Ranking The Album Tracks Part 2: Like A Virgin (1984)

There was no sophomore slump for Madonna as her second album, Like A Virgin, proved to be even more successful than her first. The album is quintessential 80’s; showcasing Madonna at the height of her Boy Toy persona while appealing to droves of Madonna ‘wannabes’ of the time. Save for the somber tone of “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore” midway through, the rest of the album is upbeat and fun. Here is my ranking of tracks for this classic album:

New Items Recap: April 2015

A quick recap of the latest items added to my collection in the month of April:

Confessions On A Dance Floor / USA Limited Edition Double Pink Vinyl LP (49460-1) / Gatefold Picture Sleeve, Numbered Edition #0012
Confessions On A Dance Floor / Indonesian Cassette (936249460-4) / Plastic Case
Love Don’t Live Here Anymore / French CD Maxi (9362 43692-9) / Card Sleeve
Fever / French CD Maxi (9362 40846-9) / Card Sleeve
Impressive Instant / USA Advance Promo 12” Vinyl (PRO-A-100773-A) / Generic Sleeve
Nothing Fails / USA Advance Promo 12″ Vinyl  (PRO-A-101232-A) / Generic Sleeve
Ray of Light / Taiwan CD (9362-46847-2) / Jewel Case with Bonus Discography Booklet
MDNA / Taiwan Deluxe 2-CD (279 973-6A) / Jewel Case with Card Slip Cover
Nothing Really Matters / UK CD Maxi (W471CD1) / Slim Jewel Case
Frozen / German Promo CD (PRCD1007) / Slim Jewel Case
Rebel Heart / Malaysian Deluxe CD (4725955) / Jewel Case with 3 Badges
What It Feels Like For A Girl / German 12” Vinyl (9362 42379-0) / Picture Sleeve
Ray of Light / UK Promo 12″ (SAM3269) / Generic Sleeve

Some Random Blah Blah Blah

I went to a record store yesterday to see if I could find any Madonna goodies. The thing about being a collector is that at some point, you don’t find as many things at record stores because you already have all the common pressings. I still give it a shot sometimes, though. Anyway, there’s a store in Silverlake, California called Rockaway Records. It’s a small little record shop and they don’t always have a lot of Madonna but I have found some rarities there on occasion. More than anything they seem to get promos for some reason. Anyway, yesterday they had the Confessions On A Dance Floor USA 2X Pink Vinyl. I already have the Euro one, but the USA editions are different in that they were manufactured in the USA and they were individually hand-numbered. Well, the one I found was #0012! I’ve never had such a low number for anything before. I had to take it (I’ve posted a picture below at the end of this post). 

Ranking The Album Tracks Part 1: Madonna (1983)

I thought I would start a new series here where I would rank the tracks on each of Madonna’s albums from my least favorite to my favorite. I’m starting with her debut today, 1983’s Madonna.

The thing I love the most about this album is its simplicity. From the songs to the album cover, it’s all very straight-forward, no frills, just 8 songs. A nice, compact little dance/pop album! Whereas the imagery of future albums would present Madonna as portraying different characters (a bride on Like A Virgin, a cowgirl on Music, a boxer on Hard candy, a dominatrix for Erotica, etc.), her debut album presented her just as she was back then in her own unique style. The album itself was made up of the kind of songs that a pop princess’s first album usually consists of: dancing, lust, relationships…and although many may have been quick to dismiss this album as meaningless pop fluff back in 1983, it was the first stepping stone in Madonna’s journey to becoming the still-reigning Queen of Pop. Let’s get to my rankings:

Re-Issues

There is one bad thing about being a Madonna collector, and that is that she does not like to look back at her career. Thus, we hardly ever get any collectible re-issues. The ones we did get in 2012 were so embarrassingly badly produced. It was either a really lazy effort to make a few bucks or just really bad quality control because instead of sourcing the original artwork files for the vinyl and CD sleeves, they scanned already existing physical copies and used those. In effect, the colors were off, the pictures too dark, the text too blurry…it was a mess. I skipped out on buying the vinyl re-issues except for the Erotica one and Something To Remember which was released a year later.

Taiwan Editions

I’ve been a little fascinated with Taiwan editions lately. I don’t have many so I definitely want to get more. Yesterday I received two: The first one is the gorgeous Ray of Light edition with the yellow/tan colored obi and a bonus discography booklet. I had no idea that it came with this extra booklet so that was a nice surprise.

USA Cassingles

    
Anyone who knows me knows that I love the 2-track cassette single format. The very first Madonna singles I bought were cassingles. What’s not to love? They are small, compact, contain an A-side, a B-side and they fit in your pocket (Not that it matters, but they are cute anyway)! One thing that especially always intrigued me was the way that the cassette artwork was cropped compared to the squared CD/vinyl art, and the way the titles were re-arranged in the layout. I loved studying differences like that. I love cassingles from around the world but USA cassingles are extra special to me because they are from my country. The USA’s first cassingle was for “Who’s That Girl” in 1987 and they continued all the way into 2001 for “Don’t Tell Me” but, from what I remember, cassettes were already phased out of most stores a year or two before then. Some of Madonna’s USA cassingles can be a bit hard to track down. It actually took me a long time to find “Don’t Tell Me” once I started looking for it a couple years back. “Express Yourself” (both cover versions) also took me a really long time to find, but ultimately, I was able to complete my USA cassingles collection! 🙂

 

Magazines

I made a decision a long time ago to not collect Madonna magazines. Sometimes I’m tempted to buy them, for example the new issues of Cosmopolitan. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous. But the truth of the matter is, if I started collecting magazines, I wouldn’t have as much money for CD’s, records and cassettes and I honestly would rather spend my money on those items. Plus, I wouldn’t even know where to store the magazines. I’m already running out of shelving for my music items as it is! Anyway, I think it’s good for me to have limits. I like to focus on one area of collecting.

Rebel Heart Malaysian Badge Pack Deluxe CD

Yesterday I received the Malaysian deluxe edition of Rebel Heart which comes with 3 badges shrink-wrapped onto the front of the CD. I wasn’t going to buy this one at first, not sure why. I finally gave in last week and ordered one off of ebay. The price wasn’t bad at all and it actually arrived super-fast. I love that the badges are part of the package and didn’t just come as a separate item. So now I’m just waiting for the Russian edition of the album and I will finally have all 17 editions of the album that I have bought. I think this is where I am going to stop for now. There are many more editions out there but none that I am really desperate for. One that I might consider buying later on is the Taiwan Super Deluxe edition only because it has the different obi strip.

“Ghosttown” 2-Track CD Single / Remixes

Amazon.de has updated their pre-order listing of the “Ghosttown” 2-track single to show the official cover art. I can’t say I’m in love with it, but I do like it, and I’m glad we are getting anything at all! I really hope there is another USA promo CD like there was for “Living For Love”. I can’t wait to see what the second track will be on this CD single. Probably a “Ghosttown” remix but like I’ve said before, I’m really hoping they put “Queen” on there. It’s too good to go to waste.