True Blue (album)

Infobox Album |
Name = True Blue
Type = Album
Artist = Madonna


Released = June 30, 1986
May 21, 2001 (Remastered)
Recorded = 1985 - 1986
Genre = Pop, Dance
Length = 40:25
Label = Sire, Warner Bros.
Producer = Madonna, Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard
Album Certification = 7x Platinum
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:lsjw7i3jg75r link]
*Robert Christgau (B) [http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=madonna link]
*Rolling Stone (Positive) [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/madonna/albums/album/311318/review/6067650/true_blue link] |
Last album = "Like a Virgin"
(1984)
This album = "True Blue"
(1986)
Next album = "Who's That Girl"
(1987)
Misc = Extra album cover 2
Upper caption = Alternate cover
Type = studio


Lower caption = Alternate cover without artist-title textSingles
Name = True Blue
Type = Studio
single 1 = Live to Tell
single 1 date = March 26, 1986
single 2 = Papa Don't Preach
single 2 date = June 11, 1986
single 3 = True Blue
single 3 date = September 29, 1986
single 4 = Open Your Heart
single 4 date = November 12, 1986
single 5 = La Isla Bonita
single 5 date = February 25, 1987

"True Blue" is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on June 30, 1986 by Sire Records. On its release, it reached number one in twenty-eight countries, an achievement that "The Guinness Book of World Records" called "totally unprecedented." The RIAA certified it Gold, Platinum & Double Platinum on September 8th 1986 and 7.00× Multi Platinum in February 9th 1995 [http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH_RESULTS] , recognizing seven million shipments in the United States - which makes it her third best-selling album there. [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/search/google/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001015119] In 2001, Warner Bros. released a remastered version with two bonus remix tracks. Worldwide, the album has sold at least twenty-five million copies to date.

Album history

For this album, Madonna continued to collaborate with Stephen Bray, and began to work with Patrick Leonard. Unlike "Madonna" and "Like a Virgin," Madonna wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, although writing involvement on some songs such as "Papa Don't Preach" and "Open Your Heart" was limited to adding lyrics. She is also credited with co-producing every track. The album was recorded in late 1985 and early 1986, during the first year of Madonna's marriage to American actor Sean Penn. She dedicated the album to Penn, "the coolest guy in the universe."

The album's second single, "Papa Don't Preach," was surrounded by controversy due to its message about a young woman who tells her father that she is pregnant out of wedlock, but is going to keep her baby. Madonna's love for the Golden Age of Hollywood can be seen in the Jimmy Cagney tribute, "White Heat," which features a sample from the ending of the film "White Heat" (Raoul Walsh, 1949). Track four on the album, "Live to Tell," was originally recorded as the theme to the film "At Close Range", and was released as a single before the album was released. Originally intended as the first single, "Love Makes the World Go Round" closes the album and was first performed at Live Aid a year earlier in July 1985.

"Spotlight" was considered for inclusion on the album but was cut at the last minute. It was later released on the 1987 remix compilation "You Can Dance" as an extended version. The song was also released as a single in Japan on April 25, 1988.

The album cover, shot by photographer Herb Ritts, is one of Madonna's most recognizable pictures. It features a picture of Madonna from the neck up; the main colors in the picture are gray, white and various shades of blue to reinforce the album's title. The album cover is actually a cropped image of a longer picture including torso which was included as a poster with some releases of the album. Also, some runs of the cover image do not include the artist-title text.

In 1986, the album won a Juno Award in Canada for Best International Album. In 1987 it won two American Music Awards.

Madonna has performed nearly all the songs on her world tours:
* "Papa Don't Preach," "Open Your Heart," "White Heat," "Live To Tell," "Where's The Party," "True Blue," and "La Isla Bonita" on her 1987 Who's That Girl Tour.
* "Open Your Heart," "Where's the Party," "Live to Tell," and "Papa Don't Preach" on the 1990 Blond Ambition Tour.
* "La Isla Bonita" on her 1993 Girlie Show, 2001 Drowned World Tour, 2006 Confessions Tour and 2008 Sticky & Sweet Tour.
* "Papa Don't Preach" on her 2004 The Re-Invention Tour.
* "Live to Tell" and "La Isla Bonita"on her 2006 Confessions Tour.
* "La Isla Bonita"on her 2008 Sticky & Sweet Tour.

Musical elements of "Open Your Heart" were included in the introduction to "Nobody's Perfect" on her 2001 Drowned World Tour, and a sample of "Where's the Party" was included in the song "Music Inferno" performed at her 2006 Confessions Tour.

"Jimmy, Jimmy" is the only track from the album to have never been performed live thus far in Madonna's career.

In 2001, "True Blue" was remastered and re-released with two bonus tracks, remixes of the hit singles "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita".

Critical response

"True Blue" received mixed reviews from critics. Music critics were less than impressed with the album's ending, but did praise the fact that Madonna's voice sounded stronger than it did on her previous efforts. Stephen Holden, in a review for The New York Times, said that "her singing, which has been harshly criticized as a thin imitation of the sixties girl-group sound, has strengthened," [ [http://www.madonnavillage.com/work/albums/trueblue.html http://www.madonnavillage.com/work/albums/trueblue.html] "Madonnavillage.com" ] and in a "Rolling Stone" review, Davitt Sigerson stated that Madonna was "singing better than ever."

The album's songs were called "catchy," but Sigerson in his review commented on the lack of outstanding songs. Forgetting about this comment, he later stated that "True Blue" is a "sturdy, dependable, lovable new album" which "remains faithful to her past while shamelessly rising above it." [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/311318/rid/6067650/ http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/_/id/311318/rid/6067650/] "Rollingstone.com"]

Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a review for Allmusic, named the album as the record that made Madonna a superstar. He also calls it "one of the great dance-pop albums, a record that demonstrates Madonna's true skills as a songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun." [ [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:lsjw7i3jg75r http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:lsjw7i3jg75r] "Allmusic.com" ]

While Madonna's first two albums have occasionally been seen as throwaway to some, True Blue was the first to be recognized as a classic album. In his guide to Madonna, Ricky Gardiner argues that it should be considered in any album-of-the-1980s list, whilst worldwide sales make it her second biggest seller after The Immaculate Collection. It also remains her only album to date to spawn multiple number one singles in the USA ("Papa Don't Preach," "Open Your Heart," "Live To Tell"). "Where's the Party," despite not being released as a single, became a dance hit and a fan and concert favourite, and was later remixed for "You Can Dance".

Track listing

¹Contains an audio sample from the 1949 film of the same name

Certifications, peaks & sales

Album credits

Personnel

*Madonna - vocals, background vocals
*Dave Boroff - saxophone
*Stephen Bray - drums, keyboard
*Keithen Carter - background vocals
*Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
*Bruce Gaitsch - guitar, electric guitar, rhythm guitar
*Siedah Garrett - background vocals
*Dann Huff - guitar
*Jackie Jackson - background vocals
*Paul Jackson Jr. - guitar
*Edie Lehmann - background vocals
*Patrick Leonard - drums, keyboard
*Richard Marx - background vocals
*Bill Meyers - strings
*Jonathan Moffett - percussion, drums, background vocals
*John Putnam - acoustic guitar, guitar, electric guitar
*David Williams - guitar, rhythm guitar, background vocals
*Fred Zarr - keyboard

Production

*Producers: Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard, Madonna
*Engineers: Michael Hutchinson, Michael Verdick
*Mixing: Dan Nebenzal, Michael Verdick
*Mixing assistant: Dan Nebenzal
*Drum programming: Stephen Bray, Patrick Leonard
*String arrangements: Billy Meyers

Design

*Art direction: Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff, Jeri McManus
*Design: Jeri McManus
*Photography: Herb Ritts

References

External links

*MusicBrainz album|id=21a9c836-6abb-4085-8952-8cd0d9ef2a1a|name =True Blue
*MusicBrainz album|id=2d2d8d8a-dc14-416b-bed1-10aa7b8c1095|name =True Blue (Remastered)

succession box
before = "Top Gun (soundtrack)"
by Various Artists
title = "Billboard" 200 number-one album
years = August 16, 1986 - September 19, 1986
after = "Dancing on the Ceiling" by Lionel Richiesuccession box
before = "Invisible Touch" by Genesis
title = UK number one album
years = July 12, 1986 – August 22, 1986
after = "Now That's What I Call Music 7"
by Various Artistssuccession box
before = "Whitney Houston" by Whitney Houston
title = Australian Kent Music Report number-one album
years = August 4, 1986 – August 17, 1986
after = "1986 Just for Kicks" by Various artists