Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: Madonna, American Life

12 years ago today, Madonna’s ninth studio album made it to the top of the UK charts, providing the singer with another platinum record to hang on her wall.

Released in 2003, American Life found Madonna collaborating with French DJ and producer Mirwais Ahmadzai, with the duo attempting to combine acoustic and electronic music and create something which wouldn’t sound like anything Madonna had ever done before, but the end result left many critics confused, although the majority did tend to concede that she was at least trying to do something different rather than rest on her many laurels. Unfortunately, her efforts to get political – starting with cover art which painted her as Che Guevara and continuing into the lyrics, which found the Material Girl mouthing off about greed in the single “Hollywood” – rankled some listeners.

In the end, it’s hard to complain about any album that tops both the UK and US charts, but when Madonna released a single that tops the dance charts but doesn’t even crack the Hot 100 – we’re talking not only about the aforementioned “Hollywood,” but also “Nothing Fails” and “Love Profusion” – it became clear that there was a major disconnect between the artist and her mainstream audience. Thankfully, her next effort, Confessions on a Dance Floor, remedied the problem and gave her another top-10 single with “Hung Up.”