Madonna, American Life

For as long as I can remember, the release of a new Madonna album has been an event of towering importance. You have the magazine covers, the television specials, the Oprah interview, the MTV premiere and the inevitable, although increasingly impotent, controversies. What underpins these media assaults (every two years like clockwork) is not just an album of new material. According to Vanity Fair, Who and Q, what each album signifies is a "new" Madonna: a new outlook; a new point of view; a new personal philosophy; religion; politics; hair colour - whatever. Considering she's "done" sex, racism, female empowerment, motherhood, Eastern spirituality and Argentinean politics, I guess her take on global politics was inevitable, and now, here it is. And considering her track record, maybe this is the new zeitgeist.

However, listening to American Life, you get the sense that La Ciccone's comfort zone remains tied firmly to the identity politics of the early nineties. I mean, how else could you explain statements (sermons?) such as, and I'm paraphrasing, "War to me is all about, like, you know, the craziness within all of us. War is inside us all, and for a country to declare war, it shows that, you know, we all have so many issues inside us that we have to sort out." Let me get this straight: the promise of world peace and geopolitical stability lies in yoga, analysis and macrobiotic diets? Hmmm. Something tells me this girl's stopped doing her own grocery shopping. Get real! Such vomit-worthy pseudo-psychology suggests that maybe this "new" Madonna aint that new after all. In fact, maybe her message is the same as it always has been: "until I learn to love myself, I was never ever lovin' anybody else".

Now, I like American Life. When I hear it (or even better still, watch it), I get that magic new Madonna single rush all through my bones. Its got a great hook, and I dig that Spanish guitar thing. I even don't mind the rap. I am even OK with the fact that she's incorporating "soy lattes" into song. But this is not enough. Madonna and I go way back. I swallowed down my shame and bought Erotica when I was eleven years old. I kept believing even after Evita. I toyed with the idea of Yoga and spirituality through the Ray of Light phase. I have been there for her so I expect a little more back. I want sentiment that doesn't make me queasy. I want boldness (so don't ban your own fucking video). I want politics that is not about pilates. But more than anything else, I want her to not give a damn like she used to. Say that Bush is a twat. Say that this war is wrong. Don't go hiding behind vague symbolism and mixed messages. I'm still gonna buy the album, and I'll still love it. I have to. But more than ever, I think she's a little bit of a loser, and that British respectability has gone to her head.