Madonna - Still a "Girl Gone Wild"?

Madonna just insists on being the party queen doesn't she? If only she'd stop TRYING and she might actually manage it for years to come. Hell, Cher managed it didn't she? Here Madonna is in her latest video, "Girls Gone Wild"



This video is no doubt entertaining, and is obviously intended to reference her controversial early 90s period, a popular era of her career amongst fans. But its black and white color scheme, provocative homoerotic imagery and the unashamed vogue-ing in the choreography are less a homage to her earlier work, merely derivative of it. This would probably be forgivable (derivative or not, Madonna, her dancers and the video itself still manage to be captivating regardless) if the song was groundbreaking in any way. Which it isn't.

"Girls Gone Wild" has surely got to go down as one of Madonna's dullest singles. Even "Love Profusion" attempted to be mature, experimental and, y'know, profound. And even "4 Minutes" had a certain bite to it. But "Girls Gone Wild"? It boasts a generic electronic dance backing track that Ke$ha would turn her nose up at, melodically it meanders and never soars, and lyrically, THERE IS NO STATEMENT. What happened to Madonna wanting her music to push boundaries?

Even on the shameless dancefloor-oriented "Confessions on a Dancefloor", Madonna had Stuart Price placing her in a mature disco environment, her words regal and commanding, the melodies elegant and euphoric, even if there wasn't a powerful lyrical message. I fear that the probably-misleadingly-named "MDNA" will be as flaccid and uninteresting as its two lead singles. With a title like "MDNA" and with the reintroduction of "Ray of Light"'s William Orbit, this record could be a mind-fuckingly good tribute to Madonna's underground dance-routes. Alas, this single, and the samples heard thus far, could be tracks Britney Spears turned down for "Femme Fatale".

"Hard Candy" showed Madonna trying to look cool and 'hip' (probably her words), and looked very much like the mid-life crisis, the last embarrassment before Madonna came back strong and prepared to lead the way in pop music again. It seems this is not to be. Ridiculed for her insistence on maintaining a promiscuous image, and her non-musical pursuits, in her personal and professional life, not gaining much critical or commercial approval, a wonderful album could've been her lifeline. If this is her last chance to re-instate herself as the 'Queen of Pop', she may have just blown it.

"MDNA" is out on the 26th. I really hope I'm proved wrong.