Bedtime Stories vs American Life

[anel_ 128]

I am a huge fan of the BS and AL albums. I've never seen these 2 masterpieces be compared and discussed about the differences, the story, artistic statement and overall who favours which album.

 

Personally I love all of Madonna's albums because I appreciate all of them and acknowledge the artistry in each album. The music is breathtaking and thought provoking.

 

There are certain fans that love every album and there are also certain fans that favour specific albums. I am one of the fans that love all of them.

 

Let's please discuss the artistry and beauty in each album. What do you think and like/dislike (if you even have any dislikes)?

[Rotzheimberg 1,229]

I think BS is underrated and no one seems to be very fond of it. I love it. It's my all-time fave: lush, sultry, good taste to the hilt. Imo she should have gone further into the trip hop sound. Nevertheless it's an amazingly cohesive album. Poor BS, no one loves it.

AL... I never liked it. It tries too hard to attempt grandeur and pomposity to the point of sounding pretentious. IMO of course

[anel_ 128]

BS is soooo underrated. It's a classic 90s album and it deserved Grammy recognition

AL is amazing. I love every song and the flow of the album has strong emotions attached to it. Definely a masterpiece

[Enrico 15,788]

AL is in my top three together with Like a prayer and Rebel heart. I like all the songs, although I am not very fond of Hollywood as a single. I really wush the AL video had been included in Celebration, one of her greatest. Provoking, deep, full of meanings.

 

Bedtime stories has some weak songs, especially Don't stop. Some songs I rarely listen to are Rather be your lover, or Sanctuary. Of course there are some masterpieces. Take a bow is great, Bedtime story is very daring.

 

I like the visuals of both, although the BS cover is not totally working, especially with face up. Better the upside down version! The back cover is more beautiful.

The Che Guevara and military theme is great and original!

[anel_ 128]

I love don't stop! I find it very very underrated. Listening to that song not sober is one of the best experiences I've had. Wow what a bop

Love profusion and nothing fails are 2 of the strongest tracks on AL. The dreamy bass in LP never fails to trigger strong feelings

The lyrics in Sanctuary are one of her best

[Turuncan 737]

I don’t think these albums have much in common to be compared to one another other than the artist. One is R&B-soul oriented with even a little bit of jazz touch that could make Sade proud, and its core is romantic and soft. The other one is an electropop-acoustic hybrid with a more protest and introspective subject matter. None of them are regarded as groundbreaking works but rather as bridges between more decisive and memorable albums and eras.

 

Personally “Bedtime Stories†is among my top 5, maybe even 4 favorite Madonna albums whereas I find “American Life†half-baked, poorly produced, weakly-written and I think it fell short of achieving its goal. Still it contains nice songs (I love ‘Nothing Fails’!) and has a more edgy attitude, and I don’t loathe this album as much as I loathe “MDNAâ€.

[luckystar 727]

Bedtime Stories is one of her best. I guess some fans don't like it because it doesn't have dance songs, although some songs are danceable. 
 
I wished there was more songs like Sanctuary and Bedtime Story. It would have made the album even better.
 
Don't Stop is like the only bad song, mostly because of the lyrics. However, I enjoy it. I'd Rather Be Your Lover is also weak, but  a catchy song.

 

 

American Life also has a weak song (I'm So Stupid) and certain songs are overproduced. The voice effects can't be a turn off for some people.

 

 

Bedtime Stories is  superior because of the lyrics and the production. 

[PlayPause 2,675]

I love both, they're definitely in my top 5. But I tend to like even better European Madonna, musically speaking.

[wtg1987 10,151]

Personally i find both albums very mediocre - the problem with BS is she worked with producers a lot of r n b people had already worked with (Mariah, Babyface, TLC etc) so it seemed more like she was following a musical trend rather than starting one(She did this again with HC years later) personally i dont think r n b suits her- shes more pop/dance imo - i do love the song bedtime story though - it was way ahead of its time(The video is a masterpiece) - i love the videos from BS especially Human Nature but the songs overall dont really resonate with me - its quite dull and monotonous(Listen to the instrumentals and you will see what i mean) - as for AL i think its a lot more original sounding and more personal in its sound and lyrics - i think the song AL is garbage though but i love NKM, ER, Intervention , LP - very different sounds although not maybe very commercial sounding - a lot of people cite this album as the start of her major decline in sales which is a shame but we cant control that side of her career :((

 

i remember when BS first came out and i liked it and hated Erotica - now i feel Erotica is way better and stood the test of time but one thing i love about Madonna is she rarely repeats herself sonically )

[Guest]

Yeah, you can't compare these two albums side by side.  One is more relaxed and pretty downtempo.  While the other is far more in your face and politically charged even though none of the songs are political.  I love both albums.  I don't think that BS is "not loved".  I just think it's not had a lot of fanfare around it for it to stand out.  She was just coming off a lot of backlash and hate from the Erotica/Sex book era.  It's like she snuck this one in there with very little attention given to it.  She was trying to go for a softer approach. And by the time, "Take A Bow" was soaring (at least in the U.S.), she was looking to further soften her image to convince the powers that be that she would be great for the role of EVITA.  No doubt, that's another reason she threw out SOMETHING TO REMEMBER compilation.

 

As for AMERICAN LIFE, it clashed with the political movement at the time.  The title, the original video for the title track, the imagery from the album artwork and her promotional interviews came off very political and preachy to the public.  Though I don't blame this all on Madonna.  I don't think she meant for it to come off too political even though she did film an original politically charged video, but I think she realize at the time, it was just too much to shove out there.  With the release of "Love Profusion" and RIT tour, it was another time where they were trying to salvage the backlash and soften up her image some.  The tour reminded people of all the great songs she released. 

 

Two different albums that can hardly be compared.  Totally different tone and feel to each album.

[Rotzheimberg 1,229]

I don’t think these albums have much in common to be compared to one another other than the artist. One is R&B-soul oriented with even a little bit of jazz touch that could make Sade proud, and its core is romantic and soft. The other one is an electropop-acoustic hybrid with a more protest and introspective subject matter. None of them are regarded as groundbreaking works but rather as bridges between more decisive and memorable albums and eras.

 

Personally “Bedtime Stories†is among my top 5, maybe even 4 favorite Madonna albums whereas I find “American Life†half-baked, poorly produced, weakly-written and I think it fell short of achieving its goal. Still it contains nice songs (I love ‘Nothing Fails’!) and has a more edgy attitude, and I don’t loathe this album as much as I loathe “MDNAâ€.

I totally agree with you. AL is to politicts what Oprah Winfrey is to intellectuality. I don't think the title track could be considered "political", nor "Hollywood", nor  "I'm so stupid". She's just mildly judging the star-system from within, while continuing to be a part of it. Apart from those 3 tracks the rest of the album is romance and love-oriented. The guitars are awesome but a bit cold, the vocals are very good. I think AL and RH are her darkest albums, lyrics and melodies.

[PWCCA 2,498]

Both albums are albums that contain some killer tracks, but are also stuffed to the brim with 'filler'. I would have to say that I do prefer Bedtime Stories to American Life... it seems far more coherent in its theme, though I wouldn't rate either amongst my favourite Madonna albums

[Turuncan 737]

I totally agree with you. AL is to politicts what Oprah Winfrey is to intellectuality. I don't think the title track could be considered "political", nor "Hollywood", nor  "I'm so stupid". She's just mildly judging the star-system from within, while continuing to be a part of it. Apart from those 3 tracks the rest of the album is romance and love-oriented. The guitars are awesome but a bit cold, the vocals are very good. I think AL and RH are her darkest albums, lyrics and melodies.

S.) With the release of "Love Profusion" and RIT tour, it was another time where they were trying to salvage the backlash and soften up her image some..

You know what, ironically I find ‘Love Profusion’ the most political song of the album. While the other “political†songs that my dear friend stated criticize the celebrity life, Hollywood glamor and the American dream (while, on the other hand, complimenting it saying “the best thing [she][has] seenâ€), and not really seem sincere in their protest, ‘Love Profusion’ directly talk about solutions, confusion, isolation, options, lack of consolation and comprehension, making it directly social if not subtly political. The song seems to be an ode to love; but essentially love is an escapade from the chaos all these concepts brought on, and therefore not the main subject matter in the song. Considering “American Life†is a mixtape of didactics and personal introspective, this song is the most decisive song on the album because it contains both elements. Hence its place between the protest songs and personal songs.

[geert 3,043]

Bedtime Stories

[Guest]

American Life, since 2003, has NEVER left my Ipod.

[NowRadiate 3,331]

apples and oranges.

[anel_ 128]

I don't understand the dislike towards don't stop and imo Madonna doesn't have fillers on any albums

[anel_ 128]

I totally agree with you. AL is to politicts what Oprah Winfrey is to intellectuality. I don't think the title track could be considered "political", nor "Hollywood", nor "I'm so stupid". She's just mildly judging the star-system from within, while continuing to be a part of it. Apart from those 3 tracks the rest of the album is romance and love-oriented. The guitars are awesome but a bit cold, the vocals are very good. I think AL and RH are her darkest albums, lyrics and melodies.

AL, RH and Erotica are her 3 darkest albums. I'd throw in MDNA as well

[Headless.Headphones 727]

No poll? American Life when it comes to album concept, art and theme. This is better then LAP for me (with the exception of Love Song and Til Death Due Us Part) and equal more to Erotica for pushing agendas) I want tons - like every single demo from this and Music. There has to be some experimental and electronics making it next to acoustic riffs...someday. Also I hope there is like three Impressive Instant demos in the vault and I want one for DAD.  

 

 

BS listening party.

[WCD199317 65]

Bedtime Stories of course. I'm not a huge fan of American Life. many songs os the album was good (Mother and Father, Hollywood, Easy Ride and Love Profusion was beautiful), many was not very good (I'm So Stupid was horrible). Bedtime Stories was a good album, very relaxing and groovy coupling with up-tempo like Don't Stop and Human Nature.