09/17/2005
It's Official
A Steven Klein / Giovannin Bianco / Madonna collaboration. Thoughts?
(thanks trent)
Posted 7:53 PM EST by Andy in Art & Design, Music | Permalink
Comments
Awesome !
Posted by: Linus | Sep 17, 2005 8:26:01 PM
Flawless. xoxox.
Posted by: Dashus | Sep 17, 2005 8:31:54 PM
looks like a LOT of airbrushing...all those wrinkles
Posted by: Mac Adkins | Sep 17, 2005 8:55:49 PM
Confession: "I'm 47 years old."
Posted by: jaykayess | Sep 17, 2005 9:22:25 PM
Better than 'American Life' already
Posted by: rob | Sep 17, 2005 10:09:05 PM
it's beautiful. It's chic and still has that arty edge Madonna cherishes. I hated AMERICAN LIFE's cover. This one? Right on the money.
Posted by: Matthew Rettenmund | Sep 17, 2005 10:10:43 PM
When American Life was released, I made myself like the cover - this one is JUST AMAZING!!! She's BACK!!!
Posted by: Robbie | Sep 17, 2005 10:41:22 PM
um, yuck.
Posted by: CriticalRN | Sep 17, 2005 10:42:57 PM
I just saw this on OH NO THEY DIDN'T. Are we SURE this is real?
I'm skeptical. And a little disappointed...
Posted by: Jefferson | Sep 17, 2005 11:03:25 PM
It's fantastic.
Posted by: daniel | Sep 17, 2005 11:07:18 PM
bril.
Posted by: Michael Kusek | Sep 17, 2005 11:18:30 PM
Classic...exceeds my expectations. Rock on, Madonna...or should I say, Dance on
Posted by: Mike | Sep 17, 2005 11:21:54 PM
Too classic, I think. Doesn't make it for me...
Posted by: jd | Sep 17, 2005 11:40:42 PM
She really needs to give it up. vomit.
Posted by: Tony | Sep 17, 2005 11:57:24 PM
"I've fallen and I can't get up. Call LifeAlert."
Posted by: Daitch | Sep 18, 2005 12:18:28 AM
Madonna is definitely banking on the gays on this one......
Posted by: Jason | Sep 18, 2005 12:35:35 AM
F A N T A S T I C ! ! !
Posted by: Jason A | Sep 18, 2005 2:01:47 AM
We are lucky... If Madonna ever stops we are screwed... Its gonna be another Cher Tour.
Posted by: Michael Peterson | Sep 18, 2005 2:32:03 AM
How amazing to be discussing Madonna almost a quarter century after she first broke. Fantastic!
Posted by: alan | Sep 18, 2005 5:25:20 AM
Stop bitchin' It's hot. When I am as old (young) as she is-and looks that damn good (air-brushed of course)-then fuck-off. She deserves to look like a 40's pin-up (decade-not age). She started-let her finish it.
Posted by: Andrew | Sep 18, 2005 7:59:56 AM
I can't get over that tawdry Kabbalah bracelet. The crucifix was way sexier!
Posted by: borut | Sep 18, 2005 8:05:12 AM
Happy one hundredth Greta Garbo. Garbo allegedly told a friend that Madonna was as provocative to her generation as she had been to hers.
Posted by: Michelangelo | Sep 18, 2005 8:09:29 AM
Love it...
Posted by: william | Sep 18, 2005 8:45:46 AM
The only thing that bugs me about it is what she's wearing - particularly the sleeves. Looks like something she bought at the Salvation Army.
Otherwise, I like it.
Posted by: Cory | Sep 18, 2005 9:29:00 AM
I like it,have no problem but...WHY IN THE WORLD IS SHE A RED-HEAD?
Posted by: Chris | Sep 18, 2005 10:45:40 AM
Now we really know how she hurt her collarbone.
Posted by: Jason | Sep 18, 2005 11:02:19 AM
Well she's in ecstasy about something but it seems to be happening down somewhere in front of her .... and her arm is saying, "stop...don't stop." Which is how I feel about her career.
Posted by: Scoop | Sep 18, 2005 11:57:53 AM
wow. did she get Tori Amos to double for the cover shoot? Those locks are on fire. I'm usually down with Madge's style choices, but Little Orphan Annie hair? I wonder if the rest of her matches...
Posted by: brenner | Sep 18, 2005 12:15:29 PM
Christ there are some bitchy little queens on this board!
The cover is gorgeous. I'm 38 now and certainly don't expect to be wheeled into the nursing home at 47.
Madonna will always be interesting...
Posted by: Tiki | Sep 18, 2005 12:43:25 PM
Interesting. The comment above about Madge banking on the gays is even moreso...i know some san fransican queers who are actively campaigning against her for turning her back on us after an alleged verbal attack she made about kiki and herb at a recent birthday party.
don't know if she really said it or what she meant by it, but I can still enjoy her music.
Posted by: TeKay | Sep 18, 2005 12:51:26 PM
I don't know. I see the orange hair and pink outfit, and all I can think is Karen from Will&Grace: "Honey what's this, what are you wearing, what's going on here?"
Posted by: Rob | Sep 18, 2005 1:11:24 PM
Um, can I get some help, I am looking for a promised review of "Brokeback Mountian", does anyone work in this office?
Posted by: Patrick | Sep 18, 2005 1:18:17 PM
I think the art director's name is Giovanni Bianco, with no n at the end of Giovanni.
Beautiful image. She's back, targeting her daughter's age group now. Are we having a Saint Lourdes Full of Grace superstar soon??
Posted by: monkus | Sep 18, 2005 1:55:27 PM
madonna's graphics have almost never been even remotely good.
she has no eye for art direction.
this looks like a 1/2-ass flyer.
but i love her.
Posted by: a.j. | Sep 18, 2005 2:22:59 PM
Well, anyone who thinks Madonna is too old to do [fill in the blank]---look on the bright side: Perhaps you'll die young.
Posted by: Matthew Rettenmund | Sep 18, 2005 2:33:13 PM
I will confess to being underwhelmed. Its one of those "let's hire a name photographer" and then proceed to make mediocrity out of his work. Anyone could have taken this personality-less image. Is it Madonna? Is it Madonna having just been thrown from a horse? Is she trying to make us relive the 70s again? The bad lettering on the Madonna, called an "inline" font, looks terrible. The handlettered title is very nice, personal and jazzy at the same time. And despite those criticisms, I rather like it. Its iconic in some bright, flashy way, nostalgic,and very Olivia Newton-John.
I actually went to a music store yesterday (this is an event) and can't say that I was taken in by any cover art. If I saw this, I suspect I would be inclined to buy it, go home, put on my best lame tuxedo and dance the night away, as it was intended.
Posted by: homo | Sep 18, 2005 2:34:57 PM
Photography looks good. Disco ball "O" is lame. The typography of her name is too heavy. And the sprawling figure and handwritten title is a bit too much like Peter Saville's later work for Suede. Can't say I love it.
I beg to differ with those who say her art direction/design has never been good -- she's worked with some of the best in the business: Fabien Baron, M/M, Carin Goldberg.
Posted by: Kurt | Sep 18, 2005 3:30:54 PM
At least she's not doing a yoga pose. While I like the initial graphic impact of the image, I don't think the pose does Madonna justice. It looks like her right arm is growing out of the back of her head. She's a very versital and beautiful woman, and I don't think the artwork is taking advantage of that.
Posted by: Michael | Sep 18, 2005 3:32:21 PM
I love how this topic gets 39 responses (at last count) and gay teens getting beaten up, equal rights for marriage and the latest BushRoveRobertsonCondiRummyCheney act of intellectual violence against gay people get maybe 6 posts.
I hope they show Madonna videos at whatever our version of Auschwitz is going to look like...
Posted by: Becks07 | Sep 18, 2005 4:13:11 PM
Matthew, as usual sharp and witty... by the way, loved your novels. I can't wait for the movie they made of BOY CULTURE.
About the "thoughts" about Madonna's album cover and obviously HER in general... I can only think of what Salvador Dalí said once: "El termómetro del éxito no es más que la envidia de los descontentos." (The thermometer of success is merely the jealousy of the malcontents.)
Posted by: Rickie | Sep 18, 2005 4:41:16 PM
I really love it. It captures the vibe of the dancefloor. Several touches make it it memorable from an aesthetic perspective: the uncrossed 'A's; the moderne disco ball 'O'; and finally the handwritten title as if from a journal or diary (i.e. confession).
Posted by: albert | Sep 18, 2005 7:13:28 PM
I'm sorry but the "f" in confessions looks like a Tampon string hanging out of her panties...
Posted by: MervynLeroy | Sep 18, 2005 7:50:51 PM
damn, everyone's an art director. Can only imagine how many hackney critics will come outta the veneered woodwork once the album drops...hold onto your pearls ladies...
It's a visually stunning cover; what's the sense in clawing away at an interpretive represetation of her latest tracks? Can't it just be what it is?
Posted by: jason | Sep 18, 2005 9:42:47 PM
Well I'm excited about the album, and I like the cover art.
I've decided to include the lrdarystar tag to differentiate myself from the other Robs, hehe.
Posted by: Rob (lrdarystar) | Sep 18, 2005 10:31:24 PM
Why are we caring about any of this?
Posted by: Scott | Sep 18, 2005 10:51:32 PM
Because she is Madonna!
Posted by: DocVic | Sep 18, 2005 11:40:30 PM
From madonnamad.com's forum: http://savefile.com/files/9727353
Posted by: ekstraordinaran. | Sep 19, 2005 1:17:23 AM
that's so funny and true,mervynleroy
Posted by: marcel | Sep 19, 2005 4:27:52 AM
I heard it was all the rage in Madonnabad, we'll just have to see how well it does in Gaymanistan (where apparently there are far more insurgents). Freedoms on the March!
Posted by: Jeff | Sep 19, 2005 9:13:47 AM
Fierce. I can see Madge rocking the red hair.
Posted by: MT | Sep 19, 2005 9:22:36 AM
I personally love it... very nice.
Posted by: Timothy | Sep 19, 2005 9:38:22 AM
It always amazes me how many seem to like seeing this tired old broad! I can-not think of a single good comment for her or this painted picture. No talent, No looks, No personality! Just an ugly broad who figured out how to get the gay disco and Drag queens to excited in her. She loads herself in make-up (war-paint)outrageous outfits, wild stunts, mechanically/electronically altered music and visits a couple gay clubs. When are the gay boys going to wake up? Probably never. So the rest of us have to suffer once more. Whats next from her? Another housing squabble or a new boy-toy or maybe a fling with some gal-pal? The best she could do would be to just go away.
Posted by: Bear | Sep 19, 2005 10:41:12 AM
To the naysayers - Madonna hasn't cowtowed to gay tastes for a long time. And even then, she more borrowed liberally than paid homage to. She does what she wants and that's that. I doubt she'll lose sleep over whether or not we like her.
She used to be a slutty gay man trapped in a fabulous woman's body. Now she's a partnered gay man settled into domestic bliss, with the kids the house the pets the weird religion. She's still a gay man and much like the settled established gay men of her generation.
Whatev.
Posted by: Linear | Sep 19, 2005 10:57:55 AM
...the more i see it ...the more i think it's a fake. it's too 1/2-ass to be the actual cover art.
her graphics are bad, but not this bad.
Posted by: A.J. | Sep 19, 2005 11:08:43 AM
No, it's the real deal. Released on her official website.
Meanwhile, after I dissed her I discovered she just pledged $10000 as a sponsor for her borther Mario in an L.A. AIDS walk....
Posted by: Linear | Sep 19, 2005 11:27:42 AM
um, isnt that HEDWIG's Wig
Posted by: daddy-o | Sep 19, 2005 11:56:19 AM
I wast too young to b a fan of hers back in the 80´s. since I fell in love with her with vogue i´ve been waiting for a pure dance album from her. with this cover and what i´ve heard of hung up and what people r saying about COADF my wish is comming true. VIVA LA REINA! VIVA MADONNA!
Posted by: juan | Sep 19, 2005 1:35:10 PM
Just as long as it doesn't sound like American Life, I couldn't care what the cover looks like.
Well, just a little...
Posted by: Steven | Sep 19, 2005 1:40:45 PM
huh. people still care about this narcissistic cultist?
Posted by: 42 | Sep 19, 2005 6:00:04 PM
oh my! pink was a good thing in 2003 but she's wearing it like it's 2006! she's so outrageous and brave!
that's what we really love from her. she sells old stinking ideas like she invented them.
Posted by: Giovanni Linke | Sep 19, 2005 6:13:46 PM
My, my, my...how my fellow gay men are so bitchy. Why is it we don't want anyone to think of us negatively, but we are often the first to say the most negative things about someone we personally, don't know.
I think the cover is fantastic. I don't think she'd give two shits about anyone's opinion...I certainly wouldn't.
She has stated many times that this album is all about "dancing and having a good time." Perhaps those who speak negatively should focus on having a good time with this album.
As for American Life, it wasn't one of her best, however, I think the great songs on the album were not marketed the way they should have been. I think "Nobody Knows Me" (especially the version during Re-Invention) and "Nothing Fails" were two of the better songs.
If I remember correctly, doesn't her new contract require her to produce two more albums? This will not be the last, but I have a feeling it will be one of the greatest!
She is an icon...no, not of gay culture, but society in general. She provoked and transformed the public over 20 years. That's more than some of you will ever do.
Love to those who know when bitching is required and when it simply is annoying.
Posted by: The Peach | Sep 19, 2005 10:43:31 PM
All you exclaiming: "I can't believe she is a redhead": have you never seen the video for "Fever"? Sheesh.
Posted by: Foxy | Sep 20, 2005 12:14:59 AM
@ The Peach:
you are so sweet.
around the time she "invented" something, there were millions of people already doing it. music artists, film directors, actors, writers. did she provoke? yeah. the bigots and the blinds. most of all, she always excite people convinced that Miss Monroe copied the look of the "Material Girl" video for the "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" movie.
Posted by: Giovanni Linke | Sep 20, 2005 10:27:01 AM
why is this woman an icon? seriously. I've never understood how she holds such sway over gay men in particular and society in general.
yes, she's talented. so are plenty of other people. this baseless, fawning worship of celebrity is something I suppose I'll never understand. Madge is a very shrewd businesswoman, I'll give her that, and I respect it, but talent-wise, one word: meh. someone else will come along, if it hasn't already happened.
Posted by: 42 | Sep 20, 2005 11:26:31 PM
In response to "42's" comment. My mom said the same thing about Madonna almost 20 yrs ago.Hmmm.... In my opinion, and how I and others view it,No one has recreated themselves, re-marketed, revamped, creativly accomplished or proved them self the way Madonna has since then both on a buisness and entertainment level. But yet,Like yourself people keep saying that about her.... Need I say more to prove my point????? Its when people such as your self stop talking about her that she needs to worry, and trust me I am sure she knows that, and laughs all the way to the bank thanking people like you...
Posted by: Ken | Sep 20, 2005 11:49:22 PM
Except when poeople stop buying her records, Ken. Like it happened with American Life, which was rubbish. She did notice that, I bet.
Posted by: Paolo Colonna | Sep 21, 2005 11:03:35 AM
I am sure she did notice it PAOLO, but do you think she honestly cared that one of the several albums she has put out did not so well??? There are good ones and bad ones..The point IS, after 20,almost 25yrs shes still here. You cant say that for many of the artist that started in the 80's........
Posted by: ken | Sep 21, 2005 5:36:53 PM
Great and Awesome.
Pop History in Process MADONNA. Love her.
Posted by: UweB | Sep 23, 2005 7:49:53 PM
PS: I love American Life, full of great Songs like AL, Nothing Fails, Love Profusion, Easy Ride, Hollywood and so on & on
Uwe in Berlin/Germany
Posted by: UweB | Sep 23, 2005 7:54:05 PM
Madonna has always been an icon, but I reckon she takes another step up with her new album; now she's legendary!
This cover defies age and fashion; in my opinion, it's one of the best covers ever made. I love the 70/80s disco-futuristic feel of it; and to be frank, I didn't notice it "gayness" - and I still don't.
It's chic, extremely hip and the entire thing just screams out: "Yeah, I'm 47-ish. So fucking what - I'm still gonna dance YOU straight off the dancefloor!" :-D
Posted by: Erling Andersen | Nov 21, 2005 5:34:02 PM
Who is she again?
Posted by: Radio Baby | Oct 11, 2007 10:41:52 PM
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