I'm Going To Tell You A Secret [PA]

Performer: Original Soundtrack/Madonna
Producer: Mary Susan Applegate; Angela Becker; Shelli Jury
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Personnel: Madonna; Iggy Pop. When Madonna's self-titled debut appeared in 1983 no one would have predicted (except perhaps the singer herself) that she would go on to become one of the most successful and influential icons in pop history. Yet in 2006, with 15 smash albums under her belt, a formidable string of hit singles, a series of groundbreaking videos, and one of the most colorful and inventive career trajectories since the Beatles, Madonna was still at the top of the music game. I'M GOING TO TELL YOU A SECRET documents the entertainer's "Re-invention World Tour." Listeners would never guess that Madonna was closing in on 50 at the time of the tour: she performs with more authority and energy than ever, alternating new hits ("I Love New York" is from 2005's CONFESSIONS ON A DANCEFLOOR) with quintessential Madonna like "Into the Groove," "Like a Virgin," and "Holiday." A DVD containing a documentary about the tour and performance footage provides additional proof of Madonna's indisputable status as a legend. Released just as her worldwide Re-Invention tour was hitting the States in the summer of 2006, I'm Going to Tell You a Secret is a CD/DVD package that isn't so much a souvenir of the tour but as a way to advertise it. The DVD contains a lengthy -- over two hours! which is longer than Truth or Dare! -- look at the tour, including its rehearsal plus some performance footage, while the CD offers a 14-track sampler of the set list, heavy on songs from Music, American Life, and Confessions on a Dance Floor. With the notable exception of "Vogue," the oldies on this CD have been given a makeover, so "Into the Groove" and especially "Holiday" feel like they could fit the Eurotrash, campy retro-disco feel of Confessions, while "Like a Prayer" is now a chilled-out come-down tune. Good, logical reworkings one and all, and they help give the disc a cohesive feel even if the live performance, like the album it's hawking, is kind of humorless. That said, as Madonna's first live CD, I'm Going to Tell You a Secret is strong and entertaining, and even if the excessive minutiae on the accompanying DVD means only hardcore fans will sit through its two hours, it's also quite well done. Which means I'm Going to Tell You a Secret serves its purpose well: it will convince anybody who is on the fence about going out to see the 2006 tour to go ahead and buy those expensive tickets already (although years from now, this combination of promotion and retrospective will probably seem odder than it already does). ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine DVD Features: DVD Included

Q (p.114) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "'Like A Prayer' grows in stature by the year and 'Holiday' is transformed into some kind of Ibizan dancefloor scream-up."

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