Blog

Through some quirk of the internet and iTunes sales, Madonna’s ‘edtime Stories’ album from 1994 just shot to #1 on their chart, with ‘American Life’ gaining in chart action as of this writing. The #JusticeForBedtimeStories and #JusticeForAmericanLife tags were in full effect on the Madonna fan pages, contributing to their successful drive to bring her under-rated and under-appreciated works into the spotlight again. (Personally, I think a #1 for ‘Ray of Light’ is the more obvious choice, but that was widely regarded as a super-success/comeback so perhaps that’s why no one remembers it only ever made it to #2. If it wasn’t the damn Bodyguard soundtrack, it was the damn Titanic soundtrack blocking her perch on the top limb.)

As for these two albums, fans have always appreciated them, for the most part. It feels like ‘Bedtime Stories’ is the more favored of the two, though die-hard ‘American Life’ devotees will argue with that assessment. Such arguments used to be fun and engaging – now they’re simply tiresome, so we won’t get into it any more here. For now, let’s look back at the songs from the albums that have been examined in the Madonna Timeline and celebrate the legacy that such interesting pieces of her oeuvre has ensured.