True Blue (Remastered)

by

Madonna

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As I did with my review of Madonna's first album (remastered), I will start with comments on the actual track list, followed be comments on the digitally remastered version.

TRUE BLUE, in my mind, is probably Madonna at her most inspirational. Other flashes of excellence like RAY OF LIGHT and LIKE A PRAYER may indeed receive mention, but it is this album that will always peg Madonna as a serious and brilliantly gifted artist. Five songs were released to great success internationally, viz. "Live To Tell", "Papa Don't Preach", "Open Your Heart", "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita". Moreover, "White Heat" was a fairly large hit in South Africa, and "Where's The Party" stormed the charts throughout the Far East. It is this latter song which begs to be remodelled and re-released in time for Madonna's upcoming Greatest Hits package (the 2nd "Immaculate Collection"). I personally fail to understand why this song was never released internationally in the first place.

The album opens with "Papa Don't Preach" - a superbly composed, poetic tune that sets a rather gloomy ambience. This is followed by "Open Your Heart", an upbeat, inspiring piece which is full of energy and aplomb. "White Heat" ensues, with a child-like theme akin to "cops `n robbers". We are then confronted by some hauntingly beautiful material in "Live to Tell", probably one of Madonna's strongest and most sincere ballads to date. This seriousness fails to last though, for "Where's The Party" lifts the spirits once again, as the lyrics ask us to "free our souls" and "lose control". Succeeding this wonderful dance tune is the title track, "True Blue", a love-inspired pop song, full of imagination and excited girliness. This is followed by "La Isla Bonita", a Spanish-influenced pop tune with catchy lyrics and seductive percussion. "Jimmy Jimmy" is the next track, a bubblegum pop song which is, sadly, the weakest on the album. TRUE BLUE ends on a rather energetic note, with the South American carnival-style influence in "Love Makes The World Go Round" - a fitting finalé to a well-rounded, tireless pop album.

The remodelled version of this 1986 album can simply be described as "impeccable". "Digitally Remastered" it is, and in more ways than one. The entire package has been enhanced, including the lyrics booklet and back cover. Fans will be delighted at the inclusion of a full-length TRUE BLUE picture within the lyrics booklet (as was featured in the original cassette version).

One finds it hard to believe the clarity of each song on this refreshingly enhanced CD. Like the remastered first album, some tunes on TRUE BLUE sound even more dance oriented than before - as their beats are far more distinctive and vibrant. "Where's The Party" and "Open Your Heart" are examples. In fact, "Where's The Party" sounds far more exciting than it originally did! The drums throb, and the synthesisers are lucid and precise. The inclusion of two bonus tracks will please many fans. "True Blue" (The Colour Mix) is definitely one of my favourites. Shep Pettibone was a master at remixing Madonna tracks, and this one is no exception. "La Isla Bonita" (Extended Remix), however, is not characteristically different to the album version - it is merely an extended version, and not nearly as polished as something Pettibone would have performed.

The digitally remastered version of "True Blue" is phenomenal, and is a must for the fan and the musically informed. It certainly is worthy of being nominated "Top 10 Album Of All Time".

Madonna's biggest album in worldwide sales, TRUE BLUE was a huge smash in the US as well. The album spent five weeks at #1 on the Hot 200 and has sold 20 million copies worldwide, with a hefty seven million copies (that's Platinum 7 times over) sold in the US alone. Madonna took a very active role in producing the record, and had a hand in writing all nine songs. Her singing voice was also noticeably stronger this time around, with more control and emotion. This was also the first full-length recording where the pitch of Madonna's vocals were not mechanically altered, leaving the album with sexier, more adult-sounding aura than her previous albums.

Madonna's vocals have rarely sounded as confident and impassioned as on the semi-controversial hit "Papa Don't Preach" (#1 Pop, #16 Adult Contemporary, #4 Dance), during which her intense delivery convinces us that this song really matters. She gives a similarly effective vocal on the smash fourth single "Open Your Heart" (#1 Pop, #1 Dance), which is a terrific dance track, despite some unimaginative lyrics ("I hold the lock, you hold the key"). Madonna's incredibly determined performance (and the song's blistering rock-infused sound) makes "Open Your Heart" a standout. It does not matter that her strained voice sometimes sounds raspy and off-key, because when she sings, "don't try to run, I can keep up with you," the listener can really feel her determination. The conviction in her performances are more evident in these two songs than in anywhere else in her entire career, and it single-handedly makes both songs classics. These are also the only two songs on the album that Madonna co-wrote with outside songwriters, she collaborated with mainstays Patrick Leonard and Steve Bray on the remaining seven tracks.

One of those Ciccone-Leonard compositions remains one of Madonna's best-written song: the pensive smash "Live To Tell" (#1 Pop, #1 Adult Contemporary). Originally featured in the film AT CLOSE RANGE, "Live To Tell" is a complex ballad which Madonna lends even more maturity and intensity to with her still-yearning-after-all-these-years performance. There were some critics (including ROLLING STONE magazine) who argued that "Live To Tell" was a rewrite of Joni Mitchell's simple folk ballad "Both Sides Now," but I honestly don't hear it that way at all. As a matter of fact, it remains Madonna's finest moment as a songwriter, in my opinion. Her seemingly newfound maturity is also present in the vivid "La Isla Bonita" (#4 Pop, #1 Adult Contemporary) and scorching "White Heat", both also written with Leonard.

Leonard and Bray are obviously key figures in Madonna's mid-eighties success, and together the three of them manage to even make some otherwise flimsy songs work much better than they should. For example, Madonna, Leonard, and Steve Bray pool their considerable talents on the obvious-but-fun "Where's The Party," while the irresistible Ciccone-Bray title track (#3 Pop, #6 Dance) is paper-thin, but completely adorable. Unfortunately, the remaining two songs are shockingly weak - TRUE BLUE definitely isn't as consistent as MADONNA or LIKE A VIRGIN. Madonna and Leonard really fumble with the embarrassingly saccharine "Love Makes The World Go Round," which is so sugary that it may give listeners cavities upon listening. Madonna and Steve Bray also really hit rock-bottom with the grating "Jimmy Jimmy," which is quite possibly the most annoying number that Madonna ever committed to vinyl.

The album would probably play much better if the weaker numbers weren't sequenced right at the end, however, even then, TRUE BLUE'S parts are still greater than the sum. Even though it has some of Madonna's best work, the album really never plays as a satisfying whole. Where Nile Rodgers' inventive production unified much of LIKE A VIRGIN and carried the listener through that album's few weak moments, TRUE BLUE'S multiple producers (including Madonna, Leonard, and Bray) give the album a patchwork feel that makes the filler really stand out. Even the terrific singles don't really seem to belong on the same disc. However, TRUE BLUE contains so many big hits (it's nine tracks include five Top Five hits) that it's flaws won't bother most listeners. Plus the end result is still quite good, and it gives you a taste of the maturity that was to come three years later with LIKE A PRAYER.