Welcome to the first of many exclusive joint posts between Matthew of The Magic Critique and Amber of Amberlee Tea.  This is an exciting venture for us, and we hope that you enjoy it as much as we do.  For our first post we decided to focus on one of the most influential musicians and fashion trendsetters the world has ever seen.

Madonna.  Need I say more?  Pop goddess, humanitarian, fashion designer.  The list goes on and on.  Madonna is the most influential female pop artist the world has ever seen, and she has left her mark on the artists of today.  Madonna is of course one of my favorites, but I really didn't get into her music until her 'Confessions On a Dance Floor' album.  The album was such a great dance album and had its own share of risk taking that made its own blend of supreme pop music.  'Hard Candy' was another favorite of mine, and then earlier this year I went back and listened to her previous albums.  Madonna flows with the times and isn't afraid to make political statements.  What I thought I would do is rank her Top 5 Albums and Songs (in my opinion of course) and then talk about them.

Top 5 Songs


1.  Like a Prayer
Isn't it ironic that my favorite Madonna song of all time is entitled 'Like a Prayer'?  Madonna is known for being a sexual songstress who pushes the envelope further than none other before her.  there's just something about this song that I love; it has a great message and the soul-choir influence is just something that I really dig.  It's something that is not the usual for Madonna, but it just resonates inside me and never leaves.  I really don't know how else to explain the song.


2.  Live to Tell
Again, this is another unusual choice for a Madonna favorite, but it once again has very strong lyrics that I absolutely love.  She deals with deceit and mistrust, but it's one of the most amazing ballads I have ever heard.  My affinity for the song began when I watched the Confessions Tour, and Madonna sang this song on a giant cross while wearing a crown of thorns.  The imagery and the performance was just something that really struck me, and it is one of the best examples of Madonna's envelope-pushing star power.


3.  Human Nature
I think the reason why I love this song so much is because of its rebellious nature and Madonna basically giving the media and all her criticizers a huge, hit-you-in-the-face "F-U".  My favorite line from the song is "Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about sex. I must have been crazy."  Madonna is telling the world that she has absolutely no regrets about her past actions, and she is just generally mocking them.  It is a song that I think every celebrity can relate to, especially Britney which is why she performed the song on tour with Madonna at one show.  It's just a great song with a great message about embracing yourself and do whatever you feel.


4.  Like a Virgin
I don't think you can have a Top 5 list without this song.  It is the trademark Madonna classic, and it is a song that every person in the world knows.  It's just as iconic as Madonna is herself.  It's probably so legendary because it was one of the first times that a female singer explicitly talked about sexual content. Her performances for the song even went above-and-beyond, and Madonna basically trademarked herself for the rest of her career.


5.  Frozen
This is one of those songs in an artist's career that receives very little to no attention, but is one of their best.  It is something that Madonna had never done before, and wuite frankly shocked people.  To this day I still have never heard a song like it.  It comes from her 'Ray of Light' album which was revolutionary and game-changing in and of itself.  The song is so eerie and dark, very unlike madonna, but at the same time it is so beautiful and enticing.  This is a song that I could not live without, and you should definitely check it out since most of you have probably never heard it before.


Top 5 Albums


1.  Confessions On a Dance Floor
Maybe it's because this is the first Madonna CD I ever listened to, but 'Confessions On a Dance Floor' is my all-time favorite Madonna album.  The album produced the amazing songs 'Sorry' and 'Hung Up' and was a very different divergence from the sound of pop music at the time.  There really wasn't dance music out at this time, and Madonna started incorporating the ever so popular European club scene into her music.  Not only was the album ahead of its time, but it also was a very interesting album as a whole.  What was a really cool thing that I love is that the album plays as one continuous song; there are no breaks in-between each song - they flow into each other.  Also, on songs like 'Isaac' she incorporated Middle Eastern sounds and vocals, and then songs like 'Push' and 'How High' are just so extraterrestrial in their sound.  Everything on the album is just incredible and experimental.


2.  Hard Candy
Now I know most people will probably disagree with me on this one, but I sincerely think that 'Hard Candy' is one of Madonna's best albums ever.  Most people see it as one of her weakest because she diverges too far into mainstream music, teaming up with people like Timbaland and Justin Timberlake, and venturing into a more R&B sound.  I could not disagree more because I think that amongst all this Madonna still brings her own signature sound and adventurousness.  My personal favorite is 'Heartbeat' that has a throbbing heartbeat in the background, and is just a very interesting song.  'She's Not Me' and 'Incredible' are also very intriguing songs, in both their sound and the lyrics.  This album is just so different than anything else, and I think that it is one of the best out there.  The Sticky & Sweet Tour became the highest grossing tour by a solo artist in 2009, just adding to the amazingness of the album.


3.  American Life
This is probably Madonna's most underrated album of her career.  This came at a time in her life when Madonna had just had children, she was becoming a political guru and she just wasn't as popular as she had been.  As you can accurately guess by its title, the album was quite a political statement (pounding and ripping on George Bush), but it also contained some very personal songs.  During this time, she also gave one of her most iconic performances of her career: she performed a medley at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards with Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott.  The infamous kiss with Britney made headlines for weeks and caused an uproar in the country.


4.  Madonna
Madonna's self-titled debut album contains some of her most classic songs.  'Holiday' is one of my favorite Madonna songs, as well as 'Borderline' and 'Burning Up'.  In the early '80s there really wasn't any sort of a disco diva, and Madonna became the first by popularizing anthemic dance music through her use of sex appeal and shock value.  If it weren't for this album then Madonna would not be who she is today.


5.  True Blue
'True Blue' is one of Madonna's first albums that I really feel is a cohesive effort where every song is good.  Others like 'Like a Virgin' and 'Like a Prayer' have three or four good songs, and then the rest are just filler tracks.  The album contains my favorite 'Live to Tell', as well as 'La Isla Bonita' and 'Papa Don't Preach'.  With the song 'Papa Don't Preach' Madonna began taking on issues such as teen pregnancy and abortion, further pushing the media's buttons.  Madonna created one of her most cohesive albums with 'True Blue' and furthered her reign over the music industry.

Madonna is an icon in all sense of the word, but her music cannot be rivaled.  She is truly the Queen of Pop.  Her music has influenced generations of musicians and continues to do so.  Madonna is such an inspiration to all walks of life, and she will never be forgotten.
Hullo, darlings.
Welcome to guest blogging/team blogging (I guess…) of Matt from The Magic Critique and Amber from Amberlee Tea :)
Since Matt talks about pop culture and music and literature, we felt that combining them to talk about great pop culture/singers who also influenced fashion.
To begin, we thought we should begin with a classic superstar…

Madonna.
This woman influenced pop culture to the extreme and she led the pack in terms of fashion. Even now she is a major player in the fashion industry with her own line and she has had amazing fashion moments throughout the years.

The gothic phase she went through was gorgeous as well. In this outfit I love the hard black fabric in contrast with the grey tulle. It looks very dark, but with a hint of elegance.

This is just a taste of what my great friend Amber has to offer, so if you want to read more (and I suggest you should), head on over to Amberlee Tea and finish the article.  We'll be doing many more of these joint posts in the future so leave comments and let us know what you think!