Celebration

Performer: Madonna
Artist: Justin Timberlake; Timbaland
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Photographers: Jean Baptiste Mondino; Herb Ritts; Wayne Maser. CELEBRATION, Madonna's fourth major hits collection, has the Herculean task of summing up 30 years of chart-topping pop music by one of the true visionary artists of the era. The 18 songs are tilted toward her good-time dancefloor classics, both from her early days ("Holiday," "Into the Groove") and her later techno-influenced songs ("Hung Up," "Ray of Light"). It also adds a newly recorded track, "Celebration," produced with Paul Oakenfold. The only track that comes close to balladry is the mid-tempo Latin groove, "La Isla Bonita." The collection does a fine job of living up to the title--it's certainly a celebration of Madonna's career and includes some of the most celebratory and thrilling pop music ever created. Madonna's run at the top of the charts lasted so long, longer than almost any other star, it's almost impossible to squeeze all the hits onto one collection. And so it is that Celebration, a double-disc, 36-track set that also has a companion single-disc condensation, misses a few songs, hits as gorgeous as "Rain" and as goofily camp as "Hanky Panky," but truth be told, they're not greatly missed on this parade of pop genius that's hampered only slightly by its non-chronological order. Out of order, it does emphasize Madonna's consistency, and the bigger problem with the collection is that it mixes up album mixes, single edits, Q-Sound mixes pulled from The Immaculate Collection, and a couple of stray odd edits and mixes. This is a mess, but not quite enough to dilute what is one of the greatest bodies of work in modern pop -- even in this mixed-up confusion, these singles are a joy to hear. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Rolling Stone (p.74) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "CELEBRATION kicks off with pure bliss and never lets up. It's a dizzying, non-chronological spin through the Madonna years, years it makes you feel lucky to be living through." Entertainment Weekly (p.56) - "36 tracks covering nearly every phase of her 25-year career. It all holds up surprisingly well." -- Grade: B

Madonna is arguably the most popular female pop singer in American musical history. Although she began her career in the late 1970s as a dancer and as drummer for new wave group the Breakfast Club, Madonna has touched upon many different styles throughout her trend-setting career, and has acted in numerous movies as well. Although her image has shifted to include looks as disparate as raunchy temptress and New Age mother, the Material Girl has always maintained a fierce business sense and a remarkable knack for controversy. Few other artists--male or female--have had the phenomenal mass adulation or the staying power of this pop culture icon.

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