Madonna: The Albums

Madonna demonstrated an extraordinary ability to reinvent her image. She achieved international notoriety for the sexual and religious imagery in her videos, and for her equally provocative stage performances. An icon for gay men and post-feminist women, she is arguably the most famous woman in the world.

The following discography includes all of Madonna's albums, with their complete track-listings. Tracks which were also released as singles are all indicated.

In addition to the solo albums detailed here, Madonna has also collaborated with other artists: Be Careful (Cuidado Con Mi Corazon) (1999; a duet with Ricky Martin for his eponymous album Ricky Martin), Me Against The Music (2003; a duet with Britney Spears for her album In The Zone, also released as a single), Guilty By Association (1992; a duet with Joe Henry for the various artists album Sweet Relief II: Gravity Of The Situation - The Songs Of Vic Chesnutt), and Sing (2007; with Annie Lennox, for her album Songs Of Mass Destruction, also released as a single).

She has also contributed individual songs to various charity albums: a cover version of Santa Baby for the album A Very Special Christmas (1987), Goodbye To Innocence for the album Just Say Yes VII: Just Say Roe (1994), Freedom for the album Carnival! (1994), Imagine for the limited edition album Tsunami Aid: A Concert Of Hope (available as an online download, 2005), and Hey You for the live album Live Earth (2007).

Madonna (1983)

Lucky Star, Borderline, Burning Up, I Know It, Holiday, Think Of Me, Physical Attraction, Everybody.

Madonna's debut single, Everybody, was released in America in 1982, followed by the double-A-side single Physical Attraction/Burning Up in America and Australia. Madonna was generating considerable interest on the New York club scene by this stage, and her third single, Holiday, would later become arguably her unofficial anthem.

After Holiday, in 1983, came Madonna's first album. A collection of disco hits eponymously titled Madonna, the album generated two further singles - Borderline and Lucky Star. It was rereleased as The First Album in Europe in 1985.

Like A Virgin (1984)

Material Girl, Angel, Like A Virgin, Over And Over, Love Don't Live Here Anymore, Dress You Up, Shoo-Bee-Doo, Pretender, Stay.

Like A Virgin, the title track from the Like A Virgin album, was released as a single and promoted by a video filmed on the canals of Venice (directed by Mary Lambert in 1984), provoking the first controversy of Madonna's career. Alternating between sexual temptress and virginal bride, she sang about the joys of losing her virginity.

The highlight of the Virgin album was the sophisticated Material Girl, an ironic reference to Madonna's newfound wealth. The glamorous Material Girl video (directed by Mary Lambert in 1985) was inspired by Marilyn Monroe and marks the first of many complete image changes in Madonna's career. Two other singles from the Virgin album, Angel and Dress You Up, were both lighter in tone. Over And Over was released as a single only in Italy and the Philippines, and Madonna's cover version of Love Don't Live Here Anymore was issued as a single exclusively in Japan. For the European release in 1985, the extra track Into The Groove (a single from the film Desperately Seeking Susan) was added to the album.

True Blue (1986)

Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, White Heat, Live To Tell, Where's The Party, True Blue, La Isla Bonita, Jimmy Jimmy, Love Makes The World Go Round.

The True Blue album yielded five singles: True Blue (the title track), Live To Tell, Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, and La Isla Bonita. Papa Don't Preach, which dealt with a girl's accidental pregnancy and her determination not to have an abortion, provoked complaints from the Catholic church. Where's The Party was issued as a single in Italy and the Philippines in 1987. The singles True Blue (in America) and Papa Don't Preach (outside America) featured the non-album track Ain't No Big Deal as their B-side.

You Can Dance (1987)

Spotlight, Holiday, Everybody, Physical Attraction, Over And Over, Into The Groove, Where's The Party.

The remix album You Can Dance features extended mixes of old songs in continuous sequence. The album's first track, Spotlight (the only new song in the collection), was released as a single exclusively in Japan.

The insertion of male backing vocals at the start of Where's The Party was certainly a mistake. On the plus side, however, the incredible Into The Groove remix, with its extensive post-production, is the highlight of the album.

Like A Prayer (1989)

Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Love Song, Till Death Do Us Part, Promise To Try, Cherish, Dear Jessie, Oh Father, Keep It Together, Pray For Spanish Eyes, Act Of Contrition.

Madonna's career reached a new level of controversy in 1989, with the release of her single Like A Prayer. The accompanying video (directed by Mary Lambert in 1989) was a masterful and perfectly-timed exercise in provocation. It features Madonna entering a church and kissing the statue of a saint; this brings the statue to life, and the couple embrace passionately. Madonna is then affected by stigmata and, for good measure, dances in front of burning crosses. The video caused apoplexy amongst the 'moral majority', and she was accused of blasphemy.

The title track, Like A Prayer, was followed by the outstanding feminist anthem Express Yourself, accompanied by Madonna's most lavish and expensive promotional video thus far. The video (directed by David Fincher in 1989) was dominated by industrial machinery and its sets were inspired by German director Fritz Lang. Madonna appeared in two roles: masculine and feminine. First, she wore a suit and a monocle, grabbing her crotch in a display of overt masculinity. Later, she was nude, chained to a bed. A black cat appeared, symbolising femininity, and Madonna imitated it by lapping from a bowl of milk.

The Like A Prayer and Express Yourself singles were taken from the Like A Prayer album, Madonna's most introspective work and arguably her masterpiece. The track Till Death Do Us Part is a bitter account of the breakdown of her marriage, and, in Oh Father, she sings about her relationship with her father after her mother's death. Also included is a duet with Prince, Love Song The album ends with Act Of Contrition, a monologue spoken over music remixed from the title track.

Oh Father was released as a single in America, France, Australia, and Japan only. The Keep It Together single (released in 1990) was only available in America, Canada, and Japan. The lighter, fluffier Dear Jessie was released as a single exclusively in Europe. Cherish was a single on both sides of the Atlantic, with the non-album track Supernatural as its B-side.

The Immaculate Collection (1990)

Holiday, Lucky Star, Borderline, Like A Virgin, Material Girl, Crazy For You, Into The Groove, Live To Tell, Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, La Isla Bonita, Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish, Vogue, Justify My Love, Rescue Me.

At the end of 1990, Madonna released her first true greatest hits album, The Immaculate Collection. The lavishly packaged album was remixed in Q-Sound, an attempt to create quadrophonic sound from stereo speakers. The album features new songs Justify My Love and Rescue Me (both released as singles), and remastered versions of old favourites. The promotional video for Justify My Love was even more controversial than the Like A Prayer promo. The video, filmed in black-and-white in an arty, European style by Jean-Baptiste Mondino (1990), features bondage scenes and a lesbian kiss, and became the first ever video single.

The Holiday Collection (1991)

Holiday, True Blue, Who's That Girl, Causing A Commotion.

This EP was released in Europe to promote The Immaculate Collection. Causing A Commotion is incorrectly titled Causin' A Commotion on the EP.

The Early Years: Give It To Me (1991)

Give It To Me, Shake, Get Down, Time To Dance, Wild Dancing, Let's Go Dancing, We Are The Gods, Cosmic Climb, Oh My!, On The Street.

In 1979, Madonna recorded several songs for Otto VonWernherr, in Paris. He later released these songs in a long succession of unofficial singles, EPs, and albums. The full set of original songs was eventually collated on his album The Early Years: Give It To Me. Madonna's background vocals were endlessly looped, artificially enhanced, and combined with VonWernherr's eccentric performance; the end result is bizarre indeed.

Shine A Light (1992)

Shine A Light, Little Boy, Safe Neighborhood.

Madonna formed her own band, Emmy, in 1980, though she established herself as a solo artist once she had secured a record contract. Shine A Light, an unofficial EP, features three songs recorded by Madonna with Emmy, sourced from the band's original demos though not authorised by Madonna herself. The third track is Safe Neighborhood, though it is incorrectly titled On The Ground on the EP.

Erotica (1992)

Erotica, Fever, Bye Bye Baby, Deeper And Deeper, Where Life Begins, Bad Girl, Waiting, Thief Of Hearts, Words, Rain, Why's It So Hard, In This Life, Did You Do It?, Secret Garden.

1992 saw the synchronised release of the album Erotica and the launch of Maverick, Madonna's own record-label. From the album, the title track, Erotica, was released as a single. An alternate version of the song, Erotic, was released with Madonna's book, Sex. The second single was Deeper And Deeper, which contains a lyrical reference to the earlier classic Vogue. There were two further singles: Bad Girl and Rain. Rain featured a dub version of the non-album track Up Down Suite as its B-side. The fourth single, a cover version of Fever, was only released in the UK, Japan, and Australia. The fifth, Bye Bye Baby, was released exclusively in Japan and Australia. Mark Goodman and Dave Murphy performed a rap over the music from Waiting, to create the track Did You Do It?.

Bedtime Stories (1994)

Survival, Secret, I'd Rather Be Your Lover, Don't Stop, Inside Of Me, Human Nature, Forbidden Love, Love Tried To Welcome Me, Sanctuary, Bedtime Story, Take A Bow.

The Bedtime Stories album's R+B style was another of Madonna's many musical departures. Human Nature, an attack on the negative press Madonna received post-Erotica, was released as a single, as were Take A Bow, Secret, and the title track, Bedtime Story. Secret featured a 'rough mix' of the non-album track Let Down YOur Guard as its B-side. The album's cover portrait of Madonna was initially (incorrectly) printed right-side-up, and subsequently (correctly) upside-down.

Something To Remember (1995)

I Want You, I'll Remember, Take A Bow, You'll See, Crazy For You, This Used To Be My Playground, Live To Tell, Love Don't Live Here Anymore, Something To Remember, Forbidden Love, One More Chance, Rain, Oh Father.

Something To Remember is a collection of Madonna's ballads, including Crazy For You (a 1985 single from the Vision Quest film soundtrack), This Used To Be My Playground (a 1992 single from the film A League Of Their Own), I'll Remember (a 1994 single from the With Honors film soundtrack), and I Want You (a 1995 single with Massive Attack, from the various artists album Inner City Blues: The Music Of Marvin Gaye).

The album was released in Japan with the extra track La Isla Bonita, and in Spain and Latin America with an extra Spanish version of You'll See (titled Veras). The two new songs on the album, You'll See and One More Chance, were both released as singles (the latter in Australia and the UK only, in 1996). Also to promote the album, Oh Father was finally released as a single in the UK; in 1996, the Love Don't Live Here Anymore single was finally released in Canada, France, and Australia.

Pre-Madonna (1997)

Laugh To Keep From Crying, Crimes Of Passion, Don't You Know?, Everybody, Ain't No Big Deal, Burning Up, Stay.

Stephen Bray, who was a fellow member of Emmy, Madonna's early band, released seven of their demo recordings on the unofficial album Pre-Madonna in 1997. Four of these songs (Everybody, Ain't No Big Deal, Burning Up, and Stay) were later recorded solo by Madonna after she left the band. The album was released in Europe in 1998, retitled In The Beginning.

Ray Of Light (1998)

Drowned World/Substitute For Love, Swim, Ray Of Light, Candy Perfume Girl, Skin, Nothing Really Matters, Sky Fits Heaven, Shanti/Ashtangi, Frozen, The Power Of Goodbye, To Have And Not To Hold, Little Star, Mer Girl.

Her most critically-acclaimed album since Like A Prayer, Ray Of Light introduced an Eastern spiritual dimension to Madonna's music. The title track, Ray Of Light, was released as a single, along with Frozen, Nothing Really Matters, and The Power Of Goodbye (the latter not in Japan). The Power Of Goodbye was released as a double-A-side with Little Star in the UK. Drowned World/Substitute For Love was a single in every major territory except America and Japan. The Japanese album version includes an extra track, Has To Be.

Music (2000)

Music, Impressive Instant, Runaway Lover, I Deserve It, Amazing, Nobody's Perfect, Don't Tell Me, What It Feels Like For A Girl, Paradise (Not For Me), Gone.

Madonna's image changed yet again in 2000: for her Music album, she adopted a 'ghetto cowgirl' look. The album makes extensive use of 'electronica' vocoder vocal effects. From the album, Music (the title track) and What It Feels Like For A Girl were released as singles (the latter in 2001). Don't Tell Me was also released as a single. The European, Latin-American, and Asian versions of the album include an extra track, American Pie (a single from the film soundtrack The Next Best Thing). The Japanese version includes a further extra track, Cyber-Raga. The album was also released in a special edition featuring an extra Spanish version of What It Feels Like For A Girl (titled Lo Que Siente La Mujer). Previously, an experimental version of Paradise (Not For Me) had been included on the Mirwais album Production (1999).

GHV2 (2002)

Deeper And Deeper, Erotica, Human Nature, Secret, Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Bedtime Story, The Power Of Goodbye, Beautiful Stranger, Frozen, Take A Bow, Ray Of Light, Don't Tell Me, What It Feels Like For A Girl, Drowned World/Substitute For Love, Music.

Madonna's second greatest hits collection was titled GHV2 (Greatest Hits Volume II). It followed The Immaculate Collection, and features the best of Madonna's music between 1992 and 2000. Unfortunately, GHV2 was a fairly inadequate successor: the Q-Sound remixes of The Immaculate Collection were replaced by an album consisting mostly of radio edits.

American Life (2003)

American Life, Hollywood, I'm So Stupid, Love Profusion, Nobody Knows Me, Nothing Fails, Intervention, X-Static Process, Mother And Father, Die Another Day, Easy Ride.

American Life retains the vocoder elements familiar from Madonna's previous album, Music. The title track, American Life, was released as a single, and was closely followed by the second single, Hollywood. Two further singles were released simultaneously: Nothing Fails (unavailable in the UK, Japan, or Australia) and Love Profusion (unavailable in Japan). Die Another Day is a 2002 single from the Die Another Day film soundtrack.

Remixed And Revisited (2003)

Nothing Fails, Love Profusion, Nobody Knows Me, American Life, Hollywood, Into The Hollywood Groove, Your Honesty.

The Remixed And Revisited EP is a curious compilation. It includes remixes of various American Life songs, though there are also three other seemingly random tracks: a previously unreleased song (Your Honesty, recorded in 1994), an extended version of Into The Hollywood Groove, and an MTV VMA Hollywood performance (with Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Missy Elliot).

Confessions On A Dance Floor (2005)

Hung Up, Get Together, Sorry, Future Lovers, I Love New York, Let It Will Be, Forbidden Love, Jump, How High, Isaac, Push, Like It Or Not.

With Confessions On A Dancefloor, Madonna made a conscious return to pure dance music, and, like You Can Dance, the tracks are played in continuous sequence. (A download-only version was also prepared, featuring individual, non-continuous tracks.) The first single from the album was Hung Up, which includes lines from Madonna's 1989 track Love Song. Subsequent singles, Sorry, Get Together, and Jump, followed in 2006. Jump featured the non-album track History as its B-side. The album includes a track titled Forbidden Love - this is a new song, different to the track with the same title on the earlier Bedtime Stories album. Isaac features additional vocals by Yitzhak Sinwani. A special edition of the album was also released, featuring the (isolated) bonus track Fighting Spirit. Another bonus track, Super Pop, was available as a download from Madonna's fanclub.

Confessions Remixed (2006)

Hung Up, Sorry, Get Together, I Love New York, Let It Will Be.

The limited edition Confessions Remixed album features several Confessions On A Dance Floor tracks remixed by Stuart Price.

I'm Going To Tell You A Secret (2006)

The Beast Within, Vogue, Nobody Knows Me, American Life, Hollywood, Die Another Day, Lament, Like A Prayer, Mother And Father, Imagine, Into The Groove, Music, Holiday, I Love New York.

This, Madonna's first live album, was recorded in Paris, France, during the 2004 Reinvention Tour, and was released to accompany the behind-the-scenes tour documentary I'm Going To Tell You A Secret (2005) whose title it shares. It successfully captures the atmosphere of the tour, though it does not include the full set-list. Though the songs themselves are distinct from each other, the album has been mixed so that the sound of the crowd acts as a seamless bridge between each track. Extended, individual versions of each track were released as online downloads.

The Beast Within does not feature the Justify My Love chorus from the original version. Following a cover version of Imagine, Into The Groove features Missy Elliot performing her lyrics from Into The Hollywood Groove and ends with an immediate segue into Music. Mother And Father is performed as part of a medley with the uncredited Intervention. The album ends with a demo studio version of I Love New York. Previously, an alternate Reinvention performance of Imagine had been included on the various artists album John Lennon: Covered (2005).

The Confessions Tour (2007)

Future Lovers, I Feel Love, Like A Virgin, Jump, Confessions, Isaac, Sorry, I Love New York, Let It Will Be, Music Inferno, Erotica, Lucky Star, Hung Up.

Recorded in London during the 2006 Confessions Tour, this is Madonna's second live album. It features a selection of tracks from the tour, though not the complete set-list. Future Lovers is performed as a medley with a cover version of I Feel Love. Confessions features a series of actors performing monologues, introduced with the first line of Live To Tell. Sorry appears twice, the second version being a remix with rerecorded lyrics. Isaac and Paradise (Not For Me) feature additional vocals by Yitzhak Sinwani. Music Inferno features Music interspersed with lines from Where's The Party; it is introduced with a medley (titled The Duck Mixes The Hits in the inlay) of soundbites from Borderline, Erotica, Dress You Up, and Holiday.

Erotica features alternate lyrics, taken from a demo version of the song. Hung Up features lines from the earlier track Love Song. The music for Hung Up builds up gradually during the preceding song, Lucky Star. Like the previous live album, I'm Going To Tell You A Secret, The Confessions Tour has no gaps between tracks. It was released alongside a tour video with the same title. Individual versions of each track were released as online downloads, along with two additional live tracks: Get Together and Ray Of Light.

Hard Candy (2008)

Candy Shop, Four Minutes, Give It 2 Me, Heartbeat, Miles Away, She's Not Me, Incredible, Beat Goes On, Dance 2night, Spanish Lessons, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, Voices.

Hard Candy (which could be described stylistically as 'Hip Hop lite') is a collaboration between Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, and Pharrell Williams. Four Minutes, the first single from the album, reveals the full extent of this collaboration: the single was billed as a duet between Madonna and Timberlake, though vocals by Timberlake and Timbaland effectively overpower Madonna's performance. The second single was Give It 2 Me. The standout tracks are Candy Shop (the title track) and, especially, the catchy She's Not Me. Beat Goes On features Kayne West. Ring My Bell is included as a bonus track on the album's Japanese version.