Erotica (Madonna album)
Erotica is the fifth studio album by American singer Madonna, released on October 20, 1992, by Maverick and Sire Records. The album was released simultaneously with Madonna's first book publication Sex, a coffee table book containing explicit photographs of the singer, and marked her first release under Maverick, her own multimedia entertainment company. For the album, the singer enlisted Shep Pettibone and André Betts, with whom she had collaborated on 1990's "Vogue" and The Immaculate Collection.
Erotica
October 20, 1992
1991–1992
Clinton Recording, Mastermix, Soundworks (New York)
75:24
- Madonna
- Shep Pettibone
- André Betts
In mid-1991, Pettibone sent Madonna a three-track demo; she listened to the songs and liked all of them. Afterwards, the two met in New York City to start working on more music. The singer would write the melodies and lyrics on top of the music Pettibone produced in the style of his previous remixes. Erotica has been noted as a concept album about sex and romance in times of HIV/AIDS, with songs that touch "unpleasant" themes such as S&M and homophobia. Additionally, it marked a departure of the dance-oriented nature of Madonna's previous works, incorporating elements of hip-hop, house, techno, and new jack swing.
Upon release, it received generally favorable reviews from critics, who regarded it as one of Madonna's most adventurous albums. Some, however, felt the music was overshadowed by its sexual themes. Commercially, it was less successful than Madonna's previous endeavors; it peaked at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, becoming her first studio album not to top the chart since her debut. Internationally, it reached the first spot in Australia, Finland, and France, and peaked within the top five of several other countries such as Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom. Erotica was later certified double-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has sold more than six million copies worldwide.
Six singles were released from the album, including the title track and "Deeper and Deeper", both of which reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100. The album was supported by the Girlie Show, Madonna's fourth concert tour, which visited cities in Europe, the Americas, Australia, and Asia in 1993. Somewhat overlooked at the time of its release in part due to the backlash surrounding the Sex book, Erotica has been retrospectively considered one of Madonna's most important albums, as well as one of the most revolutionary of all time by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Many critics have since noted influence of Erotica in works by contemporary female artists such as Janet Jackson to Beyoncé.
Background[edit]
On April 21, 1992, it was reported that Madonna had teamed up with Time Warner Inc. to form Maverick, a multi-media entertainment company.[1] Maverick consisted of a record company, a film production company, and associated music publishing, television broadcasting, book publishing and merchandising divisions.[1] The deal paid the singer an advance of $60 million, and gave her 20% royalties from the music proceedings, one of the highest rates in the industry, equaled at that time only by Michael Jackson's royalty rate established a year earlier with Sony.[1] Madonna described Maverick as "the perfect marriage of art and commerce", further adding that she envisioned it as an "artistic think tank", and likened it to a cross between the German arts institute Bauhaus, and Andy Warhol's The Factory; "it started as a desire to have more control. There's a group of writers, photographers, directors and editors that I've met along the way in my career who I want to take with me everywhere I go. I want to incorporate them into my little factory of ideas", she explained.[1][2] The first two projects from the venture were Madonna's fifth studio album, and a coffee table book depictng her "erotic fantasies", titled Sex.[1][3]
Madonna described the album as "soulful, with a jazzy undertone and lot of beatnik-style poetry in it".[2] Titled Erotica, the record saw the singer reunited with producer Shep Pettibone, with whom she had previously collaborated on "Vogue", and "Rescue Me" from The Immaculate Collection (1990).[3][4] Alongside Pettibone, Madonna enlisted help from producer André Betts, who previously co-produced "Justify My Love" from The Immaculate Collection.[5] She was interested to work with Pettibone and Betts due to their ability to remain plugged into the dance underground; "they come from opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of their music style and approach to music, but they're both connected to the street and they're still young and hungry".[6]
Composition[edit]
Sounds and themes[edit]
Author J. Randy Taraborrelli described Erotica as a "melting pot of nineties urban music ― burgeoning hip-hop and house, partnered with a more conventional synthesizer-based rhythm and blues".[17] It is a dance album that incorporates elements from classic disco, modern house, techno, and New Jack Swing.[5][18] Additionally, it marked a departure from the "four-on-the-floor disco romp that listeners came to expect from [Madonna]", focusing instead on "heavy, cold [...] difficult and unpleasant" themes such as homophobia, queerness, female sex and sexuality, "not only in the hottest moments of physical relationships, but in their darker, more intimate instances, particularly in relation to the growing AIDS crisis", as noted by the Portland Mercury's Jeni Wren Strottup.[19][20][21] It has been referred to as a concept album about looking for romance in a post-AIDS era.[22][18][23]
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.[11]