Another nice Review of R&R
“REMIXED & REVISITED,” Madonna (Maverick/Warner Bros.)
Madonna‘s stocking stuffer “Remixed & Revisited” is an amusing collection of novelties – half a dozen new versions of old songs plus a previously unreleased number – though it’s little more than an “oh by the way.”
The EP includes four unconventional revamps of songs from the singer’s recent “American Life” album. In a twist on today’s standard mode of remixing – turning them into tiring dance cuts with no personality and only tentative links to the originals – these tracks are crafty reinventions.
Jason Nevins retools the gorgeous “Nothing Fails” with gutsy imagination. The new version starts with a bouncier beat, then piles on floating synthesizers and ever-grainier electricity. He also strips out the melodramatic choir from the original (smart move) and, despite the more emphatic production, keeps the attention on Madonna’s full-bodied, sweet vocals.
Remixer Ray Carroll puts his mark on both “Love Profusion” and “American Life.” The former withstands an invigorating squall of guitars for a rocking overhaul, while the latter (a choppy cut to begin with) is improved as a thrashing metal epic. And like Nevins, Carroll keeps the vocals at center.
Meanwhile, Mount Sims loads Madonna onto the retro-electro bandwagon with a playful reinterpretation of “Nobody Knows Me.”
“Remixed & Revisited” also includes the medley of “Like a Virgin” and “Hollywood” performed by Madonna, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliott. It’s a bundle of energetic fun, even if Madonna sounds a little shaky and you can’t see those notorious woman-on-woman kisses.
The new EP offers the full version of the Gap ad “Into the Hollywood Groove,” again featuring Elliott. It’s a clever splicing of Madonna’s 1980s dance classic “Into the Groove” and her 2003 single “Hollywood,” but the commercial overtones are off-putting. “Remixed & Revisited” has a flat ending, too, in a previously unreleased, dated-sounding “Your Honesty” from about a decade ago.
Still, “Remixed & Revisited” is a must-have for fans.
Rating: 3-1/2
Source: Commercialappeal.com