True Blue is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on June 30, 1986 by Sire Records. Madonna worked with Stephen Bray and Patrick Leonard on the album while co-writing all the songs. Deemed as Madonna's most girlish album, True Blue deals with her visions of love, work, dreams as well as disappointments and was inspired by her then husband Sean Penn, to whom Madonna dedicated the album. Musically, the songs on the album took a different direction from her previous endeavours, incorporating classical music in order to engage an older audience who had been skeptical of her music while featuring instrumentation including acoustic guitars, drums, synthesizers and Cuban musical instruments. The album features songs about love, freedom and in the case of " Papa Don't Preach", social issues like teenage pregnancy. After its release, True Blue faced mixed reviews from contemporary critics. Some reviewers complimented the album, with one calling it a great dance-pop album while commending Madonna's skills as a singer, songwriter and entertainer. The album was also described as the archetype of the late '80s and early '90s pop albums. Some reviews expressed concern that the album lacked greatness and depth in the message of the songs. However, commercially True Blue became an international success, reaching the top of the charts in several countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Germany and Italy as well as other European nations. Worldwide sales of the album stand at twenty-four million, seven million of those being sold in United States, which earned it a seven times platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America. Five singles were released from the album: " Live to Tell", " Papa Don't Preach", " Open Your Heart", which went on to top the Billboard Hot 100 chart as well as " True Blue" and " La Isla Bonita", which reached the top-five. With the singles and their accompanying music videos Madonna began to change her image from that of a "boy-toy" to a more sophisticated matured look. "Papa Don't Preach" generated media controversy with some critics condemning Madonna for encouraging teenage pregnancy while others complimented her for her seemingly pro-life stance. "Open Your Heart" faced criticism for its music video and its portrayal of a minor entering a strip club. During the 2006 Confessions Tour the live performance of "Live to Tell", which featured Madonna performing the song while hanging from a cross and wearing a crown of thorns, generated media uproar with religious groups condemning it as blasphemy. True Blue is credited as being the album which made Madonna into a superstar. It ensured Madonna's place among the musical artists of the '80s. Writing and developmentMadonna again collaborated with Stephen Bray who had worked on her previous album Like a Virgin, and began to work with Patrick Leonard for the first time. Madonna wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, although writing involvement on some songs such as " Papa Don't Preach" and " Open Your Heart" was limited to adding lyrics. She was also credited with co-producing every track. The album was recorded in early 1986, during the first year of Madonna's marriage to American actor Sean Penn. She dedicated the album to Penn saying, "This is dedicated to my husband, the coolest guy in the universe." [McKeen, p. 233][Parish; Pitts, p. 525] With this album Madonna tried to appeal to an older audience who had previously been sceptical of her music by experimenting with her image, adopting a more 'traditional' look, and incorporating classical music in her songs. Deemed as Madonna's most girlish album yet, "True Blue" deals with Madonna's view of love, work, dreams as well as disappointments. According to Madonna, "True Blue" takes its title from a favorite expression of her then husband Sean Penn and his very pure vision of love. [Metz; Benson, p. 48] The album was a direct tribute to him as well and was inspired by her "unabashed valentine" for Penn. Most of the songs on the album reflect this idea. [ Each song on True Blue was developed separately. The album's first track, "Papa Don't Preach", was written by Brian Elliot, who described it as "a love song, maybe framed a little bit differently".][Bronson, p. 655] The third track "White Heat" was dedicated to actor James Cagney and named after the film of the same name from 1949. Two quotations from the original soundtrack were included in the song.[ The fourth track "Live to Tell" was originally written by Patrick Leonard for the soundtrack of Paramount's romantic drama film Fire with Fire, but after the company declined it, Leonard showed the song to Madonna.][Bronson, p. 637] She decided to use it for At Close Range, the new film of her then-husband, actor Sean Penn. Madonna made a demo of the song and, when the film's director, James Foley, heard it he asked Leonard to write the score for the film, as suggested by Madonna.
True Blue is also the first album where Madonna included Spanish themes as evident in the song "La Isla Bonita".[Fouz-Hernández; Ivens, p. 68] The song was previously written for Michael Jackson's Bad album, but he had turned it down. While working with Leonard on the album, Madonna accepted it in Jackson's place and re-wrote the song's lyrics, thus earning herself a co-writing credit. Madonna described the song as her tribute to the "beauty and mystery of Latin American people".[Rettenmund, p.98] Originally intended as the first single, "Love Makes the World Go Round" closes the album and was first performed at Live Aid a year earlier in July 1985.
The album cover, shot by photographer Herb Ritts, is one of Madonna's most recognizable pictures. It features a picture of Madonna from the neck up. The main colors in the picture are gray, white and various shades of blue to reinforce the album's title. Madonna positions herself in an elegant pose while wearing pale make up with red lips, tilting back her neck in a swan like structure. The LP and CD album cover is actually a cropped image of a longer picture including torso, more of which is seen in the cover of the cassette tape edition, and was also included as a fold-out poster in the initial pressings of the LP.Music structure and lyrics
Musically "True Blue" was a different direction for Madonna. Her previous efforts had her singing in a high pitched voice. With this album, Madonna toned it down for a more bubblegum-pop voice. The songs on the album reflect this and a number of instruments were used in the songs to bring out the different moods which the lyrics emphasized. "Papa Don't Preach" features acoustic, electric, and rhythm guitars, keyboards, and string arrangements.[Fouz-Hernández; Ivens, p. 61] A continuous percussion filled structure was used in "Open Your Heart".[ "White Heat" sampling of the film's quotation was included with speech and gunshots. It is an uptempo dance song with synth bass and double-tracked vocals supported by male voices in the chorus.][ On ballads like "Live to Tell" there are background instrumentation from a keyboard, a synthesizer, a funk guitar and a mix of synthesized and real drumming.][Marsh, p. 38] "Where's the Party" is a standard Madonna dance track with arrangements of bass drums, synthesizer, clattering rhythms and a remixed approach to the whole composition.[ The title track featured instrumentation from a rhythm guitar, a synthesizer, keyboards, and drums for the bassline, with a backing track that employed a chord progression commonly used in doo-wop][Marsh, p. 184] Cuban drums and Spanish guitar, maracas and harmonicas are used in "La Isla Bonita".
Lyrically "True Blue" reflects Madonna's ideas about love. "Where's the Party" tells about a working girl enjoying her day on the dance-floor after work.[ "Jimmy Jimmy" talks about Madonna's admiration for the neighbourhood bad boy.][ Other songs like the Spanish "La Isla Bonita" and "Love Makes the World Go Round" has lyrics dealing with escapism from normal life with the later talking about anti-war and anti-poverty and uses Latin drums and samba influenced rhythms.][ The lyrics of "White Heat" deals with firmness and Madonna included Clint Eastwood's infamous "make my day" quote in the song.][ "Papa Don't Preach", dealt with lyrics talking about a young woman who tells her father that she is pregnant out of wedlock, but is going to keep her baby. "Live to Tell" portraits the complexity of deceit and mistrust.][McKeen, p. 234] The lyrics of "True Blue" are constructed in a verse-chorus form, with the theme been Madonna's feelings for Sean Penn; even using the 1929 archaic love word "dear" in the line "Just think back and remember, dear".[Dean, p. 523] Madonna expressed her sexual desires in the lyrics of the song "Open Your Heart"Critical and commercial receptionright|thumb|200px|Madonna performing "La Isla Bonita" with gypsy bands [[Gogol Bordello, in the 2008 "Sticky & Sweet Tour" (November 20, 2008 at Marconi Plaza, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania).]]
True Blue received mixed reviews from critics. Music critics were less than impressed with the album's ending, but did praise the fact that Madonna's voice sounded stronger than it did on her previous efforts. Jon Pareles, in a review for The New York Times, said that "True Blue" reprised the themes of fidelity in its songs and complimented her addition of a tinge of real world storytelling in her songs, making her reach the "fringes of the permissible".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a review for Allmusic, named the album as the record that made Madonna a superstar. He also calls it "one of the great dance-pop albums, a record that demonstrates Madonna's true skills as a songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun."
Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine called the album "the supreme archetype for late '80s and early '90s pop music.[...] Time stamped with '80s-era keyboard and drum synths, True Blue, though chockfull of hits, is the most dated of Madonna's albums." Many of the songs on the album were praised including "Live to Tell" which was called striking and "Papa Don't Preach" with the help of which, according to him, "Madonna made the transition from pop tart to consummate artist, joining the ranks of '80s icons like Michael Jackson and Prince."
BBC in an article about the up's and downs of Madonna's career, called "True Blue" as the album which cemented Madonna's reputation as the first 'Lady of Pop' and also appreciated the singles "Papa Don't Preach" and "Live to Tell".
The album debuted at number twenty-eight on the Billboard 200 and reached number one on the issue dated August 16, 1986Singles"Live to Tell" was the first single released from the album in March 1986. The song was the second ballad for Madonna after "Crazy for You",[Marsh, p. 38] and was used in the film At Close Range which starred her then husband Sean Penn. The song was received positively by critics with most of them calling it "her best ballad to date" as well as a "tremendous ballad that rewrites the rules of adult contemporary crossover".
"Papa Don't Preach" was released as the second single in June 1986. It was critically appreciated with most of them declaring it as "the stand-alone song" from the album,
"True Blue" was released as the album's third single on September 1986. It is a dance-pop song inspired by the Motown's girl groups from the 1960s.[Metz, p. 48] Critic's generally received the song as a light-hearted, fun track having a 50's feeling to it, although some critics believed that it was "sassless and neutered" as compared to the other songs on the record,
"Open Your Heart" was the fourth single from the album released on November 1986. The song was appreciated critically with critics comparing it with sweeter post-Motown valentine songs,
"La Isla Bonita" was released as the fifth and final single on February 1987. The song describe Madonna as a tourist who prays "that the days would last, they went so fast". The first line refers to an island called San Pedro although this has not been clearly stated by Madonna in any interview. The song received positive response with critic's calling it one of Madonna's greatest, most influential and timeless songs as well as the best song on the album.Impact on popular cultureThe release of Madonna's True Blue in 1986 was among several albums by female artists which dominated the Billboard charts, including those by Whitney Houston, Sade, Janet Jackson, and Barbra Streisand. In addition to their willingness to seek outside collaborators, versus male artists who have preferred autonomy, Karin Berg, director of East Coast artists and repertoire for Warner Bros. Records commented, "[w]e may also be speaking here about a new kind of women who dominate their careers, women-Streisand and Madonna, especially-who know exactly what they want and are better at asserting themselves than some of the women in the past." True Blue was also influential in increasing the number of singles released by record labels. Paul Grein of Billboard reported: "10 or 20 years ago you would have had two singles from an album at the most. Now we're in an era where Madonna is on her fifth single from the album True Blue and Janet Jackson is on her sixth from the LP Control."Reaction to "Papa Don't Preach"The second single from the album, "Papa Don't Preach" faced criticism as well as support from groups concerned with pregnancy and abortion for its theme of a girl getting pregnant and then deciding to keep her baby instead of aborting it. Alfred Moran who was the executive director of Planned Parenthood of New York City, criticized the song, fearing that it would undermine efforts to promote birth control among adolescents and that it would encourage teenage pregnancy."Papa Don't Preach" is a message song that everyone is going to take the wrong way. Immediately they're going to say I am advising every young girl to go out and get pregnant. When I first heard the song, I thought it was silly. But then I thought, wait a minute, this song is really about a girl who is making a decision in her life. She has a very close relationship with her father and wants to maintain that closeness. To me it's a celebration of life. It says, 'I love you, father, and I love this man and this child that is growing inside me'. Of course, who knows how it will end? But at least it starts off positive. Music videosAuthor Semonche in his book Censoring sex explained that with albums like "True Blue" and the next "Like a Prayer", Madonna pushed the envelope of what could be shown on television which resulted in increase of her popularity. Madonna tried to experiment with different forms and styles with the videos and in the process constructed a new set of image and identity.[ She employed different aesthetic strategies to illustrate her songs, both narratively and deconstructing the actual meaning of the song.][ With the music videos of the "True Blue" singles, Madonna changed her boy-toy image of previous videos, movies and concert performances to a sophisticated and serious young woman.][Kellner, p. 274] Madonna toned down her look for the music video of "Live to Tell" which portrayed her with shoulder-length wavy and golden blond hair with her clothes consisting of a simple 1930s-style flower dress. Madonna adopted a constant image makeover with each video as was evident with the release of the next music video for "Papa Don't Preach". She appeared as a short-haired young blond teenager with the character deciding against abortion when she becomes pregnant.[ Madonna wore a slogan T-shirt that announced "Italians do it Better". ][Mansour, p. 352]
However, the music video of "Open Your Heart" had Madonna changing the concept of the stereo-typical male gaze and voyeurism. She appeared as a stripper in the video, who escapes with a young boy from the strip parlour in the end.[ Feminist writer Susan Bordo gave a negative review of the video, saying that the leering and pathetic men in the cubicles and Madonna's escape with the boy is "cynically and mechanically tacked on [as] a way of claiming trendy status for what is just cheesecake - or, perhaps, pornography". MTV also had some reservations initially before airing the video, which was later resolved after a meeting with Warner Officials. But author Donn Welton pointed out that the usual power relationship between the "voyeuristic male gaze and object" is destabilized by the portrayal of the male patrons of the peep show as leering and pathetic. ]
The original video for the third single "True Blue" showed Madonna with a new hairstyle from short-cropped in "Papa Don't Preach" to a bushy platinum blonde hairdo.[Clark, p. 49] However, Madonna and Sire Records decided to opt for a promotional device in the United States that would involve MTV viewers to make their own videos for the song.[Lewis, p. 206] The contest was known as "Madonna's 'Make My Video' Contest". Thousands of participants submitted their own versions of the song. Author Lisa A. Lewis said that this event emphasized Madonna's role as purveyor of multiple audience feelings. Madonna's Spanish look in the music video for the single "La Isla Bonita" became popular and appeared in the fashion trends at that time in the form of boleros and layered skirts accessorizing with rosary beads and crucifix like the video.Live performancesthumb|200px|right|Madonna wearing a crown of thorns performs "Live to Tell" while hanging on a mirrored cross, in her 2006 Confessions Tour.
Most of the songs from this album has been performed by Madonna on her world tours including most recent Sticky & Sweet Tour. Her 1987 Who's That Girl Tour set list included almost all the songs from the album except "Jimmy Jimmy" which remains still the only song Madonna did not perform on any live appearance. The performances incorporated ideas of sex, sensation, religious and social themes and video projections. "Live to Tell" was one song which has always been performed backed by religious symbolism. The performance in the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour had Madonna singing on a confession bench, with Roman columns and a platform full of votive candles in the background. Such symbolism was also present in 2006 Confessions Tour. Madonna performed the song while hanging from a mirrored cross and wearing a crown of thorns. This performance faced immense backlash from religious groups including the Russian Orthodox Church, Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia and the Vatican, which condemned the performance as an act of hostility toward the Roman Catholic Church by religious leaders. Madonna defended her performance saying,"My performance is neither anti-Christian, sacrilegious or blasphemous. Rather, it is my plea to the audience to encourage mankind to help one another and to see the world as a unified whole. I believe in my heart that if Jesus were alive today he would be doing the same thing." Her live performances of songs like "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart" was also evoked such reaction from religious groups. Madonna dedicated "Papa Don't Preach" to the Pope during the performance on the Who's That Girl Tour as video images projected the words "Safe Sex". She later revived the song in the Re-Invention World Tour while wearing t-shirts with slogans like "Kabbalists do it Better" or "Brits do it Better" or "Irish do it Better" T-shirts, reminiscent of the one she used in the song's music video. "Open Your Heart" had Madonna wearing her infamous conical bra during the Blond Ambition World Tour.
For the Who's That Girl Tour, Madonna collaborated with designer Marlene Stewart and brought to life the imagery of the songs and their music videos to stage. Songs like "White Heat" were performed evoking its gangster idea. "Love Makes the World Go Round" was premiered by Madonna at the 1985 Live Aid series of concerts. The most performed song from this album is "La Isla Bonita". She performed the song on most of her world tours including the 1987 Who's That Girl Tour, the 1993 Girlie Show Tour, the 2001 Drowned World Tour, the 2006 Confessions Tour, and in the Sticky and Sweet Tour in 2008–09. She also sang it at the 2007 Live Earth benefit concert in London. The song has been performed in a variety of remixed versions while retaining the Spanish nature of the composition. Occasionally Madonna is joined by folk groups and gypsy punk bands while dance/tribal remixes of the song have also been performed. In the Sticky & Sweet Tour Madonna incorporated gypsy folk songs like "Doli Doli" and "Lela Pala Tute".Track listing2001 Remastered version bonus tracks
Additional notes- "White Heat" contains an audio sample from the 1949 film White Heat
Certifications, peaks and salesNote: For all the certification definitions see: Album creditsPersonnel- Madonna – vocals, background vocals
- Keithen Carter – background vocals
- Jackie Jackson – background vocals
- Paul Jackson Jr. – guitar
- Edie Lehmann – background vocals
- Jonathan Moffett – percussion, drums, background vocals
- David Williams – guitar, rhythm guitar, background vocals
Production- Producers: Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, Madonna
- Engineers: Michael Hutchinson, Michael Verdick
- Mixing: Dan Nebenzal, Michael Verdick
- Mixing assistant: Dan Nebenzal
- Drum programming: Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard
- String arrangements: Billy Meyers
Design- Art direction: Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Jeri McManus
See also
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