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Zero 7
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American Life
Mixed or average reviews
Based on 17 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 100 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Warner Brothers
Release Date: 22 April 2003
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Pop, Dance
Summary
Madonna's second collaboration with French electronic producer Mirwais includes the lead single title track as well as her recent James Bond theme, "Die Another Day."
Also By This Artist: Confessions On A Dance Floor Hard Candy Music
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
E! Online
Aside from the thumping groove of "Nobody Knows Me" and a few other bouncy beats, much of the electro style Madonna experimented with on 2000's Music has been replaced with warmer sounds and earthy touches, like acoustic guitars and a choir that comes from nowhere on "Nothing Fails."
Read Full Review >Vibe
This may be the first time Madonna hasn't pushed herself to explore new ground, but at least she's chosen a good place to rest. [June 2003, p.155]
Billboard
Unlike recent collections Music and Ray of Light, the lyrical content of American Life relies less on spiritual introspection and more on woman-in-the-mirror confrontation.
Read Full Review >Uncut
It wouldn't be wildly inappropriate to identify American Life as an early 21st-century update of Love's Forever Changes, effecting as it does a similarly eerie ambivalence with its fusion of mind-altering sonics and mellow acoustics. [Jun 2003, p.94]
New Musical Express
All perfectly good stuff, technically excellent. But 'American Life' also feels like an unnecessary sequel, a 'Men In Black II', made because hell, if it ain't broke...
Read Full Review >Dot Music
When she turns from fathoming everyone else's existence to her own, and stops frantically waving her style icon credentials, the genius of hers and Mirwais' partnership is overwhelming.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
At its best, her new album offers blunt, questing, decisive music at a chaotic time. At its weakest, she sounds like a gal who's grown content with hubby and kids and the hard-earned privilege of hiring the help to keep herself at tip-top tautness.
Read Full Review >Spin
A suite of faux-folkie electro that fuses the introspection of Ray of Light with Music's fast-food dance licks. [Jun 2003, p.99]
Mojo
American Life is revealing and diverting -- no bad things in a record -- but in the end the brow-beating, finger-wagging and psycho-babbling take their toll. [May 2003, p.86]
Q Magazine
It's a record about being Madonna. [Jun 2003, p.90]
Blender
That's both the best and the worst thing about this album: The music is much more eloquent than the lyrics. [May 2003, p.112]
All Music Guide
Overall, American Life is better for what it promises than what it delivers, and it's better in theory than practice.
Read Full Review >Playlouder
This album, if it came from a newcomer, could kill a career stone dead.
Read Full Review >Stylus Magazine
For once, Madonna has stumbled not because she reached too far, but because she didn't reach far enough.
Read Full Review >Village Voice
The title track's having-it-all exhaustion, underscored by its bipolar sonics and start-stop rhythms, will endear her to the Allison Pearson crowd; a few other tunes will reinforce her fan base among fellow whiny celebrities.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
Even modest expectations can't salvage the clunky, ponderous American Life, which fares only slightly better than "Hanky Panky" and Swept Away on her list of offenses.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.6 (out of 10) based on 100 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jens O gave it a10:
Her most underrated album by far-- those who doubt that Madonna is a musician should listen to this album.
Victor C. gave it a10:
An excellent Madonna album. Songs such as "Intervention," "Nothing Fails," and "X-Static Process" really pull this album together.
Edijs G. gave it a10:
I have to give a credit for this album, because i didn't like it when i heard it first time .. i still remember and that it just stayed there for fue weeks, and than i started to listen again and this is the best album still for me, love all the songs. This is better than MUSIC, Ray of light or Confessions, at least for me. Thy lyrics are good and the feeling that this cd gives is undescribable - magic happens.
Josh P gave it a9:
An fantastically produced album by Madonna and Mirwais, American Life is a 'tell all' album with some excellent hard hitting tracks-American Life,Hollywood,Love profusion,Nobody knows Me,Nothing Fails,Die Another Day & Easy Ride are all fabulous tracks.
Clif C gave it a10:
That's why I hate American music critics: they are all offended when we talk badly about American government! So they give bad reviews and grades. This is one of her best albums (for me, it's her best), and nobody can't deny. I see also another solution: Bush paid them to underrate this masterpiece.
Gigi M. gave it a9:
A highly underrated album that will end up getting more respect years from now.
Dejan St. gave it a10:
Her best album. Take a bow! She is master!
