Search - Madonna :: Celebration Remastered

Differences in the various versions

Daniel Matsumoto | San Francisco, CA USA | 09/30/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Note: This review looks at only the differences in track versions contained on this retrospective compared with previously issued track versions. It does not provide any assessment of track inclusion/exclusion or commentary on individual tracks.



Most tracks on this compilation are album versions, but some are edits which, in and of themselves, have been edited differently. The inclusion of a previously unreleased remix of "Dress You Up" may provide the only real interest fans seeking variety, but the slightly modified album edits and remastered tracks from the Immaculate Collection may appeal to Madonna audiophiles.



DISC ONE



01. Hung Up (Original Album Version, unmixed)

02. Music (Original Album Version)

03. Vogue (Immaculate Collection Version)

04. 4 Minutes (Original Album Edit, no breakdown)

05. Holiday (Original Album Version)

06. Everybody (Original Album Edit)

07. Like a Virgin (Immaculate Collection Version)

08. Into the Groove (Original 12" Version, first appearance on an official US full-length Madonna release)

09. Like a Prayer (Original Album Version)

10. Ray of Light (Original Album Edit)

11. Sorry (Original Album Edit, shorter intro and bridge)

12. Express Yourself (Edited Video Version)

Note: This version closely resembles the original music video version (which was later edited at least 2 times), but the instrumental break that leads into the bridge has been removed (at 2:30).

13. Open Your Heart (Immaculate Collection Version)

14. Borderline (Immaculate Collection Version)

15. Secret (Original Album Edit)

16. Erotica (Original Album Edit)

Note: The edits occur at 0:00 and 3:27. While similar to the original album edit from 1992, this version is slightly different and the second cut (3:27) is not as seamless.

17. Justify My Love (Immaculate Collection Version)

18. Revolver (Original Album Version)



DISC TWO



01. Dress You Up (Previously Unreleased Remix)

Note: This is a previously unreleased remix, incorporating elements of the 1984 album version and 12" remix. The guitar from the 12" remix will stand out in the right speaker.

02. Material Girl (Original Album Version)

03. La Isla Bonita (Original Album Version)

04. Papa Don't Preach (Original Album Version)

05. Lucky Star (Edited Immaculate Collection Version)

Note: The intro and outro have been noticeably modified.

06. Burning Up (Original Album Version)

07. Crazy for You (Immaculate Collection Version)

08. Who's That Girl (Original Album Version)

09. Frozen (Original Album Version)

10. Miles Away (Album Edit)

11. Take a Bow (Original Album Version)

12. Live to Tell (Original Album Version)

13. Beautiful Stranger (Original Album Version)

14. Hollywood (Original Album Edit, rap has been removed)

15. Die Another Day (Original Album Version)

16. Don't Tell Me (Edited Album Version, cold stop)

17. Cherish (Original Album Edit)

Note: This edit very closely resembles the Immaculate Collection Version, but the original guitar snares at 3:16 and 3:20 reveal that this is an edit of the 1989 original. This preliminary mix may have been used for the Immaculate Collection remix.)

18. Celebration (Original Album Version)"

Review of "Celebration" (2 CD) Edition

Antoine D. Reid | Durham, NC United States | 09/29/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Warner Bros. has released Madonna's third compilation album featuring some of Madonna's biggest hits (fourth if you count the ballad collection 'Something To Remember'). 'Celebration' is a great collection of some of Madonna's best work but as any true fan will attest, this is far from a true 'greatest hits' album. If you are a casual Madonna fan, 'Celebration' is really a good album to pick-up. The main staples --- 'Material Girl', 'Ray of Light', 'Like a Prayer' --- are all present. There are even two new songs. Yet, something feels unsatisfying with 'Celebration' considering there are so many songs that were left off. Considering this is her last release with Warner Bros, I felt much more effort could have been put into making this a true 'celebration' of her music and career over the past 26 years. Instead, it feels like one last attempt made by Warner to make money off Madonna.



The Good: I really like all the effort and attention put into the package design. Warner Bros. definitely stepped up their promotion and art direction on this release -- more so than they have her past few albums. The art designed by Mr. Brainwash is definitely different and more street and while there are no new photos of Madonna, I felt the design really does her justice and features her most iconic looks and styles in a creative manner. I like both of the new songs featured on this edition. 'Celebration' is pure dance and sounds like a cut from "Confessions on a Dance Floor" while 'Revolver' (featuring a small rap by Lil' Wayne) is a mix between pop and urban music, everything "Hard Candy" tried to be but perhaps failed to live up to. To me, the songs are both very good and easily stand out as album worthy tracks. Another great thing about this release is that the tracks have been remastered and as someone who has listened to many of the tracks often, I can tell the difference and it makes listening to some of the older tracks like 'Dress You Up' and 'Like a Prayer' all the more enjoyable.



The Bad: Again, to the casual Madonna fan, 'Celebration' offers a nice spread of songs throughout her career. To the hardcore fan, this release is disappointing. Tracks like 'True Blue', 'Spotlight', 'Bad Girl' and 'Human Nature' are all left off. Some of the songs on here are edits from the first 'greatest hits' package, 'The Immaculate Collection'. Other edits simply don't do the songs justice (Why cut out the dramatic beginning of '4 Minutes' and break the song down to a mere 3 minutes, ten seconds? Doesn't that go against the whole theme of the song?). Also, the release is sparse on the side of some of her older ballads (Where's 'You'll See' and why is 'Miles Away' included when it didn't really make an impact?). I get the impression that this release, like many of Madonna's 'greatest hits' packages, was put out without a lot of thought or effort. If you're a big Madonna fan, there's no reason to own this because you have a lot of the songs (full versions, mind you, not edits) and are left with just 2 new songs that you can probably purchase as mp3s on Amazon separately. This could have been a true 'celebration' and featured new edits or remixes and takes on the classic songs to make everything dance-floor ready but it seems as if all the attention were put into the package art rather than the actual content.



In all, if you are new to Madonna and want a collection of her music from all eras and albums of her career, this will be a nice addition to your collection. You will definitely get a nice sampling of her music that will hopefully inspire you to pick up her albums to enjoy the full tracks and other undiscovered ones. If you are the casual fan or even hardcore, 'Celebration' is more for your collection than a must-purchase. There are only two new tracks; the rest of 'Celebration' is a compilation of radio edits, or mixes from the past greatest hits packages released by Warner Music. If you want the true Madonna experience, I recommend saving your money on this purchase and putting it toward the 2-DVD music video collection that is also newly released. It featured remastered video, remastered music, 47 videos and definitely features more of the hits and lesser known tracks of her career. It's worth the purchase while this on the other hand doesn't really feel like a real 'greatest hits' package and more so a sampling of some of her best.



Listen To These Tracks: 'Revolver' (featuring Lil' Wayne), 'Celebration'"

What SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED........

M. Immel | Houston, TX | 10/03/2009

(3 out of 5 stars)

"After thinking on this whole "Celebration" thing a day or two I have changed my mind regarding the whole idea of it. My original review is several paragraphs down, so read that if interested. I have come to the conclusion that this whole Celebration thing was a big fat mistake. Madonna was with Warner Bros for well over 25 years. Just think about that folks. That is a looong time to with a label and that is a lot of history, a lot of music and ton of videos. The planning for these releases to me seemed a little rushed and you can definitely tell. This is what I think should have happened:



Comprehensive and COMPLETE singles collection

*ALL of her singles, US and overseas releases,

remastered. Much like the Ultimate Michael

Jackson box set released a few years back,

complete with alternate mixes of the tracks



*Collectible booklet of lyrics to all songs



*She is the most photographed woman in the

world so why not a swanky collectible booklet

of rare and iconic images



Comprehensive and COMPLETE video and live performance collection

*ALL of her videos, US and overseas releases,

beautifully remastered video and sound



*ALL of her concerts: Virgin Tour, Who's That Girl

World Tour, Blond Ambition Tour, The Girlie Show,

Drowned World Tour, Reinvention Tour, Confessions

Tour and finally the fabulous Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Beautifully remastered picture and sound

(I would go as far as saying a Blu-Ray release but

I'd be happy with DVD)



Bonus Discs with behind the scenes concert and video footage

*Making of featurettes with commentary

*Behind the scenes concert footage

*Behind the scenes footage from music videos

*Interviews spanning her entire career



ALL of the above housed in an extremely swanky, limited edition, well-made collector's box, possibly velvet lined. Not some crappy, flimsy cardboard box that falls apart after opening it a few times (think the Royal Box from 1990, but only better), with the understanding that the music and video components could be purchased separately for those who do not wish to own the entire set.



This my friends is what Madonna deserves and it's what the fans deserve as well. It's a crying shame. All we can do is hope for something like this in the future. My advice is to pass on the Celebration CDs and DVDs. I sure wish I would have.





ORIGINAL REVIEW



Now in general I have no real complaints about what was chosen to be included in this collection...except for maybe the exclusion of Oh Father, Deeper and Deeper and Jump. Other than that, this collection is pretty spot on. However I am puzzled by some strange re-editing of some already edited and/or remixed tracks.



Here's what I have noticed:



Lucky Star - strange all over the place edit of what sounds like a slightly remixed version



Like A Virgin - The same mix from IC, which I like, but I just hate the fade at the end. Cuts out the great iconic line "Can't you hear my heart beat for the very first time"



Express Yourself - When I popped disc one into the CD player in my car I skipped straight ahead to Express Yourself just to see what mix was used. When I heard that fantastic intro that was used in the video version I almost wet my pants. Could it be? Did they actually include the fabulous FULL 5 minute Shep Pettibone remix on this collection? Yes.....and no. It is indeed the original Shep mix (not that tweaked, retouched mix from IC) but they have thrown some ODD editing down on this great mix. The middle of the song fugged up by cutting out the bridge that begins just after "oh baby ready or not". It skips ahead a good minute and moves us straight into the final leg of the song. They almost got it right but some shmendrik got busy in the editing room.



Erotica - They were pushing it on Ghv2 by including the radio edit of Erotica on that collection but after a while it kinda grew on me. The Celebration version goes a few steps further and actually ruins the listening experience for me of this song. The original album cut of Erotica is a dark and sexy ride that shouldn't be tampered with. Someone slap the fool that re-edited the already edited version of this song. Blech!!!



Ray Of Light - Another album cut that shouldn't be tampered with. Radio edit???? Whyyyyyy??



4 Minutes - The concept of a radio edit is understandable. I realize that songs need to be trimmed down for radio play. I'll even as far as saying that some songs benefit from being edited and actually sound better. 4 Minutes is not one of them. And there was a reason for the album version being actually 4 minutes long. This radio edit is a mere 3 minutes long. Thanks for ruining the concept!!



Borderline - While this version is almost the original video remix from back in the day it has a few added effects that kind of annoy me. This sounds a lot like the IC version but there are some subtle differences in the mix. I didn't like the IC version either. How hard would it have been to remaster the original video remix? Side note: Borderline is a perfect example of a song that I feel benefited from being edited down and remixed from it's lengthy album version. One of very few.



When comes to Madonna music I am very big on retaining and preserving the original "memory" or moment of a song. I remember being first introduced to the Express Yourself video and the fantastic Shep mix that was used. I was completely mesmerized. I remember buying cassette tape of Like A Prayer and being dissappointed that the album version was totally different. That moment was when my passion for cd maxi singles and dj singles was born. All in an effort to recapture an original moment. So, when record companies are putting together collections like this I really do not believe they have the fans' interest at heart. They're just concerned with how much they can cram onto one disc by completely defiling the true nature and form of a particular song (kind of like the HORRIBLE video compression on the Celebration DVD collection).



This CD is great to just pop in and listen to around the house but if you're a die hard fan or on the more serious side and love to immerse yourself in Madonna music, stick to making your own mp3 collections and pass on this.

"