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Charted: September 3, 1983


Rating: 3.799 (average of 21 ratings)


Genre: dance pop


Quotable: This “set the standard for dance-pop for the next 20 years” – Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide


Album Tracks:

  1. Lucky Star
  2. Borderline
  3. Burning Up
  4. I Know It
  5. Holiday
  6. Think of Me
  7. Physical Attraction
  8. Everybody


Sales:

sales in U.S. only 5 million
sales in U.K. only - estimated 300,000
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated 10 million


Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 8
peak on U.K. album chart 6


Singles/Hit Songs:

  • Everybody (12/82) –
  • Burning Up (5/83) –
  • Holiday (10/29/83) #16 US, #2 UK, #25 RB
  • Borderline (3/10/84) #10 US, #2 UK, #23 AC. Gold single.
  • Lucky Star (3/17/84) #3a US, #14 UK, #19 AC, #42 RB


Awards:

Rated one of the top 1000 albums of all time by Dave’s Music Database. Click to learn more.


Madonna
Madonna
Review:
“Although she never left it behind, it's been easy to overlook that Madonna began her career as a disco diva in an era that didn’t have disco divas. It was an era where disco was anathema to the mainstream pop, and she had a huge role in popularizing dance music as a popular music again, crashing through the door Michael Jackson opened with Thriller. Certainly, her undeniable charisma, chutzpah, and sex appeal had a lot to do with that – it always did, throughout her career – but she wouldn’t have broken through if the music wasn’t so good” (Erlewine).

“And her eponymous debut isn’t simply good, it set the standard for dance-pop for the next 20 years. Why did it do so? Because it cleverly incorporated great pop songs with stylish, state-of-the-art beats, and it shrewdly walked a line between being a rush of sound and a showcase for a dynamic lead singer. This is music where all of the elements may not particularly impressive on their own – the arrangement, synth, and drum programming are fairly rudimentary; Madonna's singing isn’t particularly strong; the songs, while hooky and memorable, couldn’t necessarily hold up on their own without the production – but taken together, it's utterly irresistible” (Erlewine).

“And that’s the hallmark of dance-pop: every element blends together into an intoxicating sound, where the hooks and rhythms are so hooky, the shallowness is something to celebrate” (Erlewine).

“And there are some great songs here, whether it’s the effervescent Lucky Star, Borderline, and Holiday or the darker, carnal urgency of Burning Up and Physical Attraction. And if Madonna would later sing better, she illustrates here that a good voice is secondary to dance-pop. What’s really necessary is personality, since that sells a song where there are no instruments that sound real. Here, Madonna is on fire, and that’s the reason why it launched her career, launched dance-pop, and remains a terrific, nearly timeless, listen” (Erlewine).


Review Source(s):


Related DMDB Links:

Madonna’s DMDB page Next Album: Like a Virgin (1984)


Last updated March 26, 2008.