Madonna skips church for a more familiar place to make her Confessions. These 12 songs, played in a continous mix as if they were the setlist at the local disco, are for the Dance Floor. Stuart Price is the DJ and his music is brilliant. The problem is that it outshines the star.

“You can love me or leave me,” she sings under the mirrorball, “I’m never gonna stop.” She should’ve stopped for this album. Her middling melodies do little more than drag the quality down. Confessions would be better as an instrumental, in other words, without Madonna.

Her New York City dedication reads like elementary school poetry. “I like New York,” it goes, “Other places make me feel like a dork.” What better place for such Earth-shattering confessions than the dance floor, where lyrics/vocals take a back step to the rhythm of the beat.

my rating : 3 of 5

2005