(11-track album/ WARNER)
Arguably the undisputed Queen of Pop for all time, Madonna - after the best part of two decades in the music biz - is still producing innovative and essential music not just to pass the time to by, but to be genuinely inspired by.
Her 'Ray of Light' album provided ample evidence of her interest in fusing heady dance-beats with her pure-pop music, and throughout this 11-track album there is - again - a perfectly intoxicating mix of club-suited tunes and tender ballads, co-written with Mirwais Ahmadzai.
Opened by the title track 'American Life' that straightaway heads for 'Hollywood' in all its catchy chart-hitting glory, a number of tunes - by contrast - are coolly downbeat by design and acoustic-based. Songs such as 'Love Profusion' and 'X-Static Process' play with the heart, while 'Nothing Fails' remains one of the most sublime and haunting pop songs in living memory.
'Die Another Day' featured in the Bond movie of the same name, though even this tune's inclusion doesn't go that far in thoroughly explaining the album's accompanying artwork which sees Madonna provocatively garbed to the nines as some sort of war-faring guerilla with heavy duty weapons at the ready. I never took her for a fashion killer�
Sure, much of 'American Life' does mirror the material on her Y2K album 'Music' in style. Fortunately, stylish substance is always in abundance, and this 50-minute ride atop Post-Pop music's crest is a genuinely refreshing and exhilarating one.
(Steve Rudd)
www.madonna.com