To be the honest, the history of Madonna remixes has been a chequered one. Even during her last golden period, every ‘Like A Prayer’ or William Orbit overhaul of ‘Justify My Love’ was followed by another dull as dishwater 4/4 dance mix of some other tune. Such trepidation, however, can be dismissed when approaching this impressive seven-track collection.
The four reworkings of American Life material are all, without exception, fantastic. Jason Nevins’ work on ‘Nothing Fails’ manages to toughen the sound and beats without losing any of the original’s stark drama, while ‘Nobody Knows Me’ is given an old skool electro flavour by Mount Sims. Most jaw dropping of all are the two rock remixes by Ray Carroll, turning ‘Love Profusion’ into a garage punk thrash out and ‘American Life’ itself into a rap metal anthem.
The MTV face off with Britney and Christina sounds good too, even if it does demonstrate that the two young divas have still got a fair way to go if they’re going to match the charisma of the grand dame herself.
Whilst we could probably do without the extended version of the Missy Elliott GAP ad theme-song and an unreleased “bonus track” from Bedtime Stories, overall the highlights might just prove too difficult for the diehards to resist.