— छह हज़ार बासठ —
Thew new Madonna album,
Confessions II, has been out since July 3, though I didn't think to download it until July 5, and so far I have listened to it 30 times. And even though I listen to music on average far less often than I did before the podcast era, I have a feeling that by the end of the year, the number of spins I've given this album may rival that of other albums I listened to the most times in their first year—perhaps even Madonna's own 2003 album
American Life, the single album I ever listened to more than 100 times (104, to be exact) in a calendar year—at least since I started keeping track, which was in 1995.
To say I have a soft spot for
American Life would be an understatement. It's easily in my top 5 Madonna albums, which makes it the one place where I significantly break with most Madonna fans—
American Life flopped so hard in its time that it made
Erotica (which "only" sold 2 million copies in the U.S.) look like a massive success.
American Life didn't even reach 1 million sales in the U.S., and this was in a time when album sales still very much mattered.
Madonna hasn't broken 1 million domestically since
Confessions on a Dance Floor in 2005, to which
Confessions II is a sequel; it moved 10 million globally, which thus marked a turning point for Madonna: it cemented her as an enduring global superstar even as she aged, far more than it did at home in the U.S.
Confessions is widely beloved by her American fans, but I think
Confessions II is even better; just this morning I decided to rank all 16 of her studio albums (I insist on including 1990's
I'm Breathless), and I ranked
Confessions II at #6—this could change after some time—but
Confessions on a Dance Floor at #10. I like that album a lot, but it was never among my favorites.
Confessions II is a different story, as I haven't been this immediately electrified by a Madonna release since
American Life, which I will always feel is unfairly underrated.
Anyway, in the years since the first
Confessions, album sales mean basically nothing; nobody buys albums anymore. Sure, there's a niche market for vinyl—it should be noted that, like the regular albums chart,
Confessions II is indeed currently #1 on the vinyl albums chart by Billboard—but the fact remains that, somewhere along the way, many years from now, the model moved from touring to support an album to releasing an album to support a tour, as touring is now where the money is. And in spite of her health issues in recent years, I'll be stunned if Madonna doesn't tour this album, even though I really speculated that the 2023
Celebration tour (her first that was
not in support of any album release) might be her last. This album is just too good, though, and the rollout has been so well done, I'm primed and ready to buy a concert ticket, maybe even a more expensive one again.
This is such a solid set of 16 tracks (even including roughly 5 ballads at the end, and the original
Confessions featured no ballads), and I really can't get enough of it.
— छह हज़ार बासठ —
— छह हज़ार बासठ —
So what about yesterday, then? After work I went to see
Gail Daughtry and the Celebrity Sex Pass, and it was kind of a mixed bag, but in the end I kind of enjoyed myself. I'm glad I saw it, even though I kind of feel like all the people raving about it on Letterboxd must just be too young to have seen the far better comedies at least somewhat in the same vein that have been made in the past.
Or maybe I'm just old.
There's a weird thing about being 50, still surrounded by people old enough to scoff at my regarding that as "old" but moving through a world of younger people to whom I'm basically invisible. And for whom my opinions on matters like these mean nothing at all.
I know there are exceptions; I'm not
completely ignorant of that. Tess likes my reviews, apparently! She's only 18. She'll be 19 in August. Which is depressing to think about! It isn't right.
But I digress. What the fuck was I talking about? You seeing what getting old does to you? Oh! Yesterday. I saw the movie. I rode my bike home, ever more convinced I need to take it back to the shop and get the cassette replaced—I did find the itemized receipt, and that was not among the items done. Clearly it needs to be. I'll do that tomorrow.
Shobhit was on a Zoom Board meeting for SAG-AFTRA Seattle Local, for quite a while too; like, 6 to 8 p.m. I had plenty of time to eat the dinner he had prepared, and write my review. Then, when he was done with his call, I noted that I discovered something I did not want to miss in Brussels, which was to visit the Royal Palace of Brussels, and that's €10 per person, and we cannot purchase in-person or same-day; these must be booked in advance. So, then we did that. We now have that set for 2 p.m. on August 4, after we do the guided tour of the European Parliament Hemicycle at 11 a.m.
I'd rather not book anything more than that in advance in Belgium, though. We arrive on the Eurostar train from Amsterdam at 1:06 in the afternoon on August 3, and will have the rest of that day to explore at our leisure. We have three nights booked in Brussels, and I'm holding out hope that we can make August 5 a day train ride from Brussels to Bruges. It's a roughly one-hour train ride. The fantastic 2008 movie
In Bruges came up recently, and the DVD is in transit at the library for me to pick up and watch with Shobhit, which may pique his interest in it; I don't think I've watched it since Laney and I did a movie night to watch it together in 2017, which would mean I'll have watched it three times, each 9 years apart. Anyway, Antwerp is also an option—just under a one-hour train ride from our hotel—but I'm really leaning toward Bruges.
We then take Eurostar back to Amsterdam on August 6, to close out World Pride events that weekend, including the World Pride March. It'll be our only experience with the Eurostar train, and I'm also looking forward to experiencing that alone. So much to look forward to! I'm counting down the days: as of now, 11 days to go. That's 8 days fewer than the whole trip itself will last.
— छह हज़ार बासठ —
[posted 12:33pm]
