Madonna
Rebel Heart
INTERSCOPE
6/10
Around the time most of the readers of this site were born, Madonna Louise Ciccone was into her second, or perhaps third, career transition. That the multi-hyphenate performer has continued to evolve over the subsequent twenty-five years is a testament to supreme reinvention. It is exciting then to find that at the age of fifty-six, Madonna has turned in one of her better records—the major downside being that it’s way too long. Regardless of Rebel Heart’s insanely long run-time, Madge has always made impeccable pop songs, and “Living For Love” on this album ranks amongst her best. However, the real Madonna story has always about the artist herself and with Rebel Heart, Madge combines a few great tunes (with more than enough forgettable ones), a combination of edgy dance-pop and sincere ballads, with the material girl as ubiquitous subject. It’s another revelation from the woman who always said she’d rule the world, and with some editing, she still could.
