Erotica [PA] (CD - 1992)

Personnel: Madonna (vocals); Paul Pesco, Jerome Dickens (guitar); Danny Wilensky (saxophone); James "Sleepy Keys" Preston (piano); Joe Moskowitz (keyboards, drums, programming); Shep Pettibone (keyboards, sequencing, programming); Tony Shimkin (keyboards, sequencing, programming, drum programming, background vocals); Andre Betts (keyboards, strings, synthesizer, piano, bass, drums); Doug Wimbish (bass); Anton Fig (drums); Sander Selover (programming); Donna Delory, Niki Harris (background vocals).

Producers: Madonna, Shep Pettibone, Andre Betts.

Recorded at Mastermix and Sound Works, New York, New York.

Personnel: Madonna (vocals); Jerome Dickens, Paul Pesco (guitar); Andre Betts (strings, piano, keyboards, synthesizer, string synthesizer, drums, programming, drum programming); Danny Wilensky (saxophone); James Preston (piano, keyboards, string synthesizer); Jimmy Preston (piano); Joey Moskowitz (keyboards, drums, programming); Tony Shimkin (keyboards, programming, drum programming, background vocals); Shep Pettibone (keyboards, programming); Doug Wimbish (bass guitar); Anton Fig (drums); Sander Selover (programming); Donna De Lory, Nikki Harris (background vocals).

Audio Mixers: George Karras; Goh Hotoda.

Recording information: Clinton Recording, New York, NY; MasterMix; Mastermix, New York, NY; Sound Works, New York, NY.

Photographer: Steven Meisel.

Unknown Contributor Role: New York Philharmonic.

Arranger: Jeremy Lubbock.

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 (including the hit singles "Deeper and Deeper" and "Rain"), even if it runs a bit long. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Madonna released EROTICA around the same time she released her SEX book, and that's exactly what it sounds like. The title song has a sensuously static groove over which she commands, "Put your hands all over my body." "Where Life Begins" demands that you do something a whole lot more intimate (and quite unrepeatable here) to her. The CD booklet has a photo of Madonna in bondage. To get across the album's naughty feel, Madonna dispensed with the pop prettiness of LIKE A PRAYER and returned to her hard-core dance club roots.

She and co-producer Shep Pettibone, who had made his name as a club DJ and dance remixer, craft some alluring bad-girl grooves (catch the ocean-deep bass on "Waiting") while still managing to keep things catchy. "Deeper And Deeper" is celebratory dance-pop (with a brief Latin break that nods to the music's true roots) and "Rain" stands among Madonna's major ballads. There's a strange heaviness amidst the fun, games and bondage on EROTICA, which "In This Life" goes a long way toward explaining: it's about AIDS and homophobia. At her naughtiest and most R-rated, Madonna still carries a message, and it resonates well beyond the dance floor. minimize