The voice-chameleon (I'm Breathless - Madonna)

Member Name: josh_debbarman

Product:	I'm Breathless - Madonna
Date:	09/05/02 (486 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: good songwriting on the whole, Showcases Madonna's total versatility, mostly sticks to the theme of the film well

Disadvantages: not something you can listen to often, Different style may put traditional fans off

From the film 'Dick Tracy', this album is very retro, as the film is set in the 1930s. Madonna plays the temptress and villian/heroine (if you've seen the film, you'll know what I mean) Breathless Mahoney, hence the name of the album. Enter Madonna the cabaret singer...

He's A Man is a Broadway-style song sung by Mahoney about Dick Tracy. It provides a nice introduction to the film and Madonna will impress many with her easy adaptation to the different style of singing. The song kicks off with a blast of voice over an intercom and a slow, threatening shuffle, with a descending chromatic melody typical of detective films the world over. The melody has some tricky intervals and turns in it which Madonna negociates well. The instrumentatio is organ, strings, piano, saxophone and backing vocals. The song never quite reaches the heights of a John Barry 'James Bond' theme (like 'Goldfinger' and 'Thunderball') but maybe it wasn't meant to - there is a definite tongue-in-cheek subtheme in this song.

Sooner Or Later is a slower, more seductive number, more reminiscent of a classic cabaret song. Those people who say that Madonna's voice is high-pitched and like that of Minnie Mouse (on helium no less!) will be surprised at certain parts of this song. This is a typical Thirties jazz smoochy ballad with comping piano, brushes on the drum, double bass and horns. It conjures the image of a smoky nightclub at two in the morning, the last few couples still swaying arm-in-arm around the dancefloor, feeling nicely live. The melody is sinuous, moving through a variety of unpredictable shifts and turns. Madonna performed this song memorably at the 1991 Academy Awards.

Hanky Panky is a naughty, bouncy song about lovin'-an'-a-spankin', inspired by the line from the film where Mahoney says to Tracy "you don't know whether to hit me or kiss me", but with Madonna's twist on it (ap
parently the original version was even naughtier, but film company Disney was concerned about their family imagine and instructed her to tone it down!). There is a slow false intro with piano and strings before the track suddenly springs into life into a jazz-boogie with a walking bass line and a shift from minor to major for the chorus. Madonna's voice oozes personality and authority as she instructs "spank me" and "please don't call the doctor, 'cos there's nothing wrong with me. I just like things a little rough, and you'd better not disagree..." and "don't smother me with kisses - I can get them from my sisters. Before I get too cranky, you'd better like hanky-panky...". A great number in the context of the soundtrack, nonetheless as a stand-alone single it was an awful choice sounding totally inane, though perhaps with the UK number 1 it received Madonna knows something we don't! Certainly those people who call this the coldest erotic record ever made missed the tongue-in-cheek feel of this song.

I'm Going Bananas is a short comic song with a strong latin influence - the rhythm being a mid-tempo Latin American Salsa. The voice used is completely different yet again (a strange squeezed vocal like that of the famous Brazillian singer, Carmen Miranda), emphasising Madonna's versatility. Bits of dog Spanish litter this track, and there is a curve of shouts, percussion and blasts of brass. "I've bats in my belfry - won't you make sure the straight-jacket's tight, otherwise I might get myself free..." insists Madonna insanely. Quick, call doctor Alonzo, she's flipped!

Cry Baby is another comedy song, where Madonna puts on a New York accent (yet another change!), sounding like a gum-chewing gangsters-moll and tells how her guy is over-sensitive. It's such a good impression, you almost forget it's Madonna singing (mind you, she used to live in 
9;Nu Yawk'). Who said Madonna can't act? The melody is strong and comic over a backing of synth strings, horns (proving a counter-melody), trumpets and a rocking bass. Muted trumpets squeak and wail in the background. In a particularly comic moment, Madonna says "knock it off" in a bored voice over some fake theatrical sobbing and some sickly chromatic chromatic chord sequence which slips and slides, echoing the subject's lack of spine. A nice pastiche.

Something To Remember later went on to become the title track of Madonna's greatest ballads collection. It's a slow slinky number with restrained by slightly funky electric piano supported by strings and delicate percussion. The chord sequence has many unexpected shifts and the melody is equally unpredictable in the way it changes direction. The music's unpredictable jazz changes have the effect of bracing the tune against sentimentality. Lyrically, the words sum up a love affair which hasn't worked out but from which some good has come - a complex emotion. The message of the song, from the departed lover is "love yourself". Madonna's is voice full of regret and acing loss. The last part of the song has drums to kick it along. A very classy song and a forgotten song (ironic, given the title).

After the last song, our mood needs lifting! Back In Business shows the bad side of Mahoney's character, and how! In a cruel, mocking, ice-queen voice, she tells how being bad is best - "I'm gonna show you, good guys always finish last, I'm gonna show you, being nice is a thing of the past, when I want something then I say it with a gun, just 'cos you've a halo, don't mean you're havin' fun..." This is another slow, smooth song with a rising motif and finger-clicks fir the verse. There is a saxophone line, and the sampled vocal do-do's are triggered in the background. The chorus bursts into life, with Madonna cle
arly relishing the lyrics about good guys finishing last. There are some pleasingly creepy chord changes and the song as a whole has a very strong dynamic contrast between the sparse atmospheric verse and the driving chorus, but it all work together somehow with the jazzy music. Towards the end, there are some cutesy backing vocals with Madonna adding a bit of scat-singing and imitating a muted trumpet. A saxophone solo brings the song to a close. Incredibly cool and stimulating.

B-side to the 'Vogue' phenomenon, More is Material Girl à la Broadway. It's another great number, packed full of materialistic desires. "More is better than nothing - yes!" she yells, "gotta fill your cupboard, remember Mother Hubbard" she warns and "each possession you possess, helps your spirits to soar", she enthuses, and you can't help loving it. Sprightly piano chords drive this almost Charleston-sounding medium tempo song complete with typical syncopated push chords, changes of tempo and wonderfully contrived rhymes like rhythm/with 'em. Once the drums enter, the song turns into a real Broadway number, even sporting a tap-dancing break. There are a lot of stops and starts in the arrangement and the lyric brings the words at breakneck speed which requires careful enunciation. For the last few verses there is a key change up a semi-tone. There is a fine piece of kitsch drama at the end, with a girl chorus echoing Madonna's lines, to round off a superb song in style!

Coming down from the dizzy heights of materialism, What Can You Lose is a beautiful, sad, little duet, to the accompaniment of a piano, between Madonna and Mandy Patinkin (remember, he was Che in the stage version of Evita, winning a Tony Award for his pains), the pianist from the film. Patinkin's quavery tone perfectly compliments Madonna's clear voice. It leaves you feeling regretful that this schmaltzy ballad is only two minutes long.


Now I'm Following You will quickly dispel any gloom though. Another duet, this time between Madonna and Warren Beatty, who did remarkably well (singing in the style of Sinatra). Part I sounds as if it comes from a classic Twenties musical, with strings, horns and muted brass. There another tap-dancing break over the piano solo and a slight blues influence on the turnaround. The trickery starts when the record gets stuck in the last chord, followed by a needle being dragged across the vinyl. This leads to a highly EQ'ed and longer Part II, which is made trebly with Eighties dance drums and bass synth superimposed, creating the bizarre imposition of Madonna and Breathless Mahoney. Cleverly, this part contains dark sections inserted from previous songs in the album, with a variety of special effects including the intercom voices. At one point, several of Beatty's lines get slowed down and speeded up. But the most hilarious part is Madonna joke from 'Hanky Panky' ("Dick - that's an interesting name") where the pronunciation of 'Dick' is sampled and used to play the main melody. The main theme then comes back and the song ends abruptly with Mahoney taking the record off her 78 player, once again scratching the player. A rollercoaster and a very entertaining one at that.

Nothing to do with the film, Vogue is, by any standards, quite astonishing. It has a nice story behind it. Originally coming from a collaboration with Shep Pettibone where Madonna was seeking to create some B-sides, Madonna didn't initially feel it was strong enough to be an A-side, but was persuaded by people at her record company to release it as such - so we have to thank them for preventing such a monumental mistake. The song is inspired by a dance craze which originated in gay and transvestite clubs in New York where dancers would dress up and act out the gestures and stereotypical poses of models as seen on the cover of a magazine like '
;Vogue'. It starts off low-key, with a lengthy intro punctuated only occasionally by Madonna's spoken words (e.g. "strike a pose"). But then it metamorphasises into one of the greatest dance tunes ever with an exuberant dance rhythm. High strings persist throughout and there's a punchy piano on the chorus. This song encourages everyone to get up and dance, because "you're a superstar, yes, that's what you are!" and the message is that dance is the medium of self-expression and imagination: "let your body go with the flow". Near the end, Madonna begins a rapping homage of famous Hollywood actors (including Fred Astaire, Jimmy Dean, Marlon Brando - "fellas in the mood") and actresses (including Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly, Gingers Rogers, Rita Heyworth, Kathleen Turner, Greta Garbo, Jean Harlow and Bette Davis - the "ladies with an atitude") on the cover of this magazine. This song is anthemic to the gay community, who took it to mean that coming out is not something to be avoided but embraced. The song also demands racial and gender equality. It includes a tribute to many stars of yesteryear who had 'Vogue'. A great, great song. A perfect, modern ending for a classic album.

Even as the world was getting to grips with Madonna's transformation into a songwriting genius with a real soul, the woman blasted back into our consciences only a year later with something not even Mystic Meg would have predicted. An album full of showtunes and Jazz styles from the turn of the century. In an inexplicably humourous mood, Madonna glues her tongue firmly into her cheek and sings about the merits of 'getting a good spanky'! Yes, Sex-Madonna was back and more mischievous than ever. Despite that, this album is not very sexual at all. But it treads a line between piss-taking and pure theatre. 'Cry Baby' and 'I'm Going Bananas' are simply hilarious sen
d-ups of the old show standards. Madonna continues to mimic the old movie stars throughout , occasionally producing something rather brilliant along the way. Madonna's songwriting is as creative as ever, even if she is helped by a handful of songs written by old genius Stephen Sondheim.

This is a glorious collection of classic musical music. Madonna not only puts on a good performance in the film (recommended, by the way), but also adapts her voice well to this very different type of music. I challenge, nay, defy anyone to name any other modern pop star who could metamorphasise so gracefully into a '30s singer. Fans of Madonna's modern music may not give this one full credit, but because it is vastly dated already, it will never age.

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