MDNA

MDNA's dirty dozen rank it her best since, in all sincerity, the career high of 1998's Ray Of Light itself. [May 2012, p.88]

Yes, there are 'Did she really do that?' moments... But'MDNA' is mostly filled with moments when listening to Madonna still feels like the most thrilling thing any pop fan could possibly hope to experience.

What MDNA does is establish the resurgence of Madonna being the coolest b**** in the room, not because of what she's done, but because of what she's doing.

When it comes to partaking in pop, MDNA has easily set itself out as 2012's go-to drug of choice.

It's got its faults, but MDNA isn't just a good pop album, it's a good Madonna album too.

MDNA represents a determined, no-nonsense restatement of the Madonna brand.

Luckily for fans of music and controversy alike, Madonna's compulsions reap musical dividends as she continues to bang into a dance-tastic G-spot, and the results are part sour, part sweet.

It's her best album since "Ray of Light" in 1998.

No, MDNA can't be hailed as Madge's best ever album, and it may not contain the most thought- provoking lyrics of her career (perhaps an intentional tongue-in-cheek poke at the current state of pop music?), but it is the reigning Queen of Pop's most inspired work since Music, as well as the highly addictive record Madonna celebrants have been craving.

All this exertion leads to an excessively lean album: there's not an ounce of fat on MDNA, it's all overly defined muscle, every element working with designated purpose.

MDNA isn't a perfect Madonna album, but it greatly surpasses its immediate predecessors when Madonna cracks that hard candy shell and allows us to get at the gooey emotional center: This is a Madonna who is angry, mournful, occasionally funny, and most of all, specific.

The second half of this album is far more earnest; and in related news, far less fun.

It's a bipolar collection that pumps out effervescent electronic pop before making way for a contentious personal agenda.

In the end, MDNA is a ridiculously enjoyable romp, but oddly not for the bits that are supposed to be fun. Instead, it's the psychotic, soul-bearing stuff that provides listeners with some of the most visceral stuff she's ever done.

Hooks emerge quickly; there's lots of naughtiness for the DJ to bring back, and the music has depth that rewards repeated listening.

MDNA is surprisingly cohesive despite its seven-plus producers.

While there are a few genuine moments of double-rainbow bliss here (check the "whoo-ooh!" chorus of "I'm a Sinner"), there's also real darkness lurking under the air-popped beats.

She gets into her stride with French electronic maestro Martin Solveig. [May 2012, p.84]

A few breakdowns and builds fly off the rails on the clubbier numbers, but the better songs balance shiny, modern production with exuberant melodies and timeless songwriting.

It's Madonna's conservatism that drags her latest record down to the status of a ragtag collection.

It [the song "I'm a Sinner"] makes you crave her next album, not this one.

MDNA turns out to be just another Madonna album. It's already had the biggest single-day pre-order in iTunes history: business as usual for the most remarkable business enterprise in pop.

An album that's competent, but equally perfunctory.

MDNA runs the gamut of quality from ghastly to mediocre to brilliant, but it's not the unmitigated disaster that many feared.

Continuing Hard Candy's pattern of awful try-hard title and 'show the young uns you've still got it' bangers, it's disappointing in its lack of ambition.

The album offers evidence that the singer has fallen behind, that she is no longer setting the conversation in a genre she essentially invented - blending Top 40 pop with club music.

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.

[The music] is not exactly bad, but has about as much creativity and passion behind it as a spreadsheet.

Madonna may have done this stuff first, but nowadays Lady Gaga does it better. MDNA? Meh-DNA.

It's a retread of almost everything she's said before in the past 30 years, and though ultimately catchy, it lacks any subtlety or nuance to make you feel this is doing anything but reaching.

Madonna's infinite varieties have certainly staled.

I'd say that MDNA is at the very least "not bad," but frankly, it's worse than bad: it's mediocre.