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Confessions On A Dance Floor

EMAILPRINTby Madonna

Madonna reviews
80
8.5 User Score:

Generally favorable reviews

Based on 28 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 303 votes
Read user comments
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Album Info

Label: Warner Bros.

Release Date: 15 November 2005

Discs: 1 disc

Genre(s): Pop, Dance

Summary

Stuart Price co-produced the 47-year-old Anglophile's latest dance-oriented effort.

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...

100

Observer Music Monthly

Confessions... is vocally sharp and (at times) lyrically breathtaking, but it is difficult to imagine this album working without Price's involvement.

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91

E! Online

The joyful "I Love the '80s"-style disc fans have been yearning for since she took up yoga.

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91

Stylus Magazine

Easily her finest effort since Ray of Light.

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90

Billboard

Swirling, throbbing and altogether great. [19 Nov 2005]

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90

New Musical Express

Believe the hype, this is even better than 'Ray Of Light.' [12 Nov 2005, p.45]

90

Village Voice

Easily dance record of the year, Confessions is an almost seamless tribute to the strobe-lit sensuality of the '80s New York club scene that gave Madge her roots, which she explores with compelling aplomb.

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90

Amazon.com

Sweaty, head-spinningly good dance music.

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83

Village Voice (Consumer Guide)

If anything, it's more a dance record, leaving those of us with a sentimental weakness for distinct parts a little lost.

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83

Entertainment Weekly

For all its pretenses of being giddy and spontaneous, though, Confessions is rarely either.

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80

Slant Magazine

One of the few pop singers whose albums are best appreciated in their entirety and not lopped off into "hit singles," Madonna... has succeeded at creating a dance-pop odyssey with an emotional, if not necessarily narrative, arc.

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80

The Guardian

It may be a return to core values, but there's still a bravery about Confessions on a Dancefloor. It revels in the delights of wilfully plastic dance pop in an era when lesser dance-pop artists - from Rachel Stevens to Price's protege Juliet - are having a desperately thin time of it.

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80

Uncut

Such a heady, high-octane swirl that, perversely enough, you often forget you're listening to a Madonna record. [Dec 2005, p.102]

80

Q Magazine

Up there with her best. [Dec 2005, p.144]

80

Mojo

As each track segues into the next, this is a breathless listen, but the overall scheme works. [Dec 2005, p.99]

75

Los Angeles Times

Disco with a vengeance, a whomping, unapologetically airheaded engine of stroboscopic beats and succulent textures that exhumes dance music's time-honored values of celebration and affirmation. [13 Nov 2005]

70

Dot Music

The sound that [Price] has created for "Confessions On A Dancefloor" is simultaneously stylish, fun, hip and camp; all things a Madonna record should be.

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70

All Music Guide

While she succeeds rather handsomely on those modest terms, it's more than a little odd to hear Madonna scaling back her ambition and settling for less rather than hungering for more.

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70

Rolling Stone

Madonna's songwriting has always been her most underrated quality. But while Confessions absolutely hits its mark for disco functionality, its greatest strength is also its weakness. In the end, the songs blur together, relying on Price's considerable production magic to create tension or distinctiveness.

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70

Trouser Press

For the most part it succeeds quite well in its single-minded pursuit of disco euphoria, but there’s definitely a whiff of flop-sweat emanating from it.

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70

New York Magazine

The first half, in particular, has irresistible momentum... The second half drags a little, and you wish Madonna would strip the synths back to work a bass line every now and then.

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70

Paste Magazine

A delightful concoction. [Feb/Mar 2006, p.98]

70

Playlouder

She might not quite have made it through the wilderness just yet, but she's chosen the most glittering road to resurrection she could find, and it's one she walks with no small smattering of style.

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67

Austin Chronicle

An exuberant return to old-school form.

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67

Spin

With its surges and dips, Confessions mimics the rising/falling action of, say, a DJ set, a hit of Ecstasy, or Madonna's own career. [Dec 2005, p.106]

67

cokemachineglow

Price’s work behind the boards, while often commanding, is hardly ambitious; running the tracks together to try and give Madge the "album" sound is noteworthy, but he’s picked the wrong pop-star to prod.

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62

Pitchfork

Despite Price's best efforts to infuse these songs with motion and finesse, Confessions never quite reaches its earlier heights after "I Love New York". When Madonna actually starts confessing, the album loses its delicate balance between pop frivolity and spiritual gravity.

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60

The New York Times

But she's not attempting a simple 80's revival; for all the vaguely familiar hooks, there are also sustained, wistful overlays of strings and acoustic guitar that enfold the music like a haze of indistinct memory. [14 Nov 2005]

60

Blender

[It] sounds as if she's happy to give the people what they want: escapism and nostalgia. [Dec 2005, p.152]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 8.5 (out of 10) based on 303 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jens O gave it a10:
This album is dance music par excellence.

Victor C gave it a10:
A great Madonna album, and you can "Like It Or Not."

Mik D. gave it a10:
One's of the best album the last 10 years!

Ruan H gave it a10:
The album Madonna fans have been waiting for!

Josh P gave it a10:
Madonna at her exhilarating best,love the future disco,Confessions is a timeless album.

Ann A gave it a10:
This album is amazing.It contains great songs like "Sorry" & "Get Together".

Danny W gave it a10:
Still love this after 3 years. Great album by Madonna. It doesn't miss a beat!!

Read more user comments >

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