Bedtime Stories (Madonna album)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bedtime Stories
Bedtime Stories cover
Studio album by Madonna
Released October 25, 1994
Recorded 1994
Genre Pop/R&B
Length 51:50
Label Maverick/Sire/Warner Bros.
Producer(s) Madonna, Nellee Hooper, Dallas Austin, Dave "Jam" Hall, Babyface
Professional reviews
Madonna chronology
Erotica
(1992)
Bedtime Stories
(1994)
Something to Remember
(1995)


Bedtime Stories is the sixth studio album and the tenth recording by singer Madonna, released in 1994 (see 1994 in music). The album was nominated for a Grammy Award in the Best Pop Vocal Album category.

Contents

[edit] Choice of producers

The album is unique as it has marked one of the few occasions where Madonna has collaborated with well-known, established producers (the other exceptions being Nile Rodgers and David Foster). Her reason for working with unknown producers for the majority of her career has been more about creative control than anything else. Stylistically, the album harkens back to Madonna's roots as an R&B singer and her choice of producers reflects this—Dallas Austin, who was well known at the time for his work with TLC; Babyface, who had worked with many of Madonna's own contemporaries, including Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston and Toni Braxton; Dave Hall, who had also produced Carey; and Nellee Hooper, who had produced Soul II Soul. Björk co-wrote the title song Bedtime Story.

[edit] Confrontational work

The purpose of the album was to highlight a softer side to Madonna's character, in contrast to the more outrageous, sexual persona from her previous album, Erotica. In many ways, Madonna sought to repair some of the damage she had done to her public image through this album.

While certainly the album is stylistically more mainstream than its predecessor and less controversial in terms of its lyrical content, it includes perhaps some of Madonna's most confrontational work. Indeed, the song "Human Nature" appears to be a scathing commentary directed towards the media for its treatment of her during the Erotica, Sex book controversy with lyrics like "Did I say something wrong? Oops, I didn't know I couldn't talk about sex".

[edit] Track listing

Madonna originally intended to use this photo for the cover of Bedtime Stories
Enlarge
Madonna originally intended to use this photo for the cover of Bedtime Stories
# Title Time
1. "Survival" (Austin, Madonna) 3:31
2. "Secret" (Austin, Madonna) 5:04
3. "I'd Rather Be Your Lover" (Hall, Isley Brothers, Jasper, Madonna) 4:39
4. "Don't Stop" (Austin, Madonna, Wolfe) 4:38
5. "Inside of Me" (Hall, Hooper, Madonna) 4:11
6. "Human Nature" (Deering, Hall, Madonna, McKenzie, McKenzie) 4:53
7. "Forbidden Love" (Babyface, Madonna) 4:09
8. "Love Tried to Welcome Me" (Hall, Madonna) 5:21
9. "Sanctuary" (Austin, Cutler, Hancock, Madonna, Preven) 5:03
10. "Bedtime Story" (Björk, DeVries, Hooper) 4:52
11. "Take a Bow" (Babyface, Madonna) 5:21

[edit] Singles

# Title Date
1. "Secret" September 1994
2. "Take a Bow" December 1994
3. "Bedtime Story" April 1995
4. "Human Nature" June 1995

[edit] Credits

[edit] Production

  • Producers: Madonna, Dallas Austin, Babyface, Marius DeVries, Dave Hall, Nellee Hooper
  • Engineers: Michael Fossenkemper, Brad Gilderman, Darin Prindle, Alvin Speights, Mark "Spike" Stent
  • Mixing: Jon Gass, Daniel Abraham

[edit] Chart performance

Chart (1994) Peak
Position
Australia albums chart 1
Austria albums chart 7
Canada albums chart 7
France albums chart 2
Germany albums chart 4
Ireland (Éire) albums chart 7
Mexico albums chart 5
Norway albums chart 12
Portugal albums chart 6
Spain albums chart 3
Switzerland albums chart 7
UK albums chart 2
USA Billboard 200 3

[edit] Certifications

Note: Certifications are based on the number of shipped copies and not the number of copies sold.

Country Certification
Australia 2x Platinum
Austria Gold
Brazil Platinum
Canada 2x Platinum
France 2x Gold
Germany Platinum
Ireland Gold
Italy 2x Platinum
Mexico Gold
Poland Platinum
Singapore 3x Platinum
South Africa Platinum
Spain Platinum
Switzerland Gold
UK 2x Platinum
USA 3x Platinum

[edit] Miscellanea

  • "Secret", "Human Nature", "Bedtime Story", and "Take A Bow" were all released as singles, with each peaking at number three, number forty-six, number forty-two and number one, respectively, on the Billboard Hot 100. "Take A Bow", penned with singer Babyface, remained at number one for seven weeks, squeaking past "Like A Virgin" and its six-week reign.
  • "Inside of Me" samples Aaliyah's first single, "Back and Forth". This choice seemed unusual at the time in that "Back and Forth" had been released earlier in the same year; but in light of Aaliyah's tragic death in 2001, its use in a song about loss now seems rather poignant.
  • "Forbidden Love" is an entirely different composition from another song with the same title on Madonna's 2005 album Confessions on a Dancefloor. It has the same title (albeit in a different language) as an album and song of the same year (1994) by another artist that died tragically the following year, Selena's Amor Prohibido.
  • Upon initial release, the CD cover's picture of Madonna was right-side up. This was a mistake and was corrected on subsequent pressings, all of which feature the picture of Madonna upside down. The right-side up pressing isn't especially rare and can usually be found relatively cheaply.

[edit] References

[edit] External link