Erotica (album)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Erotica | ||
 |
||
| Studio album by Madonna | ||
| Released | October 20, 1992 | |
| Recorded | July 8, 1991-August 15, 1992 | |
| Genre | Pop/Dance/R&B | |
| Length | 75:24 | |
| Label | Maverick / Sire | |
| Producer(s) | Madonna, Shep Pettibone, André Betts | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Madonna chronology | ||
| The Immaculate Collection (1990) |
Erotica (1992) |
Bedtime Stories (1994) |
Erotica is the fifth studio album and ninth recording by singer Madonna, which was released on October 20, 1992. The album has sold an estimated 7 million copies worldwide (see chart below).
Contents |
[edit] Album information
Erotica is a concept album about sexuality. Each track explores a different facet of sexuality, usually involving sexual relationships. Lyrically, the album does not tie sex and sexual relationships with the traditional ideals of romance. A dance record by all accounts, the album showcases hip hop- and jazz-affected club production from co-producers Shep Pettibone and Andre Betts. The album is Madonna's first to bear a parental advisory label, and a separate "clean" version was released without the song "Did You Do It?". The only reason that this version of the album was given the parental advisory label was due to the fact that a rap song was included, as at the time nearly every rap album were given such labels. It is interesting to note that the song In This Life is based on George Gershwin's Prelude No. 2.
Madonna's intentions were that the album would be an accompaniment to her book Sex, which share the same cover photograph - a colored reverse negative of Madonna's face done à la Andy Warhol, from whom Madonna found much inspiration during her so-called "Erotica period" (for example her Erotica and Deeper and Deeper videos, shot in near identicle style to many of Warhol's films, with Madonna paying obvious homage to Edie Sedgwick in the latter). The photos included in the album's liner notes also come from the Steven Meisel Studio photographs shot for the Sex book.
[edit] Controversy
While Madonna had always expressed her sexuality suggestively through her art -- primarily through music and promotional music videos -- she was never as explicit as she had been during the Erotica period of her career. Erotica was one of a trio of sexually oriented mainstream projects released within a few months of each other. Nearly simultaneously released with Erotica was the coffee table book Sex, which featured the singer in softcore photographs depicting simulations of sexual acts and BDSM. Less than four months following Erotica and Sex, a poorly received film titled Body of Evidence was released to theatres, which featured Madonna fully nude and in scenes where she was engaged in simulated sexual acts.
Notably, Madonna was an empowered orchestrator of the circumstances in which she explicitly exposed her sexuality, a relatively rare situation for an objectified female in erotic and pornographic imagery. There never was before and there likely never shall be again a celebrity of such magnitude and fame going as far as Madonna did during the period of Erotica and Sex.
In spite of the poor reception of this period of Madonna's multi-faceted career, today she is highly respected for what she presented during this period.
[edit] Critical reception
The controversial sexuality presented to the mainstream by Madonna during the Erotica period was not well received. Madonna had always been considered an expert at "pushing buttons", but many thought she had greatly misstepped here. At the time of Erotica's release, she was widely condemned in the media for having pushed the limits of sexuality too far and was no longer considered acceptably suggestive, but lewd.
Interestingly, the sexual imagery Madonna put forward in both Erotica and Sex was widely criticized for not actually being erotic, but sterile and calculating. On the subject, Madonna said to CNN's Larry King "I didn't write a book about sex. I wrote a book that -- I mean I published a book that basically was sort of a -- an ironic tongue-in-cheek, sticking-my-tongue-out-at-society photo essay..." (19 January 1999)
Reviews of Erotica that concentrated only on the musical aspect of the album were all positive - Rolling Stone hailed the album as a one of Madonna's best. In hindsight, both fans and critics have warmed to the album over the years, with some even considering it to be among her best work.
[edit] Commercial reception
The surrounding massive media and critical backlash hurt Erotica's sales. While sales were initially brisk, the album stalled over the long-term, selling a disappointing two million copies in the USA. Erotica also became the first album since her debut to yield no number one hits in either the UK or the USA. In fact, the #36 Billboard Hot 100 peak of "Bad Girl" made it the first Madonna single to fail to reach the U.S. top 20 after 29 consecutive releases stretching back to "Holiday" in 1983 had done so. Nonetheless, the album produced six singles and was well received on the dance club circuit, and to date has sold 7 million copies worldwide (see chart below). Still The Erotica Album Nevertheless Spawned four top-forty US hits: the Title Track (#3), "Deeper and Deeper" (#7), "Bad Girl" (#36), and the fan-favorite, "Rain"(#14). Also on this album was the UK top 10 single [and Dance #1 in the US.], "Fever."
[edit] External links
[edit] Promotional Press Cards for the Release of Erotica
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
[edit] Track Listing
| # | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Erotica" (Madonna, Pettibone) | 5:18 |
| 2. | "Fever" (Cooley, Davenport) | 5:00 |
| 3. | "Bye Bye Baby" (Madonna, Pettibone) | 3:56 |
| 4. | "Deeper and Deeper" (Madonna, Pettibone, Shimkin) | 5:33 |
| 5. | "Where Life Begins" (Betts, Madonna) | 5:57 |
| 6. | "Bad Girl" (Madonna, Pettibone, Shimkin) | 5:23 |
| 7. | "Waiting" (Betts, Madonna) | 5:46 |
| 8. | "Thief Of Hearts" (Madonna, Pettibone) | 4:51 |
| 9. | "Words" (Madonna, Pettibone) | 5:55 |
| 10. | "Rain" (Madonna, Pettibone) | 5:24 |
| 11. | "Why's It So Hard" (Madonna, Pettibone) | 5:23 |
| 12. | "In This Life" (Madonna, Pettibone) | 6:23 |
| 13. | "Did You Do It?" * (Betts, Madonna) | 4:54 |
| 14. | "Secret Garden" (Betts, Madonna) | 5:32 |
* omitted from the "clean" album
[edit] Singles
| # | Title | Date |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Erotica" | September 1992 |
| 2. | "Deeper and Deeper" | November 1992 (UK) / December 1992 (US) |
| 3. | "Bad Girl" | February 1993 |
| 4. | "Fever" | March 1993 (UK) |
| 5. | "Rain" | July 1993 |
| 6. | "Bye Bye Baby" | September 1993 (Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Germany) |
[edit] Credits
[edit] Personnel
- Madonna - vocals
- André Betts - synthesizer, bass, piano, strings, drums, keyboard, synthesizer strings
- Emile Charlap - contractor
- Donna Delory and Nikki Harris - background vocals
- Jerome Dickens - guitar
- Glen Dicterow - conductor, concert master
- Anton Fig - drums
- Mark Goodman - voices
- Joe Moskowitz - drums, keyboard
- Dave Murphy - voices
- New York Philharmonic Orchestra
- Paul Pesco - guitar
- Shep Pettibone - keyboard
- James Preston - piano, keyboard, synthesizer strings
- Jimmy Preston - piano
- Tony Shimkin - keyboard, background vocals
- Danny Wilensky - saxophone
- Doug Wimbish - bass
[edit] Production
- Producers: Madonna, André Betts, Shep Pettibone
- Engineers: Mike Farrell, Robin Hancock, George Karras, P. Dennis Mitchell, Shep Pettibone, Tony Shimkin
- Assistant engineer: Mark Goodman
- Mixing: Goh Hotoda, George Karras
- Mastering: Ted Jensen
- Sequencing: Shep Pettibone, Tony Shimkin
- Programming: Joe Moskowitz, Shep Pettibone, Sander Selover
- Drum programming: Andre Betts, Tony Shimkin
- String arrangements: Jeremy Lubbock
- Contractor: Emile Charlap
- Art direction: Siung Fat Tjia
- Design: Siung Fat Tjia
- Photography: Steven Meisel
[edit] Chart performance
| Chart (1992) | Peak Position |
|---|---|
| Australia albums chart | 1 |
| Austria albums chart | 10 |
| Canada albums chart | 3 |
| France albums chart | 1 |
| Germany albums chart | 5 |
| Mexico albums chart | 8 |
| Norway albums chart | 11 |
| Portugal albums chart | 3 |
| Spain albums chart | 1 |
| Switzerland albums chart | 5 |
| UK albums chart | 2 |
| USA Billboard 200 | 2 |
[edit] Certifications
| Country | Certification |
|---|---|
| Australia | 3x Platinum |
| Austria | Gold |
| Brazil | Gold |
| Canada | 2x Platinum |
| France | Platinum |
| Germany | Gold |
| Italy | 2x Platinum |
| Mexico | Platinum |
| Netherlands | Gold |
| Poland | Gold |
| Singapore | 2x Platinum |
| South Africa | Gold |
| Spain | 2x Platinum |
| Switzerland | Gold |
| UK | 2x Platinum |
| USA | 2x Platinum |
[edit] Miscellanea
- In Malaysia, Erotica was the only Madonna album banned by the government for homosexual-related content. At the same time, Sex was also banned from bookstores around the country. In spite of this, her singles "Rain", "Deeper and Deeper", "Bye Bye Baby" were significant airplay hits on national radio.
- Malaysian all-girl group Feminin recorded a version of "Bye Bye Baby", called "Rindu Dirimu", in the '90s.
- Madonna's book Sex included a CD which contained the original, more stripped-down version of the song Erotica titled Erotic, which included alternate lyrics of Madonna reading lines from the book.
