From murmurs to reality, Confessions II is upon us. Years of online whispers – which typically mean nothing – have somehow inadvertently culminated in the creation of the sequel to Madonna’s 2005 classic Confessions on a Dance Floor. It’s the first sequel album she’s ever made – though in truth, Confessions II has, at points, nearly as much in common with albums like Ray of Light and Bedtime Stories as it does that 21-year-old disco classic.
What it does have in common, however, is Stuart Price. The man behind the boards of Confessions on a Dance Floor – which topped the Billboard 200 and produced the Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hit “Hung Up,” among other enduring dance classics – is back with Madonna after serving as the musical director on her career-retrospective Celebration Tour. (As he cagily explained to Billboard in 2023 of the renewed connection, “You measure a working relationship not by the gaps between but by how easily you pick up again from when you left off. As soon as we started to work together on this tour, the shorthand was there. We were able to create productively.”)
With a trusted collaborator at her side (among other producers), Madonna comfortably veers between insecurity and omnipotence, candor and camp, spiritual fortification and libidinous release on her most compelling release since, well, Confessions on a Dance Floor. (Madame X was fantastic, but c’mon, there’s no beating Madonna when she’s in the club.)
From two lifelong Queen of Pop acolytes, here’s our ranking of every song on Madonna’s Confessions II, from least to best.
The album makes its hardest turn into modern commercial dance music via this collaboration with Dutch mainstage mainstay Martin Garrix, who teams up with Madonna for a thumping track that seems to be about her ex-husband Sean Penn, the song's lyrical “movie star with deep blue eyes.” “He drove way too fast/Shelby Cobra wasn’t built to last,” Madonna sings on the track in an apparent reference to the Shelby GT500 she bought for Penn when they were together from 1985 to 1989, “Only love can be so bizarre.” While the song is well produced and certainly enticing in terms of subject matter, it’s cluttered with sonic ideas that almost get there but never fully gel. — KATIE BAIN