What's your opinion of Madonna's 1990-2000 output? I myself think it's underrated...obviously it doesn't live up to her 1983-1989 stuff, but it's still pretty good. Erotica and Bedtime Stories are good, highly listenable pop CDs, and Ray of Light is very good ambient techno, though it's different from her other work. Actually, "Vogue", "Justify My Love", and "Rescue Me" (my favorite '90s Madonna song) come from 1990 and I think they're equal to anything she did in the '80s.

Her work for the filmed version of Evita proved to be well for her, even You Must Love Me won the Best Song Oscar.

Yeah, "Vogue", "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me" might be great, but they're really more an extension of Madonna's 80s period than a part of her 90s work. I consider everything up to The Immaculate Collection to be a part of what she did in the 80s.

I've gotta say, she really went downhill after that. The only really great thing she's done since then is Ray of Light, which is an incredibly moving and spiritual album. The other stuff she's done isn't exactly terrible, but it isn't great, either.

Erotica and Bedtime Stories are pretty mediocre, IMO. I still love her ballads like "Rain" and "Take a Bow", as well as the ones she did for movie soundtracks like "This Used to be my Playground" and "I'll Remember". But the dance tracks are rather limp, for the most part(although I really like "Deeper and Deeper"). Her cover of "Fever" makes me sick everytime I hear it.

And the Evita soundtrack was mostly a bunch of corny showtunes. The movie was awful, too. Watching it, I could see why musicals died in the 60s!  ;D

Yeah, "Vogue", "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me" might be great, but they're really more an extension of Madonna's 80s period than a part of her 90s work. I consider everything up to The Immaculate Collection to be a part of what she did in the 80s.

I've gotta say, she really went downhill after that. The only really great thing she's done since then is Ray of Light, which is an incredibly moving and spiritual album. The other stuff she's done isn't exactly terrible, but it isn't great, either.

Erotica and Bedtime Stories are pretty mediocre, IMO. I still love her ballads like "Rain" and "Take a Bow", as well as the ones she did for movie soundtracks like "This Used to be my Playground" and "I'll Remember". But the dance tracks are rather limp, for the most part(although I really like "Deeper and Deeper"). Her cover of "Fever" makes me sick everytime I hear it.

And the Evita soundtrack was mostly a bunch of corny showtunes. The movie was awful, too. Watching it, I could see why musicals died in the 60s!  ;D


I think up to like 2005, her dance tracks have been pretty weak. I myself think the good stuff on Erotica is the ballads: "Where Life Begins" is a great track, "Bad Girls", "Words", "Rain" and "In This Life" and "Secret Garden" are all pretty good. But the album also has some real crap on it..."Bye Bye Baby" is awful, "Thief of Hearts" just pales in comparison to anything from the '80s, and "Did You Do It?" and "Why's It So Hard" are practically embarassing. "Erotica", "Fever", and "Deeper and Deeper" aren't THAT bad, but they're sh*t compared to the stuff she did c. 1989.

As for Bedtime Stories, I think it's a far superior album to Erotica. "Survival" and "Secret" are good soft-pop '90s tracks, "Human Nature" is probably her catchiest experiment in neo hip-hop, and "Inside of Me", "Bedtime Story", and "Take a Bow" are all really good. Obviously not up to her 1989-1990 stuff by a long shot, but still good.

I think the actual lowpoint of her career was the Music and American Life period from like 1999-2003 or so. Confessions on a Dance Floor was her second "comeback" after Ray of Light, because "Hung Up" and "Sorry" are really good, though some of that album is extremely embarassing if you get past the first two amazing tracks. She reinvented herself into electronica, though that form usually isn't as varied as she needs to really get herself across...I read that since 1998, she's been trying to return to her late '70s-early '80s club roots. The thing is, her latest album is a really good dance disc, though it's somewhat repetitive and stuff like "I Love New York" is horrible.

Just "Vogue"

She "jumped the shark" with the video for "Justify My Love" and even further with the sex book.

Her music, not my cup of tea. Though as a tween,  her videos, like "Bedtime Story" & "Human Nature" freaked me out.  ::)

I think her stuff from the 90s is some of her best work.  Bedtime Story and Ray of Light are two of the best albums in her catalog.

I think her stuff from the 90s is some of her best work.  Bedtime Story and Ray of Light are two of the best albums in her catalog.


Yeah, not all of Madonna's '80s stuff is that amazing...all of her albums contain "filler" songs between the hit singles. Like a Virgin and Like a Prayer are probably her two most consistent CDs, and True Blue is close, but doesn't quite make it up to that standard. Even True Blue is really just a bunch of absolutely excellent singles ("Live to Tell", "Open Your Heart", "True Blue", "Papa Don't Preach", "La Isla Bonita") with some good, catchy, dancey filler tracks like "White Heat", "Where's the Party", "Jimmy Jimmy", and "Love Makes the World Go Round." Her first CD (the self-titled one, Madonna) is really just the three big singles and a bunch of mediocre early '80s synthpop songs that aren't very special.

The last song Madonna had of the 90's that I can remember liking was 'I'll Remember', which wasn't a song I really liked all that much, just one I could listen to if it came on the radio

My favourite Madonna song is 'Beautiful Stranger' even though it's played on the radio incessantly.

I agree with the nomination of "Beautiful Stranger" as a cool tune, and also "You Must Love Me." I also like "This Used to Be My Playground." Oh, and almost forgot "Ray of Light." I guess I'm just saying that I liked quite a few of her 90's songs. I can't really say I prefer a particular Madonna time period. There're some of her 90's tunes I don't much like (e.g., "Justify My Love" and "Erotica") but I also have some likes and some dislikes from her earlier and later periods.

What's your opinion of Madonna's 1990-2000 output? I myself think it's underrated...obviously it doesn't live up to her 1983-1989 stuff, but it's still pretty good. Erotica and Bedtime Stories are good, highly listenable pop CDs, and Ray of Light is very good ambient techno, though it's different from her other work. Actually, "Vogue", "Justify My Love", and "Rescue Me" (my favorite '90s Madonna song) come from 1990 and I think they're equal to anything she did in the '80s.

Why not just restrict it to her 1990-99 output, to reflect the title of this thread?

I was thinking of doing a poll for this; I know lots of Madonna's 1990-99 songs. ;)

She had a lot of good music in the 90s. I feel her album, "Bedtime Stories" is mostly underrated.

Yeah, Bedtime Stories is underrated...extremely so.

I think her stuff from the 90s is some of her best work.  Bedtime Story and Ray of Light are two of the best albums in her catalog.


I'm sure a lot of people really do prefer her '80s work, but there are times when I think it's just backlash against her longevity that prompts people to deride anything she's put out after 1990. In my opinion her '90s singles are just as strong (sometimes stronger) than those she released in the '80s.

I'm sure a lot of people really do prefer her '80s work, but there are times when I think it's just backlash against her longevity that prompts people to deride anything she's put out after 1990. In my opinion her '90s singles are just as strong (sometimes stronger) than those she released in the '80s.


I think in some ways her '90s albums are more consistent, though not all the singles are as strong. For example, her 1983 self-titled album is just three singles with pap, and even Like a Prayer and True Blue have some filler on them in between the big 5 tracks. But I'm not a big fan of stuff like "Causing a Commotion" and "Who's That Girl" from the '80s.

"Music" was good, though was from this decade  :)

Not into much of her songs from the 1990's either.

There's another artists who's very underrated, but that's another topic.