Erotica (Madonna Album) - Critical Reception

Critical Reception

Erotica received generally positive reviews from music critics. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic said, "While it didn't set the charts on fire like her previous albums, the ambitious Erotica contains some of Madonna's best and most accomplished music." Arion Berger of Rolling Stone gave the album four stars (out of five), writing that "Erotica is everything Madonna has been denounced for being — meticulous, calculated, domineering and artificial. It accepts those charges and answers with a brilliant record to prove them." David Browne of Entertainment Weekly was less positive, declaring that "Erotica may be the most joyless dance music ever made." While Berger praised the album's "cold, remote sound," Browne criticized Madonna's "soulless" voice. Kurt Loder likened the album to an iceberg. J. D. Considine of The Baltimore Sun stated that "what seems most surprising about the songs is that they find Madonna lusting for love, not panting after sex." Hot Press said that "for now, however, the title tune and 'Bye Bye Baby' probably best represent the new album, with Madonna still selling her little-girl-lost voice, and sexually, still living in the shadow of Marilyn Monroe." Michael R. Smith of The Daily Vault was positive on his review, stating that "the most remarkable aspect of Erotica is how transparent and free Madonna sounds. It serves as a fascinating glimpse into a celebrity who is attempting to come to terms with all aspects of her life."

Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine called Erotica "Madonna at her most important, at her most relevant." Yahoo! Music editor John Myers stated that the album "is musically some of Madonna's best work. Representing a time where she was at the top of her craft, this album offers intelligent insight into the taboos we've been taught to be afraid to speak of. Combined with equally clever musical arrangements, this one's a must have for any Madonna fan." Writing for The New York Times in October 1992, Stephen Holden said that "Erotica differs from Madonna's previous albums is in the number of songs that have an almost dogmatic ring. In song after song she embodies a sexually self-determining woman who, though desirous of male attention, is not about to be victimized by male power games. And in the two most sexually graphic songs, she pointedly turns the table and plays the role of aggressor." Stylus Magazine said that "each dance track emits its own idiosyncratic energy; there are more unexpected textures on Erotica than on any other Madonna album Erotica too sophisticated for a mainstream besotted with The Bodyguard and a college-radio claque eager to praise R.E.M.'s opaque dirges for the wisdom that Madonna's club fodder showed with less fuss and with a better rhythm section." In 2010, an MTV News blog wrote, "Because the content is so obsessed with sex, the music on Erotica often gets short shrift, but it's one of the strongest albums of Madonna's career."