The Martin Solveig-produced single is not all that new to Madonna fans as an earlier version leaked a few months ago much to Madonna's dismay. The final cut of the song is pretty much the same track plus some polished raps of Nicki Minaj and M.I.A. who add some cross-over appeal to the song to conquer both pop and urban radio in the U.S.
Half-way through the video, Madonna makes a quick wardrobe change to meet her pals Minaj and M.I.A. in a downtown gentleman's club. They are laced up perfectly as Marilyn Monroe lookalikes, which is once again a clever nod to the "Material Girl" video and clearly an attempt by Madonna to poke some good fun at herself. There are a few other noteworthy references as well, including one to Madonna's Bay City upbringing with a big "M" for Michigan on the football players' jerseys. Also note the clever product placement of the Smirnoff voda brand that Madonna has an ongoing marketing partnership with.
After building a reputation for being controversial and pushing the envelope once in a while, it's surprising to see that Madonna decided to let the aesthetic of this video be guided by a mainstream, All-American sporting event. But then again, she's a savvy businesswoman and with the eyes of all of America on her half-time performance this Sunday, it only makes sense to fully leverage that opportunity to promote this new single.
Mixing up Stefani's "Hollback Girl," with Toni Basil's "Mickey" and Solveig's "Hello," "Give Me All Your Luvin'" may not be a giant artistic leap forward for Madonna, but this new musical baby is hella fresh, radio-ready and has a global appeal that helps usher in an exciting new phase in the icon's ever-evolving, unstoppable career.
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but after a while is nice.
When the "Give Me All Your Love" demo leaked in 2011, everyone had mixed feelings about the track as it sounds too reminiscent of other artists' sound (Avril Lavigne, Nicola Roberts, Gwen Stefani, etc...). It was catchy, upbeat and very radio-friendly. Having followed Madge's career since 1986, i was surprised and a bit unimpressed. Despite it having the uncanny vibe of her 1999 single Beautiful Stranger, the demo was somewhat safe-sounding to fail but too dismal to become a No.1 hit. Nevertheless, i had hoped for the track to evolve into a better song as it was still a "demo" at that time. I convinced myself it would be just like her BEAT GOES ON track (in Hard Candy) which leaked and got a new spin when it finally came off the album. Unfortunately, it wasn't the case with GMAYL.
When GIVE ME ALL YOUR LUVIN' was finally released on youtube, it still retained the general demo melody but with added raps from Nicki Minaj and M.I.A as the "major" changes. Madonna's voice is youthful yet contained and most of all, pleasant to listen to. The rappers add the supposed hip-hoppy flavour for the song to be noticed by the younger audience. But still, it wasn't ground-breaking to impact a non-Madonna fan. It was far too manufactured-pop to be the cutting-edge Madonna single that everyone was hungry for. Suspiciously, it could have been some last-minute output after the Superbowl deal was closed. No one can disagree that it was conceived to be the cheering anthem for a huge sports event. It was like a compromise for creativity in exchange for marketing mileage. Though parties have claimed it wasn't purposely structured for that event, the blatant theme of the colourful video says it all!
Much hype surrounded the single's release and was performed on the Superbowl quite successfully. The cheering done by Minaj and M.I.A actually helped for better retention as "L-U-V MADONNA" sticks to one's head while the track is on heavy rotation on the radio. All the fanfare paid off as the single went on to reach the No.10 slot on the Billboard charts on its second week, giving Madonna another deserved accomplishment. In the UK; however, it managed to debut and peak only at No.37 as it was initially given as an incentive to pre-order the up-coming album MDNA. Some consider it only as an excuse though and points to the fact that the single was actually not strong enough to gather much following amidst the wide exposure it got.
While i weep for the single sliding down, i can't help but wonder how Interscope could have allowed technicalities to harm it.
Why give GMAYL out as an incentive when MDNA would have gotten just the same amount of pre-orders by it's own merit?
And the bigger question is: WHERE ARE THE OFFICIAL REMIXES???
I have yet to see the date for the maxi-single release but by that time it would have been sent out, GMAYL is already a forgotten tune. Promotion could only do so much but the moment the essentials are taken for granted even an artist of Madonna's stature becomes vulnerable in the process.
On the hopeful side, it is still the 2nd Week of release. A lot of things can happen for the single yet. Whether it rises or dives, remains to be seen.
The verdict: Not-so-amazing song + hyped-up promotion - inept technical logic and distribution = MODEST SUCCESS (7/10).
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