Ray Of Light Double Vinyl Re-Issue Coming Next Month

After initially listing a Ray Of Light double vinyl re-issue for release this month alongside the Something To Remember re-issue, and then removing the pre-order listing altogether, amazon.com now has Ray Of Light set for release next month (October 11th to be exact). Just like Erotica, Bedtime Stories and Something To Remember, this will be the first time that Ray Of Light will be officially issued on vinyl in the USA (not including imports). No word yet on any more re-issues after this, though it would be great if they kept going with the latter albums, particularly Confessions On A Dance Floor which was only issued commercially on pink vinyl. It would be great if there was a black vinyl version pressed.

Something To Remember USA Vinyl Re-Issue Review

Last night I went to my local record store and bought my copy of the new Something To Remember vinyl re-issue. I don’t have a copy of the original 1995 German edition to compare it against, unfortunately. I will say, though, that the cover of this new edition is not as yellow as the 2013 German re-issue. It has an overall slightly warmer, more natural tone, definitely closer to the cover of an original CD release from 1995. The cover image also appears to be a teeny-tiny bit sharper than the 2013 version, as are the front titles. The overall quality of the backs of both seem to be about the same, except the black tone of the 2013 version may be a little bit darker. It’s a bit hard to tell. Overall, I’m very pleased with this new edition. Even though I don’t have a copy of the original version, I’ll give this one an 8/10 because I think it look pretty good (Definitely an improvement over last month’s Bedtime Stories and Erotica re-issues). If you don’t have this album on vinyl yet, I would definitely recommend that you pick up this version. If you already have the 2013 edition, that one was not bad so you could probably just skip this one if you don’t really care about the slight front cover improvement or the new sticker.

Ranking The Album Tracks Part 13: MDNA (2012)

It was a long 4-year break before Madonna released the follow-up to Hard Candy, 2012’s MDNA. This was Madonna’s first album released after she had left Warner Bros. records. Released under Interscope, the album was a departure from Madonna’s previous work, exploring current-trend electronic dance music with a variety of different producers. Most of the album was uptempo, with just a couple of exceptions. I was really excited when this album was released because it had been so long since we had had any new Madonna music. As time passed on, the album’s flaws definitely began to show, especially when several demos began to leak showing that some of the songs were pretty much completed in demo form and handed to Madonna to record her vocals. This was Madonna’s second album in a row where her musical identity was pushed to the background a bit, letting the album’s musical soundscape be directed mostly by her co-producers. Ultimately, Madonna’s contribution comes off as a bit phoned-in on a lot of the record. It’s now time to rank the songs so let’s get to it.

New Release Tidbits: Rebel Heart Tour / Something To Remember

Well only a few days after my post worrying about a lack of updates, Madonna herself posted on her Instagram that the Rebel Heart Tour video should be ready in a couple of months. Yay! Can’t wait for that. Like I’ve said before, I just hope it’s not overly edited. The show felt very spontaneous so I hope they keep that feeling with the concert film. I suspect there will be some sort of special screening or airing later this year with the DVD / Blu-Ray release following early next year. If it comes sooner than that, even better but I doubt it will.

In other news, it looks like the latest entry in the USA vinyl re-issue series, Something To Remember, is set to be released next week. I saw a picture of a copy on Instagram and the hype sticker for this one is orange (which seems like a strange color choice. I would have chosen white). No word yet on the Ray Of Light re-issue, which I fear may have been cancelled since, like I’ve mentioned before, the Amazon pre-order listing for that one disappeared some time ago. We’ll have to wait and see. Ray Of Light was originally the final title mentioned so we probably won’t get Music or anything after that, though it would be great since Music and American Life weren’t release in the USA on vinyl either.

No News On Rebel Heart Tour Release Yet…

I’m getting a little concerned that there hasn’t been any news lately on the DVD/Blu-Ray release of the Rebel Heart Tour. I know it wasn’t so long ago that the tour ended, but I would have bet that they would have wanted to release it in time for the holidays. We’re already in September so…shouldn’t we be hearing something by now? The MDNA Tour sales for the video release weren’t all that great, so I hope they haven’t abandoned the concept of releasing tour videos. I’m just really anxious to see how this all turns out, especially since Madonna.com confirmed that the Sydney shows were filmed for a “larger project” to be confirmed at a later date. I suppose it’s possible that something will be coming next year. I just wish they would toss out another hint or preview! My biggest fear is that they will release another documentary instead of the full show. The fact that the Re-Invention Tour never got a proper release is still one of my biggest disappointments as a fan.

“I keep on waiting, anticipating….”