EROTICA - 1992

1. Erotica
2. Fever
3. Bye Bye Baby
4. Deeper And Deeper
5. Where Life Begins*
6. Bad Girl
7. Waiting*
8. Theif Of Hearts
9. Words
10. Rain
11. Why's It So Hard
12. In This Life
13. Did You Do It*
14. Secret Garden

Produced by Madonna and Shep Pettibone
* Produced by Madonna and Andre Bettes

Madonna's strongest musical statement is this album, which captures the colder side of sex perfectly, and the emotional letdown of it. It opens menacing and rough with Erotica and finishes lush and longing with Secret Garden. In between, things get really hot (Fever), really cold(Bye Bye Baby), really happy (Deeper and Deeper), really sad (Bad Girl), really mad (Theif Of Hearts), really loving (Rain) and in the end, the consequences of these actions are felt (In This Life. Stunning club music, deep, introspective, soulful lyrics that disect their subject perfectly, and Madonna's vocals capture all of the right moods (and moves). Unfortunately releases simultaneously with the book Sex, many record buyers were afraid of the album, thinking that it would be a series of Penthouse letters set to disco. It still sold over 4 million copies and is a fan favorite.

Erotica - Madonna's sixth album opens with her only truly menacing character - Dita. As hot as Justify My Love, but not personal at all, Erotica is an examination of the more disurbing side of sex and all the fears involved with it. Spoken word vocals again give the song a unique feel, but the bass and surface noise give it a threatening feel unmatched by any other Madonna track. Dita is simultaneously the scariest and most lusted after of all Madonna's characters. (What does that say about her fans?) Fabian Baron's video, composed of clips from the shooting of Sex is grainy and distorted, perfectly capturing the theme of the song. To avoid another Justify My Love controversy, Erotica's video was only played after midnight.

Fever - The b-side to Bad Girl in the states, but a #1 dance club hit and a #6 hit in the UK, Fever is one of Madonna's great dance tracks. A reinterpretation of Peggy Lee's signature song, Fever tears up the dance floor to a beat originally intended for Goodbye To Innocence, but that song was dropped off the record in favour of this sizzler. A quickie video from Stephanie Sednaoui is a campy, vampy storyless video filled with some great images - a silver Madonna, a nude Madonna save for three strategically placed flowers and her final sizzle from the screen. Watchable, but meaningless.

Bye Bye Baby - Released abroad (#15 in Japan and Australia) this song is a curious, mechanical, acidic love song that tears apart a lover who's done wrong (who would mess with Dita?), but at the same time, its tinny, little girl vocals don't seem as convinced, creating an odd, compelling mix.

Deeper And Deeper - A return to the disco floor, Deeper And Deeper swirls with excitement and drive, combing the best of Vogue and Into The Groove. Like Ray Of Light and Express Yourself this one is hard not to like. The video, unfortunately, is. A muddled tale of a woman going back to her old disco hangout where she encounters an old nemesis, this one is slow and is in desperate need of a longer dance hall scene. Performed in a gay disco on The Girlie Show that brought its joyful roots to the foreground where they belong. It hit #7 in the US and #1 in Canada.
Where Life Begins - An oral sex anthem (best line: "Can you make a fire without using wood?) that's cute enough, but nothing to blow your mind, although its jazzy music perfectly suits the hotly relaxing feel of the song.

Bad Girl - Among Madonna's very best five minutes, Bad Girl ended Madonna's string of top 20 hits started back in 1983, when it stalled at #36 (#10 in the UK, #5 in Canada), but don't blame the song, an enthralling portrait of an unhappy woman searching for love through an unsatisfying relationship she can't bring herself to let go of. The Fever remixes on the b-side boosted sales, but why Fever wasn't the a-side is baffling. The video is one of the best ever. David Fincher (Express Yourself) once again pulls off a complex video where a cast-against-type Christopher Walken plays a guardian angel watching over Madonna as she looks for Mr. Goodbar. Madonna looks stunning (this video was shot just prior to the filming of Dangerous Game), and her silent acting is among her best. When the music stops cold with the hiss of a cat, you're reminded what a video is supposed to be.
Waiting - Waiting absolutely floors you with the anger and longing in Madonna's vocals. "I knew it from the start that you would desert me/Youre gonna break my heart/Baby please don't hurt me". A beg for mercy, Waiting, along with Bad Girl is a turning point on EROTICA, changing the focus from sex to love and (especially) loss. A bad remix of this track was the b-side to Rain, including a very lame rap interlude.
Theif Of Hearts - Bitch, Little Miss Black Widow and Little Suzie Ho-Maker are among the mud slung at a former friend who stole her man in this angry number not about lost love, but the loss of a possesion, a status symbol ("[She] thinks she can have his child/Well anybody can do it") but when whe asks which leg would prefer to be broken, you can bet Little Suzie Ho-Maker listened. "Sit your ass down!" Yes sir, Mrs. Sir, yes sir!
Words - Now we find out the boyfriend wasn't much of a catch anyway. An insulting brute and the promises broken by him, Words allows Madonna to grow up and realize that the Thief of Hearts "Bitch" and him deserve each other.

Rain - A pretty little abstract ballad about waiting for a lover to return, Rain is a favorite among fans that peaked at #14 in the US, but was a #1 smash in Canada, where she has had the best chart numbers in the last half decade. An elegant video about the making of a video, Rain was filmed on black-and-white stock and hand colored (a process I know nothing about and would like some information on), allowing for the gorgeous shots of Madonna's super blue eyes. Thank director Mark Romanek for the, but the overlapping vocal speehes should not have been separated for the video.
Why's It So Hard - Calling a song Why's It So Hard on an album called EROTICA and having it be about world peace is a letdown at first, but the song itself is a brilliantly crafted production that's an honest plea for acceptance. On The Girlie Show it was staged as a massive orgy after Deeper And Deeper.
In This Life - A touching AIDS ballad, In This Life is either loved as an honest tribute to lost friends or an off-putting, treachy mess, depending on who you ask. I vote for the former.
Did You Do It - (Intentionally) ridiculous rap song that perfectly parodies the sexual bragging that makes up the lower end of rap music. This song was only available on copies of the album with the explicit lyrics sticker.
Secret Garden - The closing track of EROTICA hints at Madonna's desire for a child and her fears of being alone. Haunting and touching, Secret Garden sets the tone for BEDTIME SORIES two years later: the search for real love.

Go Ahead To BEDTIME STORIES - 1994

Go Back To THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION - 1990

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