Immaculate Collection (The Best Of Madonna) - Madonna

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Groundbreaking
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Contains all Madonna's greatest hits .
Disadvantages:	None !

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

This Little Bit About Madonna, Is written On The Inlay Of This CD.
The Coolest Queen of White Heat...
An outrageous blend of Little Orphan Annie,
Margaret Thatcher and Mae West"...
Narcissistic, brazen, comic...
The Goddess of the Nineties...

REASON FOR PURCHASING THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION
The Immaculate collection was the very first compilation album by Madonna and it includes twelve of her number one hits prior to the release of this album. Madonna was my childhood idol. I was first introduced to Madonna, way back in the early eighties, when I had just turned a teenager. She caught my attention when she released the song "Crazy For You" into the British charts and boy did I love this, from the first time I ever heard it played.

Well that was me hooked on this sexy, young and rebellious women. She became my hero and as soon as she released a new song into the charts, I was straight down to my local record shop to buy it on vinyl. Well it took over seven years before I could finally purchase all Madonna's greatest hits 'to date' on one handy cassette, but it sure was worth the wait. It was a few years after this before I finally got The Immaculate Collection on CD, because I had to wait for it's invention.

I first bought The Immaculate Collection on cassette and purchased the CD of it around eight years later, to update my collection, with the more modern CD. This album was released in November 1990 and I remember receiving it as a gift from my Husband, that Christmas. I really was delighted to have received this, as I was able to play all my favorite Madonna tracks, on one handy cassette and later on this CD. At the time of it's release, it included twelve of her number one songs and two new tracks, that are now, very popular today. I would have to personally say that this was one of Madonna's best every albums, as I am not a fan of her newer music.

This album is true eighties style music, that is all this great artists, best songs of that time and to me 'ever'. It is a great mix of Pop songs that bring back so many happy memories of my childhood and teenage years. This mix of songs include great love songs by Madonna, excellent sing a long tunes, great dance hits and each and everyone contain beautiful worded lyrics, that all tell a great story and are all perfectly sang by this wonderful artist.

This album to date, has sold over 22 million copies and has picked up a diamond award and is multi platinum. In the UK Madonna is the most successful female artist ever, with sales of over 3.5 million of The Immaculate Collection having been sold there. The immaculate collection is also available in a limited edition CD, on cassette, available on CD, available on DVD, was made on VHS and was also released on vinyl, (which is worth some money today by the way). The Immaculate Collection on it's release, reached number two in the United States, was number one in the UK charts for nine weeks and reached number one in the album charts in Australia. Madonna's The Immaculate Collection is also in the Guinness Book Of Records, apparently, for the title of 'The most selling hits compilation by a female artist ever'.

Well this certainly is a one of Madonna's best albums ever and I have never grown tired of listening to this CD. All seventeen of the tracks on The Immaculate collection are quite popular songs and I am sure most people reading this will certainly have heard of at least one of them. My favorite track on the Immaculate Collection is without a thought 'Crazy For You' This song was the one that drew me in, to loving Madonna, way back in the early eighties and it's one of the most beautiful love songs, of all times. Well it certainly is to me anyway, as this was my chosen song, for my first dance, on my wedding day. That's how much this song means to me and my husband, as we met when we where young teens and both grew up with Madonna and love listening to this song together on our romantic evening in. Of course, all off the other sixteen tracks all mean a lot to me also and are not only great Pop songs by Madonna, but are wonderful memories from my life. This CD is certainly worth listening to, is a must for anyone's CD collection and can be purchased quite cheaply online today, for around £6.

This is my favourite lyrics to one of the songs called "Crazy For You" below. Just thought I would add this to show how great some of the lyrics actually are to the songs in this Immaculate Collection CD.

Trying hard to control my heart,
I walk over to where you are.
Eye to Eye we need no words at all.
Slowly now we begin to move,
Every breath I'm deeper into you.
Soon we too are standing still in time.
If you read my mind, you'll see
I am crazy for you.
Touch me once and you'll no it's true
I never wanted anyone like this.
It's all brand new, you'll feel it in my kiss.
You'll feel it in my kiss because....
I'm crazy for you.

The Front Cover To The Immaculate Collection CD
Well for a front cover to an album, I would have to say this cover is nothing special. It is ok though, but nothing too fancy or striking. The cover has a baby blue background and a sort of emblem, picture, drawn nicely in gold, that runs from the top, to the bottom, of the cover. Inside the badge emblem are the words "The Immaculate Collection" and centred in the emblem and underneath that, is Madonna's name which is also written in gold handwriting . That's it really. No pictures. Just a gold colored, designed emblem, that states the name of this album. In my opinion it could of looked a little better and stood out more, but it does it's job as an album cover and is easily recognised as Madonna's Immaculate Collection album.

The Back Cover Of The Immaculate Collection CD
This really is a lovely back cover to The Immaculate Collection CD. It is much better than the front of this album and has a beautiful photograph of Madonna set off to the right. She is looking her very best in this photograph and she is wearing a very stylish sailor top with polka dots on it. She is also wearing a gents bowler type hat and looks great against her short black hairstyle. This photograph is in black and white and looks great set against the blue background of this cover. To the left hand side of the back cover, beautifully written in gold block lettering, is all the names of all 17 tracks that are featured on The Immaculate Collection. The producers names are also written underneath each track in very small black lettering, but still I can make them all out well. Overall a beautiful back cover to The Immaculate collection, that I personally think should have been used as the front, as it really looks well. It really stands out more and is more recognised as Madonnas album by the beautiful photograph of her.

The Inlay To The Immaculate Collection
The inlay to The Immaculate Collection CD is a great, useful, little booklet of pages, with lots of great black and white photographs of Madonna, who is elegantly posing in a brassier in the centrefold and she looks stunning. Another photograph from this inlay shows Madonna smoking a cigarette and this is also a photograph from her True Blue Album, in which this album includes three great tracks. Again all seventeen tracks are listed and a little bit of information can be found on the producers and what albums the tracks to make this compilation, have been taken from. The lyrics to only two songs can be found inside this inlay (Rescue me and Justify My Love) and this is because, at the time, these where two new songs by Madonna. Having all the lyrics to each song would have been better in my opinion, but if you're a big Madonna fan, you certainly would not need them. Well overall a great little booklet inlay, that accompanys this CD. It is really useful and has some amazing photographs of Madonna in the eighties, looking very stunning and sexy indeed.

TRACK LISTINGS
(1) Holiday. From the album Madonna - 4.04mins.
(2) Lucky Star. From the Madonna album - 3.36mins.
(3) Borderline. From the "Madonna" album - 3.59mins.
(4) Like A Virgin. From the Like A Virgin Album - 3.11mins.
(5) Material Girl. From Like A Virgin Album - 3.53 minutes.
(6) Crazy For You. From the Like A Virgin Album - 3.44 minutes.
(7) Into The Groove. From Like A Virgin album - 4.08 minutes.
(8) Live To Tell. From The True Blue Album - 5.16 minutes.
(9) Papa Don't Preach. From True Blue Album - 4.09 minutes.
(10)Open Your Heart. From the True Blue album - 3.49 minute
(11)La Isla Bonita. From The True Blue album - 3.48 minutes.
(12)Like A Prayer. From Like A Prayer Album - 5.50 minutes.
(13)Express yourself. From' Like A Prayer' - 4.02 minutes.
(14)Cherish. Also from Like A Prayer - 3.52 minutes.
(15)Vogue. From 'I am Breathless' - 5.17 minutes.
(16)Justify My Love. Not released at the time - 5.00 minutes.
(17).Rescue Me - 5.31 minutes.

A LITTLE BIT OF INFORMATION ABOUT EACH OF THE SEVENTEEN TRACKS
Holiday:
Well this is an excellent song by Madonna. It's a great song that's been chosen for this album in my opinion. Holiday was Madonna's third single she ever released. It has been used as soundtracks to Movies and Madonna has released this a few times over the years. This song is what really made Madonna, as it was her first biggest hit. It really is a catchy little electro sounding tune, is a great dance track and was very popular in clubs and discos in the eighties, as I remember. Madonna sings a great song of taking a Holiday and having a really good time while on it. It sort of repeats the words a lot in this song, but it really is more a dance type of track, with a really catchy chorus, that I certainly would consider as one of Madonna's best songs ever and it sure reminds me off my disco years in the early eighties.

Lucky Star:
I far as I remember this was the B side to Crazy for you. It's not one of Madonnas most know or heard of tracks, buts it is a catchy little little song that she sings in a lovely voice and tells a story to a guy I guess that "You must be my lucky star" as she is happy and feels alive whenever he's around. This was Madonnas first ever single and it was a flop. She released this a few years later and it reached number four in the US charts and number fourteen in the UK. It has a lovely eighties style background sound to it, with lots of keyboard sounds and bass. It's also a great track to dance to.

Borderline:
Borderline would have to be my second favourite single by Madonna. I remember buying this on vinyl many years ago. I absolutely loved this song. It really has a beautiful background sound to it and starts of very quietly, with soft electro keyboard sounds, which quicken up slightly when it reaches the chorus. It really has a lovely tune to it and Madonna sings about her love that has pushed her one step to far this time and over her "Borderline" This song is excellent and one of Madonnas best, in my opinion. It was taken from her "Madonna" album and reached number two in the UK charts. This was Madonnas fourth single she released in 1984.

Like A Virgin:
Well this song and the tune to this song, is really excellent. It just makes me want to get up and dance whenever I hear it being played. It sort of caused a little controversy in it's day because of it's lyrics, but it was an excellent tune. It has great bass in this and is great to dance along to, with its catchy beat. It's also a great song to sing along to. Madonna sings her story about herself being like a virgin and being touched for the very first time.It repeats in lyrics quite a lot but it's awesome. This song give Madonna her very first number one single in the US and the UK. I am sure everyone knows this catchy little track, as it has been used in many movies and played continuously from 1984 to the present day. What a song!

Material Girl:
I love this song. The start of this track is full of great bass and lovely keyboard sounds. It is quieter at the beginning and then when Madonna sings of being one pushy lady and a real material girl, it really livens up a lot. It is another excellent song by the Queen of Pop. Madonna once said she wished she had never recorded this song, as it stuck with her and she hated the Material girl nickname she was branded with after releasing it. It really is another excellent song in both music and lyrics, that I personally love listening to.

Crazy For You:
This is my favourite Madonna song of all time and as I said above, it was the song that got me into worshipping this women. This was my wedding song. The first song I danced to with my husband. It really was a song we both grew up with and is a beautiful love song that means so much to us both. This song has lyrics that make my emotions really show a lot. It gives me goosebumps, whenever I hear it being played, even today, as it means so much to me. This is a beautiful soft love song sang by Madonna. It tells a story of seeing her love for the first time and their eyes meeting and staying on each other. Well it's an amazing song about falling in love and I highly recommend it to anyone, to listen to. Especially if your in a romantic mood or with your partner. This was Madonna's second number one hit and what a hit it was, especially with me. It's just beautiful in every way and it sure had to be included on her first compilation album.

Into The Groove:
Well this song reminds me so much of myself and being a teenager. I remember going to the Movies to see Desperately seeking Susan on it's first night, as I was such a huge Madonna fan and this was her first movie and this song was the Soundtrack. I remember coming out of the movie afterwards and singing this over and over with my best friend until we reached our front door. It was truly amazing to us, way back then in 1985. It is an excellent song with a great tune, chorus and beautifully sang by Madonna herself. I love it! I always will, because of the great memories it holds with me. Truly amazing and I am so happy recalling it now. This song hit number one everywhere and I mean everywhere. It was number one in the UK for four weeks and I am not surprised, as it's excellent. This song was from Madonnas album called "Like A Virgin" and I am so pleased it was included on her Immaculate collection. It's amazing! It will have you up singing and dancing whenever you hear this.

Live To Tell:
This is a beautiful softer ballad type track that's perfectly sang by Madonna. It really tells a sad story of being in love and being used and lied to by a lover. The theme music to this song is beautifully played also on a keyboard and the whole song sings out Madonna's sad tale. It is truly beautiful and an all time favourite Madonna song, that I will always love and I am pleased she included it on this compilation album. This song was from Madonna's True Blue album and was the soundtrack to the movie "At Close Range" It reached number one in the charts in eight different countries and I am not surprised because it's beautiful in everyway.

Papa Don't Preach:
This is a great dance song of Madonna's and a real eighties pop one. It has a very catchy tune to it and Madonna tells a story of being taught right from wrong by her Father, but carelessly makes a mistake in her young life, that leads to an abortion. It's a great song and another one of Madonna's tracks, I really love listening to, all the time, from this album. This song was taken from Madonna's True Blue Album and reached number one in the singles charts including, the UK and US. Overall it is an excellent dance song with great lyrics to it.

Open Your Heart:
I really love this track. It is more of a rock dance track, that was very popular in the late eighties and it also has great Lyrics to it. Madonna tells her story about opening up her heart to someone and not being afraid to fall in love. The tune to this is great and is a mix of keyboard and other electro sounds. This is also from her "True Blue Album" and was number one in four countries in 1986. It's a great track on this Immaculate Collection CD.

La Isla Bonita
This song brings back a lot of great memories to me. When this was released into the charts I was 15 years old and on Holiday in Ibiza. This song was being played everywhere I turned and I loved it, being a huge fan of Madonna's. Today when I hear this played it always takes me back to my teenaged Holiday, that was excellent. This is a great song, that is a true holiday and Summer song, that really creates warmth and magical feelings to me. I love it! This single reached number one in thirteen different countries, but only reached number four in the US. It's a great dance track with wonderful lyrics about dreaming of being on a beautiful tropical Island that's like Paradise, but it's a Spanish one. It has a very catchy chorus to this track also and it certainly is great that's it is included on this compilation album.

Like A Prayer:
What a song. It is just excellent. This song starts of with a Gospel choir singing very softly. Then Madonna takes charge in a soft angelic voice and starts it of with "I hear you call my name" and this track soon quickens up and is joined beautifully, with the Gospel choir accompanying Madonna with these lyrics. It tells a story of singing to God in prayer, in a great pop melody, that is awesome. This song sold over five million copies in it's day and was number one in twenty different countries. It truly is a beautiful song that is loved by all Madonna fans and voted Madonna's best ever single in a few different polls.

Express Yourself:
This song is good to dance to. It is not one of my top Madonna tracks, but it is still a great song to listen to. This song is from the "Like A Prayer" album and was released into the charts in 1989 and reached number one in six countries. This song basically tells women "Never settle for second place in life" and I suppose she is correct. It is another great track to sing and dance along to and worthly of a place on this compilation album.

Cherish:
Cherish is a quiter little song by Madonna. I quite like this song, but it is not in my top ten Madonna tracks. This song is from Madonna's "Like A Prayer" album and was released in the Summer of 1989. It reached number two in the US and number three in the UK charts, It is a really nicely sang and performed song, about cherishing your love for someone and always doing so. It has a nice tune to this also and can easily be danced to also. It is a good chosen track for The Immaculate Collection.

Vogue.
This is another great eltro, dance/pop track that was very successful in the clubs, at the time of it's release back in early 1990. I always remember this song being played on the Radio every time I went out in my car. It really is a very catchy dance track that always has me moving around to it's great beat. The Video to this, recalls all the famous people from the 1930's and Madonna proudly sings a lot of their names during vogue. This single got to number one in thirteen different countries and was a huge hit for Madonna. It is an excellent track on The Immaculate collection. It is also used in the Movie "The Devil wears Prada" Overall an amazing and very successful dance track by Madonna.

Justify My Love:
I am not to struck on this song. It is another dance track by Madonna and I am not too keen on her dance tracks from this time onwards. This was released in 1990 and was popular in clubs around the world. It has a nice background beat and baseline to it, but it is not one for me. Madonna tends to repeat over a lot, the words and chorus in this song, so to me there is not much of a great story to it all. It's still a good dance track though, from Madonna.

Rescue Me:
Well this was a bonus to fans on first buying this album, as this track was not released at the time. It finally was released though in 1991 and was not as successful, as most of Madonna's other songs. It is a good dance song, with a good baseline and repeated lyrics, of rescuing Madonna, a lot. It still has a very catchy tune though and is liked better by me, than Justify My Love. Overall it is still a good Madonna track that's worth checking out.

MY OVERALL OPINION OF THE IMMACULATE COLLECTION.
Well what can I say. This truly is one of the best, if not the best, compilation albums Madonna has ever made. Each and everyone of these seventeen tracks are excellent. I am a huge Madonna fan, but I really prefer her old stuff to her newer dance tracks.

Well this is one of my very favourite albums I have in my huge CD collection and I find it is easy to grab this CD of Madonna's top tracks, than pulling out her huge amount of albums I have in my collection, whenever I want to listen to any of her music. Nearly every single song on this CD holds great teenage memories to me and takes me down memory lane with a smile. They are all good thoughts I would gladly say and this has to be a great thing and probably is why, I love this album so much because it cheers me up and makes me feel young again inside.

The song Crazy for you is how I became a huge Madonna fan, as I was immediately drawn to the lyrics and to this wonderful Pop idol myself. Most of Madonna's early songs where all great worded tracks and had great little stories to them all. They all have catchy tunes and are mostly great dance tracks of the eighties, that of course being a teenager I loved. Madonna was my childhood idol. She was everything a young girls mothers dreaded there daughters to be like, in those days really, but she herself turned into a beautiful inspiration to us all and as we all know, is still around and I am sure she will be for many years to come.

Well The Immaculate collection, is in my opinion, all of Madonna's finest songs. Each and every one of these songs are amazing to listen to. Everyone I know or that calls to our home, always enjoy listening to this album being played when we are entertaining. This really is an album that I am very proud to have in my CD collection and always will be.

I certainly would highly recommend this CD to everyone. All Madonna fans would certainly agree with me on this also, as it's Madonna's best ever tracks, which includes twelve number ones. Most of these songs are very recognisable and I am sure there is one or two that most people will have heard off before, but this album really is all her best songs ever and all of them on one handy CD, that is easy to pull from your collection.

This album really has to be listened to, to be appreciated though, so I cannot recommend it enough to others. It's an amazing mix of love songs to crazy, dance tracks that will keep you entertained for well over one hour. It certainly has given me hours of pleasure and I will never grow tired of Madonna's old music and I hope one day she stops making the club tracks of today and settles on quieter catchy tracks like before in the eighties. The Immaculate Collection in my opinion is Madonna's best album and is certainly worth every penny I spent on it.