Confessions II – The American Reviews
Separated by the Ocean, the Americas have just felt asleep while Europe is recovering from the Confessions II album release booze (Oceania, Asia and Africa had their own first listening ahead, but – as more than someone noticed – they feel somehow left out from the global rollout).
The UK press had the chance to be the first to publish their reviews of Madonna’s fifteenth studio album yesterday morning, while the new opus was still under embargo elsewhere. Europe followed on the stroke of midnight – with MadonnaTribe‘s own you can read here. Now it’s the turn of the North American media.
Just like yesterday, major publications universally call Confessions II Madonna’s best and most cohesive album in 20 years, highly praising its non-stop club mix structure matched with unexpected – or maybe not – emotional vulnerability.
Confessions II is currently ranked 83 at Metacritic based on 9 full album reviews.
Billboard: 21 years after Confessions on a Dance Floor, Madonna returns to the club.
Katie Bain and Joe Lynch rank all the album tracks, from Bizarre ft. Martin Garrix to Good For The Soul
- With a trusted collaborator at her side (among other producers), Madonna comfortably veers between insecurity and omnipotence, candor and camp, spiritual fortification and libidinous release on her most compelling release since, well, Confessions on a Dance Floor
Rolling Stone: Madonna Finds a Nonstop Groove on Her Best Album in 20 Years
Review by Rob Sheffield, 4 stars out of 5
- On Confessions II, pop’s queen of queens shows how dramatic and ecstatic a dance floor can be
Variety: Madonna’s Dance Floor-Dominating ‘Confessions II’ Is Her Best Album in Decades: Album Review
Review by Steven J. Horowitz (unrated)
- An album sequel, by some counts, can be an attempted reclamation of past glory, a way to harness the goodwill of a great record and replicate it for legacy’s sake. To its credit, Confessions II does a commendable job of evoking the spirit of its predecessor without parroting it. (…) It is a reminder that while the old Madonna may be long gone, Madonna is still here, reigning over the dance floor as though a second hasn’t ticked by
Pitchfork: Madonna – Confessions II Album Review
Reader score: 8.2/10
- Madonna’s back in peak form with a fresh and honest dance record that’s not only her best in 20 years, but a genuinely vital addition to her canon.
Slant: Madonna ‘Confessions II’ Review: Revelations on a Dance Floor
Review by Eric Henderson, 4,5 stars out of 5
- Madonna’s most focused effort in decades, the album earns its nostalgia by prioritizing it
Shatter the Standards: Album Review: Confessions II by Madonna
Review by Shatter the Standard and Charlotte Rochel, 4 stars out of 5
- Reunited with Stuart Price two decades on, Madonna runs the nonstop mix through grief, exes, and pre-fame New York. Her best album since the original
People Magazine: Madonna Proves the Dance Floor Isn’t Dead on Transcendent Confessions II, Her Best Album in Decades
Review by Jeff Nelson (unrated)
- Confessions II is an epic aural odyssey that celebrates dance music’s history — and Madonna’s own iconic career
