NewsMadonna / Physical deluxe reissues confirmed for 2022 and beyond
Back catalogue touched for the very first time
Madonna and Warner Music Group have announced a career-spanning partnership that will see a “multi-year catalog series” to launch next year which also happens to be the 40th anniversary of Madonna’s first single, ‘Everybody’.
The deal encompasses Madonna’s entire Sire/Maverick/Warner catalog and also includes her three most recent studio albums, MDNA, Rebel Heart, and Madame X, which will join the Warner catalog in 2025. All in all, the newly inked agreement includes 17 studio albums plus singles, soundtrack recordings, live albums, and compilations.
Of most interest to SDE readers is the fact that Madonna will “personally curate” (cue slight concern) expansive deluxe editions for many of her albums, as well as “introduce unique releases for special events” (e.g. Record Store Day) and more. These series of releases will be overseen by Warner Music’s catalog team, led by Kevin Gore, President of Global Catalog, Recorded Music, with the first release to be announced soon.
Madonna is one of a handful of major recording artists who has so far shunned physical expanded deluxe reissues, but all that is now set to change thanks to this new agreement.
Which of Madonna’s core studio albums should Madge and Warners tackle first? Offer your feedback via the poll below!
SDE Poll
Which studio album should Madonna reissue first?
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I’m very angry, it’s already 2024 and they haven’t given us anything, I don’t know what they’re waiting for to start the reissue campaign!!!
I see The Immaculate Collection is available in ATMOS on iTunes so I would like to see this on Blu with some added remixes, b-sides and videos, also the original version in case there is a remaster. :)
And STILL no physical deluxe reissues! We got the underwhelming ‘Finally Enough Love: 50 Number Ones’, the unnecessary Erotica 30th anniversary 12-inch picture disc and some (yawwwnnn!) digital single releases – not to mention an astoundingly overpriced O2 residency! Not the campaign we expected or wanted – surely there must be something coming soon…?!
Have been waiting patiently for the re-issue of Madonna’s complete back catalog. Is there any news on firm release dates?
Agree with @etonrifles, not interested in vinyl AT ALL. Frankly, I don’t want any big boxes that are hard to store.
Been searching for any updates on these, but still nothing.
Warner have had years to plot how Madonna SDEs could be handled while they wait for her to agree to revisit her back catalogue.
The curated by Madonna thing is a concern. She has never shown much interest in giving the fans what they want. This also feels like it has come far too late. Physical music sales are in terminal decline and interest in Madonna has dropped far from its peak. Her attitude towards the public in TV interviews, turning up incredibly late for concerts, chart performance, have all caused fans to drift away. I take no pleasure in making these observations as I have been a huge fan and feel like I’ve been waiting for SDEs forever.
Here’s hoping we don’t get price gouged by mixed media box sets with CD and vinyl. Separate options to buy a CD or vinyl set is fine.
My not not-getting-my-hopes up expectations for these would be:
Really sympathetic expertly handled remasters.
The relevant music promo videos remastered for DVD to make up for the Celebration disappointment.
Songs like Gambler and Spotlight remastered for the first time.
Like A Virgin to include Into the Groove, Crazy For You and Gambler.
True Blue to include the Madonna tracks from Who’s That Girl OST if that doesn’t get a separate SDE (and why would she care about remastering/re-releasing a bunch of songs by other artists?)
Single mixes that have only been previously available on vinyl released on CD and streaming services for the first time.
‘Madonna’ to include Ain’t No Big Deal, remastered for the very first time.
My ideal would be:
The relevant music promo videos remastered for Blu-ray.
TV and awards show performances e.g. Bedtime Story at The Brit Awards.
Genuine curios like the early (demo?) versions of Crazy For You and Gambler that are used in the Vision Quest movie itself rather than on the OST album and singles.
Demos of unreleased songs (some of which have been leaked) e.g. the Rain Tapes, Hard Candy demos like Across the Sky that are better than songs that actually made the cut, the numerous Rebel Heart demos.
Madonna’s demo of Each Time You Break My Heart in better quality to what has been leaked online.
Bonus DVDs or Blu-rays with the relevant tours that have never been available on DVD or in uncut form – Virgin Tour, Blond Ambition, Re-invention.
Original Holiday video that got dropped in favour of TV appearances.
Original American Life video.
Audio or ideally video of club PAs to launch albums e.g. Music (Brixton Academy or Roseland Ballroom) and Confessions Koko Club in London).
All three performances from Live Aid – Holiday, Into the Groove, Love Makes the World Go Round.
Major festival performances like Coachella for Confessions.
The studio recordings for tour versions of songs – Confessions in particular are great.
Tour rehearsals for Virgin Tour that leaked online, plus other songs that didn’t leak.
And finally, the impossible:
The three performances cut from the Virgin Tour VHS and long since destroyed – Angel, Borderline, Burning Up.
The complete Blond Ambition Tour filmed for Truth or Dare, the footage of songs not used in the documentary is long lost.
A Few years ago, you could find everything you talk about at “Lucky Records”, a record shop managed by two hardcore fans in Paris. Of course, these Cds or LPs are all not officials, but I found (in CD & DVD) the showcases of “Music” (In Brixton Academy & Roseland Ball + French TV apparences), Confessions (at the Koko Club) and many mare of CDs like a few compilations of the album + unrealesed songs (An angel passing…, Liquid Love, Revenge etc..). I also found a double CD of the studio recordings of different concerts: The Confession, The Re-Invention Tour, The Sticky & Sweet (with Remixes Bonus)
But The best Showcase I got in CD is “Live at La cantine du Faubourg”, the presentation of “American Life” Album in a more acoustic way, in front of 200 people. She’s joking with the public, and the sound is excellent.
In this shop, you could find the compilations released on STAR MARK, a Russian Label specialized in Best Of. There are (5 or 6 on the market) and I mentions them because the art work is always very beautiful.
And all the concerts, from the “Virgin Tour”, were available in DVD or Blue Ray, even the Re-Invention Tour, recorded in Lisboa, never released in an official way.
Another thing, “The rain tapes & unlaek songs from Erotica” are available in 5 picture discs (the visuals are pics from the “SEX” book.
You can find these references on Discogs, but (and its a shame), they don’t sell unofficial items anymore.. and another bad news, if the shop “Lucky Records” still exists, the new owner is not a real specialist of the Madonna discography. But you can check the website, sometimes they are interesting item, especially in picture discs.
Kind of a silly question, as the re-issue campaign should obviously begin with “Madonna” and continue chronologically….
Plenty of reissue campaigns do not run chronologically. Labels like to start with the big sellers (Band on the Run, KICK etc.).
At last! I am a fan since 1989 when i heard Like A Prayer for the first time, i was 13 years old that time. For this reason i give my vote to LAP for the first treatment
FINALLY!!!
I’ve been a Madonna fan for close to 40 years, and I’ve waited for Deluxe Editions of her albums för at least 15 years.
Now, this is a very important campaign, and she needs to release one of the big hit albums to succeed. Like A Prayer is one of those. Music is another. Oh well, we’ll find out “soon”.
And I sure hope the releases will be like the Led Zeppelin re-issues, also supervised by Kevin Gore, so there is a chance it might happen. That way, everybody will be pleased… ish.
I for one will be ecstatic! :)
What I would like is commentary or notes on some of the songs on those albums. What was the motivations, feelings about some of those songs and videos that she did. Remixes, rarities, and B-sides are okay, but I am more interested in some of those iconic moments for those songs. Rod Stewart did it for his first Box set. I think Madonna can do that for her music box sets.
Good idea, but we know she will never do that.
Don’t be so sure. Two weeks ago I “knew” that Madonna never would release any deluxe editions, and here we are now, waiting for the announcement of the first box. :)
This’ll be an event. But how will it be approached?
For my money (potentially), there are myriad ways to approach it. If I was organising, I’d do it like this…
Multi-disc sets – all 4CD book sets (Jethro Tull-esque)
Disc 1 : original album, remastered, appended with period relevant B-sides, or period -relevant other tracks (i.e Gambler, Into The Groove, This Used To Be My Playground, etc)
Disc 2 & 3 : Remixes of note (i.e. white labels? fan / DJ-voted favourites?) / Radio edits / in-progress works; not everything needs to be released…)
Disc 4 : Blu-Ray with…period-relevant videos with Madonna commentary for each (Stevie Nicks / Noel Gallaghers on their respective video bests-of’s are brilliant) / TV appearances / EPKs. Audio too : Album Original mix / Remaster / 5.1 mix
Book : period interviews / photos / track-by-track discussions with Madonna, approx 50 pages.
Plus download codes for all content on 3 CDS and the 3 mixes of the album.
I think this will strike a balance between content and affordability. Wouldn’t keep everyone happy, but
it’d be a pretty good for a regular series.
Possible exceptions could be You Can Dance – do a Coda and massively expand it to include ALL remixes (or just create
a new remixes comp).
Plus, The Immaculate Collection. That should be…
Disc 1 : The original album, remastered
Disc 2 : Any other tracks considered / remixes / B-sides for the period
Disc 3 & 4 : Blonde Ambition – The Concert Live, remastered. The perfect place to include it
Disc 5 : Blu-Ray Blonde Ambition – The Concert. Ditto.
Disc 6 : Blu-Ray Truth Or Dare. Plus period videos, MTV Vogue etc, and Madonna commentary.
Book : period interviews / photos / track-by-track discussions with Madonna, approx 50 pages.
Plus download codes for all content on 3 CDS and the 3 mixes of the album.
What do you all think?
I cannot wait. For all of them. I have been waiting an eternity for deluxe reissues from Madonna, even though I pretty much have everything related to every album already. I am hoping she shocks us by finding material in the vault for each album.
But even if each album is two or three discs of stuff I already own, it will be a dream to have these collections in one place.
And I really hope they are complete and go in chronological order, starting, of course, with “Madonna.”
Which I am sure she’ll start with, seeing as “Everybody” came out in 1982, so we are looking at the 40th anniversary next year.
It is hard to get across, to anyone who wasn’t around at the time, just how much of a cultural icon Madonna was in her day – a far cry from the “ghoulish mummy with bird-like appendages” described by a character in American Dad. She had an earthy, girl next door quality that she was somehow able to fuse with whatever rising fashion trend was about to break across the mainstream. She was so charismatic and with such broad appeal – a real star.
Ordinarily, I don’t look past the music when it comes to reissues. In this case one would hope that whoever is compiling these sets is putting together some decent accompanying books that document her shifting style, especially during the 1980s. Her look was as important as her music.
Having listened to the 25th Anniversary of Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ earlier today (an artefact from a nightmarish parallel dimension, padded out with revisions of MJ’s most popular songs featuring the likes of will.i.am and Fergie) I hope for a sensitive document of the period when these albums were released, with hopefully none of the re-contextualising that sometimes arises when artists revisit their youth.
I agree. Will be interesting to see her earlier stuff re-assesed. Like a Prayer in particular has stood the test of time IMO
I’ll get True Blue and Bedtime Stories not matter what since they are my favorite sets by far. However, I have pretty much all of the B-sides, alternate takes, unreleased versions, and remixes of her stuff that I’d ever want so unless we are talking about remasters I’ll likely pass on the rest.
I think all we’re going to learn from this comment section is you can’t please all the people all the time. Show us what you got Madonna, and let us judge….cant wait!
I’ve said it a thousand times. What concerns me most about these “reissue” campaigns is the lack of urgency. Nobody at any record company seems to understand that the market for physical media and paid downloads is going away. Having a reissue plan where you are waiting extra years for a specific anniversary to take place is simply waiting an extra year for less people buying your product. When Andy Summers said that The Police reissues would be over 10 years, it gave me a big laugh. How long will this Madonna campaign be? It will probably end up like the last Madonna remasters. After True Blue, they gave up and bailed on Like A Prayer. This will be like the TV Show DVD where they release Season 1 or Season 2, and the last five seasons never come out. They should’ve just released the complete series at once. Same with Madonna. I can’t imagine having the passion for a Like A Virgin 40 in 2024. Or a Music 30 in 2030. Just release box sets covering 1983-1992, 1993-2002, and 2003-2011, and so on. And you can stagger them a few months apart, just don’t stagger them years apart. Put them out in 2022, and do it right. If you stagger them over 5-10 years, sure, some fans will buy them, but since music sales have been down almost every single year for 20 years now, do you really think a good strategy is to wait even longer in a dying industry?
Where does it say the reissues will be specifically coming out to celebrate each albums anniversary? All it’s mentioned in terms of anniversaries is the 40th anniversary of her debut single Everybody and that’s what is kicking off the reissues, I’m hoping we get these sooner than later.
First of all, I’m so happy this is happening.
But as a fan, I actually wish she wasn’t involved…
Her social media right now is good indication of how she perceives herself.
Her last concert tour DVD releases are a good example of how she goes back, edits and sometimes re-records stuff to become a glossy sh*t which is not enjoyable.
Rebel Heart, which I think is a strong album…shows how the demo versions are stronger than what she went back and retouched.
I hope someone at Warner is strong enough to actually have a dialogue with her and remaster / rerelease tracks that were maybe imperfect, but maybe showcase why we loved her in the first place.
Just interested in the material up to 1990, especially the first two.
Would like to see a comprehensive treatment with singles et al. Similar to the Prince 1999 and SOTT sets not Purple Rain as that was a bit thin and brick walled.
It’s Madonna what isn’t there to like? Just to hear Lucky Star and Borderline remastered instead of awful flat CD pressings will be a joy. Please don’t fuck it up.
Where has this idea come from that Madonna little to nothing in the vault?
Just look at this list and you’ll be very surprised.
https://madonna.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Unreleased_Songs
Also, during the Rebel Heart era she did a fan Q&A and was asked if she’d ever consider releasing her unreleased songs, and she replied that she thought it was a good idea and could do it as a series of releases. Well this would be the perfect opportunity to do this, so there is hope.
The idea probably comes from the fact that Madonna hardly ever had any original B-sides. Not the sign of someone overflowing with great songs.
I agree her original b-sides are minimal, for her Warner years it seemed we only got 1 b-side per era if we were lucky, then with her 2010s Interscope albums we got loads of bonus tracks.
I’m guessing it was all contract related.
Given Madonna’s love for visual art, there will most likely be a DVD or Blu Ray included with each album. Also given the lack of non-released vault material, we will most likely get a lot of demos with the older albums, some (touched up) live stuff and remixes. The newer albums couldn’t possibly contain all the remixes so I’m curious to see what remixes will be included. Since the cd singles with all the remixes are still widely available, she may just stick to unreleased remixes.
Madonna has shown us multiple times that she is out of touch with what fans want and feels sort of “above it all” so I wouldn’t be surprised this reissue campaign is a let down. When it was announced Phil Collins was going to reissue his albums, no one expected a colossal failure, yet here we are. Same with Peter Gabriel. It seems when artists are involved, things get messed up. I remember Nik Kershaw leaving off the extended version of Wild Horses on his The Riddle reissue because he deemed it a bad mix. Then when people complained, he wrote “here’s an idea, don’t buy it”. I remember Paul commenting that the reissue probably would have been better had Kershaw not been involved himself. I fear that will be the same with these Madonna reissues. With Madonna it’s always about her and not the fans so brace yourselves for a very mediocre reissue campaign.
There is a huge amount of her material that has only ever seen the light of day on vinyl, some of it so old now that playing it is painful to hear. Then there are literally 100s of promo, alternative, 12” & 7” versions, an expert or enthusiastic collector would need to help curate any future deluxe reissues. The idea of Madonna having too much input into these future projects is very worrying. She’s obsessed with editing & censoring her past, there are tracks & mixes that she’s on record as saying she loathes. There were 4 UK exclusive remixes of Everybody which were released and at least 2 UK remixes of Burning Up – which were never released, possibly due to the poor performance of Everybody in the UK, she also said she hated the Burning up remix when she heard it. If the material finally gets a nice clean digital release, that’ll be a hopeful start. Apart from no or few omissions, I’d like good masters – not brick walled for the sake of the lossy streamers who play stuff through cheap earbuds and tiny Bluetooth speakers. The Kate Bush remasters are a good example to follow, though the omissions there were saddening. Surround sound would be welcomed as would HD remasters of any videos that were shot on film. That all sounds like a lot to expect, but we’ll see…
Not a massive fan, but would probably fork out for these if she includes all the correct single mixes and contemporary tracks (film songs etc.)
It’s astounding that Madge’s actual singles have never been made available since first release. Get it right, please!
(Great byline, by the way ;) )
Actually, in the 90s (maybe about 1996) all the Madonna singles released up to that date were reissued by Warners Germany as CD singles, with a yellow label. That was nice work.
Those were the 12” singles though, so many of her 7” single edits and mixes from the 80s are yet to make their appearance on CD. Hoping this reissue campaign can fix this.
I am looking forward to these reissues, however the proof will be in the pudding. I hope they follow the template for excellent recent reissues, Prince, Tina, etc etc. I like the idea of a singles box set for each album for all the mixes, along with an expanded CD/DVD collection, plus vinyl of course. If they get it right with the first release it will be an expensive couple of happy years to come. If they get it wrong, money saved, as I already have most of Madonna’s albums on CD and an array of CD singles.
I’m not greedy, it’s all about audio quality for me rather than extras. Just a plush gatefold and a really comprehensive remastering by someone like Bob Ludwig would do me. Maybe some coloured vinyl if they can press them properly but the MOFI experience is what I like best.
Wasn’t a Madonna fan till Ray always thought many of her videos were actually better than her songs although she did have some catchy singles.Would love to have some of her videos included on these releases cleaned up and put on bluray in 5.1.
Ive been messaging your board for years complaining about the lack of, and asking about Madonna reissues. As an M fan since 84, this is the best news I have heard in so long.
For me, the most important thing here is going to be quality remastering. Im talking, half-speed, Miles Stowell, Bernie Grundman style OR with the original producers and engineers, if there is interest and would result in quality output. Next, quality physical product. Dont give us crappy cover reproductions and so on. Not interested.
The first release next year should probably be the 40th Anniversary of the Debut Album across numerous formats and sizes. I will plan to get the Super Deluxe Edition and since I have been able to access alot of the non-produced demos through the years, I am sure M has access to them too so I expect some cool things here – Maybe including a remastered version of the original 4 tracks on the 4trk demo she made Seymour Stein listen to in his hospital bed in order to get signed. Include plenty of imagery including the pics from the colorful euro “First Album” edition. Other items that I consider musts – the videos. Lets make sure they’re all remastered and so on but the MOST IMPORTANT thing here, include the “original” scrapped “Holiday” video in all its glory. In the US, I believe the Solid Gold performance was used as promo and I believe it was the TOTPs version overseas.
The second release also to come out next year is the 30th Anniversary of Erotica. Quite simply, everything flawlessly remastered again. Images that we may have never seen that were considered. The entire, notorious and exceptional, “Rain Tapes” demo. We’ve all heard it and we all love the scrapped tracks, ie: “You Are the One” “Dear Father” and so on. Depending on if she still has issues with Junior Vasquez, she can remaster and include “Love Hurts” which eventually became Erotica. The point here is that for most M fans, Erotica is in our top 3 faves albums list. Since 90’s dance music is inspiring alot of todays modern music, it could also make sense for M to actually release a new single from this album. On the other hand, Jazz seems to be even more popular now with folks getting into vinyl and appreciating the sounds that come from jazz and she could easily pick one of the andre betts produced Jazz-hop numbers to launch this reissue.
What I dont want – the bowie 40th anniversary single pic disc releases. Please dont do that. No pic disc vinyl at all please or as long as the material is available in regular vinyl format then a supplementary collectible pic disc is fine but dont flood the market the way Bowie has. I think I was excited for the first 10 releases and now I just dont want to hear about another bowie 40th 7″ – waste of space.
Besides the 2 suggestions above, were going to need special releases through the year for RSD, National Album, Love, and all the other special music selling days. An easy one, something like what Stevie Nicks and/or Fleetwood released for RSD – “alternate” editions. ie: The “alternate” debut album with unique cover and a track or two that you can only find on this physical release.
Alright those are some ideas for now. The 3 folks that chose Madame X…Warner doesnt get access to that till 2025 so she couldnt kick off with Madame X next year.
As usual, another excellent artist waiting way too long after the fact to reissue things. I’ll be 184 years old by the time they figure it out. The original reissues were ok, but stopping after True Blue was insane. I likely will avoid all of these except for maybe Like A Prayer. I might have gone up to Music had these been done 10 years ago, but taking all this time has decreased potential buyers exponentially. Same for the Police reissues Andy Summers hinted about. The ship has sailed. And both Madonna and The Police don’t exactly have vaults full of outtakes. I would purchase The Virgin Tour on Blu Ray, and maybe another concert from 2002 or before. Doubt there is much in terms of video she would approve though.
I hope Madge doesn’t take a cue from Lorde and offer these sets in vinyl and digital download only. I’m only half-joking, as CDs definitely seem to be out of favor right now. Hopefully Warner’s handling of the Prince material is a sign that these Madonna sets will have robust CD versions.
When the time comes, I hope this will be the chance to have all the Erotica (song) and Fever remixes all in one place, on CD. Many readers probably own the elusive double red vinyl promo for Fever, with about 12 amazing remixes. As far as I know, some of them never appeared on legit Warner CDs. I also hope we will get more demo early material like what was on the unauthorized Pre-Madonna CD, which Steve Bray published in 1997.
Start at the beginning and let’s hope it’s done super well.
My concern wouldn’t be so much the contents as the mastering. The Madonna catalogue effectively spans the gamut of mastering for CD, from the straight transfer of Madonna to the Qsound mess that is The Immaculate Conception to the mastering for loudness that has afflicted her albums for the last 25 years. For me, the sweet spot would be somewhere in between Like A Prayer and Erotica—but I suspect the trend will continue unabated.
I’d rather see a non-Qsound reissue of The Immaculate Conception.
* Collection
Someone voted for a Madame X reissue??? Wow
It´s an excellent album and there are probably some unreleased tracks in the vault.
Touched for the very first time! Love it Paul. The speculation is great but until they drop we have no idea how comprehensive, or otherwise these sets will be. Overloaded with music like Prince or with useless trinkets like ex-Beatles. Let’s see, and start saving now. All I’m really hoping for is consistency in quality and presentation across the releases and not a wasted opportunity.
As a Madonna fan, this is honestly a dream come true and long overdue, reading the press article filled me with so much joy, and I can only hope she delivers what fans want from these deluxe editions: demos, b-sides, single edits, non-album singles, remixes, remastered tours.
I know some think her ego could prevent her from delivering the goods, but I have high hope she can do it. Great news.
If, and it seems likely, the aim of this is to make money there are two ways I would go about it.
Release two albums at a time, make them something like the McCartney releases as it is going to be expensive anyway. It would be good if they could keep uniformity throughout, same sized boxes for each release so you would end up with an incredibly attractive array of 14 / 15 / 16 or whatever. If there is some kind of structure that makes a spine picture or message then that would be cool.
I would release not 1, 2 then 3, 4 and so on I would either go 1, 8 then 2, 9……(as DiscoDave said below). However I think the best way to show that they have actually thought things through would be to go 1, 17 then 2, 16 then 3, 15 and so on. This would not only encourage people caught up in the excitement of things to buy a set they might have given up by if it was straight chronological. The only way a casual fan might buy Rebel Heart if it is early doors and released at the same time as Like A Virgin. So you start with the bookends and fill in towards the centre. They will sell more that way, there’s a temptation to complete the set, particularly if they can show uniformity across the first 4 or 6 releases.
Especially if the spine art makes a ‘tantalising’ picture of Queen Mads. You don’t to be missing an important anatomical region. ;)
Save yourself a few notes Dave!! Just hit your local cex and pick up body of evidence dvd £3
At least she looked reasonable in that!!!
as long as you factor in that Warner wont be able to access her latest 3 albums until 2025.
Definitely agree about hoping they are the same size uniformly, not a fan of oversized boxes mixed in with normal sized packaging – difficult to store, display and appreciate aesthetically on the shelves
Personally I would like them to start with ‘Madonna’ and proceed chronologically, although preferably in waves of multiple titles rather than just one a year.
Similar to others I have a fairly extensive wishlist for these so will probably end up mildly disappointed but still excited that something is happening at last. My ideal contents would be:
+ All single edits, extended versions + all period-appropriate remixes including any that were prepared but were unreleased at the time (no modern re-imaginings though, please)
+ B-sides, outtakes, demos + any period-appropriate non-album/soundtrack tracks (e.g. Gambler, Crazy For You etc.)
+ When it comes to Madonna I’m not so bothered about live audio but the accompanying concerts (remastered for Blu-ray / DVD) for ‘Virgin’ onwards are a must: the ‘Blonde Ambition’ Tour would be particularly welcomed
+ Remastered music videos
+ Detailed track-by-track liner notes, including historical context, single cover variations & promo photos from the era
+ Complementary LP / CD packages for those who want them, rather that multi-media boxes for those who don’t
+ Consistent format for all releases (looking at you Warners / SONY / Prince Estate)
+ Extraneous tat not required
+ Some 5.1 mixes would be welcomed but I suspect are unlikely
I’m hoping that Warners treat these as a prestige release and really go to town, making them the definitive statement of Madonna’s career.
These will be huge boxsets ! We’re gonna need bigger shelves !
And I would go with the Japanese Blond Ambition tour video over the US version. The Japanese concerts were early in the tour; by the time she got to the US, she was clearly feeling the stress.
Also, in the Japanese concerts she wore her long blonde ponytail…. visually stunning and much better-looking than the curly hair of later dates.
Absolutely everything you said!
Hopefully this will be done chronologically with all the “original” remixes from the time included. If all those remixes aren’t included then I definitely won’t be biting!
I quite like the way PJ Harvey has gone about her re-issue campaign, album by album starting at the beginning and keeping it simple in terms of the re-issue of the actual album and then a seperate album for the demo’s etc. and by doing it that way it let’s the buyer be in control of what they want to buy rather than been forced into the “buy all set” and then complain it’s either too expensive or you don’t want some of the elements.
Hoping it will be a sensible campaign that keeps uniformity accross each album, as I can see myself getting heavily invested in these re-issues having waited so long for them.
Everybody is the Madonna “source code”, so it should start here. Everything else comes from here
No CD and vinyl in one sets please. Make it a CD only and a vinyl only set, with Blu-Ray/DVD of course.
Yes! Hundred percent no mixed media!
Well there wont be no dragging material out of the “vaults” the artist doesn’t want released – artist thankfully still alive and wont be releasing inferior material as with the Prince estate. Quality over quantity. SOTs deluxe set had too much filler that simply overshadowns the staring product. More is definitley not better. As for 101 versions of the same song? does anyone serioulsy even listen to all of these more that once (if even that)? Especially the 80s remixes.
I think you’re the first person I’ve seen call that Prince bonus material ‘inferior’…
I’ll definitely second that. A lot of it – compared to the end result album – was very mediocre indeed. It turns out Prince was a better editor of his material than us – who’d have thought?!
The proper comparison is whether Prince’s bonus material was/is better than most other artists? And the answer to that is a resounding yes. More of it and genuinely good/excellent quality. Let’s be honest, with Madonna we’ll be lucky to get one or two decent unreleased songs per album, Prince had dozens.
All Prince posthumous releases are excellent, and I’m only a casual fan ! These reissues have reached their goal : make me discover an artist that I have never really listened to when he was alive.
I strongly disagree with the Prince comment. However, I agree with the one about 101 versions of the same song – I would be quite happy with one or two discs of the best ones (and not the same song consecutively).
Really have to agree with you here Paul.
Although I have been overwhelmed by the amount of extra material on the SotT super deluxe, the only thing that I find less than interesting is the live content (and that’s down to personal preference).
The material from the vaults is consistently of remarkable quality with a large proportion of the tracks easily considerable as first-rate album tracks – something that cannot be said of a lot of artists discarded outtakes.
Really? Mediocre? Filler? The only thing mediocre is the mixing of the live show in Utrecht. Other than that all the “Fillers” are much better than everything that Madonna did after Like a prayer, however, Love Song is really not up to Prince’s standard. Not sure why this was ever published. Should be vault track: “Featuring a long to believed lost collaboration with Prince”. Foreign Affair by TT is a decent, less pricey anniversary edition that does not overwhelm with aforementioned remixes and 7″ inch edits.
I think some of you have underestimated her and never heard any of the leaked material from Madonna’s vault, there is a lot on YouTube. Not on the same scale as Prince’s massive vault obviously, but there is plenty that has still never seen the light of day, so it’d be good to see what she’s willing to let us have in full quality.
Each Time You Break My Heart is gorgeous, RIP Nick Kamen but I’d truly love that song finally unearthed with decent audio.
Just a Dream which she gave to Donna Delory needs Madonna’s version release.
Goodbye to Innocence, You Are the One, Gone Gone Gone, Revenge, You’ll Stay, Liquid Love, Run, History (Land of the Free), Across the Sky, Broken, Never Let You Go, and let’s not forget the Rebel Heart “demos” being better than the released versions.
Bless your heart. The vault material from the SoTT boxset was absolutely fantastic.
There is no Prince Estate. Industry “Stooges” are in charge of everything. Prince’s family hardly ever had anything to do with his music, and he did not talk to them for most of his last 10 years of life. His family recently signed off on things, but I can’t believe anybody thinks they are listening to what is in the vault. The powers that be left off multiple fantastic tracks from Sign SDE, and many that did make the cut were mediocre. Prince’s strongest period of recording was mishandled. It’s still a fine box set, but could have been so much better. There were 3 versions of Witness 4 The Prosecution, and they left off the original demo, which is by far the best of the 3. That’s one song where all 3 would have been appropriate to include.
Michael Howe told me he works closely with the Prince Estate. To say Sign O’ The Times box was ‘mishandled’ is ridiculous. It was WAY beyond what anyone could have expected and wouldn’t have been half as good had it not had such a good time working on it (I know a few of them).
You underestimate how many of us probably care as much about all the remixes as anything else.
I listen to remixes all the time, more than the originals in the case of some artists.
So yes, to me the remixes, and as many as possible are 100% essential if I’m buying any deluxe edition.
She’s one of my all-time favorites, so this news has me giddy. She’s one of the greatest, most important pop performers of all time. Chronological? No thank you. Yes, Like a Virgin was huge, but it’s nowhere near the records that Music, Ray of Light, or Bedtime Stories are. Chronological might satisfy the “I never liked her after ______” crowd, but that’s not the demographic for a huge reissue campaign like this. Sure, they’ll buy those ones and complain that she’s not making music like she did in 1987 anymore,, but it’s the hardcores like me who are salivating over the thought of Erotica, American Life, etc who will be buying all of them.
Superdeluxeedition Sex book please.
Cue Slight Concern, Indeed! Given Madge’s past comments about her fans needing to “get over” her back catalogue, I’m not terribly convinced that she won’t “curate” based on her own revisionism. Which I don’t think is what her target audience would like.
My fear is that the “expansive deluxe” tratment will mean a box set with lots of memorabilia (cards, printed photos, boy-toys belts, etc.), the original album on CD and vinyl, some 7″ singles, a book, and no extra tracks.
On the other hand, I think she’s posted some videos on her social media accounts this past year with some unreleased music snippets (from her pre-Madonna album years), and this deal has been rumoured since also around a year ago, so maybe they’ve been really working on the release of her first album with unreleased tracks. I hope so.
I don’t like all that cheap tat in box sets costing £100+ either. I’m nearly 50, why would I want a folded poster or some postcards etc.? I spend a fortune on interior design, I’ve absolutely no desire to ruin my home, sticking cheap posters to the wall like a deranged 12yr old.
I agree, but they keep doing it that way.
Good one! LOL
Since next year is an anniversary for the debut, its inclusion would be a no-brainer and I would think Like A Prayer and Ray of Light (her most critically acclaimed albums) would be on the slate. But please, for the love of god, please just release deluxe CD/DVD editions for the majority and let the vinyls sit alone, or have a few of them already made it to the shelves? Exciting news for fans but I hope she gets her nose out of the air and acknowledges that what makes a real deluxe edition is including as much rare/unheard material as possible and with one eye always on the fanbase.
It has got me wondering if these editions might include the concert she gave in support of an album. Didn’t she give a special one-off concert in NY to kick off the Music release? That would be a neat inclusion…
Definitely a few I’ll be buying.
PS Try and sequence the remix collections so it’s not one mix after another of the same song.
Please update your poll to include “I’m Breathless” with the other studio albums. It is not a soundtrack album. Thank you!
Actually, it is. Its subtitle is “Music from and inspired by the film Dick Tracy”.
I always considered it a studio album, despite the subtitle. It only included 3 Sondheim songs that were used in the film. Dick Tracy had its own OST without any Madonna songs. It would be interesting to see if there are any leftovers from I’m Breathless as well as alternative arrangements/mixes.
Personally, i think they should start from the beginning and do them chronological, but the four which would be of most interest to me, are, “True Blue”, “Like a Prayer”, “Ray of Light” and “Confessions on a Dance Floor”. :)
I’m excited for this and hopefully on coloured vinyl. It’s kinda funny how she’s biting off Taylor Swift with the “Madonna Version” releases. But oh well, she’s stopped being relevant since MDMA. I wish someone would sit her down and tell her “no-one wants #GhettoGrandma. She’s as black as her accent is English. Get back to basics Madonna!
‘I’m Breathless: Music from and Inspired by the Film Dick Tracy’
Who could not want to own ‘Hanky Panky’ in all the various mixes? ;-)
However, ‘Vogue’ could be ignored by the standard album releases which would be a real miss.
I wonder how such tracks will be dealt with?
I doubt there will be an expanded version of this OST.
P.S. I doubt every artist has a vault like Prince.
P.P.S. Interestingly after ‘Confessions on a Dancefloor’ the number of writers getting involved for each album seemed to increase rapidly.
I recently bought MDNA new for AUD$1 – I was surprised how good the second half is.
I wouldn’t argue that it’s one of her best, but I think it is better than its reputation. The single choices were not great.
I was going to say that not being a fan, this is of no interest to me, except to watch the fans complain about various tracks being included/excluded. Glad to see it’s starting already!
Isn’t SDE the place to do that though Glen? Not necessarily complain but to discuss and give input on what fans would like to see on upcoming releases. In the hope that record companies will listen. We may not always agree but I for one love the fact this website gives us the chance to put out there our wishlists.
Out of nowhere she has been making her club hits from the 90s available on iTunes and Spotify this year, but those often don’t have all the remixes that went out to DJs and radio. I would love more from the Erotica era. Including that Steve “Silk” Hurley mix of “Shake Your Head” that she did with Was (Not Was). I want anything Shep touched. Audio from her early tours would be welcome too, especially if they were different dates than what was previously released on VHS and DVD.
Not a Madonna fan but had to comment and compliment the sub-headline. Gave me a laugh!
:)
The debut, Madonna, is still my favourite and the one I’ll never tire of. Yes, she got more cred from the critics with the latter albums (Like A Prayer, Ray of Light, etc.) but they didn’t have the sheet fun and joy of the debut. I’d argue it contains her greatest ever release, the sublime Borderline.
Hopefully we get all the different versions and b-sides without any careful curation that sees tracks left out because Madonna knows best .
Borderline is perfection!
I second the comment on Borderline
I’d like to think Madonna’s idea of “personally curating” a deluxe set is to included EVERYTHING that got released at the time – b-sides, remixes, promo mixes, dubs, edits etc. I’ll bet you it isn’t, though….
Myself, I’d settle for a complete chronological blu-ray of her videos in 5.1.
I’d hope anyone “curating” deluxe editions would also be of that mindset.
I thought Madonna wasnt all that interested. There is some interesting stuff in the vaults ( some of it better than the released material- especially from the more recent albums). For me her imperial phase was Ray of light to Confessions on a dance floor plus Like a prayer
Unfortunately Madonna’s incessant need to work with the latest producers/ acts that she thinks makes her cool with the kids has rendered her last few efforts unlistenable for me
For some reasons I only find myself playing either True Blue or Like A Prayer for almost 20 years now – I do own all CDs up to Music but have to admit that the rest does not really matter much to me. Hung up with the the Abba Sample was the most recent that I heard from her and I found it underwhelming. This ship has sailed for me…
I’m only interested in the ‘80s material.
Go back to the roots and start with “Madonna”, where it all began. I’d be surprised if demos/unreleased tracks were included but would be happy with all the 7″, 12″, b-sides, Dubs and Instrumentals.. These for starters but theres probably more…..
Everybody (7″ Edit) 3:58
Everybody (7″ Instrumental) 4:13
Everybody (12″) 5:56
Everybody (12″ Dub) 8:58
Everybody (UK 7″ Remix Edit) 3:20
Everybody (UK 7″ Dub) 4:40
Everybody (UK 12″ Remix) 6:16
Everybody (UK 12″ Dub) 5:59
Burning Up (12″) 5:56
Burning Up (Alternate Album Version) 4:48
Physical Attraction (7″ Version) 3:52
Holiday (7″ Version) 4:10
Lucky Star (7″ Version) 3:44
Borderline (7″ Remix) 4:02
Borderline (US 12″ Remix) 6:57
Borderline (12″ Dub Remix) 5:48
Be great if Ain’t No Big Deal (4:12) was included too having been recorded in the album sessions and released as a b-side on Papa Dont Preach (UK) and True Blue (US).
Ain’t No Big Deal is sublime!
Knowing her personality (I’ll just leave it at that), this campaign could go horribly wrong. “I never liked that track, take it off”. “I don’t get along with that remixer anymore, don’t include that”. Etc, etc.
My interest is probably going start at Ray of Light, but True Blue (or Like a Prayer) might be a good kick-off idea given their popularity and hits. First two albums feel a bit too dated . . . I’m keen on Bedtime, Ray, Music, American Life.
X is an amazing album and probably her best since American Life. Finally sounds ahead of the game again rather than just trying to keep up with the pack. Downward spiral always starts when you enlist Timberland/Timberlake way past their prime :-)
Great news! Would be great to have “True Blue” & “Like A Prayer” on physical deluxe editions finally! Hope to get Patrick Leonard demos on physical CD for the first time!
let’s hope the full lenght, unedited shep pettibone extended remix of “into the groove” in all its 8:39 minutes glory finally finds the way onto CD!
https://www.discogs.com/Madonna-Into-The-Groove-Everybody/release/702478
Looking for Like A Virgin, True Blue, Like A Prayer – all extended/dance versions – demos – alternative versions – around this time tracks (Nick Kamen?? Soundtracks) Back to WB >> Hmmm… Boxsetˋs like Fleetwood Mac & A-HA
Payable please
I only own Like A Prayer and Ray Of Light cd’s. That’s enough Madonna for me for the rest of my life. I’m 1 year and 18 days younger than her. Happy birthday to her!
Obviously not a fan then. I’m 10 years and 1 day younger than her :-).
Finally! I say “let’s start at the very beginning”! There should be more than enough material for a very impressive SDE for her debut album… once the rights/clearances are sorted out! Would also be very cool to launch the campaign with a new compilation and Blu Ray of the music videos – the quality of the Celebration DVD was spotty at best! Madonna really deserves a proper multi-disc singles anthology.
That Celebration video compilation was a lazy mess. Several omissions, soft picture quality, letterboxed videos that should have been encoded as 16:9. The surround option is no such thing, it’s just fake 5.1, expanded rather than remixed. The best thing about it is the CD quality PCM stereo sound. She must have around 60-70ish videos now. It would be a massive undertaking to track down all the raw film footage for anything pre 2005 to rescan and reconstruct the videos in HD. I’d love to see them do it and would be stunned if they did.
I have only one request: no bloody RSD exclusives and no bloody “store/country” exclusives like Target or Amazon.Uk that does nto allow anyone else to buy these unless you want to pay ten times more. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.
I totally agree
While I might dip in for only one or two of these, I agree. The music labels and sellers are not trying very hard to keep CD alive and are making it hard for people like me who live in the US but likes to buy imported copies. Large format boxed sets from UK artist’s stores are becoming for rich people only with shipping over £50!
RSD exclusives and no bloody “store/country” exclusives & the prospect of large format box set, from artist’s store only becoming a rich person purchase with shipping over £50!
Belly – Bees was an american only vinyl LP release until this years RSD, so artists can accommodate their fans should the wish to.
https://www.discogs.com/Belly-Bees/release/19112494
Brilliant news – if done properly and not suffering the usual ‘curated by the artist’ curse! It would see the majority think it should start with her debut album – I definitely agree! All released in order is the way to go. I do hope they are all released in the same consistent formats as I haven’t been a fan of the multiple size/shape/content approach the Prince estate has adopted with their campaign! The Metallica or Jethro Tull campaigns have been consistent if I remember rightly and Madonna’s should too I think. I really hope they don’t go the ‘mixing vinyl and CD in the same package’ route either! Fingers crossed this goes the way an artist of Madonna’s stature deserves! And more so the way the fans deserve!! If you are ever asked an opinion by the Warner and Madge camp Paul I know your approach is the way I would always trust! Let’s hope we get the best campaign possible. Oh and love the ‘Back catalogue touched for the very first time’ line! haha
Fleetwood Mac, same label, mixed vinyl and digital boxed sets. I hope they don’t but I am sure they won’t make separate 4 or 5 record and 4 CD + DVD or Blu-ray sets when they could do what they did with FM and annoy the majority of people.
First of all, they must release the Pink Floyd Animals!
“As reimagined by Madonna…”
Always start at the beginning
I think they will do them in order. Prince has set the benchmark for Super Deluxe sets. lets see what Madge comes up with.
I really love the work of Prince and enjoyed the Sign O’ The Times SDE especially, but benchmark?
Not really.
That honor goes to King Crimson (if you look at one artists work) or to Bear Family Records (if you look at reissue labels).
Speaking of the CD sets, content wise I think Prince has been first line, but try putting 1999, Purple Rain, and SOTT next to one another on a shelf (Bruce and REM as well). Personally I’m a big fan of the Marillion, Deacon Blue, and XTC deluxe reissues for content and consistency. From what I have read here @SDE, King Crimson and Jethro Tull seem to check the same boxes, but I’m not as big fan of either band myself.
Glad to see this thread Paul because your comments about the release of madame x were not flattering at all.Yes its awkward (for her) getting old and she cant handle it with dignity, but she is up there with prince and mj and maybe the only alive superstar of the mtv generation . And Madame x for me is her best album since Ray of light. Lets hope for something really special .
I did connect with and loved the Ray of Light album (possibly a creative outlier due to William Orbit’s input) – so might be interested in a deluxe of this. However, otherwise I find the charms of Madonna’s oeuvre eminently resistible and find it astonishing when she’s mentioned in the same breath as Bowie and Prince. As Martin Amis wrote in his essay about her – “a triumph of will over talent” possibly.
Still no more news on the Bowie era 5 box set – I’m getting slightly twitchy now.
True Blue should be the first one, and include “into the groove” as a bonus, not on the main album as it was first released.
I think it is the strongest “pré-Frozen” era album, and if it is well done, it will sell well and allow for more comprehensive (I hope) editions of the first two which are really weaker IMHO.
Into The Groove was on Like A Virgin
Yeah it was definitely on later editions of LAV and so should be included on that album’s deluxe editions
I thought Into The Groove was tagged on to ‘Like A Virgin’, originally.
“Into the Groove” was included on some editions of Like A Virgin. It would be out of place on True Blue.
Hope “multi year catalog series” means more than one release a year otherwise I’ll be in my 80s by the time the last one comes out !
Madge recently released a 35th Anniversary edition of True Blue. When she gets around to that one on the re-release list, will she just “curate” the special edition all over again.
You are referring to the digital version, of course.
I hope that’s not the standard we should expect with future physical deluxe editions. It was very nearly comprehensive but only included two tracks that have been vinyl only until now – True Blue 7” Remix & 12” Remix Instrumental. However they left off Open Your Heart 7” Remix & La Isla Bonita 7” Remix & 7” Instrumental. The bulk of the extra tracks have been available on CD for over 25 years and the artwork is totally inappropriate, very “first year design student fanwank”.
I feel they may have to release these as Album #1 and #8 simultaneously and continue on #2 and #9, #3 and #10, etc.; otherwise sales might really drop off after Ray of Light or Music (her last GREAT albums). Hope we do get some instrumentals along with demos and b-sides. Would be really cool if SACD or BR 5.1 mixes were part of the deal. What are the chances of a video aspect to these releases – music videos, TV appearances, in concert? So much potential…
Oh and please save the live stuff for a LIVE collection or the video portion of these deluxe editions. There’s nothing worse than listening to a album going from some really great extended remix to an in concert song. The sonic jump up or down is usually jarring / mood breaking.
Madonna didn’t want to be reminded how old is she and this is why every time Warner approached her for a deluxe edition she said “NO”. Well, until now. I guess the re-releases/expanded editions won’t be called “40th Anniversary Edition” :)
Is it safe to say Madonna won’t go the Phil Collins route and update her album artwork? For example, the “Like A Virgin” cover…me thinks: no chance.
I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest.
No way, Mariah already did this like 10 years ago!
Really pleased about this, although it is her earlier albums that appeal to me.
Logically, it should start with “Madonna” (or “The First Album” as it was re-titled in 1985). Personally, I would do it batches of three or four, which neatly slot into 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s. The 1980s bookended by “The Immaculate Collection”
The extras such as “Who’s That Girl” could easily be appended to the preceding album, eg “True Blue”. The 1990s is harder as a lot of the remixes were mostly marketing tools aimed aimed at prevailing dance genres to gin club support. Even so, I think the William Orbit era is worth preserving. Beyond that, its mostly demos or outtakes that will be of most interest. Madonna curating it herself would suggest there may be revisionist remakes of early catalogue standards. I’d actually rather these were put in a separate disc. I think deluxes should be period focused, even if it means including things like instrumentals.
My preference would be to start with her debut and follow in chronological order, say 3 or 4 releases per year.
I also hope they avoid the dreaded mixed-media bundles and hopefully follow the Prince template of SDE with a smaller DE package for casual fans.
I voted for Music. Apart from The Immaculate Collection, it’s the only Madonna album that I own. I agree with Chris Squires, these will be more expensive than expansive.
Start at the beginning with the first album. Hopefully the archives will be opened,though from a fan since ‘Lucky Star’ (first release) I’m estatic,though truthfully I rarely play any post Rat Of Light’ albums
Am having lots of fun imagining visualized interpretations of “Rat Of Light”
I tried to change it as soon as i spotted my mistake LOL
Those 17 studio albums include her 14 “regular” studio albums plus 3 studio soundtrack albums (Who’s that Girl, I’m Breathless, Evita). The press release additionally mentions soundtrack “recordings”, not albums, and that includes tracks like “This used to be my playground”, “Beautiful Stranger”, ‘Into the groove”, which were released on soundtracks that include tracks by other artists.
So, the 17 number is correct and already includes her soundtrack albums.
You are probably correct, Warner has in the past sometimes included those soundtracks as part of her studio albums.
However, just to clarify, Into The Groove was actually never released on a soundtrack.
You’re right. It is a soundtrack single but wasn’t released on a soundtrack album.
It was released on the soundtrack “Despicable Me 3: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack”
I reckon you could see a record store day release of all her soundtrack songs on one album.
It’s always worrying when you hear the words “Personally Curated” as 9 times out of 10, or 4.5 times out of 5 if you prefer it’s be poor. It’ll be revisionist, artists, in general, are clueless when it comes to what has been released and what fans like and want. It’ll be precisely what Madonna thinks her adoring fans will want, and probably yards away from what they actually want. Fortunately my Madonna interest died after Like a Prayer so it’ll be the first 4 albums that interest me. Far from my usual bright and perky demeanour I have a cynical feeling these will be expensive and not very expansive. It’s expansive Jim, but not as WE know it. Hopefully none of the early stuff will be re-recorded a-la so many artists who think their new voice is better than their old voice. Spoiler alert: it isn’t.
I’m not having a personal dig at Madonna, most artists don’t get it. That’s why it is better to have someone skilled but independant involved.
For those with a horse in this race I do hope you get what you want, but I’d swap all 17 for 5 Kate Bush SDEs
Definately agree – first of all I thought “about time” but then I saw the words “personally curated” which usually spell disaster. I’m still getting over the horror of the Phil Collins reissues which were also “personally curated” and were a complete mess.
Hi Chris,
I’ll accept that trade, although sticking with Madonna, if I had one Madonna album to choose over all others, nowadays it’d be the I’m Breathless soundtrack.
If I had to pick five Kate albums for SDE’s they would be The Kick Inside, The Dreaming, Hounds Of Love, Aerial and Fifty Words For Snow. Never For Ever as first reserve, but not your favourite, Lionheart, unless all albums were being SDE’d.
I find it fascinating that some mega selling artists music isn’t essential many years later, and basically I barely play them; whereas other artists have an evergreen appeal. I’ve lots of the earlier Madonna albums, tons of cd singles, and like lots of her songs, but I’ve no desire to select them. I saw the Madonna cd box of albums on offer here recently for £18, and I didn’t have a flicker of desire to buy it, even though it’s remarkable value.
You have a very good memory Quante. There’s something of the underdog about Lionheart. I don’t think there is ANY spare material for the last two albums so that’s why I went for the first 5 to mop up all of the demos.
You are also right about the love, or lack of it, for certain artists is an odd one. It’s not “I don’t like them” because as you say you might have 3 or 4 albums, several singles or 12″ers. Mine is Prince, back in the day I owned everything from Controversy to Lovesexy plus various 12″, so 7 albums and heresy though it is….meh. I also agree about the recent box set offer, it was almost pavlovian, it’s a deal, it’s a steal, it’s the sale of the fuckin’ century (c) Guy Ritchie, which is rather apt. But at some point I just thought why? I wouldn’t play a single note.
For me the ‘personally curated’ bit just means she will have some say/approval on the re-releases,which is reasonable,I dont think she is interested in suddenly revisiting the past vaults of stuff from decades back and interfering in the production of these too much, though it probably means we wont get everything as no doubt she will object to some edits being released.
But I dont think WB would have made this deal if it meant theyd be stuck releasing bare bones albums still, because they just wont make a profit from them. I already own like 11 of the 13 albums they are talking about,5 of the compilations, all the live albums.
I’m not going to be buying the same stuff again for the sake of an anniversary and I think even the most completist collector would baulk at just repackaged albums, you can already see in the comments fans are talking about only specific albums or eras they want, so these need to be special special editions and that means including unreleased stuff and probably stuff she wouldnt have been comfortable to release before, for it to work for them.
And hopefully a Blond Ambition tour blu-ray finally
The best way to start with this reissue campaign, is with her first album “Madonna”. I like most of her albums until “Music”. Those are Madonna’s best albums.
I think it should be done in chronological order. Personally I think the best remixes came out during the Erotica era. And by the way…. the subtitle of Paul’s article… nice “touch” !!
Undoubtedly want them to start with Like A Prayer but I guess they’ll do it chronologically. Also I mis-read “expansive” as “expensive” in the article… I’m hoping these aren’t going to be £70 a pop.
I have never been so excited for a reissue campaign in my life!
As a massive Madonna fan and collector since the mid 80s, this is a dream come true! I hope these will come out in chronological order, starting with the 40th Anniversary of her debut album next year.
However, Madonna has only released 14 studio albums (15, counting I´m Breathless), but the press release says 17. I was hoping that would mean that future albums were included, but apparently the deal only covers her back catalog, not future recordings. The press release mentions the 17 STUDIO albums and in addition soundtracks, compilations etc, so none of those should be included. I wonder if this number is an error in the press release….
In any case, these re-issues will be very, very welcomed. I really hope we will get Super Deluxe, box sized versions for each album with outtakes, remixes, rare and unpublished photos, insights from Madonna herself and hopefully (finally) the Blond Ambition and Re-Invention Tour DVDs.
TAKE MY MONEY!
It will include things like Who’s That Girl, I’m Breathless and probably things like You Can Dance…
From the press release:
All in all, the new pact includes 17 studio albums plus singles, soundtrack recordings, live albums, and compilations.
So I would think this excludes Who´s That Girl etc from the tally of 17.
I think–though I’m not certain–that “soundtrack recordings” is meant to indicate songs like “Into the Groove,” “Gambler” (it could happen), “I’ll Remember,” etc., which do not have a “home” album in her catalogue.
Maybe Bedtime Stories, as there were about a million remixes.
IIRC, there were reports of outtakes a-plenty for Like A Prayer and Ray Of Light so hopefully we’ll get a proper archive sweep rather than that sub-par (re)mixes or, worse, instrumentals. I also hope these come in batches rather than being dripped one by one over a decade.
There were several unreleased songs and (often very different) demos for Ray Of Light. As for Like A Prayer, there should be at least 2-3 unreleased songs (although one of them leaked a couple of years ago). The ones known to exist are “Angels With Dirty Faces”, “First There´s A Kiss” and “Love Attack” plus her demos of “Possessive Love” and “Just A Dream”. And then there are of course several demos of the album tracks, some who leaked along with “Angels With Dirty Faces”.
The like a prayer demos are interesting, knowing Prince there are probably 17 versions of ‘Love Song’ in his vault, the Ray of Light era demos were widely circulated and were great. The early albums are easy, probably no extra unreleased songs , and most singles were Extended/Dub/Instrumental if we’re lucky [ I think almost all extended versions made it to Cd singles except ‘Gambler’ which was not reissued on CD. from the like a prayer era things sure get complicated , Some people will whine “I don’t need 13 remixes of Like a Prayer” while others, like me would hope to get those 12″ promo only dubs.. same goes for Bedtime story part II, Love Don’t live here anymore.. and the list goes on. best approach is perhaps a somewhat conservative album reissues generous in bonuses but not overloaded with every remix, and do a complete Singles Box , like Bananarama .. with every version ever.. but that is probably too much to hope for, right
just for crying out loud- no mixed media over expensive boxes. please and thank you.
I really like the idea of a complete singles box (including Crazy For You and Gambler). The 3″ CD singles box released in Japan in the mid 90s was beautiful but not exactly filled with audio content.
As for the early albums, there should be at least some gems in the vaults. Tracks like “Warning Signs” (recorded for Vision Quest) and “Desperately Seeking Susan”, several unheard True Blue sessions tracks, demos for “Each Time You Break My Heart”, “Tell Me”, “Possessive Love” and “Just A Dream” as well as the 1985 demo of “Spotlight”. Now, whether Madonna wants any of those released or not remains to be seen.
In any case, as long as these will be beautifully executed on multiple formats (a la Prince) and including all the essentials (as well as some unheard material) I will be very happy.
Just start with Madonna, her first album and work of the list but my favorite is Like a Virgin. Lets wait and see in judging how good (or bad) these editions are going to be but I’m interested for sure.
Actually, there were expanded/remastered editions of Madonna’s first three albums, some years back, but the series never continued.
Possibly the worst expanded CDs in history. Not adding ‘Into The Groove’ to Like A Virgin was the nadir.
It was great to get the albums re-mastered at the time. It probably would have been better though had they just stuck with the original albums.
Yeah Paul adding a couple of 12 inch mixes but taking off ITG was silly!
To be fair, while they are really lame “reissues” by our standards now, I remember it being a really big deal at the time, and being very excited by it. They were some of the first reissues for one of those “golden age of MTV” artists. Now they don’t even work as the cash-in “sucker edition” that comes out six months after the original release, but they were much more well-received at the time. (Sort of like the way we read stories about people fainting in the aisles from terror over some movie from the 30s, and now we look at it and think that we saw more traumatizing episodes of Scooby-Doo.)