Search - Madonna :: Revolver (Mixes)

This Revolver is shooting blanks

Braden Pickering | Maricopa, AZ | 02/03/2010

(2 out of 5 stars)

"I love Madonna and don't remember any point in my nearly 30 years of life in which her music has not played a pivotal role in my existence. I even have a Madonna tattoo. Trust me. I'm a fan.



That's why I have to be brutally honest and say that Revolver, in my humble opinion, is by far her worst single release of the 2000's, if not ever. The song is one of two new tracks produced for her 2009 greatest hits package, the other being Celebration (the title track) which was a smooth, stylized Euro-pop dance track that was a lot of fun and offered up some pretty cool remixes to boot. With Revolver she went in an entirely different direction, creating a track that sounds like a half-assed outtake from the Hard Candy sessions. The first warning sign is that the song wasn't even written by her; instead it was "shopped around" and somehow ended up in her grasp, maybe as a last minute addition. Perhaps that explains why she sounds so bored singing it. Lyrically I think it's quite clever, using some nice quips and suggestive plays on words, but for the first time in history Madonna falls flat in the sexy department due to her lifeless and uninspired singing and it just makes me cringe. And don't get me started on the guest spots by Lil' Wayne, Akon, or whatever other interchangeable rapper she feels the need to "feature." Nothing can ruin a good pop song like R&B interference. If I wanted to hear that kind of ghetto garbage I'd roll down my car windows and take a drive through downtown Phoenix. I honestly don't know what kind of audience this was supposed to appeal to; it almost seems like she purposely dumbed herself down in one last desperate plea to get airplay on American radio. That's not the Madonna I know and love.



That all pertains to the original album version, which has mercifully been excluded from this maxi-single. I wish I could say that the remixes redeem the song in part, as has been known to happen in the past with other so-so singles, but the tracks presented here are overly long with their monotonous, generic club beats, sparse vocals, and vary little from one another. David Guetta's mix is the one I'd condsider most tolerable, but we surely didn't need basically the same thing three times in a row. Nothing about this release is right in any way, right down the cover photo which is just a variation of the album it was pulled from. The same thing happened with the American Life album/single, and while the casual consumer probably wouldn't think twice about it, as a collector it's really annoying.



Don't get me wrong, this one misfire hasn't canceled out my lifetime admiration of Madonna. In fact I respect her for taking chances and wanting to shake things up a bit musically, after all no one can be successful as long as she has by being boring. We're all obligated to take risks and make mistakes. I just think that if she continues to put out this kind of music she'll be alienating a lot of her loyal fans, and it really makes me nervous to see her tip-toeing so precariously along the thin line that separates "trendsetter" from "sell out.""

Madonna's 'Revolver' - Great song, mediocre remixes

Antoine D. Reid | Durham, NC United States | 02/02/2010

(4 out of 5 stars)

"'Revolver' is the second new track released from Madonna's 2009 career-spanning greatest hits album Celebration (2 CD) REMASTERED. While the album's title track was stylistically similar to the sound and vibe of her Confessions on a Dance Floor era, 'Revolver' is a track that is far more hip and urban-sounding like most of Hard Candy. 'Revolver' is definitely one of my favorite Madonna songs of the 2000s; she back to using double entendre lyrics, making some rather bold statements about how her 'sex is a killer' while asking the listener if he/she wants to 'die happy'. The original album track has been compared to Britney Spears' song 'Radar' but I didn't really feel that was the case. This song features a much bolder, fun Madonna that's (in my opinion) been absent from the scene for a while. Instead of singing of political statements (as with American Life) or picking up the disco-queen mantle (as with Hung Up) she puts out a song that, yes, uses auto-tune to create some pretty interesting musical moments. Now, we have a single release that features some remixes. I'll be honest; the best mix of 'Revolver' for me was the original album mix. It felt like a real remix with a sick beat, felt edgy and fresh, even featured Lil' Wayne (though his verse wasn't great; it was nice to hear Madonna paired with her musical polar opposite). The mixes on this release are okay; they're very club orientated, a bit repetitive, but decent. Surprisingly enough, the bonus mixes of 'Celebration' are probably superior to the 'Revolver' mixes.



The Good: I felt the Tracy Young mix of the song was better than the other two. It was fast paced, had a big sound and really made the song feel a bit more epic and exciting. I liked that it incorporated the sound of a revolver toward the end being loaded and shot and with her treatment of the mix and song, I didn't mind that the mix just focused on one or two lines from the song (mainly the 'my love's a revolver' and 'do you wanna die happy?' lines). David Guetta's mixes were the next best; his mix actually uses more verses from the original track and he even offers a mix on here that features Lil Wayne like the original album version. The mix of 'Celebration' featuring Akon happens to be another David Guetta production. Again, it's almost better than the mixes for 'Revolver'. He completely re-made the song and kept with the exciting, party vibe that the original album version had. Though it gets a bit murky and less interesting toward the end, it's still a great mix and after listening to it I wished he'd taken the same approach and liberties with his mix of 'Revolver' that he did with 'Celebration'. I really liked the Fegluk mix of 'Celebration' because it used a line or two that was overlooked in the other remixes featured on the Celebration single release.



The Bad: I wasn't crazy about the Paul van Dyk mix when compared to the other mixes. Again, it felt a bit repetitive and unimaginative, even if it did use more verses from the original. I was hoping for more from all of the remixes in general; the mixes as a whole were a bit underwhelming because it felt like each remixer missed the mark by either not using more material from the original track or by harping on one line played over a generic club beat.



In all, is 'Revolver' a good song? Yes. Is this single release one of Madonna's best? No, not in my opinion. It's a bit generic and repetitive and I wish it had included a few more tracks and remixes from other producers just to add in some variety because the three mixes from Guetta are pretty much the same mix, and the dub from van Dyk seems really unnecessary and skippable and the two 'Celebration' mixes, while being very good, seem a bit random and out of place considering this is Madonna's last maxi single/remix single to be released by Warner before her contract with Live Nation begins. In all, it's definitely a must for any Madonna fan and is still a good buy for the casual music fan and for those looking for some good pop/dance music.

"

The Queen does it again

Mike Penn | USA | 02/07/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Madonna and Maxi Singles go hand in hand. Madonna even said herself that she prefers her mixes over the original versions. I have been collecting her Maxi Singles since "Like A Prayer" back in 1989. The only problem I have with Warner, is that they wait to long to release them. My opinion is that is why Madonna's single do not chart as well as they should. "Revolver" has some great mixes and just like her previous single "Celebration" you will not be disappointed with this Maxi Single. I am excited now that Madonna is with Live Nation and I hope that she can get her new Maxi Singles out when the single comes out. I believe if "Revolver" was released back in December when the song itself was released it would have done better on the charts. The people she is working with now to remix her singles are doing amazing jobs. So get out there and buy this great Maxi Single!"