I think Stephen Bray, who helped launch Madonna's career (and who was a fellow member of the band 'Emmy & The Emmys') and who produced this album, wrote a better intro than any I could, so I'll copy it here.

"Most of the music on this collection was recorded a long time ago. Some of these recordings have been restored from cassette and quarter-inch four track masters that had been dubbed back and forth several times to squeeze more tracks out of the studios. Although this technique did create the open tracks, we were also raising the noise level with every bounce (it seemed a worthy sacrifice for creativity's sake). While re-recording tracks we have used noise reduction to reduce tape hiss, but we could only process so much without removing the voices along with the noise. My hope is that listeners will hear through the early performances and production techniques anto eavesdrop on the beginnings of a long, productive and influential career. S.B. December 1996."

Amen to that; though Bray's keen production ears can pick out flaws my normal set can't, so don't be put off by his disclaimer. The sound quality is actually pretty good and it is a testament to his skill as a producer that tape hiss has been reduced to a negligable minimum.

To read more about this stage in Madonna's life and career, click here.

Songs

1. Crimes Of Passion
2. Everybody '97
3. Ain't No Big Deal '97
4. Laugh To Keep From Crying
5. Burning Up
6. Ain't No Big Deal '81
7. Everybody '81*
8. Stay '81
9. Don't You Know?

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Crimes Of Passion is a happy, bouncy song which apparently was a prototype for 'Into The Groove' and other songs. This song, however, is not the original but a recreation, as nothing was salvageable from the original tapes. There is an endearingly teenage quality about this song, typified by the lyrics "if you can keep it a secret darling, we can have some fun..."

Everybody '97 is digitally altered, the vocals being reduced from 117 beats per minute to 105, and this results in a more tropical, dancey feel than the song released on The First Album, and the effect is groovy and mellow in equal measure. Excellent.

Ain't No Big Deal '97 is based on the first dance song that Bray and Madonna did together. This reworked version is equally dance-orientated, but in a more '90s way, with the aid of digital MIDI sequencing.

Laugh To Keep From Crying is a MEGA song. Inspired by Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders, you can hardly tell this is Madonna. Incredibly cool in a rocky way, she tells how she has nothing and must laugh or else she will cry. Oh, and I almost forgot, that's Madonna on the guitar. Yes, that's right. Madonna on the guitar. I'll say it again, in case you missed it - MADONNA ON THE GUITAR, which is a left-over from her days in Emmy (Madonna's band, before she went solo) - she can also play the drums. This is mind-blowing and underlines in case you didn't already know that Madonna is a serious musician not just a pop singer. One of the best tracks on the album, it's a pity we never saw it at the time. The guitar intro is warm and leaves you unprepared for the harder rock style in the song itself. Madonna's undulating singing style in this song is a dead-ringer for a lot of Hynde's work.

Burning Up is the blueprint for the version which made it in The First Album. There are tape speed effects, and robotic vocals which didn't make it into the final version, but which are cool nonetheless. The resulting song with its stripped-down rock guitar is a harder rock version of the song that made it into The First Album, which although clearly rock-influenced, also has a leaning towards pop. The last four songs are the ones which featured on the tape which convinced Sire to give Madonna a recording contract in the first place. It's harder to say which is the better song; certainly the final song had more commercial appeal than this song, which purists may prefer.

Ain't No Big Deal was the first song Bray wrote for Emmy. Apparently, as they didn't have a vocoder then, Madonna squeezed the end of her nose at the end of the song - a far cry from William Orbit and Mirwais's electronica! The lead track for the presentation tape, this song is vitally important as a part of the Madonna legend.

Everybody '81 is similar to the first single released by Sire, Madonna's original recording company, but it has many tape speed and flanging effects, and it was number two on the tape. I think that on this album this song really gets a chance to shine, whereas it is slightly overshadowed in the First Album by the colossally successful Holiday, Lucky Star and Borderline.

Stay '81 bears little resemblence to the song on Like A Virgin, but is important, as it was the last song on the presentation tape. In addition, this track sounds at times so much like a dance hit of the '90s, it's spooky, showing just how far ahead of its time the Madonna/Bray partnership. Thrilling for this time-travelling effect.

Don't You Know?, however IS the forerunner of Stay from Like A Virgin, though it might take you a while to work that out, as it is more dancey. This one features a riot of late '70s synth sounds, but doesn't suffer for it! Rather, it was the third track on the presentation. The percussion beat sounds like people clapping along to the song, and that is exactly what the song makes you want to do. A great end for an album which is partly rock and partly dance.

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Rating

Released in 1998 this album is truly amazing, a real eye-opener. Some songs will be familiar (but subtly different) to collectors of Madonna's later work, but a couple are genuinely 'new'. The reworked songs have not lost any of their original charm, and the last four songs show you what the Sire Recording Company had in front of it when it signed up Madonna. The time-warped feel of this album sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to it, as it signifies a period before the legend of Madonna. This is a vital piece of any true Madonna fan's collection. Make sure you get this version of In The Beginning (which used to be called Pre-Madonna), not the Otto Von Wernherr namesake which is much less accomplished (see review). A remarkable 8/10.

Buy it at Amazon.com today!

� Josh Deb Barman 2000