Madonna/Dresden Dolls Review

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Madonna; Confessions on a Dance Floor When you hear a title like "Confessions on a Dance Floor", you expect certain things. However, there are no 'confessions' and not all the songs are made for the 'dance floor'. Observations tells us that Madonna uses only one or two pads on the drum kit, they never even touch a bass drum and the keyboards were used on a small range. There was only one song that used guitars. The lack of any musicians is due to the fact that most of the songs revolve around sample of already famous hits from ABBA, Stardust, Donna Summer, and even some of Madonna's past songs. Even tracks that have some potential are ruined by her cliched and self-involved lyrics. It seems half the songs are just Madonna talking into a microphone about, you guessed it, herself. "Hung Up" is the only track that will ever touch the radio and it is obvious why she chose it as her single. It is the first and only track that shines through as what the CD is advertised to be-a dance club hit. The only other notable song is "Issac" which almost did not make it on to the album because of a controversy with Israelis. They believed the song was about their founder, Issac Luria, but Madonna claims it's named after Yitzhak Sinwani, the Yemeni singer who appears on the track. "Issac" begins with a beautiful Jewish chant with strings and guitars that turns into a slower euro-pop hit. Regardless of the mild religious overtone's it is the best song lyrically on the album even though it lacks dancing ability. In the end, lyrics such as "I don't like cities but I like New York, Other places make me feel like a dork," is going to save this album a place right next to all of Madonna's other failures. The Dresden Dolls; The Dresden Dolls Would it scare you if someone told you that two people dressed as mimes that frantically beat their keyboards and drums would be the forerunners of a musical genre? Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione, a girlfriend/boyfriend duo, create self-proclaimed "Brechtian Punk Cabaret," meaning they blend the unrestrained self-indulgence of punk with the hectic drama of western German cabaret. Palmer pounds on her keyboard as Viglione dramatically awaits his chance to beat his, perhaps under used, drums and occasionally plays guitar. For the Dresden Dolls, less is more and they understand that. Palmer's voice rips through the 'damaged little girl' songs that are now becoming overplayed with "Girl Anachronism." It is about time someone sings about depression in a manic way instead of the same old melancholic fashion. The other single, "Coin-Operated Boy", seems to play favorites with it's deranged children toy instrumentals. The lyrics seems to be repetitive and can get quite annoying. The music video and live version are much more amazing. Palmer sems to paint three-dimensional characters (which probably adds to the theatrical feel), especially in the track titled "Missed Me." Palmer's vocal range is shown in great lengths throughout this track about a Lolita that seduces a man just so her father can throw him in jail. It is just unfortunate that it seems to lose steam towards the end. The songs are not bad by any means, but the opening tracks set up such a potential that it becomes difficult to not feel let down by the anticlimatic second half.