Madonna’s Erotica is Slant Magazine’s #2 best album of 1992

[groovyguy 63,856]

It took over 2 decades before the music critics revalue Madonna Erotica album as a MASTERPIECE. Now it is the turn of Slant magazine...

 

http://www.slantmagazine.com/features/article/the-10-best-albums-of-1992/P2

 

Madonna, Erotica

No Madonna album was ever met with a louder backlash or was more rampantly misrepresented than this dark masterpiece, so you know it was doing something right. Released on the tail end of AIDS hysteria, Erotica is far from the opus to guiltless sexual fulfillment it—and its even more ridiculed accompanying tome Sex—was made out to be. Though there's no doubt it espouses taking joy in physical pleasure (“Let me remind you in case you don't already know/Dining out can happen down belowâ€), no album seems more empathetically haunted by the act's countless side effects (i.e. “Bad Girl,†“Thief of Hearts,†a purposefully monotonous house cover of Peggy Lee's “Feverâ€). Underneath Madonna's bondage getup and Shep Pettibone's oversized drum tracks beats a truly pained heart. Henderson

[me1981 1,358]

I think the darkness is ultimately what I liked about it. Madonna's mood is so reflected in the (heart)beat of this album. 

 

I also think most people don't allow women to be angry and dark, they want Adele type break up songs, the soft and sad ones. I liked that Madonna let out her darker side, we got the romantic and poignant on Bedtime Stories.

 

I also like how she just laid it all out on the table, her frustrations, her pain. It is raw and open. I know people dislike this album, but to me Like a Prayer, Erotica and Ray of Light will always be masterpieces. 

[wtg1987 10,163]

I listen to this album a lot more than i do Like A Prayer or Ray of Light - at the time being a mega fan i wasn't overly impressed with the rawness and darkness of it as it wasn't something i was used to as Madonna fan since 1987 - watching the who's that girl film then watch the erotica video is certainly a huge leap in evolution i have to say ! I

 

One thing i did love about this era was the music videos -I still think Bad Girl(Please leak the b-roll !!!) and Rain are the jewels in her video catalogue - i watch them way more than Vogue or Like A Prayer - to this day it still angers me how a masterpiece video like Bad Girl was criminally ignored by MTV, Grammy and all those other awards shows

The album also has one of my all time favourites "Words" and i cant praise "Shame" any more too - i would probably rate this at No.2 on my favourite albums(After True Blue)

It's hard to believe this album is 25 years old and im sure there will be a pointless vinyl re-release but what we want is the album plus all the demos and alternate versions ? they did it for Fleetwood Mac's Tango in the Night so why cant they do it for this album ?

[kesiak 3,036]

It's definitely the one Madonna album I listen to more than any other, in its entirety (and yes, that means "Did You Do It?" included). I didn't get into it when it was released in 1992 - I was just a kid - but I grew to love it more than any other of her records. The Andre Betts tracks are probably some of my favourite stuff she's ever done and I wish their collaboration continued. 

[PWCCA 2,498]

Erotica, for me, is the greatest album in her back catalogue. It basically does all that it says on the tin. It was well-written, it was funky, it pushed boundaries, and it was fun at the same time. I was 12 when it was released and it was my soundtrack for my whole hormonal period. I loved it.... and I still do. Since this was released, only ROL came close to its brilliance, but no other album has. Its absolute Madonna perfection.