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| #19—Loved the short blonde hair! |
Notable tracks: Papa Don't Preach, Live to Tell, True Blue, La Isla Bonita
Released: 1986
Chart Peak: #1 in 25 countries including U.S.
Popularity: 25 million copies sold
Chosen over: Like A Prayer
She was all dance-pop and eighties fashion on her self-titled debut album, pseudo-innocent sex bomb on "Like A Virgin," which made her an international superstar, and controversial lightning rod on her fourth album "Like A Prayer." In the middle of all of this was her third album, "True Blue," Madonna's most accomplished work both in terms of song quality as well as the quality of her singing.
Madonna has always been as much, if not more, about image and marketing as she has about musical talent. But more on any other album, she casts away image to be "truly" herself. There's hardly any image to be found on this album other than just herself. Her hair was cut radically short and bleached white, almost like she was cutting ties with the sexy girl in the the lacy wedding dress crooning "Like a Virgin." Here, she's opening herself up in a way never seen underneath all the calculating layers of lace and jelly bracelets.
"True Blue" is also her best album in terms of the overall quality of her songs. All five singles released (all listed above) reached Billboard's top five, with "Papa," "Open" and "Live to Tell" all reaching #1. She made this album at the height of her marriage to actor Sean Penn, and it may well be that being happy in love is reflected in the songs—most of them are so happy and optimistic that they're simply irresistible. The title track makes her sound literally like a love-struck teenage girl.
In contrast to the sexual and religious provocateur who would emerge from the rubble of her failed marriage to Penn (not to mention the weird British android she became in the late nineties), "True Blue" captures Madonna in a time where happiness as well as innocence both seemed possible. Recent celebrity gossip has speculated that Madonna and Penn have been spending time together again. Maybe it's never too late to be optimistic about love.
I had a hard time choosing my favorite song; it could have been any of them I listed, but I think "Open Your Heart" is probably the best in terms of all-around quality. I also think it's curious and interesting, especially in terms of the sexual boundaries she would push a few years later, that this video was considered particularly controversial. Like we've already seen on this countdown, what was considered racy in the eighties would hardly raise an eyebrow today. Well, I guess Madonna does have to take the blame for Lady Gaga and Katy Perry.
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