The set begins with three hits from her debut album, of which Holiday is the best but Lucky star and Borderline are also wonderful. Then come Like a virgin and Material girl, two of the singles released from her outstanding second album. Crazy for you, an excellent ballad, and Into the groove, a superb dance song, come next. Although the title track is omitted, four other major hits from the True blue album (Live to tell, Papa don't preach, Open your heart, La Isla Bonita) can be found here, each one of them a classic but very different from each other. Three major hits from Like a prayer include Express yourself and Cherish. Vogue (from I'm breathless) and two tracks not available on any previous album (Justify my love, Rescue me) complete the set.

Anybody who does not understand why Madonna has such a huge fan base only has to listen to this compilation to find out why. Catchy pop tunes with interesting lyrics (for those that bother to listen to the words) are Madonna's trademark, yet she manages to avoid becoming formulaic. Madonna has continuously changed her style, so you don't hear the same sound over and over again.

There is no definitive Madonna compilation yet but we may have to wait a few years for that. Until that time, this is the best introduction to her music that is available.


Good...but the originals are better   January 4, 2000
 35 out of 39 found this review helpful

While The Immaculate Collection is a solid CD, it could have (and should have) been much better. For one thing, the songs on this disc all sound much better on their original albums, particulary "Holiday" and "Lucky Star" (two of my favorites)both of which were cut by two full minutes in the included version. If you like those songs, buy her self-titled debut instead, as it features the complete versions of those songs and more superb material. The other major problem is that this collection is woefully incomplete. At the time of this disc's release, Madonna had 24 hit songs(more in Europe) to her credit, but just 15 found their way onto this disc(that's only 63%!)and the omissions include some of her best work ("Dress You Up", "Angel", "Who's That Girl", & "Causing a Commotion", all top 5 hits, come to mind). This disc really should've been released as a double-album and featured the album versions over the QSound remixes, plus all the omissions. Unfortunately, If you want the best of Madonna in one place, you'll need several CDs plus a blank tape.


A FULL CD of Great Madonna Music   January 23, 2000
 18 out of 21 found this review helpful

This album, now ten years old, is still a great listen. Even though Madonna is the queen of shock, she still has a lot of God given talent to write and sing songs. This collection shows that. I've read reviews that say she didn't put all of her hits onto this album, but how could she? She has had too many great songs for one CD and she was smart to put the best ones on it making it cheaper to buy as a single disc.

Lots of the songs here are remade from the original and I think they are all better than the originals except "Into The Groove", which was better as the original. Two new songs found a home including "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me", both being good songs. "Justify My Love", was the song that brought Madonna into her "Sex" era of the early 90's. The song was good but had some contraversial lyrics and the video was banned from MTV because of some nudity. Overall though this album is an excellent value and I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to her Madonna of the 1980s.


Madonna's Greatest Hit's Album from the 80's!   March 15, 2002
 15 out of 17 found this review helpful

The Immaculate Collection delivers all the main hits by Madonna from the early 80's to aroung 1990. Although there are still a few hits missing ("Dress You Up," "Who's That Girl,"etc...), the Immaculate Collection delivers the goods. The cd starts out with the early 80's hit "Holiday" a nice, fun song, with a very happy beat. There is also the sorta bubble gum poppish sounding song- "Lucky Star" on the album. Madonna's hit "Borderline" which is also featured on first self-titled album, is a song about love. "Live a Virgin" the controversial song with a very controversial performance at the 1984 Video Music Awards is sure to get you into a good mood. "Into the Groove" which appeared on Madonna's movie, Desperately Seeking Susan, is sure to make you get into the groove for dancing. The slow, but powerful songs inlude "Live to Tell" and "Crazy For You". As the cd continues Madonna's voice sounds more mature and her songs start focusing more on sex. The hip song "Express Yourself" which has a steamy music video (not included on the Immaculate Collection, unfortunately:( ) has a good dance beat. There is the very elegant lady-like song "Vogue" the 1990 hit is featured on the Collection. There are two extra, experimental songs featured on the album- "Justify My Love" and "Rescue Me". "Justify My Love" well...what can I say about it? Madonna'a sexy whispering voice creates the perfect sound and pulls off this song. The music video for "Justify My Love" was banned from MTV and VH1 for so much sexual and homosexual content. "Rescue Me" has a very disco, 70's ish feel to it.

Madonna was still hot in the 90's, but I personally like her beginning sounds much better. I liked how she constantly changed her image all the time, never knowing what she would do next to create controversiary.

The Immaculate Collection is by one of Madonna'a greatest albums out there. It is filled with the 80's hits by Madonna which will please everyone. I highly recommend this cd! Buy it! You won't be disappointed!


MADONNA, THE IMMACULATE   June 22, 2002
 14 out of 24 found this review helpful

Not a word is inncorrect. Madonna is the biggest pop star to ever roam the face of the earth (Elvis, Beatles etc...aren't POP stars). She's sold 160,000,000 albums; more than any other female artist in the history of the music charts, had 10 UK No.1s singles and 7 UK No.1 albums - more than twice the amount of any other female artist in chart history, a staggering 615,000,000 in the kitty, a worldwide fanbase estimated at 450,000,000 and more Top 10 UK singles than Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Kylie Minogue, Cher, Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross, Britney Spears, Tina Turner and Janet Jackson. She is the Queen of Pop, she is a legendary icon...she is Madonna. The Immacualte Collection is Madonna's biggest selling album (22,000,000 shifted since November 1st 1990). It features an array of hit singles from 1983 - 1990 and features 5 UK No.1 singles. It kicks of with the ultimate dance singles of 1983 and 1984; Holiday (UK No.6) and Lucky Star (UK No.14). We then move onto Borderline (UK No.53). All three singles were taken from Madonna's debut album, Madonna (1983, UK No.37) which has managed to sell 8,000,000 since 1983. Madonna wasn't really well known at this stage...but all that was to change with the release of her second album Like A Virgin (1984,UK No.1). Track 4 on The Immacualte Collection is Like A Virgin (UK No.3) in which the foxy, little minx prances aroung Venice on a gondola and Track 5 is Material Girl (UK No.3) in which she re-inacts a scene from Marilyn Monroe's classic film, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. The Like A Virgin album sold 20,000,000 and made Madonna a worldwide pop phenomenon. Crazy For You (UK No.2) follows Material Girl. It was taken from the film, Vision Quest. The soundtrack however, became more memorable than the film itself!!! It features on no Madonna albums. Into The Groove (UK No.1) was Madonna's first UK No.1. It was taken from the film Desperately Seeking Susan in which she starred. The highly-anticipated release of Madonna's third album, True Blue (1986, UK No.1) featured some of Madonna's best known classics such as Live To Tell (UK No.2), Papa Don't Preach (UK No.1), Open Your Heart (UK No.4) and La Isla Bonita (UK No.1). True Blue has sold 19,000,000 to date. Madonna took most of 1988 off to record her fourth studio album, Like A Prayer (1989, UK No.1). Up until now, the critics were always quick to dismiss Madonna as a "one-hit-wonder". They were proved wrong with the release of the single, Like A Prayer (UK No.1). It is considered Madonna's greatest single and ranked 4th in the 100 Greatest No.1 Singles of All Time. Madonna signed a $5 million deal with Pepsi to do an advert that had to feature clips from the Like A Prayer video. It was the day before the premiere of the video when Madonna said to Pepsi bosses, "you have seen the video, haven't you?" "No,why" replied the bosses. "Oh, you'll see!" she said. The next day, they did see...and a lot more than they wanted to!!! Madonna dancing in front of buring crosses and embracing with a black Jesus forced Pepsi to pull the advert. All hell broke loose when religious rights groups condemned Madonna - as did the Vatican!!! - who banned Madonna from ever entering Italy!!! Madonna got to keep the $5 million on which she spent on paintings by her favourite artist, Frida Kahlo!!! The controversy helped the album sell 13,000,000 and kick-started the mammoth 1990 Blonde Ambition World Tour in which she performed to more than 4,000,000 hardcore fans. Express Yourself (UK No.5) and Cherish (UK No.3) follow Like A Prayer on The Immacualte Collection. In April 1990, Madonna released Vogue (UK No.1). It remains her biggest single in the UK to date. Justify My Love (UK No.2) and Rescue Me (UK No.3) close The Immacualte Collection. The controversial, sexy, 18+ video to Justify My Love kick-started years of sexual antics from Madonna which included the album Erotica, the smash-hit book Sex, and the 1993 Girle Show Live Tour in which you HAD to be 15 to attend it...I got in and I was 13!!! Every CD collection in the world needs The Immacualte Collection. From the early dance days of Holiday and Lucky Star, to the platinum blonde Papa Don't Preach and Open Your Heart, to the controverisal Like A Prayer and the catwalk Vogue to the sex-packed Justify My Love, there is definitley something for everyone. Other Madonna albums I highly recommend are Ray of Light (1998, UK No.1), Music (2000, UK No.1), Erotica (1992, UK No.2), Like A Prayer (1989, UK No.1), Like A Virgin (1984,UK No.1) and Bedtime Stories (1994,UK No.2). These six albums have sold 70,000,000 between them!!!!
(I'm sorry if my incredibly vast knowledge on THE ultimate diva get's you frustrated, but it's been building up for so long, I just had to tell someone...what a better way than to start with the U.K!!!)