In the early half of the 1990’s Madonna faced a challenge, after delivering her Erotica album in 1992, releasing the controversial art book Sex and starring in the erotic thriller Body of Evidence and the arthouse film Dangerous Game, audiences and critics had begun to accuse the singer of being too sexual, too provocative and pushing the envelope too much.
For her sixth album Madonna sought a reinvention, something that had already become the trademark of her career longevity. For her next album it would different. The singer opted to work with a wide range of new collaborators, explore different musical styles and take on a new look.
Ahead of the album Madonna scored a hit with I’ll Remember a delicate ballad created for the film With Honors. The film was the directorial debut for Alex Keshishian who had directed her successful tour documentary Truth or Dare: In Bed with Madonna. As Madonna heading into the studio for album number six, more ballads were definitely on the agenda.
Initially she began working with producer Shep Pettibone, they’d previously had success with her now iconic song Vogue and he’d been behind most of the tracks on her Erotica album. Madonna felt that their initial sessions were too similar to their previous output, and Pettibone was moved on.
Secret was one of the songs they’s started work on, but Madonna brought in producer Dallas Austin to develop the song further. Austin had produced the debut album from TLC as well as tunes for Joi, After 7 and Hi Five.
The sparse track filled with acoustic guitar, and hip-hop beats was a new sound for Madonna, but she also released a series of dance mixes from DJ Junior Vasquez that took the tune to the dance floor. It served as the lead single from the album.
Working with producers from RnB and hip-hop field would be a key focus of the new album. Madonna also reached out to British producers who had been at the forefront of the growth of dub and trip hop music.
Madonna teamed up with Babyface having been a big fan of his song When Can I See You, and admired his work with Whitney Houston, Boyz II Men and Toni Braxton. Together they worked on three tracks, two of them making the final cut for the record.
Craig Armstrong was involved in creating the string arrangements for the orchestra. Armstrong would go on to have his own success as a classical composer and deliver many film soundtracks in the following decades.
Take a Bow would become one of the most luscious ballads of Madonna’s career, and it came with a memorable video romanticising bullfighting.
Madonna also worked with Nellee Hooper and Marius De Vries who had previously crafted hits for Massive Attack, Soul II Soul and Bjork.
Madonna was interested in collaborating with Bjork, but the Icelandic artist was not enthused. Instead, she provided a song for Madonna originally titled Let’s Get Unconscious. The demo was reworked and became the album’s title track Bedtime Story.
Bjork developed her own version of the song called Sweet Institution which appears on the B-side of her Army of Me single.
For the video for the track Madonna collaborated with director Mark Romanek. With a reported budget of $5 million, at the time it was one of the most expensive videos every created. Romanek took inspiration from the Frida Kahlo painting My Birth, which Madonna owns., as well as works from many other surrealist artists.
With Human Nature Madonna made a statement about the backlash against her recent more sexually provocative work.
Written with RnB producer Dave Hall, it samples the song What You Need by Main Source subsequently giving Shawn McKenzie, Kevin McKenzie and Michael Deering the writers of that track a credit.
The song is seen as a bold statement about feminism, and it’s been a signature tune for Madonna who has included it most of her subsequent live shows. The song thematically links with Madonna’s earlier hit Express Yourself and latter song Unapologetic Bitch.
The tracks video which features Madonna and dancers in bondage gear was created by Jean-Baptiste Mondino. The release of the track as a single also included a stack of remixes by Danny Tenaglia that took the track to the dancefloor.
Elsewhere on the album Madonna collaborated with Meshell Ndegeocello on the track I’d Rather Be Your Lover. Ndegeocello’s debut album had been released the previous year and she was signed to Maverick, the record label founded by Madonna, manager Freddy DeMann and Veronica Dashev.
Originally the song was a collaboration with rapper Tupac Shakur who Madonna had been dating during the recording of the album, but his contribution was nixed after he was accused of sexual assault.
Another interesting moment on the album is the track Sanctuary which sampled Watermelon Man by Herbie Hancock. Jazz legend Grant Green and soul outfit The Isley Brothers are also sampled on the album.
Bedtime Stories was a great success for Madonna earning her the top spot on the Australian album chart. It went to number three in the USA and number two in the UK.
After the success of Bedtime Stories Madonna would continue in a similar vein releasing the ballad collection Something to Remember the following year which brought together slower songs from across her career to date alongside new trans which saw her team up with Massive Attack and producer David Foster.
She then headed off to work on the feature film version of the musical Evita and fans would not get a new studio album from Madonna until 1998 when she returned with Ray of Light and a whole new reinvention in sound, looks and values.
