white pumahands down one of the best cover artwork for a music album (by anyone) ever. i'd buy a copy of this your long-awaited latest offering for the cover alone. if this is commensurate to the music on the album, you will once again have succeeded where so many others fail miserably: re-inventing yourself and what the letters ''M.a.d.o.n.n.a,'' stand for.
and that much more than a mere songstress, you're a true (great) artist
in the noblest sense of the word.
being someone who otherwise seldom listen to popular contemporary music (i rather better fit the profile of your proto-typical GRAMOPHONE reader; i.e. classical music is more my cup of tea), i nevertheless never fail to listen to any album of yours, because i genuinely think that great art is eternal and timeless, and most (if not all) of your material will still be spinning on turntables 300 (or 2000 or whatever) years from now, in the exact same way that ELViS or The Beatles (or U2 for that matter) will continue selling records forever.
my single regret is to never have had the good fortune to attend one of your concert performances live - long long, dull uninteresting story i'll be mercifully sparing you -, although i always manage to see (eventually) all the shows you've taken on the road around the world over the years - i personally have the blu-ray format and a big tv screen to thank for that.
so: hats off to you pre-emtively for the forthcoming release (i'm quite confident i will not be left wanting a few weeks from now).
yours, very affectionately (truthfully).
-- dr. alan s. renaud, Ph.D3 (UCBerkeley / M.i.T. / Princeton)
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