Revolver (song)

"Revolver"
A greyscale portrait of a blond woman. Her hair is in short curls and she has shapr features with colored lips. A paint-brush washing look is added on the image. The words "Madonna vs David Guetta" is written on the top of the image in red, while the word "Revolver" is written in black beneath it. Underneath the word, "One Love remix" is written in white.
Single by Madonna featuring Lil Wayne
from the album Celebration
Released December 14, 2009 (2009-12-14)
Format CD single, digital download
Recorded 2009
Genre Dance-pop, electropop
Length 3:40
Label Warner Bros.
Writer(s) Madonna, Carlos Battey, Steven Battey, Dwayne Carter, Justin Franks, Brandon Kitchen
Producer Madonna, Frank E
Madonna singles chronology
"Celebration"
(2009)		 "Revolver"
(2009)

"Revolver" is a song by American recording artist Madonna from her third greatest hits compilation, Celebration, and features rapper Lil Wayne. It was written by Madonna, Carlos Battey, Steven Battey, Dwayne Carter, Justin Franks and Brandon Kitchen, and produced by Madonna and DJ Frank E. The song was released to the internet before the official release of the album. In December 2009, it was confirmed that the song would be released as a single from the album, following the title track, with a handful of remix CD releases in January across United States and Europe.

Composed as an electropop song, "Revolver" features Madonna singing the whole song, with a guest appearance by Wayne near the end. The lyrics talk about juxtaposing love with weaponry. Contemporary critics gave a mixed review of the song. Some praised the chorus line "My love’s a revolver" while others felt that it was underwhelming and not on par with Madonna's previous songs. "Revolver" has charted in the lower regions of the official charts of Belgium, Canada, Finland and the United Kingdom while reaching number four on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart of United States. This was Madonna's last single of the 2000s.

Contents

Background

On March 2009, Madonna's representative Liz Rosenberg confirmed that Madonna was planning to release a greatest hits album by fall 2009.[1] She also added that Madonna had plans to go to the studio and record new material for the album.[2] The next day, Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary, asked fans on his Twitter for input regarding the track listing of the greatest hits album. It was later confirmed that she wrote three new tracks for the album, with Paul Oakenfold being confirmed as producer for two of the new songs.[3] Warner Bros. Records reported the title of the greatest hits to be Celebration through Madonna's official website.[4] They also reported that the final song on the collection was to be "Revolver", a collaboration with Lil Wayne and whose demo version was already present in the net. It was present alongside the title track.[5] Before the album was released on September 29, 2009, the original version of "Revolver" was released on the internet; the track had previously appeared in May as a demo recording.[6][7] In December 2009, NME confirmed that "Revolver" will be released as a single.[8] The song will be released digitally in the United Kingdom on December 14, 2009 by Warner Bros. Records along with a digital maxi single release worldwide on December 29, 2009, featuring remixes by David Guetta, Paul Van Dyk and Tracy Young.[9]

Composition

"Revolver" was written by Madonna, Carlos Battey, Steven Battey, Lil Wayne, Justin Franks and Brandon Kitchen, and produced by Madonna and DJ Frank E. The audio mixing was done by Demacio Castellon while the Pro Tools editing was arranged by Ron Taylor from Warner Bros. Records.[10] "Revolver" takes its name from a similar-titled song "Hot Revolver", present on Wayne's seventh studio album Rebirth (2009). According to Rolling Stone, musically "Revolver" is similar to Britney Spears' song "Radar" (2009).

The chorus of the song has Madonna singing the line "My love's a revolver, my sex is a killer, do you wanna die happy?" Wayne has a verse towards the end of the song, and sings the lines with reference to ammunitions, and Auto-Tune is used in his vocals.[7] According to Houston Chronicle, the song is electropop in its composition style.[11] The song is set in the time signature of common time, with a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. As per the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Alfred Publishing Co., Inc., the song is composed in the key of B♭ minor, with Madonna's voice spanning from the tonal nodes of Ab3 to Eb5.[12] "Revolver" follows in the basic sequence of B♭m–Db–Ab–B♭m–Db–Ab as its chord progression.[12]

Critical reception

Shaheem Reid from MTV called the song a "sugary ditty" and said that "Guest-verse sniper Weezy F. Baby (Lil Wayne) comes in later and gives himself loads of big-ups when it comes to the women."[6] After the original version of "Revolver" leaked onto the net, Daniel Kreps from Rolling Stone commented that "this cleaned-up version with its sirenesque synths is more befitting of the Queen of Pop." He also called it the most violent love song ever.[7] Rob Sheffield from the same magazine said that "[Madonna's] hitmaking genius is unmatched and — with the new Eurocheese blast 'Celebration' and the Lil Wayne duet 'Revolver' — undiminished."[13] Joseph Brannigan Lynch from Entertainment Weekly was disappointed with the track and called it underwhelming. He added: "Anyone hoping this collaboration with Wayne would mean a new direction for [Madonna] will be disappointed. 'Revolver' is pretty standard Top 40 background listening—more of the same electro R&B she played around with on Hard Candy. [...] It’s not bad by any stretch, but it certainly won’t end up on the next greatest-hits collection she releases ten years from now." However, he praised the chorus line calling it Madonna's "unnerring knack for writing charmingly frivolous lyrics."[14] While reviewing the album, Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly called the song "glitched-out dance-floor stomper" and called the chorus a "lyrical come-one".[15] Bill Lamb from About.com, while reviewing the album Celebration, said that the song "sounds a bit more like a stretch to remain contemporary and current."[16] Joey Guerra of Houston Chronicle said that the track was "more filler than truly fascinating."[11] Douglas Wolk from Pitchfork Media commented that the presence of "Revolver" on the Celebration compilation disc was pale compared to Madonna's previous sex-themed songs like "Justify My Love" and "Erotica" (1992).[17] Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine called the song a clumsy collaboration.[18] Sarah Crompton from The Daily Telegraph said that "Revolver" shows off Lil Wayne's skills as a singer better than Madonna's.[19]

Chart performance

The song charted on the Canadian Hot 100 for one week at position ninety-five on the issue dated October 17, 2009, but fell off the chart the next week.[20] On the Billboard issue dated January 16, 2010, the song made a re-entry on the chart at a higher position of forty-seven.[21] It made a top-twenty debut on the official chart of Finland, at position nineteen[22] and moved to eighteen after two weeks. In the United Kingdom, the song was initially positioned at no. 188, but after a few weeks it jumped up to a position 130 on the UK Singles Chart.[23] The One Love remix of "Revolver", featuring David Guetta, debuted on the Belgian Singles Chart at Flanders region at position thirty-seven.[24] After a few weeks, the song reached twenty-six on the Flanders chart and twenty-five on the Wallonia chart.[25] The song debuted at forty-one on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Songs chart on the issue dated January 16, 2010 as the highest debut of that week,[26] and as of Billboard issue dated February 27, 2010, has moved to four staying for two weeks at the same position.[27] In Italy, the song debuted at sixteen on the singles chart.[28] The song also charted in Ireland, at position forty-one.[29] In Spain the song reached thirty-nine on the chart, for one week only.[25] In the Czech Republic, "Revolver" debuted at sixty-six,, and reached a peak of twenty-two after seven weeks.[30]

Tracklisting

  • EU/USA/Argentine CD/Digital Maxi-Single[9][31]
  1. "Revolver" (Madonna vs. David Guetta One Love Remix) feat. Lil Wayne – 3:16
  2. "Revolver" (Madonna vs. David Guetta One Love Remix) – 2:59
  3. "Revolver" (Madonna vs. David Guetta One Love Club Remix) – 4:31
  4. "Revolver" (Paul van Dyk Remix) – 8:35
  5. "Revolver" (Paul Van Dyk Dub)
  6. "Revolver" (Tracy Young's Shoot to Kill Remix) – 9:24
  7. "Celebration" feat. Akon – 3:55
  8. "Celebration" (Felguk Love Remix) – 6:37
  • EU/USA 12" Vinyl Single[9]
  1. "Revolver" (Madonna vs. David Guetta One Love Club Remix) – 4:31
  2. "Revolver" (Paul van Dyk Remix) – 8:35
  3. "Revolver" (Tracy Young's Shoot to Kill Remix) – 9:24
  4. "Revolver" (Paul Van Dyk Dub)
  5. "Revolver" (Madonna vs. David Guetta One Love Remix) feat. Lil Wayne – 3:16
  6. "Celebration" feat. Akon – 3:55
  7. "Celebration" (Felguk Love Remix) – 6:37

Credits and personnel

Source: [10]

Charts

Chart (2009/2010) Peak
position
Belgium Singles Chart (Flanders)[25] 21
Belgium Singles Chart (Wallonia)[25] 12
Canadian Hot 100[21] 47
Czech Airplay Chart[30] 22
Danish Singles Chart[25] 30
French Singles Chart[32] 25
Finnish Singles Chart[25] 6
Irish Singles Chart[29] 41
Italian Singles Chart[25] 16
Spanish Singles Chart[25] 39
UK Singles Chart[23] 130
US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs[27] 4

Release history

Region Date Format Label
United Kingdom[9] December 14, 2009 Digital download Warner Bros.
Europe[9] December 29, 2009
United States[9]
Australia [33]
Europe[9] January 22, 2010 CD single
Argentina[31] February 5, 2010
United States[9] February 16, 2010
Europe[9] February 5, 2010 12" Vinyl
United States[9] March 2, 2010

References

  1. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (2009-03-18). "Madonna Plans New Tracks For Hits Collection". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc). http://www.billboard.com/news/madonna-plans-new-tracks-for-hits-collection-1003952554.story. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  2. ↑ Kreps, Daniel (2009-03-18). "Madonna to Record New Songs for Greatest Hits Collection, Slated for September". Rolling Stone (Jann Wenner). ISSN 0035-791X. 
  3. ↑ Reporter, Contactmusic (2009-05-28). "Paul Oakenfold Discuss His Upcoming "Sticky & Sweet" DJ Sets". Contactmusic.com. http://www.contactmusic.com/news.nsf/story/oakenfold-struggles-with-madonna-set_1104764. Retrieved 2009-07-10. 
  4. ↑ Reporter, Icon (2009-07-22). "A “Celebration” Of Madonna Music – The Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection September 28th Release". Icon: Official Madonna website (Madonna.com). http://www.madonna.com/news/title/a-celebration-of-madonna-music--the-ultimate-greatest-hits-collection-september-28th-release. Retrieved 2009-07-23. 
  5. ↑ Caulfield, Keith (2009-07-23). "Madonna's 'Celebration' Hits Collection To Feature Two New Songs". Billboard (Nielsen Business Media, Inc). http://www.billboard.com/news/madonna-s-celebration-hits-collection-to-1003996769.story. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Reid, Shaheem (2009-09-17). "Madonna's Single 'Revolver,' With Lil Wayne, Hits Web". MTV (MTV Networks). http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1621813/20090917/madonna.jhtml. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Kreps, Daniel (2009-09-17). "Madonna and Lil Wayne Shoot It Out in New Song “Revolver”". Rolling Stone (Jann Wenner). ISSN 0035-791X. 
  8. ↑ Reporter, NME (2009-12-03). "Madonna to release Lil Wayne-featuring single 'Revolver'". NME. http://www.nme.com/news/madonna/48705. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 9.7 9.8 9.9 Reporter, Icon (2009-12-12). "'Revolver' Domestic And European Release Dates". Icon: Official Madonna website (Madonna.com). http://www.madonna.com/news/title/revolver-domestic-and-european-release-dates. Retrieved 2009-12-12. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 (2009) Album notes for Celebration by Madonna [Album inlay cover]. Warner Bros. Records (9362-49729-6).
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Guerra, Joey (2009-09-28). "Madonna's Celebration is impressive". Houston Chronicle (Hearst Corporation). http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/music/cdreviews/6641754.html. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Digital Sheet Music – Madonna – Revolver". Musicnotes.com. Alfred Publishing. 
  13. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2009-09-28). "Madonna CD Review: Celebration". Rolling Stone (Jann Wenner). ISSN 0035-791X. 
  14. ↑ Lynch, Joseph Brannigan (2009-09-17). "Madonna, 'Revolver': hear the new single feat. Lil Wayne here". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc.). http://music-mix.ew.com/2009/09/17/madonna-newsong-lil-wayne/. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  15. ↑ Greenblatt, Leah (2009-09-29). "Material Goddess Madonna". Entertainment Weekly (Time Inc.). http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20307644,00.html. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  16. ↑ Lamb, Bill (2009-10-08). "Most Extensive Greatest Hits Collection Yet". About.com (The New York Times Company). http://top40.about.com/od/albums/fr/madonnacelebrationalbum.htm. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  17. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (2009-10-19). "Album Reviews: Madonna: Celebration". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13590-celebration/. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  18. ↑ Henderson, Eric (2009-09-27). "Madonna: Celebration". Slant Magazine. http://www.slantmagazine.com/oldurlredirect.php?type=music&id=1858. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  19. ↑ Crompton, Sarah (2009-09-16). "Madonna: Celebration, CD review". The Daily Telegraph (Telegraph.co.uk). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/cdreviews/6198962/Madonna-Celebration-CD-review.html. Retrieved 2009-12-15. 
  20. ↑ "Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. acharts.us. 2009-10-17. http://acharts.us/canada_singles_top_100/2009/42. Retrieved 2009-12-22. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. acharts.us. 2010-01-07. http://acharts.us/canada_singles_top_100/2010/02. Retrieved 2010-01-08. 
  22. ↑ "Finland Singles Top 20". YLE. acharts.us. 2009-09-24. http://acharts.us/finland_singles_top_20/2009/52. Retrieved 2009-12-27. 
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "The Official UK Singles Chart for the week ending December 26, 2009". ChartsPlus (Milton Keynes: IQ Ware Ltd) (435): 3. 
  24. ↑ "Belgium Flanders Singles Chart". Ultratop 50. Hung Medien. 2009-12-26. http://www.ultratop.be/en/weekchart.asp?cat=s&year=2009&date=20091226&lang=nl. Retrieved 2010-01-18. 
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 25.4 25.5 25.6 25.7 "Madonna vs. David Guetta – Revolver – One Love Remix". Ultratop 50. Hung Medien. http://www.ultratop.be/en/showitem.asp?interpret=Madonna+vs%2E+David+Guetta&titel=Revolver+%28One+Love+Remix%29&cat=s. Retrieved 2009-12-28. 
  26. ↑ Trust, Gary (2010-01-05). "Chart Highlights: Rock, Latin, Pop Songs & More". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. http://www.billboard.com/#/column/chartbeat/chart-highlights-rock-latin-pop-songs-more-1004056393.story. Retrieved 2010-01-05. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 "Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs". Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2010-02-20. http://www.billboard.com/charts/dance-club-play-songs?chartDate=2010-02-20. Retrieved 2010-02-12. 
  28. ↑ "Italian Singles Top 20". Federation of the Italian Music Industry. Hung Medien. 2010-01-14. http://italiancharts.com/weekchart.asp?cat=s&year=2010&date=20100114. Retrieved 2010-01-21. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 "Madonna Discography singles". Irish Recorded Music Association. Hung Medien. http://irish-charts.com/showinterpret.asp?interpret=Madonna. Retrieved 2010-02-22. 
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 "Radio Top 100 Oficiální - Madonna/David Guetta "Revolver"". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. 2010-03-21. http://www.ifpicr.cz/hitparada/index.php?a=titul&hitparada=2&titul=147634&sec=3ac2893cdca94b35715ebe86d837c598. Retrieved 2010-04-21. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Argentine CD Maxi Single". Musicmondo.com. http://www.musimundo.com/producto-7063004968592~REVOLVER.aspx. Retrieved 2010-02-11. 
  32. ↑ "Le TOP 50 de la semaine du 22 Février 2010" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique. http://musique.premiere.fr/TOP-50/Top-50-Semaine-du-22-fevrier-2010. Retrieved 2010-03-04. 
  33. ↑ "Australia digital release date". iTunes. http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/id343485080. Retrieved 2009-12-29. 

External links

Madonna singles discography
Madonna
"Everybody"  · "Burning Up"  · "Holiday"  · "Borderline"  · "Lucky Star"
Like a Virgin
"Like a Virgin"  · "Material Girl"  · "Angel"  · "Into the Groove"  · "Dress You Up"
True Blue
"Live to Tell"  · "Papa Don't Preach"  · "True Blue"  · "Open Your Heart"  · "La Isla Bonita"
Who's That Girl
"Who's That Girl"  · "Causing a Commotion"  · "The Look of Love"
You Can Dance
"Spotlight"
Like a Prayer
"Like a Prayer"  · "Express Yourself"  · "Cherish"  · "Oh Father"  · "Dear Jessie"  · "Keep It Together"
I'm Breathless
"Vogue"  · "Hanky Panky"
The Immaculate Collection
"Justify My Love"  · "Rescue Me"
Erotica
"Erotica"  · "Deeper and Deeper"  · "Bad Girl"  · "Fever"  · "Rain"  · "Bye Bye Baby"
Bedtime Stories
"Secret"  · "Take a Bow"  · "Bedtime Story"  · "Human Nature"
Something to Remember
"You'll See"  · "One More Chance"  · "Love Don't Live Here Anymore"
Evita
"You Must Love Me"  · "Don't Cry for Me Argentina"  · "Another Suitcase in Another Hall"
Ray of Light
"Frozen"  · "Ray of Light"  · "Drowned World/Substitute for Love"  · "The Power of Good-Bye"  · "Nothing Really Matters"
Music
"Music"  · "Don't Tell Me"  · "What It Feels Like for a Girl"
American Life
"Die Another Day"  · "American Life"  · "Hollywood"  · "Nothing Fails"  · "Love Profusion"
Confessions on a Dance Floor
"Hung Up"  · "Sorry"  · "Get Together"  · "Jump"
Hard Candy
Celebration
"Celebration"  · "Revolver"
Other singles
"Crazy for You"  · "Gambler"  · "This Used to Be My Playground"  · "I'll Remember"  · "Beautiful Stranger"  · "American Pie"  · "Me Against the Music"  · "Hey You"  · "Sing"
Other songs
"I Surrender Dear"  · "Sooner or Later"  · "I Want You"  · "Thunderpuss GHV2 Megamix"  · "Imagine"
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Lil Wayne singles discography
Tha Block Is Hot
"Tha Block Is Hot" · "Respect Us"
Lights Out
"Get Off the Corner" · Everything" · "Shine"
500 Degreez
"Way of Life" · "Where You At"
Tha Carter
"Bring It Back" · "Go D.J." · "Earthquake"
Tha Carter II
"Fireman" · "Hustler Musik" · Shooter"
Like Father, Like Son
"Stuntin' Like My Daddy" · "Leather So Soft" · "Know What I'm Doin'" · "You Ain't Know"
The Leak
"Gossip" · "I'm Me"
Tha Carter III
"Lollipop" · "A Milli" · "Got Money" · "Mrs. Officer"
No Ceilings
"I'm Single"
We Are Young Money
"Every Girl" · "BedRock" · "Roger That"
Rebirth
"Prom Queen" · "On Fire" · "Drop the World"
I Am Not a Human Being
"Right Above It"
Featured artist
"Back That Thang Up" · "Bling Bling" · "Number One Stunna" · "Neva Get Enuf" · "Soldier" · "Get Your Shine On" · "Neck of the Woods" · "Don't Trip" · "Gimme That (Remix)" · "Touch It or Not" · "Make It Rain" · "Where da Cash At" · "Hollywood Divorce" · "Holla at Me" · "You Know What" · "You" · "Make It Rain" · "We Takin' Over" · "Lock U Down" · "Speaker/9mm" · "Uh-Ohhh!" · "Pop Bottles" · "Duffle Bag Boy" · "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" · "100 Million" · "Push" · "Love in This Club Part II" · "Girls Around the World" · "I Run This" · "Ya Heard Me" · "Can't Believe It" · "My Life" · "Let It Rock" · "Shawty Say" · "Official Girl" · "Swagga Like Us" · "Cuddy Buddy" · "Haterz" · "I'm So Paid" · "All My Life (In the Ghetto)" · "Turnin Me On" · "Unstoppable" · "Always Strapped" · "Death Wish" · "Respect My Conglomerate" · "So Good (Remix)" · "Maybach Music 2" · "Down" · "Money to Blow" · "Successful" · "Forever" · "Heard 'Em All" · "I Can Transform Ya" · "Give It Up to Me" · "4 My Town (Play Ball)" · "Revolver" · "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)" · "Women Lie, Men Lie" · "Miss Me" · "Loyalty" · "No Love" · "Fire Flame"
Other notable songs
"You Ain't Got Nuthin" · "Mr. Carter" · "Hot Revolver" · "Knockout"