Madonna - Madonna GHV2 Greatest Hits Volume 2 (15 tracks) +Album Reviews +Used CD available for Swap

Another decade of music redefined by Madonna

Daniel Jolley | Shelby, North Carolina USA | 02/10/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a teenager in the 1980s, I absolutely loved Madonna; I refused to go a single day without listening to at least one Madonna song. By the time the 1990s rolled around, the obsession had faded and, while I still liked Madonna, I really didn't keep up with her music (or pop music in general, the poor quality of which finally pushed me over to the oldies stations on my radio). For me, GHV2 is a perfect match. My previous exposure to most of these songs ranged from a little to none whatsoever, so I basically rediscovered Madonna when I bought this collection. Madonna has never gotten the respect she deserves for her music; all I heard about her for many years were criticisms of her movies, jokes, etc. Most of the critics seem to dismiss her music altogether, yet she unleashed some huge hits (not to mention impressive albums) during the 1990s, most of the best of which are included in this retrospective collection. Now I know that Madonna is larger than life and that her music is really only a part of her persona. Many people have disapproved of some of her antics over the years, including myself on occasion, but I have always loved and admired her strength, resolve, and undying commitment to be a complete individual and do whatever she wants to do. It's easy to get lost in all the ephemeral nonsense that surrounds the woman, but her very foundation is her music, and this collection shows what an amazing performer she really is.Madonna has been around quite a long time now, as hard as that is for me to believe. The reason she is still turning out hits while many other artists from the early 80s are gone and forgotten comes down to her unmatched ability to completely recreate herself. Not only does she adapt to changes in the musical scene, she leads the charge for change herself. Over her career, this has allowed her to excel across a wide spectrum of song types. I'm no dance music expert, but Madonna lays down the most infectious dance beats I know of in songs such as Deeper and Deeper (featuring a brilliant bridge into a part of her earlier song Vogue) and the totally funked up Music. Beautiful Stranger is another great dance song (but I'll never be able to hear this song without conjuring up images from the music video featuring Austin Powers). Of course, Madonna has her naughty side, as revealed in the edited versions of Erotica and - depending on your state of mind - Bedtime Stories. Madonna never looks back or has regrets, a trait I greatly admire, and she makes this fact pretty clear in the sexually mischievous song Human Nature. What It Feels Like For a Girl makes the point even more convincingly as it points out the ways in which men and women are judged by different standards. Madonna is also the voice behind some of the best love songs of the 1990s. Classics such as The Power of Goodbye, Frozen, and Take a Bow are just beautiful, featuring some of the most moving choruses I've ever heard in pop music. The lyrics, for those who stop to listen to them, are really quite poignant and touching - you won't find any bubble gum pop on GHV2. Then there are the great songs I find hard to classify: Ray of Light is almost cosmic in its appeal and manic in its musical expression. Drowned World/Substitute For Love carries a life-affirming beat in support of its unusually touching message. Then there is Don't Tell Me, a song I like more and more each time I hear it. I remember hearing it for the first time on the radio, as the deejay assured the audience that the "skips" we were about to hear in the early moments of the track were actually supposed to be there. In the 1990s, Madonna was still taking chances, still taking music in new directions, and still turning out some of the best music in the business. GHV2 is a great joy for Madonna fans and ample proof to all the disbelievers out there who deny this remarkable woman's musical talent."

GHV2 Limited Edition not much differant than original GHV2.

Porfie Medina | Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA | 12/12/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The MADONNA GHV2 Limited Edition CD is not much differant than original GHV2. There are no extra songs and the only thing really differant is the special packaging along with the 2 or 3 more pages in the booklet. I do love this MADONNA GHV2 CD very much but do advise you to only get this Limited Edition CD if your a true die hard fan. It is a great collecters item but other than tha I would stick with the original as it is much cheaper and missing very little besides the fancy packaging. I give this CD 5 stars because of the great songs and because it's MADONNA and she can do little wrong.Track Listings1. Deeper And Deeper2. Erotica3. Human Nature4. Secret5. Don't Cry For Me Argentina6. Bedtime Story7. The Power Of Goodbye8. Beautiful Stranger9. Frozen10. Take A Bow11. Ray Of Light12. Don't Tell Me13. What It Feels Like For A Girl14. Drowned World/Substitute For Love15. Music"

A great follow up to "Immaculate Collection"

Anthony Morelli | Montreal, Canada | 11/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Ciao! fellow amazon reviewers and shoppers. Madonna has done it again with this thrilling and different collection of hits. I am very happy to learn that Beautiful stranger made it to the track list!Out of all the songs, I personally think that Madonna's MUSIC, THE POWER OF GOODBYE, BEAUTIFUL STRANGER AND BEDTIME STORY ARE my favorites. If you don't know the track list, it is as goes:
1) Deeper and deeper 7" edit 2) Erotica radio edit 3) Human nature clean radio version 4) Secret 5) Don't cry for me Argentina original non dance version 6) Bedtime Story 7 The power of goodbye 8) Beautiful stranger 9) Frozen 10) Take a bow 11) Ray of light 12) Don't tell me 13) What it feels like for a girl non dance mix version 14) Drowned world/Substitute for 15) MusicThe photos inside the booklet are amazing and they show her in all imaginable poses and styles. Actually, the whole concept of the artwork is Madonna's different looks from the start up to the present. Even the graphics on the cd itself are cool and offer a bold and new look to the incredible Queen of Pop's journey of success.
There is a song for everyone. If you like serene and serious stuff, "Don't cry..." is for you. If you like moving, unearthing trancelike music, Bedtime story is for you. I liked the idea of Madonna continuing right from where she left off with the "Immaculate Collection. Unfortunately there are no remixes on this compilation. It would have been fun to find the remixes from her new singles here. Oh weeeeellllll. It's okay because whatever the Queen of Pop does suits me fine.
Upon reading the writeup inside the booklet, I first thought it cool that Madonna wrote something for her fans, but instead, it was written by Dan Cadan. The writeup was interesting because I learned a little more about Madonna than I knew already.
I think you will appreciate her a whole lot more after reading it.The cd cover is an unusual for Madonna. Usually we see her whole face or her whole body. Here, she is close up and dramatically made up, and I find her expression both seductive and shy.
This woman knows what music is and knows how to make it. 5 big huge gold stars for this collection.Sing on Madonna, and hope you will come up with another collection some time in the future.Enjoy the cd and hope my review helped you."

Great Collector's Item

Anthony Morelli | 12/19/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Madonna has been known to release her work as specially packaged editions. I have this one and it's really nice. The cover is the same as the original, but inside, more pictures are included and the CD itself is a beautiful picture disc made to look like a phonograph record. The track listing is great, but it would have been much better if the songs were in chronological order. Because they aren't, this CD doesn't flow as easily as The Immaculate Collection. Madonna has been interviewd about this CD and she said that these are the songs she enjoys listening to, so it's not really a Greatest Hits album, it's a "Madonna's Favorite Songs From The Last 10 Years" album! All in all, this limited edition is a great collector's item, but if you're not a Madonna collector, the original is just as good and cheaper!"

Madonna's Greatest Hits Volume 2: 4 Stars

MJ | Denmark | 09/04/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Released in 2001, Greatest Hits Volume 2 established that Madonna's musical career had survived the turbulent nineties. A look at the track list of the album displays an impressive amount of superb pop songs, showcasing that Madonna had been quite productive during the nineties. However, the nineties did not always treat the pop chameleon kindly. The earlier nineties saw the release of her sexbook and her daring album Erotica which caused massive controversy. Madonna's popularity seemed to plummet and as a result her Erotica and Bedtime Stories albums suffered from lower sales than her previous records. Though her 1998 album, Ray Of Light, rocketed Madonna back to the top of the chart, selling over an impressive 14 million copies. Her 2000-release Music cemented that Madonna had no intention of disappearing from the music scene just yet.

Greatest Hits Volume 2 is a collection of Madonna's biggest hits from 1992 to 2000. While some tend to dispute whether Madonna was better during the eighties or the nineties, GHV2 showcases a quantity of Madonna's finest moments in her musical career. From the audacious Erotica to the lingering ballad of Take A Bow, Madonna expresses her bold and sensitive side on the two tunes. The disco-fabulous Deeper And Deeper supposedly deals with homosexuality, while the intrepid Human Nature sees Madonna, attacking her critics `Did I say something wrong?/Oops, I didn't know/I could talk about sex(I must have been crazy)'. The 1994 Bedtime Stories album also saw Madonna tackling a R'n'B-inspired sound with Secret, which works quite well unlike other tracks on the Bedtime Stories. Yet the one of the most enthralling tunes on GHV2 is the murky Bedtime Stories, its sound is quite different from anything else on the Bedtime Stories album. In fact, the song would have been more suitable for Ray Of Light.

Other noteworthy tunes include the poignant The Power Of Goodbye, the mystifying Frozen, the racy Ray Of Light and the haunting Drowned World/Substitute For Love, distinctly displaying that Madonna's 1998 release Ray Of Light is well-represented. While I am not a fan of the song Don't Cry For Me Argentina, Madonna has never sounded better than she does on the Evita soundtrack. The cheerful Beautiful Stranger, taken from the The Spy Who Shagged Me, shows a fun and bubbly Madonna. The Madonna/William Orbit-produced Beautiful Stranger displays the chemistry between the pair at its finest. Despite their excellent collaborations on Ray Of Light, the Music album seems for the most part to suffer from their work together. While I think What If Feels Like For A Girl and Music are among the weaker songs on GHV2, Don't Tell Me is, however, a testimony that Madonna is excellent at incorporating different styles into her music.

GHV2 is a collection of a number of Madonna's greatest songs and would surely be a welcome addition to your pop music collection. Although I think that some songs are missing on the album or should have replaced other, there is little doubt that GHV2 is a superb collection. A minus is, however, that many of the songs are edited versions, which ruins the overall enjoyment of several of the songs. Yet GHV2 is recommendable to everyone who likes the 1990s and Millennium Madonna.

"

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