MDNA is Madonna's 12th studio album that was released on March 23, 2012 by Interscope Records.
Tracklisting
- Girl Gone Wild 3:43
- Gang Bang 5:26
- I'm Addicted 4:33
- Turn Up The Radio 3:46
- Give Me All Your Luvin' (featuring Nicki Minaj and M.I.A.) 3:22
- Some Girls 3:53
- Superstar 3:55
- I Don't Give A (featuring Nicki Minaj) 4:19
- I'm A Sinner 4:52
- Love Spent 3:45
- Masterpiece 3:58
- Falling Free 5:13
Album Background
Recording
Album Title & Artwork
Chart Performance
"MDNA" received the largest number of pre-order of the album at the iTunes Store since it was announced in February 2012.
In the United States, the album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 359,000 copies sold, making it Madonna's biggest first-week sales since "Music."
It became Madonna's eighth chart-topper and her fifth consecutive studio album to debut at number one. The album's sales were aided by her tour audience, who had an option to receive the release as part of their ticket purchase.
Around 185,000 copies of the first-week sales reportedly came from the album-ticket bundling. The next week, it sold 48,000 copies while moving down to number eight on the chart.
"MDNA" had a sharp 86.7% decline in sales, the then largest second-week percentage sales drop for a number-one debuting album of the Nielsen SoundScan era.
The album was present on the Billboard 200 for a total of 13 weeks. Additionally, MDNA debuted atop the Billboard's Dance/Electronic Albums and stayed on the chart for 38 weeks.
In October 2012, it was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipment of 500,000 copies. As of March 2014, it has sold over two million copies worldwide.
Critical Reception
Upon its release, "MDNA" received positive to mixed reviews. At Metacritic, the album received an average score of 64, based on 34 reviews, which indicates "generally favorable reviews".
Andy Gill from The Independent felt that the record represented a "determined, no-nonsense restatement" of Madonna's brand of music, after the underwhelming response she had received for Hard Candy.
Rolling Stone writer Joe Levy rated the release 3.5 out of 5 stars, describing it as a "disco-fied divorce record". He described the music composition as suggestive, but found depth in the content after repeated listening.
Priya Elan of NME called MDNA as "a ridiculously enjoyable romp" while finding that lyrically they were the most intimate songwriting that Madonna had ever done.
Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani found the album to be "surprisingly cohesive" in spite of the multiple producers, and commended Madonna and Orbit's compositions as among the best.
Shirley Halperin from Billboard felt that Madonna was correct in not creating retro sounding music like her peers and believed that the singer's intuition in knowing what's popular in the musical landscape was beneficial for the album since EDM was becoming popular at that time.
Also from Billboard, Joel Lynch opined that "while it didn't quite seem to resonate emotionally with fans upon its release, it certainly has its moments."
Nick Levine, from BBC News, pointed out that "there's no denying MDNA delivers thrills [...] but also has something the last two Madge albums lacked: ballads, both of which are quite lovely".
He concluded his review by saying that "[MDNA] isn't just a good pop album, it's a good Madonna album too."
Orbit's production received positive feedback from critics. Simon Goddard of Q listed MDNA as Madonna's best album since "Ray of Light" as did Chicago Tribune reviewer Greg Kot, who felt that Madonna outdid on the Orbit-produced tracks.
Caryn Ganz from Spin rated the album 7 out of 10 and said that "if there's one producer who knows how to pluck Madonna's heartstrings, it's Orbit".
Writing for The New York Times, Jon Pareles summarized that it was Madonna's "pop instinct" and ability to craft hooks that helped the record become a success musically.
In his consumer guide review, critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A– rating. He preferred an alternate track list of the record, highlighting the slow-tempo songs like "Falling Free", "Masterpiece", "Love Spent" and "I Fucked Up."
According to Jennifer Gannon, from Irish website State, "what MDNA offers is the ideal that pop doesn’t always have to be the newest, craziest thing to be effective; it doesn’t have to deny the past to be relevant.
Mixed reception came from AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine, who described MDNA as "flinty" and "excessively lean" as a result of "cool calculations" in developing the music and catering to the contemporary music market.
Melissa Maerz of Entertainment Weekly found "all those reminders of her work ethic [in the song 'I Don't Give A' as] exhausting."
Emily Mackay of The Quietus noted a "lack of ambition" and accused Madonna of "playing it safe" on MDNA.
The Observer's Gareth Grundy was ambivalent toward the record's "clumsy rave-pop" tracks, feeling that "the more relaxed, less stentorian tracks sparkle". He opined that the second half of the release "sounds as if it's been borrowed from an entirely different and much better project".
Alexis Petridis of The Guardian viewed the album as "neither triumph nor disaster", writing that it "turns out to be just another Madonna album".
Similarly, Instinct's Samuel Murrian concluded that "there is no such thing as a bad Madonna album; MDNA, though, is the closest thing there is to a lifeless one".
Graham Gremore from Queerty felt that "had it been released by another pop artist — perhaps someone younger and less established — it may have fared better. But coming from an icon like Madonna, it was, put simply, a disappointment."
Helen Brown of The Daily Telegraph panned the songwriting as "horribly cliched" and criticized Madonna's constant need to look and sound like a teenager in the tracks.
Pitchfork Media's Matthew Perpetua found most of the record as "shockingly banal" and "particularly hollow, the dead-eyed result of obligations, deadlines, and hedged bets".
Maura Johnston of The Village Voice criticized Madonna's vocals and her incorporation of EDM as insincere.
Los Angeles Times writer Randall Roberts felt that the composition suffers from "familiarity" and MDNA was evidence that Madonna's music had become regressive.
Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club criticized its "electronically manipulated" vocals and "big, generic Euro-dance beats", calling MDNA "competent, but equally perfunctory."
Wiriting for Turkish newspaper Radikal, Yazi Boyutu called it a "parody of the real Madonna [...] an unnecessary and ridiculous dance album".
The Advocate gave a scathing review of "MDNA", writing: "Lacking a central image or theme, MDNA instead relied on uninspiring beats and silly references to guns and partying. Singles like 'Give Me All Your Luvin' and 'Girl Gone Wild' were so vapid, they made Taylor Swift songs look like cuts from a Joni Mitchell album. Almost instantly forgettable."