Today in Madonna History: March 12, 2003

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On March 12 2003, Warner Bros. issued a press release for Madonna’s American Life album:

A new Madonna album, American Life, has been set for a worldwide release on April 22nd.

The enduring icon’s first new collection of original material since 2000’s multi-platinum smash Music, American Life is being hailed as Madonna’s most accomplished, original and intensely personal album to date; a resonant and revealing emotional journey that marks a new highpoint in a career that has for all time redefined the expressive potential of contemporary music.

Recorded over a full year in London and Los Angeles, American Life, the artist’s tenth studio album, features eleven new Madonna compositions, including the title track and debut single, which ships to radio March 25th.

“All of these songs reflect my current state of mind. I feel like I have just woken up out of a dream. They range from dismay and anger to joy and certainty. Hopefully, I have taken the personal and made it universal,” stated Madonna regarding her new album which she wrote and produced with Mirwais Ahmadzai with whom she also collaborated on her previous release Music.

The American Life CD includes the title track, as well as the following songs: Hollywood, I’m So Stupid, Love Profusion, Nobody Knows Me, Nothing Fails, Intervention, X-Static Process, Mother & Father, Easy Ride, and Die Another Day, the hit theme song from the James Bond film of the same name.

The American Life single is also the subject of a brilliant new video from the pioneering multi-media visionary, an artist who single handedly invented the short music film medium. In a stunning collaboration with director Jonas Akerlund, American Life expresses a panoramic view of our culture and looming war through the view of a female superhero portrayed by Madonna set against a backdrop of current cultural obsessions. It’s a penetrating examination of our national psyche. The video is scheduled to air the first week in April.

Remixes of the American Life single by, among others, mega-hot hip hop diva Missy Elliott, Peter Rauhofer, Felix da Housecat and Maverick Records artist Paul Oakenfold will be available in various configurations over the next several months.

An extensive schedule of appearances, performances and special events has been set in conjunction with the release of American Life including an appearance on an episode of the hit NBC-TV comedy Will And Grace.

One of the most original and innovative artists of the modern era, Madonna has sold hundreds of millions of albums, topped charts across two decades, created an enormously influential body of work in video and film and stood at the forefront of socially conscious artists worldwide. With American Life, Madonna has once again reached deeply into her own life as the source and substance of her extraordinary artistry.

Happy New Year!

Nothing takes the past away, like the future…

Today in Madonna History: December 9, 2003

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On December 9 2003, Madonna’s Nothing Fails CD maxi-single (featuring remixes of Nobody Knows Me) was released in the USA.

The CD included the following remixes:

  1. Nothing Fails (Peter Rauhofer’s Classic House Mix)
  2. Nothing Fails (Nevins Big Room Rock Mix)
  3. Nothing Fails (Tracy Young’s Underground Mix)
  4. Nothing Fails (Nevins Global Dub)
  5. Nothing Fails (Jackie’s In Love in the Club Mix)
  6. Nobody Knows Me (Peter Rauhofer’s Private Life Part 1)
  7. Nobody Knows Me (Above & Beyond 12″ Mix)
  8. Nobody Knows Me (Mount Sims Italo Kiss Mix)

Were CD single designers on strike when this was released? What happened to cool designs for singles? Lame lame lame ..  

Today In Madonna History: November 17, 2001

On November 17 2001, the promo-only remixes for Impressive Instant by Peter Rauhofer climbed to number-one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart in the US. It remained in the top spot for the week of November 24th.

Today In Madonna History: September 18, 2001

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On September 18 2001, Impressive Instant was released as a promotional club single to DJs in the US. Written and produced by Madonna & Mirwais Ahmadzaï, the track is bright and uplifting in its content and composition. Originally intended to be the fourth single of the Music album, a commercial release was cancelled due to a disagreement between Madonna and her recording company.

Potentially fearing the track as being too experimental to garner significant airplay, Warner had instead showed interest in releasing Amazing as the fourth single. If hopes were that it would replicate the airplay success of her similar-sounding summertime hit Beautiful Stranger several years prior, Madonna was reportedly less enthusiastic about repeating herself. Promotional copies of Amazing were issued in Germany, Spain, Columbia and Israel before Warner seemingly pulled the plug on pushing the song – perhaps at Madonna’s insistence. In the end, the rift reportedly resulted in neither track being released commercially, making Music her first studio album (excluding I’m Breathless) to spawn only three commercial singles.

Remixes that had been commissioned for Impressive Instant by the late Peter Rauhofer were finally released to clubs as a promotional single at the tail end of her successful Drowned World Tour.

Official Peter Rauhofer promotional remixes of Impressive Instant :

  • Peter Rauhofer’s Universal Club Mix (aka Remix #1)
  • Peter Rauhofer’s Universal Dub
  • Peter Rauhofer’s Universal Radio Mixshow Mix
  • Peter Rauhofer’s Drowned World Dub
  • Peter Rauhofer’s Drowned World Dub Part 2
  • Remix #2