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Confessions on a Dance Floor

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Confessions on a Dance Floor is the tenth studio album by pop singer Madonna, released on 15 November, 2005 by Warner Bros. Records. It sold 2 million copies in its first week of release in Europe. The album went on to sell 11 million copies worldwide [1][2]. It debuted at number one in 29 countries, a world record for a solo artist.[3] The album won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2007.

Album history

Confessions on a Dance Floor has become one of Madonna's most successful albums, with international hits such as "Hung Up" and "Sorry". The album led to the most successful concert tour of her career, the Confessions Tour. It was co-produced by Stuart Price and contains collaborations with Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Bloodshy & Avant and Bagge & Peer.

Of the album, Madonna said:

"I wanted a record with no ballads. I wanted there to be no breaks, with one song segueing into the next -- just like in a disco. (...) Whenever I make records, I often like the remixes better than the original versions. So I thought, screw that. I'm going to start from that perspective. I want to hear all these songs in a club. I approached the album from more of a DJ's point of view, but Stuart [Price] is a DJ. That really influenced the vibe -- the dance aspect -- of the record."[4] (...) "We listened to a lot of other people's records when we were making this - obviously ABBA and Giorgio Moroder - so to me it's more of an homage to other people's records than mine. If there are references to earlier records it's probably done unknowingly, part of our molecular structure; it comes out again and again, hopefully not too boringly and repetitive."[5]

After the huge success of the album, a limited-edition Triple-LP remix compilation titled Confessions Remixed was released. It contained tracks from the album all remixed by Stuart Price. It was a limited edition release with three records, only three thousand of which were pressed.

Formats

  • CD - A 12-track continuous mix, much like a DJ set list. Each track is selectable.
  • Deluxe Edition CD - Released in December 2005, includes "Fighting Spirit" (a bonus track), a 40 page picture book from the Steven Klein photo session; an 80 page blank journal book, which includes lyrics from the album track "Like it or Not"; a one month free ICON fanclub membership, and a unique slipcover housing. The CD's tracks are a continuous mix, except for the bonus track. Each track is selectable.
  • iTunes Download (Deluxe Edition) - A digital download with 12 separate tracks. It also includes a digital artwork booklet and the "Hung Up" video.
  • iTunes Download (Non-Stop Mix, Deluxe Edition): A digital download which blends the 12 songs into one long track. It also includes a digital artwork booklet and the "Hung Up" video.
  • iTunes Download (Regular Edition) - A digital download with 12 separate tracks. (Does not include a digital artwork booklet or the "Hung Up" video.)
  • iTunes Download (Non-Stop Mix, Regular Edition): A digital download which blends the 12 songs into one long track. (Does not include a digital artwork booklet or the "Hung Up" video.)
  • 2-LP Vinyl Set - Double album promo pack (PRO-A-101706-A). The same 12 tracks as the CD but with 12 separate tracks like the regular iTunes edition.
  • Limited edition 2-LP Pink Vinyl Set - Double album. The same 12 tracks as the CD but with 12 separate tracks like the regular iTunes edition.
  • Confessions Remixed - Triple LP Vinyl Set. Full remix set by Stuart Price was released on April 11 2006, with a limited print of only 3,000 copies in the U.S.
  • Japanese Exclusive CD+DVD Tour Edition - Released August 23rd 2006 is the Japan only exclusive Tour Edition. Disc 1 contains the regular CD. Disc 2 is a DVD containing the previously commercially unavailable music videos for Hung Up and Sorry plus their "Making of" featurettes that were shown earlier in 2006 on MTV channels around the world. (WPZR30184-5)
  • "Amazon Download" (Unmixed Version) - A Digital download with 12 Separate tracks. This version is DRM Free.

Track listing

Track Title Time
1. "Hung Up"
Writer(s): Madonna, Stuart Price, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price
contains a sample of the recording "Gimme Gimme Gimme (A Man After Midnight)" performed by ABBA		 5:36
2. "Get Together"
Writer(s): Madonna, Anders Bagge, Peer Åström, Stuart Price
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price
Original Production by Anders Bagge and Peer Åström		 5:30
3. "Sorry"
Writer(s): Madonna, Stuart Price
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price		 4:43
4. "Future Lovers"
Writer(s): Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï
Producers: Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï		 4:51
5. "I Love New York"
Writer(s): Madonna, Stuart Price
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price		 4:11
6. "Let It Will Be"
Writer(s): Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Stuart Price
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price		 4:18
7. "Forbidden Love"++
Writer(s): Madonna, Stuart Price
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price		 4:22
8. "Jump"
Writer(s):Madonna, Joe Henry, Stuart Price
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price		 3:46
9. "How High"
Writer(s): Madonna, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback
Producers: Madonna and Bloodshy & Avant
co-produced by Stuart Price		 4:40
10. "Isaac"
Writer(s): Madonna, Stuart Price
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price		 6:03
11. "Push"
Writer(s): Madonna, Stuart Price
Producers: Madonna and Stuart Price		 3:57
12. "Like it or Not"
Writer(s): Madonna, Christian Karlsson, Pontus Winnberg, Henrik Jonback
Producers: Madonna and Bloodshy & Avant		 4:31
13. "Fighting Spirit"+
Writer(s): Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï
Producers: Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï
Additional Production by Stuart Price		 3:32

+ available on the Deluxe edition CD box set as a bonus track
++ not to be confused with the 1994 track on the album Bedtime Stories.

Additional tracks

  1. "Super Pop" (Madonna, Ahmadzaï) - released via download to ICON fanclub members only - 3:42
  2. "Fighting Spirit" (Madonna, Ahmadzaï) - released on the Deluxe Edition CD as a bonus track - 3:32
  3. "History" (Madonna, Price) - released as B-side to the single Jump - 5:36

Singles

# Title Date
1. "Hung Up" October 17, 2005
2. "Sorry" February 20, 2006
3. "Get Together" June 6, 2006 (US) & July 24, 2006 (UK)
4. "Jump" November 7, 2006

Promotion

File:Dolcegabbana madonna model.jpg
As a part of the album's commercial campaign, the album's cover was on some shirts of the models at the 2007 Dolce & Gabbana fashion show.

In order to promote the album with emerging media, Madonna set up the 1-888-2-CONFESS hotline. Callers were instructed to call in with their confessions, and, as they came in, some were selected to be part of a Podcast released on iTunes for approximately six weeks before the album was released.

Critical and commercial performance

The album has been a worldwide success receiving rave reviews from critics and fans. It went triple platinum in the EU in only a month, debuting the number one spot in 29 countries. On September 13 2006, IFPI credited the album 4x platinum for sales in Europe.[6]

In the United States, Confessions on a Dance Floor debuted at number 1, selling 350,606 copies in its first week, taking the top spot from Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts album, which sold nearly 35,000 copies less. In the following week, Confessions on a Dance Floor sold 210,000 copies and slipped to #4 with a 39% of sales decrease. To date, the album has sold over 1.6 million copies in the U.S., a significant improvement over 2003's American Life (670,000 copies sold). It was the #22 best seller of 2006 in that country also (Billboard counted sales from November 2005 to December 2006).

According to the Daily Mail's Adrian Thrills, "Madonna is returning to reclaim her dance-pop crown with a record that pushes her, feet-first, back into club culture. Confessions on a Dance Floor... is not only the former Ms. Ciccone's best album since 1998's Ray of Light. It's a non-stop, rhythm-driven tour de force that ranks alongside anything she made in her chart-conquering heyday.

According to Rolling Stone, "This is an album designed for maximum volume. It's all motion, action, speed. The tracks are constantly shifting, with dizzying layers of sounds and samples dropping in and out, skittering and whooshing across the speakers. Unlike the crystalline precision of latter-day Madonna discs like Ray of Light and Music, the sonic signature here is a powerhouse density -- on tunes like "Future Lovers" and "Push", with its hypnotic tribal beat mixed with future trance. Not only do the twelve songs all blend together like a ready-made DJ set, it's as if they also come pre-remixed... Coming off her last album, the tepid American Life, the forty-seven-year-old mother of two wants to show that she can still stay up late.

Madonna won the "Best International Female Award" at the BRIT Awards 2006 and won "World's Best Selling Pop Artist" & "Best Selling U.S. Artist" at the 2006 World Music Awards for the album. She was nominated for five MTV Video Music Awards for her video Hung Up. She was nominated for "Best Album of the Year", "Best Pop", and "Best Female Artist" at the MTV Europe Music Awards 2006. Madonna then went onto winning an Ivor Novello Award in 2007 for "International Hit of the Year" for her single, "Sorry." The Rolling Stone Magazine ranked Confessions on a Dance Floor as the twenty-second top album of 2005, beating other top albums such as Missy Elliott's "Cookbook", and other albums from artists such as Mariah Carey, Franz Ferdinand and Stevie Wonder. In early 2007, she won her sixth Grammy award for "Best Dance/Electronic Album"

Confessions on a Dance Floor, and her follow up Confessions Tour, have given Madonna the most number of international music and tour awards she has ever won in a single year. Below is a list of all of the awards she has won in 2006.

File:Madonna brit award.jpg
Madonna winning the "Best International Female Artist" Award at the 2006 BRIT Awards.

Awards

  • Rockbjörnen (Sweden)
    • Best International Album, Confessions on a Dance Floor
  • Pink Paper Awards
    • Best Album, Confessions on a Dance Floor"
    • Best Single, "Hung Up"
    • Best Musical Artist
    • Best Live Event, "KoKo Club Mini-Show"
  • NRJ Music Awards (France)
    • Best International Artist
  • Virgin. Net Music Awards
    • Best Solo Female Artist
    • Best Song, "Hung Up"
  • Boyz Awards
    • Best Album, Confessions on a Dance Floor
    • Best Single, "Hung Up"
    • Best Solo Star
    • Best Pop Act
  • TRL Awards
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
    • Retired Videos Award for "Hung Up"
  • BRIT Awards
    • Best International Female Artist
  • NME Awards
    • Sexiest Female Artist
  • ECHO Awards (Germany)
    • Best Rock/Pop International Female Artist
    • Hit of the Year for "Hung Up"
  • Space Shower Music Video Awards (Japan)
    • Best International Video for "Hung Up"
  • Arion (Greece) Music Awards
    • Best Selling Single, "Hung Up"
    • Best Selling Album, Confessions on a Dance Floor
  • 21st Annual International Dance Music Awards
    • Best Pop Dance Track for "Hung Up"
    • Best Dance Video for "Hung Up"
    • Best Dance Artist Solo
  • Salut! d'Or Awards (France)
    • Best International Female Singer
    • Best Song, "Hung Up"
    • Best Video, "Hung Up"
  • Amadeus Music Awards (Austria)
    • Best International Hit Single, "Hung Up"
  • Popcorn Awards (Hungary)
    • Best International Hit Single, "Hung Up"
  • Shangay Awards (Spain)
    • Best International Album, Confessions on a Dance Floor
    • Best International Artist
  • Wembley Arena's Square of Fame[7]
    • First star to be honoured in the venue's new Square of Fame.
  • Wembley Arena's Female Artist of the Year Award 2006
  • Billboard Touring Awards
    • Top Boxscore Award ($22 million, eight-sellout stand at London's Wembley Arena)
  • World Music Awards
    • World's Best Pop Artist
    • Best Selling U.S. Artist
  • Grammy Award
    • Best Dance/Electronic Album

The album's third single, "Get Together", was nominated for a Grammy Award in the category Best Dance Recording

Alleged boycott by American radio stations

A petition set up by fans alleging that U.S. Clear Channel radio stations were boycotting Madonna's singles made headlines when thousands of fans signed it, complaining that U.S. radio refused to play new Madonna singles since the release of her American Life album in 2003 because she publicly spoke of disapproval against the war in Iraq.

The single "Hung Up" reached #16 on Billboard's Pop Airplay chart, and #7 on the Billboard Hot 100, also because of strong digital sales. The following singles "Sorry" and "Get Together" received little to no airplay on Pop radio stations, with "Sorry" peaking at #58 on the Billboard Hot 100 partially because of strong single sales.

Certifications, peaks & sales

Country Peak position Certification (if any) Sales/shipments
Argentina 1 5x Platinum[8] 200,000+
Australia 1 (1 week) 2x Platinum[9] 140,000+
Austria 1 Platinum 25,000+
Belgium 1 Platinum[10] 40,000+
Brazil 1 Gold[11] 100,000+
Canada 1 (3 weeks) 5x Platinum[12] 500,000+
Chile 1 Platinum 15,000
Cyprus 1 Platinum 10,000
Denmark 1 2x Platinum[13] 60,000+
Finland 1 Platinum[14] 54,588+
France 1 (3 weeks) Diamond[15] 1,000,000+
Germany 1 (2 weeks) 3x Platinum[16] 600,000+
Greece 1 2x Platinum[17] 80,000+
Hungary 2 2x Platinum[18] 20,000+
Ireland 1 4x Platinum[19] 60,000+
Israel 1 Platinum 40,000+
Italy 1 4x Platinum[20] 450,000+
Japan 5[21] 2x Platinum[22] 500,000+
Mexico 1 (2 weeks) Platinum[23] 100,000+
Netherlands 1 Platinum[24] 80,000+
New Zealand 5 Platinum[25] 15,000+
Norway 1
Poland 2 Platinum[26] 40,000+
Portugal 1 2x Platinum[27] 40,000+
Russia 1 Diamond[28] 100,000+
Taiwan 1 Platinum 45,000
Singapore 1 2x Platinum 30,000+
Spain 1 2x Platinum[29] 160,000+
Sweden 1 2x Platinum[30] 120,000+
Switzerland 1 3x Platinum[31] 120,000+
United Kingdom 1 (2 weeks) 4x Platinum[32] 1,300,000+
United States 1 (1 week) 1x Platinum[33] 1,700,000+[34]

Personnel

  • Madonna - Lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar
  • Stuart Price - Producer, keyboards, synthesizers, vocoders, programming, sequencing, sampling
  • Roberta Carraro - Keyboards, Bass, Drums, Harmonica
  • Photography: Steven Klein
  • Art Direction and Graphic Design: Giovanni Bianco
  • Legal: Grubman Indursky
  • Management: Guy Oseary and Angela Becker
  • Mixing: Mark "Spike" Stent at Olympic Studios and Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles (Except: "Forbidden Love" which was mixed by Stuart Price at Shirland Road)
  • Recording: Stuart Price at Shirland Road (Except: "How High" and "Like It Or Not" which were recorded at Murlyn Studios, Stockholm and Shirland Road, "Future Lovers" was recorded at Mayfair Studios.)
  • Assistant Engineer: Alex Dromgoole
  • Second Assistant Engineer at Olympic: David Emery
  • Second Assistant Engineer at Record Plant, Los Angeles: Antony Kilhoffer
  • Mastering: Brian "Big Bass" Gardner at Bernie Grundman Mastering

Trivia

  • Producer Stuart Price revealed during an interview that the majority of the album was recorded at his flat. A mentally disturbed woman who wails for hours is a neighbor of his, and that if you listen closely you may hear her on some of the tracks in the background.[35]

Notes

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ Guinness Book of Records 2007
  4. ^ "Madonna Confesses". Retrieved November 11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ The Observer. November 20 2005.
  6. ^ http://www.ifpi.org/content/section_news/plat_month_20060913.html ifpi.com
  7. ^ http://www.madonnatribe.com/news/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2454 Madonnatribe.com
  8. ^ CAPIF
  9. ^ ARIA
  10. ^ IFPI Belgium
  11. ^ ABPD
  12. ^ Canadian Recording Industry Association
  13. ^ IFPI Denmark
  14. ^ IFPI Finland
  15. ^ .Disque En France
  16. ^ IFPI Germany
  17. ^ [3]
  18. ^ MAHASZ
  19. ^ IRMA – Irish Charts
  20. ^ IRMA – Irish Charts
  21. ^ Archives of Japanese Oricon weekly albums chart (4th week of November 2005)
  22. ^ RIAJ Certification Awards June 2006
  23. ^ AMPROFON
  24. ^ NVPI
  25. ^ RIANZ
  26. ^ ZPAV
  27. ^ AFP – Year 2006, Week 19
  28. ^ AFP – Year 2006, Week 19
  29. ^ PROMUSICAE
  30. ^ IFPI Sweden – 2006 Certifications
  31. ^ IFPI Switzerland
  32. ^ BPI
  33. ^ Billboard – Ask Billboard
  34. ^ Billboard – Ask Billboard
  35. ^ Dominican Today.
Preceded by Billboard 200 Number 1 Album
December 3, 2005 - December 9, 2005 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Australian ARIA Albums Chart Number 1 album
November 21, 2005 		Succeeded by
Ancora by Il Divo
Preceded by
Ancora by Il Divo
 UK Album Chart Number 1 album
November 20, 2005 - December 3, 2005 		Succeeded by
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