Jump to content

User:Chrishm21/sandbox2

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
< User:Chrishm21

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Chrishm21 (talk | contribs) at 16:53, 4 September 2024 (→‎Reception and analysis). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Critical reception

"[T]he title track from La M's latest opus [...] is easily among her boldest and most experimental pop singles to date, with its trippy and cutting-edge trance dance rhythms, masterfully crafted by the artist with producer Nellee Hooper. [...] [It] may jolt a few at first, but its ingratiating hook will surely win out in the end. [...] [A] brillantly conceived and brave single".

—Billboard's Larry Flick reviewing "Bedtime Story".[1][2]

Upon release, "Bedtime Story" was met with generally positive critical feedback. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine deemed it one of the best songs from the album, that "slowly work their melodies into the subconscious[3] From the same portal, Jose F. Promis said it was one of Madonna's "most adventurous singles [...] although not very commercial, it stays true to its source, which is pure, unadulterated dance music".[4] Writing for Idolator, Bianca Gracie referred to "Bedtime Story" as a "truly hypnotizing" highlight on the parent album, and applauded its "trippy vibe that separates itself from the rest of the album".[5] On his weekly UK chart commentary, critic James Masterton said that it was the "most credible" single Madonna had released up to that point since "Vogue" (1990).[6] In The Music of Madonna, author Chris Wade wrote that, although written by Björk, Madonna made the song her own by "adding a druggy, sleepiness [to it] that makes it one of her most unusual, quirky and challenging tracks".[7]

For Matthew Rettenmund, author of Encyclopedia Madonnica, it's one of the singer's "most delicious, if uncharacteristic, songs [...] a hypnotic, almost hallucinogenic ride through an idealized unconscious state of mind".[8] In Madonna: Blond Ambition, Mark Bego deemed "Bedtime Story" the "centerpiece" of the parent album.[9] The Guardian's Jude Rogers deemed it "gorgeously hypnotic", but nonetheless criticized it for sounding "too much like Björk".[10] Rikky Rooksby compared "Bedtime Story" to the work of Everything but the Girl, but felt it should've been longer and "more trippy".[11] Despite writing that its "electronic pulse ratchets [Bedtime Stories] up a gear", Daryl Easlea said "Bedtime Story" lacks the "beats with which Madonna's previous work had been so richly laden".[12] A negative review came from The Boston Globe critic Steve Morse, who felt the song "comes undone" because of its "trite" lyrics.[13] Pitchfork's Owen Pallett panned "Bedtime Story" as an "unimaginably disappointing—sterile and static, less-daring second cousin" to Björk's "Violently Happy", and said it was "Madonna's first truly embarrassing flop".[14]

Recognition and impact

In 2001, Sal Cinquemani referred to "Bedtime Story" as, "[p]erhaps the single with the most unfulfilled hit potential" in Madonna's career".[15] Four years later, Entertainment Weekly said it was one of her most underrated songs.[16] "Bedtime Story" was named Madonna's 49th and 47th greatest song by The Backlot's Louis Virtel and the staff of Rolling Stone, respectively.[17][18] Parade's Samuel R. Murrian described it as an "arresting experience unlike anything else in Madonna's canon", and named it her 43rd best single.[19] The Junior's Wet Dream remix was considered Madonna's 44th best song by the staff of Billboard; "['Bedtime Story']'s core pulse held some allure, and longtime remixer Junior Vasquez drew it out with his far more maximal Wet Dream Remix, which found the implicit hedonism in the song's hook", wrote Andrew Unterberger.[20] On The A.V. Club's ranking it was allocated the 37th spot.[21] From PinkNews, Nayer Missim named it Madonna's 13th greatest single: "This [song] absolutely wouldn't sound out of place on [Björk's] Debut or Post albums, and with [Madonna's] vocals it shouldn't work but just does. An unlikely ambient dance pop classic".[22]

Furhtermore, "Bedtime Story" has been noted as the song that foretold Madonna's work with electronica in the late 1990s and early 2000s, specifically Ray of Light (1998), her seventh studio album.[23][24][25][26] Amaro Vicent wrote that, "[Ray of Light] owes its contemplative and electronic techno rave character" to "Bedtime Story", while according to De Vries, the song "seemed to set something free [in Madonna], [she] was straining at the leash a little bit, to find some other languages to speak, and 'Bedtime Story' was an embryonic moment that went a lot further on to [her] next few albums".[23] Sal Cinquemani said it was the "germ" that would inspire Madonna to "seek out and conquer electronica with the likes of William Orbit and Mirwais".[15] "Bedtime Story" was, according to Chuck Arnold, the "jumping-off point for the avant-garde electronica of Ray of Light", an opinion that was shared by Owen Pallett, and Albumism's Quentin Harrison.[27][14][28] Bianca Gracia noted influence of "Bedtime Story" on Britney Spears' 2003 song "Breathe on Me".[5]

Chart performance

Music video

Background and filming

Mark Romanek (picture) directed the music video for "Bedtime Story".

The music video for "Bedtime Story" was directed by American filmmaker Mark Romanek —with whom Madonna had previously worked on "Rain" (1993)— and produced by Propaganda Films' Larry Perel.[29][30] Shot in 35 mm film, crew included Tom Foden in production design, and Harris Savides in cinematography.[30] Due to its "elaborate visual effects", "Bedtime Story" cost a reported US$5 million (US$10 million in 2023[31]), making it one of the most expensive music videos of all time.[29]

In late 1992, Madonna approached Romanek to direct the video for the single "Bad Girl".[29][32] At the time, she was staying at The Sherry-Netherland in New York. Romanek recalled that she didn't have anything personal with her at the time, except a small copy of Frida Kahlo's My Birth.[32] The director found the painting "dark and disturbed", and suggested he and Madonna recreate it on a music video, an idea she liked. Romanek turned down the offer to direct "Bad Girl", but "file[d] away" the idea of emulating the painting on a video.[32] When Madonna contacted him for "Bedtime Story", Romanek quickly agreed, having perceived in the song the "same dark, surreal qualities" from My Birth.[33]

For the visual, Romanek wanted a "very feminine attitude towards these artistic images", and thus began delving into the lives of female surrealist painters such as Leonora Carrington and Remedios Varo.[29] He got in touch with storyboard artist Grant Shaffer —who'd previously worked with Madonna on "Rain" and "Deeper and Deeper" (1992)— to create the storyboards for the video.[34] They met at a café in Venice Beach, where the director had Shaffer listen to the song, and showed him a batch of surrealism-inspired pictures of a "mystical-looking" Madonna with long white hair —a look Romanek wanted to capture on video.[34] For the next few days, Madonna would call in from Florida and, alongside Romanek, would describe to Shaffer every aspect of the video, including budget and their concepts. Shaffer by his part, would work on the storyboards and fax them for approval; the final storyboards were completed about 20 days later.[34] According to the artist, when he attended the filming, he discovered that that many of the ideas from his storyboards had "evolved, but retained the core concepts".[34]

Filming took place from December 5-11, 1994, at the Universal Studios in Universal City, California.[30] Pre-production used a stand-in for Madonna.[34] Shooting faced minor complications: It had to be stopped temporarily following a minor earthquake; Madonna got dyed in blue color from sitting too long in a water tank; a scene showing her opening her chest cavity had to be scrapped due to technical issues. One shot —involving Madonna lying in the lap of a skeleton— had to be postponed since the skeleton was too small for her, and had to be rebuilt from scratch. The last scene filmed had the singer donning a "futuristic" dress, sleeping in a laboratory.[34]

Synopsis and release

Reception and analysis

"One of the key factors in Madonna's unrivaled longevity is her willingness to experiment, over and over and over. [The video for 'Bedtime Story'] is a testament to that. A jaw-dropping cinematic achievement, it's like walking around inside a Salvador Dali painting".

—Parade's Samuel R. Murrian reviewing "Bedtime Story" on the magazine's ranking of Madonna videos.[35]

The "Bedtime Story" music video has been critically appreciated since its release. O'Brien said it was one of Madonna's most experimental, and a "Dalí-esque" epic that allowed her to enter "the portals of high art".[36] Louis Virtel from The Backlot ranked it as Madonna's eigth greatest video, calling it the "Mulholland Drive of [her] video oeuvre, a living, convulsing fever dream. [...] [T]he Björk-iest video she's ever done".[37]

Live performances

Madonna singing "Bedtime Story" on 2023—2024's the Celebration Tour. The performance had her wearing a glitter catsuit, and singing on top of a giant cube (right).

On February 20, 1995, Madonna sang one of the Junior Vasquez remixes of "Bedtime Story" at the 15th edition of the Brit Awards.[32] She was joined by three satin-clad male dancers, and sang between two wind machines that turned "her waist-lenght blond extensions into flames, and her diaphanous Versace gown into a parachute", as noted by author Mary Gabriel.[32] The staff of Marie Claire named the performance one of the 30 best moments in the awards show history.[38] The song's Orbital mix was used as a video interlude on 2004's Re-Invention World Tour.[39] The backdrop screen showed a video of Madonna singing from a scanner, while trapeze artists hung from swings.[39] For Newsday's Glenn Gamboa, "the athletic swinging of her dancers [during 'Bedtime Story'] provided the song a grace that it never would have seen in a straight performance".[40]

On the Celebration Tour (2023—2024), Madonna performed "Bedtime Story" on top of a cube that rose from the front stage, donning a silver mirrored catsuit with oversized shoulders, confectioned by Versace, and straight pink hair.[41][42][43] Projectors covered each side of the cube, and depicted a video created by Brazilian video game developer Gabriel Massan.[44] Inspired by the song's music video, Massan's visual depicted "dreamy" landscapes, while Madonna's movements were recorded in real time and linked to an avatar that emulated them.[44] Billboard's Joe Lynch named the performance one of the concert's best moments.[45] By contrast, Mark Savage from the BBC said it "felt superfluous".[46]

Track listings and formats

References

  1. ^ Flick, Larry (March 18, 1995). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. 107 (11): 59. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  2. ^ Flick, Larry (June 3, 1995). "Singles Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. 107 (22): 83. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (October 25, 1994). "Madonna > Bedtime Stories > Overview". AllMusic. Archived from the original on June 2, 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  4. ^ Promis, Jose F. (April 11, 1995). "Madonna > 'Bedtime Story' > Overview". Archived from the original on December 7, 2013. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  5. ^ a b Gracie, Bianca (October 24, 2014). "Madonna's Bedtime Stories turns 20: Backtracking". Idolator. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  6. ^ Masterton, James (February 19, 1995). "Week Ending February 25th 1995". Chart Week UK. Archived from the original on September 19, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  7. ^ Wade 2016, pp. 79–80
  8. ^ Rettenmund 1995, pp. 19–20
  9. ^ Easlea 2000, pp. 293–295
  10. ^ Rogers, Jude (August 16, 2018). "Every one of Madonna's 78 singles – ranked!". The Guardian. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  11. ^ Rooksby 2004, pp. 49–50
  12. ^ Easlea 2012, pp. 129–130
  13. ^ Morse, Steve (October 25, 1994). "Madonna sounds bored on Bedtime Stories". The Boston Globe. The Ledger. p. 17. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  14. ^ a b Pallett, Owen (August 16, 2017). "Madonna, Bedtime Stories". Pitchfork. Archived from the original on August 16, 2017. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  15. ^ a b Cinquemani, Sal (November 9, 2001). "Review: Madonna, GHV2". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on June 26, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  16. ^ Slezak, Michael (November 17, 2005). "Madonna's 10 most underrated songs". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 7, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  17. ^ Virtel, Louis (March 2, 2013). "The 100 greatest Madonna songs". The Backlot. Archived from the original on October 20, 2015. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  18. ^ "Madonna's 50 Greatest Songs: 47. 'Bedtime Story' (from Bedtime Stories, 1994)". Rolling Stone. July 27, 2016. Archived from the original on June 13, 2020. Retrieved August 12, 2024.
  19. ^ Murrian, Samuel R. (August 16, 2019). "We ranked the 100 best Madonna songs of all time". Parade. Archived from the original on August 16, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  20. ^ "The 100 greatest Madonna songs: Critics' picks". Billboard. August 15, 2018. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  21. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (July 26, 2023). "40 years of Madonna: The Queen of Pop's greatest songs, ranked - 37. 'Bedtime Story' (1995)". The A.V. Club. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  22. ^ Missim, Nayer (August 15, 2018). "Madonna at 60: Queen of Pop's 60 best singles ranked". PinkNews. Archived from the original on August 16, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  23. ^ a b O'Brien 2008, pp. 291–292
  24. ^ Amaro Vicente 2007, pp. 253
  25. ^ Servin, James (November 22, 2013). "Flashback Friday: Dancer in the Dark". Nylon. Archived from the original on June 9, 2020.
  26. ^ Cinquemani, Sal (March 9, 2003). "Review: Madonna, Bedtime Stories". Slant Magazine. Archived from the original on March 22, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  27. ^ Arnold, Chuck (August 15, 2018). "Madonna's 60 best singles, ranked". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on August 15, 2018. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  28. ^ Harrison, Quentin (October 20, 2019). "Madonna's Bedtime Stories turns 25: Anniversary retrospective". Albumism. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019. Retrieved August 20, 2024.
  29. ^ a b c d "Express Yourself: The making of Madonna's 20 greatest music videos - 14. 'Bedtime Story' (1995)". Rolling Stone. February 25, 2015. Archived from the original on October 22, 2018. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  30. ^ a b c Russell, Deborah (March 25, 1995). "Madonna's vid sneaks in theaters: Surreal 'Bedtime Story' goes to the big screen" (PDF). Billboard. 107 (12): 42. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  31. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  32. ^ a b c d e Gabriel 2023, p. 382 Cite error: The named reference "Gabriel1" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  33. ^ Gabriel 2023, p. 385
  34. ^ a b c d e f Shaffer, Grant (January 1995). "Bedtime Storyboards: An All-time Classic Madonna Video in the Making". Icon. 5 (2). Boy Toy Inc.
  35. ^ Murrian, Samuel R. (August 16, 2018). "We ranked Madonna's 20 greatest music videos—Happy birthday to the queen of pop!". Parade. Archived from the original on August 17, 2018. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  36. ^ O'Brien 2008, p. 294
  37. ^ Virtel, Louis (August 8, 2013). "Madonna's 55 best videos, in honor of her 55th birthday". The Backlot. Archived from the original on March 9, 2016. Retrieved September 4, 2024.
  38. ^ "30 Best Brit Awards moments ever". Marie Claire. February 24, 2016. Archived from the original on September 8, 2017. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  39. ^ a b Timmerman 2007, p. 27
  40. ^ Gamboa, Glenn (June 16, 2004). "Madonna not ready to quit". Newsday. Archived from the original on June 19, 2004. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  41. ^ Reilly, Nick (November 6, 2023). "How Madonna's Celebration Tour was brought to life". Rolling Stone UK. Archived from the original on November 7, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  42. ^ Naff, Kevin (December 20, 2023). "REVIEW: Madonna's joyful, nostalgic, chaotic 'Celebration'". Washington Blade. Archived from the original on December 20, 2023. Retrieved May 6, 2024.
  43. ^ Davis, Jeessica (October 17, 2023). "Inside Madonna's 'The Celebration tour' wardrobe". Harper's Bazaar. Archived from the original on October 23, 2023. Retrieved May 1, 2024.
  44. ^ a b Lawson-Tancred, Jo (November 20, 2023). "Meet the artist behind the dreamlike sets of Madonna's new tour". Artnet. Archived from the original on December 8, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2024.
  45. ^ Lynch, Joe (October 14, 2023). "The 17 best moments from Madonna's Celebration Tour opening night in London". Billboard. Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. Retrieved August 15, 2024.
  46. ^ Savage, Mark (October 14, 2023). "Madonna's Celebration Tour reviewed: The Queen of pop brings out her crown jewels". BBC. Archived from the original on October 15, 2023. Retrieved August 29, 2024.

Bibliography

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User:Chrishm21/sandbox2&oldid=1244023913"