Underrated: Madonna - American Life

Let’s begin with some fact and opinion; ‘American Life’ is by no means Madonna’s best album – that honour goes to 1998’s ‘Ray of Light’.  It is her least selling disc to date, but is certainly not her worst (see 1994’s ‘Bedtime Stories’) – as we have come to learn though, great sales do not mean great album and vice-versa.  ‘American Life’ is merely a victim of bad timing, bad press and poor choice of first single.

To give it a bit of context, ‘American Life’ was released in April 2003 to a world, specifically America, still wrapped up in 9/11 hysteria, following the terrible terrorist attacks in New York City.  Gun-ho George Bush-America was the tone of the day and anything that was deemed even moderately anti-American – even if it wasn’t – was reviled by the press and public.  America was in the midst of ‘The War Against Terror’ (TWAT if you will) and literally just about to invade emancipate Iraq from the tyrannical leader Saddam Hussein.  Global political tensions were at an all time high.

So then here you have Madonna release the title track ‘American Life’ from her 9^th studio album which finds the icon exposing and rejecting all sorts of myths surrounding the supposed ‘American Dream’ and features the then 44-year-old-rich-white-lady rapping a verse about all the luxuries her fame and wealth have brought her.  The obvious irony was lost on listeners.  The cover of the album also raised eyebrows with it’s black and white photography capturing Madonna in Che Guevara-esque military outfits.  Never one to shy away from anything controversial, many felt Madonna had once again gone too far - actually, they hadn’t seen anything yet.

Shortly before the release of the ‘American Life’ album, it was leaked that the Jonas Auckerlund directed video for the title track would feature Madonna, once again in full military garb, invading a catwalk show (in a camouflaged mini-cooper, as you do) before throwing a ticking grenade in the direction of a George Bush lookalike.  Combine this with the imagery of Muslim children being laughed at by the audience, injured soldiers smearing blood down the runway and Madonna drinking a soy-latte, many who saw the video found it distasteful.  In reality, the video for ‘American Life’ perfectly encapsulates what the song is about – we are living in a world of war and destruction, yet we allow ourselves to be distracted by fame, fashion and glamour instead of doing anything about it.  Of course, it’s a hard pill to swallow when the one dishing it out is someone who, perhaps more than anyone ever, has gained so much from such ‘distractions’.  In the end, the video was never officially released by Madonna (it did, as many things do, find it’s way online) however regardless, the damage was now done.

Upon it’s release, the album ‘American Life’ was savaged by critics who found it to be nothing more than the ramblings of a spoilt, self absorbed, ageing pop star that of all people, was not in a position to criticise society in such an abrupt way.  Many of these analyses seem to be slightly unfounded as much of ‘American Life’ has Madonna musing on her personal life and relationships, not on global politics as suggested.  A lot of reviewers also pointed out that the entire disc was written and produced by Madonna and French-man Mirwais Ahmadzai, suggesting that somehow merely working with someone French was in some way anti-American.  This, ladies and gentlemen, is the thinking Madonna was up against.  Despite debuting at number one on the charts in both the UK and US, ‘American Life’ did not sustain it’s momentum beyond 2 singles and by the time Madonna infamously kissed Britney Spears on stage at that year’s MTV VMA’s, it was all but forgotten by the record buying public.

My biggest problem with all this is not the video, the song itself or the press’ reaction to any of it, but that it was all a distraction itself from the album.  The song ‘American Life’ is not the best song on the disc and certainly does not represent the album as a whole; however it’s hard to establish which does, as ‘American Life’ is more of a concept album to be taken as a whole rather than a collection of individual songs.  Perhaps the brilliant ‘Nothing Fails’, with it’s simple melody, folk guitar and a church choir that comes from nowhere would have been a more subtle start to the project’s campaign?  It is certainly one of Madonna’s best ballads ever and should have received single treatment.

Other stand-out tracks include second single ‘Hollywood’, the techno James Bond theme ‘Die Another Day’ and album closer ‘Easy Ride’, which despite it’s quite simplistic lyrics is a hidden gem in the archive of Madonna songs.  ‘X-Static Process’ is another great, understated track that finds Ms Ciccone at her most honest; her voice is raw and untouched, the lyrics are sincere and unguarded.  Perhaps the best track on ‘American Life’ is ‘Mother and Father’; a techno-pop explosion that finds Madonna lamenting on the death of her mother when she was a child and her subsequent, fraught relationship with her father throughout the rest of her life.  Madonna continuously declares ‘i’ve got to give it up’ in reference to letting go of the past and moving forward in both the mourning of her mother’s death and the issues with her father.  To date, Madonna has not referenced either her childhood or her parents since.

Madonna toured ‘American Life’ and re-worked some of her biggest hits in 2004 on the ‘Re-Invention World Tour’ that went on to become the biggest selling tour in history, before she would later top it with her subsequent ‘Confessions’ and ‘Sticky & Sweet’ world tours.  The two albums she released since ‘American Life’ (2005’s ‘Confessions on a dance floor’ and 2008’s ‘Hard Candy’) have seen Madonna return to her disco and dance routes; the antithesis of (and possible reaction from) ‘American Life’.  This is not a bad thing; Madonna has always proven, as she once said herself “I tend to excel at anything I attempt” and I’m sure whether it’s techno-folk, electro-dance or something entirely different ,whatever Madonna attempts next she will excel at that too.  Long live the Queen.
Below is a slightly edited version of the 'American Life' video (No Bush) and the beautiful 'Nothing Fails'.  Enjoy!