Chance. All Madonna's greatest ballads ever are all here in the ultimate collection of Madonna's finest slow-jams. The album peaked at No.3 in the UK in November 1995, and has sold 10 million copies to date worldwide. This album not only portrayed a more mature style to Madonna's vocal and songwriting abilities, but signalled that Madonna's sex-era was coming to an end...

The album starts with the superb and equally haunting I Want You. Madonna guest stars with Massive Attack on this superb ballad, yet it's Madonna's excellent vocals that make this song so exquisite. The song was never released as a single, which in a way can be a good thing; if it had been released, it would've been overplayed (having it just on this album makes it more personal). Track 2 is I'll Remember. This average Madonna song was the soundtrack to the flop film, With Honors and peaked at No.7 in the UK in April 1994. Tracks 3, 4 and 5 are Take A Bow, You'll See and Crazy For You which charted at No.16 in December 1994, No.5 in October 1995 and No.2 in March 1985 respectively. I consider Take A Bow to be one of Madonna's best ballads - and definitely one of the best on Something To Remember. You'll See is a serious and moving ballad with some amazing vocals and powerful basslines. Crazy For You, on the other hand, is another excellent slow-jam that sounds perfect playing it around Christmas time. This trilogy of classic Madonna ballads is followed by track 6, This Used To Be My Playground. Another splendid song, This Used To Be My Playground is my favourite song on the entire album. The song was released in August 1992 and peaked at No.3 in the UK, going two better at No.1 in the US. The song was the theme to the hit baseball movie, A League Of Their Own and has some amazing lyrics and instruments. Tracks 7 and 8 are Live To Tell and Love Don't Live Here Anymore. The former is a poignant and powerful ballad, one of Madonna's most memorable hits to date and peaked at No.2 in the UK in April 1986. The latter however, was never released as a single but featured on Madonna's second album Like A Virgin, yet a video was made for it. Madonna showcases her full vocal ability on this phenomenal cover version - can the album get any better?!

Well the answer to that question is yes! Track 9 is Something To Remember and is quite different to anything Madonna has ever done before. First featured on 1990's I'm Breathless, this smoochy ballad has a superb bassline and is reminiscent of 1950's jazz. Overall, another fantastic ballad from Madge! Track 10 is Forbidden Love. The song was never released as a single and featured on Madonna's 1994 album Bedtime Stories. The song is more up-tempo than slow, so even though it's a great song, I wouldn't have included it on Something To Remember. Track 11 is One More Chance and peaked at a lowly No.11 in the UK in March 1996. The main reason the song probably peaked so low is because of lack of radio airplay with no video to go with it. The song follows a sort of acapella style which exposes Madonna's raw vocals a lot more so than if the song had been studio-produced. Tracks 12 and 13 are Rain and Oh Father. Rain was released in July 1993 from the album Erotica and peaked at No.7 in the UK. The song is superb with some beautiful lyrics. Oh Father originally featured on Madonna's 1989 album Like A Prayer, but was released as a single in January 1996 after featuring on this album, peaking at No.16 in the UK. The video caused a lot of controversy, but unusually (for Madonna) didn't result in making the single a big worldwide hit. Track 14 is I Want You (ORCHESTRAL). This is just the same version as the one earlier in the album, yet (as if it wasn't obvious) is an Orchestral version - not as good as the original, but still good.

OVERALL GRADE: 10/10

All in all, Something To Remember is essential for every Madonna fan - and also those who aren't interested in her. If you're looking for a definitive ballads collection, choose this! Many artists have tried before in the past to do what Madonna has done by releasing a ballads collection, but failed terribly (Elton John springs to mind). Madonna, however, pulls it off with ease. Along with Ray Of Light, Erotica and The Immaculate Collection, this is one of Madonna's most essential albums. Is this better than The Immaculate Collection? Not quite, but time may change all that...

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