Madonna-Musical style and influences

"Madonna-Musical style and influences"

As an artist, Madonna's music has been the subject of much scrutiny among critics. Author Robert M. Grant comments in his book Contemporary Strategy Analysis (2005), wrote that what has brought her success is "[c]ertainly not outstanding natural talent. As a vocalist, musician, dancer, songwriter, or actress, Madonna's talents seem modest." He asserts Madonna's success lies in relying on the talents of others and that her personal relationships have served as cornerstones to the numerous reinventions in the longevity of her career. Conversely, Rolling Stone magazine has named Madonna "an exemplary songwriter with a gift for hooks and indelible lyrics, and a better studio singer than her live spectacles attest." She has been called "the perfect vocalist for lighter-than-air songs", despite not being a "heavyweight talent."

In 1985, Madonna commented that the 1st song to ever make a strong impression on her was "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" by Nancy Sinatra and that it summed up her "take-charge attitude." As a young woman, Madonna attempted to broaden her taste in literature, art, and music, and during this time became interested in classical music. Madonna noted that her favorite style was baroque, and loved Mozart and Chopin because she liked their "feminine quality". In 1999, Madonna identified musical influences that impacted her such as Debbie Harry, Karen Carpenter, The Supremes and Led Zeppelin, and dancers like Martha Graham and Rudolf Nureyev. In a 2006 interview with The Observer, Madonna cited her current musical interests, which included Detroit natives The Raconteurs and The White Stripes, as well as New York band The Jett Set.

Madonna's Catholic background and relationship with her parents were reflected in the album Like a Prayer. It is also an evocation of the impact religion had on her career. Madonna's video for the title track contains Catholic symbolism, such as the stigmata. During The Virgin Tour, she wore a rosary and also prayed with it in the music video for "La Isla Bonita". Madonna also referred to her Italian heritage in her work. The video for "Like a Virgin", features Venetian settings. The "Open Your Heart" video sees her boss scolding her in Italian. In Ciao, Italia! - Live from Italy, the video release of her Who's That Girl Tour, she dedicates the song "Papa Don't Preach" to the Pope ("Papa" is the Italian word for "Pope".)

During her childhood, Madonna was inspired by actors, later saying, "I loved Carole Lombard and Judy Holliday and Marilyn Monroe. They were all incredibly funny...and I saw myself in them...my girlishness, my knowingness and my innocence". Her "Material Girl" music video recreated Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, and she later studied the screwball comedies of the 1930s, particularly those of Lombard, in preparation for her film Who's That Girl. The video for "Express Yourself" (1989) was inspired by Fritz Lang's silent film Metropolis (1927). The video for "Vogue" recreated the style of Hollywood glamour photographers, in particular Horst P. Horst, and imitated the poses of Marlene Dietrich, Carole Lombard and Rita Hayworth, while the lyrics referenced many of the stars who had inspired her, including Bette Davis, described by Madonna as an idol, along with Louise Brooks and Dita Parlo.

Influences also came to her from the art world, most notably through the works of artist Frida Kahlo. Madonna's 1995 music video to "Bedtime Story" featured images inspired by the paintings of Kahlo and Remedios Varo. Her 2003 video to "Hollywood" was a homage to the work of photographer Guy Bourdin although it sparked a lawsuit by Bourdin's son, due to the unauthorised use of his father's work. Other new-age artists like Andy Warhol was the inspiration behing the music videos for "Erotica" and "Deeper and Deeper". Warhol's usage of S&M imagery in his underground films were reflected in these videos. Madonna even enacted Warhol's one-time muse Edie Sedgwick in "Deeper and Deeper".

Madonna joined the Jewish mystic religion Kabbalah in 1994 after the release of her album Bedtime Stories. She has spoken about the influence of the religion on her and donated millions of dollars for schools based on the religion, around New York and London. In 2004, she changed her name to Esther, which in Hebrew means "star". However, her immersion in Kabbalah caused a furor and she faced opposition from Rabbis who called Madonna's joining the religion as sacrilegious and a case of celebrity dilettanism. Madonna defended her Kabbalah studies by stating it "would be less controversial if I joined the Nazi Party" and that the Kabbalah is "not hurting anybody." The religion went on to influence Madonna's music, especially albums like Ray of Light and Music. It made an appearance in her 2004 Re-Invention World Tour where at one point of the show, Madonna and her dancers wore t-shirts that read "Kabbalists Do It Better.