Every Madonna Album Ranked

[AOLUV]

Every Madonna album ranked on The Odyssey Online.

 

View it here:

 

Spoiler

14. "MDNA"

13. "Music"

12. "Ray of Light"

11. "American Life"

10. "Hard Candy"

9. "Like a Virgin"

8. "Bedtime Stories"

7. "True Blue"

6. "Like a Prayer"

5. "Madame X"

4. "Madonna"

3. "Rebel Heart"

2. "Confessions on a Dance Floor"

1. "Erotica"

 

 

Related:

[britney_rocks]

Confessions will always be the number one Madonna album for me. Ray of Light is a masterpiece too, but I feel like Confessions was amazing from beginning to end. She hasn’t topped that album ever since. 

[redacted statement]

Love seeing Madame X that high because I think it got paid dust, but I can't say I agree with the rest. American Life and Music are in my top 5. Meanwhile, Rebel Heart was good (especially after the monstrosity that was Madonna Jean), but it's just too long, especially if you take into account the 4 super deluxe tracks (and Auto-Tune Baby, I guess).

[thebritmaster]

The audacity of Hard Candy over Ray of Light 

[Blackout2006]

Hard Candy, Rebel Heart, Madame X, American Life, Like A Virgin, and Madonna over Ray Of Light?  Way to loose all your credibility as a critic.

[MrPieceOfMe]

44 minutes ago, Blackout2006 said:

Hard Candy, Rebel Heart, Madame X, American Life, Like A Virgin, and Madonna over Ray Of Light?  Way to loose all your credibility as a critic.

You didn’t even listen to Rebel Masterpiece 

[Blackout2006]

32 minutes ago, MrPieceOfMe said:

You didn’t even listen to Rebel Masterpiece 

I did

[MrPieceOfMe]

2 hours ago, Blackout2006 said:

I did

you didn't 

[theannehedonia]

Rebel Heart and Madame X are both garbage. MDNA >>> Those two albums.

 

[Mmdellavecchia]

My order.

14. MDMA 

13. Hard candy

12. Rebel heart

11.  Madame X

 

10. Bedtime stories

 

9. Like a virgin

 

8. Like a prayer

 

7. "True Blue"

 

6. Madonna

 

5. Ray of light

 

4. music

 

3.  American life

 

2. "Confessions on a Dance Floor"

 

1. "Erotica

 

[janetjackson]

LOL 

[janetjackson]

14. "MDNA"

13. "Hard Candy"

12. "Like a Virgin"

11. "Madame X"

10. "Rebel Heart"

11. "American Life"

8. "Erotica"

7. "Madonna"

6. "Music"

5. "Confessions on a Dance Floor"

4. "True Blue"

3. "Bedtime Stories"

2. "Like a Prayer"

1. "Ray of Light"

[bitbitboi]

"Music" at 13 and "Ray of Light" at 12 girl bye I won't be reading this sh/t 

[Ehju0901]

Out of her albums that I’ve listened to in full, here is mine:

1. Ray of Light

2. American Life

3. Hard Candy

4. MDNA

5. Rebel Heart

6. Confessions on a Dance Floor

7. Music

8. Madame X

[MX3]

I legit gasped at seeing ray of light so low LOL what planet is that person living on? Cause it ain’t earth. 

[princessmimi]

For me, I'd say her best music was from the 80s.

Its impeccable especially Like A Prayer.

That album is her BEST imo.

 

However if I had to pick my fave album from her, it'd be Like A Virgin because its peak 80s Madonna

plus she has SO much gems on that album like Dress You Up, Angel (was actually a single but with no video),  Pretender, 

Into The Groove (idk if that counts as a song on the album), etc.

[Blackout2006]

10 hours ago, MrPieceOfMe said:

you didn't 

 

10 hours ago, MrPieceOfMe said:

you didn't 

What makes u think thaT?

[armrunner1998]

14. Hard Candy - just couldn't get into this album at all, she was clearly following the Timbaland trend and it seemed like a desperate attempt at relevancy for her. No standout songs besides 4 Minutes (with JT, ugh). The tour did unbelievably well though!

13. MDNA - Similar to above, a little better with its lead singles and some good hidden gems (Beautiful Killer, Love Spent). 

12. Music - Just not really my style of music, she experimented a lot with this album and I feel like it's similar to Lady Gaga's Joanne. Not bad music, but just not characteristic of her sound.

11. Madonna - Awesome debut album with some ICONIC tracks that hopefully will be remembered forever (Holiday, Burning Up, Borderline, etc.). When it comes down to it though, it's still definitely musically inferior to her other albums and a lot of the songs are overly long and repetitive. 

10. American Life - A weird album musically, but a lot of her political themes with the songs were pretty profound and worth remembering. Plus we can't forget that epic Hollywood performance at the VMAs with the Britney kiss 

9. Rebel Heart - An interesting album at such a late point in her career, but she produced some quality hits from this album and musically there are a lot of standout tracks that weren't singles (Rebel Heart, Inside Out, Iconic). ***** I'm Madonna was such a horrible single choice though... just saying...

8. Madame X - Similar to Rebel Heart, just an interesting album because it comes so late in her career but I really liked how she took a lot of influences from different cultures to put this album together. She seemed to be heavily invested in recording it for at least a couple of years, and there are some profound themes in the songs as well (God Control is a great example). 

7. Like a Virgin - Her sophomore album, she was almost at her peak and there are some huge hits, obviously including the title track and Material Girl. The rest of the songs were a bit forgettable, although they're cute and fun to listen to.

6. True Blue - Released when she was really at her peak popularity, and the album does not disappoint in any way whatsoever. Tons of catchy singles with La Isla Bonita, Open Your Heart, and the title track as well as more deeper themes with Live to Tell and Papa Don't Preach. The rest of the album is pretty forgettable though, which puts this lower on the list than it would be with just the singles. 

5. Bedtime Stories - Kind of at a point in Madonna's career where she was trying to tame her image a bit after Erotica and media scrutiny, and this album is just full of chill R&B goodness. There aren't really any bad songs in this album, it can be listened through very easily and has a consistent theme throughout (conveyed by the title). The only downside is there isn't any dancy-type music, which is characteristic of Madonna, so it didn't capture her essence as well as an artist. 

4. Erotica - Honestly, a super underrated album. The media was tearing her apart and this era was tainted by that, but looking at the actual music she created it stands out from her discography a lot. Sonically it is gorgeous, but she also reaches some very deep themes as well lyrically, like the AIDS epidemic (In This Life), sl**-shaming (Bad Girl), discrimination (Why's It So Hard), as well as the exploration of ***ual themes with its other songs. Deeper and Deeper was a killer lead single as well, reviving disco and deep house music that came to characterize part of the 90s. 

3. Like a Prayer - Very impressive body of music in this album. The title track is probably one of her best songs alongside Vogue, and there's no doubt that she went into full rebellious Madonna mode at this point in her career. It's really a mix of lowkey really sad songs (Oh Father, Promise to Try, Keep it Together) and weirdly upbeat/happy songs (Cherish, Express Yourself, Dear Jessie), but overall such a great album.

2. Ray of Light - I know, most people refer to this album as her best and having revived her career, and for good reason! The music sounded completely different than anything she had done before, and was very ethereal and futuristic in a lot of ways. She explored some different ideas in this album related to spirituality and it seemed super vulnerable for Madonna lyrics-wise (although if it really was vulnerable to her, we'll probably never know). Regardless, there is not a bad song on the album, all of the songs carry a consistent and dream-like feel to them, and it's gorgeous! Some of my favorite tracks are Frozen, Skin, and Sky Fits Heaven.

1. Confessions on a Dance Floor  - Just a masterpiece through and through. She completely departed from the path she was on with Music and American Life, and instead switched to creating classic disco tracks with influences from modern club music. The whole album is just incredibly cohesive (complete with transitions between each song) and has been referred to as being structured like a DJ's set because it can be played through continuously. Every song on this album deserves its place, and it starts off with more lighthearted songs (Hung Up, Get Together) and gradually goes into songs with darker themes/sounds toward the end (How High, Push, Like It Or Not). Any song could have been a single and this era was simply everything. An unexpected but completely deserved successful era overall in Madonna's career, I'd suggest this album to anyone looking to hear some of her greatest work!

[Peanut]

American Life>>> the rest of her discography.

Though I believe something "broke" her about this album. After the disastrous lead single, she went full safe mode, no longer making creative and interesting MV's and the music past Confessions felt cheap and a cash grab. 

[Midnight]

The only album I don't like is Madame X.