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8.0
39070
8.0 |
musicOMH
When it comes to pop sovereignty, there is only Madonna, and here, she casts cares and judgement aside to produce some of the most energetic, vital-sounding music she’s delivered in years
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8.0
39160
8.0 |
PopMatters
MDNA is quite simply the refreshing return to the wheel most Madonna fans have been craving now since 2006’s Confessions on a Dancefloor
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8.0
39185
8.0 |
Q
Madonna is back with a vengeance. Print edition only
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8.0
39592
8.0 |
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
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7.0
39509
7.0 |
AU Review
It’s no great departure from what Madonna’s done before, but what she does, she continues to do well
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7.0
39201
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Her music has always been about liberation from oppression, but for the first time the oppression is internal: loss and sadness
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7.0
39263
7.0 |
NME
In the end, ‘MDNA’ is a ridiculously enjoyable romp, but oddly not for the bits that are supposed to be fun
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7.0
39071
7.0 |
Slant Magazine
While the album is no Ray of Light, MDNA is surprisingly cohesive despite its seven-plus producers
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7.0
39072
7.0 |
BBC
It's got its faults, but MDNA isn't just a good pop album, it's a good Madonna album too
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6.0
39080
6.0 |
The Guardian
Neither the return to form it thinks it is, nor the disaster Madonna should rightly have delivered at some stage in her musical career but never quite has
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6.0
39165
6.0 |
Scotland on Sunday
Every song on her latest album is a terse reminder of past glories, while collaborations with Euro production whizzes Marco Benassi and Martin Solveig stick a token musical toe in the contemporary mix
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6.0
39179
6.0 |
Mojo
By far the strongest section of the album features the tracks Madonna recorded with William Orbit. Print edition only
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6.0
39135
6.0 |
The Observer
The flirty "I'm a Sinner" name-checks so many saints that Madonna practically gives the come-on to the entire Catholic church, and "Falling Free" is one of her better ballads – just voice, strings and a credible sense of vulnerability
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6.0
39151
6.0 |
Drowned In Sound
MDNA is a bit all over the place with moments of brilliance often stood right next to a hugely underwhelming counterpart
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6.0
39159
6.0 |
The Scotsman
Madonna’s got news for Lady Gaga: she wants her Queen of Pop crown back. Trouble is, she’s too stuck in her ways to take the necessary risks
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6.0
39499
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
She has nailed a Saturday-night album that’s very much on the enjoyable side of America’s current obsession with European techno-pop cheese
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5.0
39253
5.0 |
A.V. Club
There are enough moments of euphoria to keep MDNA from flatlining
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5.0
39206
5.0 |
Rave Magazine
When you’re done being bowled over by the hugeness of the production, there’s actually not much there
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4.5
39155
4.5 |
Pitchfork
Large chunks of MDNA are shockingly banal, coming across not so much as bad pop songs per se, but as drably competent tunes better suited to D-list Madonna wannabes
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4.2
39293
4.2 |
Pretty Much Amazing
A jumble of lows and just a few highs, an exasperating portrait of an artist seemingly in the midst of crisis
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4.0
39341
4.0 |
Entertainment.ie
Trying to play the same game as artists 30 years her junior is always going to be an uphill struggle
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4.0
40287
4.0 |
No Ripcord
The fact that Madonna can no longer provoke much of a reaction at all is perhaps the possible worst outcome for her career
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4.0
39105
4.0 |
Daily Telegraph
She looks exhausted and unhappy and MDNA leaves me feeling the same
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4.0
39133
4.0 |
Independent on Sunday
Madonna may have done this stuff first, but nowadays Lady Gaga does it better
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4.0
39235
4.0 |
Consequence Of Sound
She should put her energy into her strengths instead of parading around marquee names and treading through genres that, most of the time, she’s late to reach
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4.0
39237
4.0 |
The Quietus
Her first album since departing Warners after 25 years, should have been one that was pushing forwards, or even better, sideways. Sadly, it very much MDNain't
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3.5
39290
3.5 |
Beats Per Minute
Frankly, it’s worse than bad: it’s mediocre
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3.0
40615
3.0 |
Uncut
First irredeemable album of the material girl's career. Print edition only
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