\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
\n\tSix-and-a-half years into the 2020s, and we still hadn\u2019t gotten a new album from Madonna, from whom we last heard in full on 2019\u2019s Madame X<\/em> set. But on July 3, she finally returned, and with a sequel set to perhaps her most-beloved LP of this century to this point: Confessions II<\/em>, the follow-up to 2005\u2019s Confessions on a Dance Floor<\/em>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRelated\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tMadonna Achieves 10th No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 With \u2018CONFESSIONS\u00a0II\u2019\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tArtists With the Most No. 1 Albums on the Billboard 200: The Beatles, Madonna &\u00a0More\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \t\t\t\t\tMadonna\u2019s \u2018Confessions II\u2019: All 16 Tracks\u00a0Ranked\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n \n\tThis week, the set debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 (dated July 18), with an impressive total of 134,000 first-week equivalent album units in the United States, according to Luminate. That number marks Madonna\u2019s best first-week performance since 2012\u2019s MDNA<\/em> set, and includes her best single-week streaming numbers to date. As her 10th career No. 1 album on the chart, it also makes her one of just four artists to have achieved double-digit No. 1s on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200.<\/p>\n \n\tHow was she able to achieve such a head-turning first-week performance so deep into her legendary pop career? And what classic \u201900s album could be next to receive such a sequel? Billboard<\/em> staffers discuss these questions and more below. <\/p>\n 1.\u00a0Madonna\u2019s\u00a0Confessions II\u00a0<\/em>bows atop the Billboard 200 this week with 134,000 first-week units, her best single-week total since 2012\u2019s\u00a0MDNA<\/em>, including her best-ever streaming numbers. On a scale from 1-10, how big a deal do you think this is for\u00a0Madonna?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Chris Eggertsen<\/strong>: I\u2019m gonna go with 7. Madonna is a generation-spanning icon, and she certainly doesn\u2019t need any more hits; her legacy is secure. But after a lukewarm fan and critical reception to her last few albums,\u00a0Confessions II<\/em>\u00a0already feels like her\u00a0most beloved set since\u00a0Confessions on a Dance Floor<\/em>\u00a0dropped in 2005. It\u2019s arguably been more than 20 years since she\u2019s delivered an album that felt this creatively cohesive, reminding us of what made her such a compelling star at her height. Its warm embrace by fans, coupled with those solid first-week numbers, would be reason to celebrate for\u00a0any artist. For a legend like Madonna, it\u2019s icing on the cake.<\/p>\n Lyndsey Havens<\/strong>: 10! This immediately positive reception is delightful, exciting and well deserved. There were, of course, myriad facts that made a No. 1 debut feel like a lock \u2014 from\u00a0Madonna\u2019s star power and icon status to the\u00a0Confessions\u00a0<\/em>continuation \u2014 but there\u2019s a certain buzz surrounding this release that feels a bit surprising. That, to me, is almost a bigger deal when you consider this is\u00a0Madonna\u2019s 15th album.<\/p>\n Joe Lynch<\/strong>: 9. Not only did she hit No. 1, but she did so with a commanding total and, as you mention, her best-ever streaming week. According to Spotify, her daily first-time listeners on the platform increased 60% during release weekend (July 3-5), so it seems Confessions II <\/em>was fresh (or at least prodigal) fans as well. It\u2019s no secret I adored Madame X<\/em>, but it was a big question if\u00a0Madonna\u00a0would ever have another mainstream career triumph \u2013 this answered that.<\/p>\n Taylor Mims<\/strong>: I am going to land at 9. Album sales are great for any artist, and can get them further up the\u00a0Billboard 200 than streaming.\u00a0But,\u00a0whether we like it or not, streaming is where most people consume their music today (especially younger folks)\u00a0and for\u00a0Madonna\u00a0to see her best-ever streaming numbers\u00a0more than 40 years into her musical career is an amazing feat. It not only shows that her longtime fans are showing up, but that she is\u00a0likely bringing\u00a0in new listeners\u00a0who are playing this album on repeat.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Unterberger<\/strong>: An 8 feels about right. She\u2019s not blowing her most recent totals away, exactly, but to exceed them this late into her career \u2014\u00a0and with legitimate fan and critic excitement behind all of it \u2014\u00a0is a major accomplishment that proves listeners are still interested in Madonna as far more than a play-the-hits legacy act. As someone who\u2019s also preferred to move forward than backward \u2014 even if she had to do the latter a tiny bit this time in order to do the former \u2014\u00a0that\u2019s a huge win for Madonna.<\/p>\n 2. Obviously much of the hype around this album was tied to the branding of it as a sequel to 2005\u2019s\u00a0Confessions on a Dance Floor<\/em>, arguably\u00a0Madonna\u2019s most beloved album of the 21st century. Is that the biggest reason for the album\u2019s improved performance over her past two LPs, or do you see there being another bigger factor?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Chris Eggertsen<\/strong>: I was intrigued, but also dubious, when the title was announced, and I also feared the worst: That\u00a0Confessions II\u00a0<\/em>would be nothing more than a cynical grab at relevance, serving to highlight the artistic gulf between the Madonna of 2005 and the Madonna of today. Like so many others, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that the album is actually good, and ever since that first listen, I\u2019ve played it all the way through multiple times (like the original\u00a0Confessions<\/em>, one of its many strengths is the way it unfolds as a continuous mix, with each song bleeding seamlessly into the next). Do I think the \u201cConfessions\u201d branding helped drum up interest? No doubt. But the album\u2019s strength as a creative project is what kept people hitting play, and lifted it to the commercial heights it ultimately reached.<\/p>\n Lyndsey Havens<\/strong>: I definitely think that has contributed, but I think there are two bigger factors at play here \u2014 and the biggest is that the music is genuinely great. This isn\u2019t a nostalgia play or recycled tracks of years past; what\u00a0Madonna\u00a0delivered feels fresh and compelling. Then, when you consider what she\u2019s been up to lately \u2014 whether that\u2019s delivering a 10-minute guest set amid Sabrina Carpenter\u2019s headlining Coachella performance or later vibing to Anyma\u2019s desert gig like any regular raver \u2014 I think the cross-generational and even cross-genre interest in\u00a0Madonna\u00a0might just be at an all-time high.\u00a0<\/p>\n Joe Lynch<\/strong>: Depends what you mean. If you\u2019re talking about just \u201cbranding,\u201d I think the answer is mostly no. If she\u2019d called slapped a \u201cConfessions II\u201d title on\u00a0Rebel Heart<\/em>, I don\u2019t think it would have performed any differently than it did. Excitement snowballed here because these marvelous songs call back to\u00a0Confessions<\/em>\u00a0without rehashing it. The rollout of this record was also inventive and exciting \u2013 the right mix of eyebrow-raising moments (Grindr interview), inventive surprises (Times Square pop-up) and stunning visuals (Interview<\/em> mag). It proved an old-school rollout might be the hot new thing these days.<\/p>\n Taylor Mims<\/strong>: Confessions II<\/em>\u00a0being linked to one of\u00a0Madonna\u2019s best albums is definitely a positively contributing factor.\u00a0When fans love a piece of art, they want more of it and\u00a0Madonna\u00a0decided to\u00a0deliver. But rather than\u00a0immediately\u00a0remaking 2005\u2019s\u00a0Dance Floor\u00a0<\/em>or pulling together a collection of B-sides,\u00a0Madonna\u00a0waited more than 20 years to revisit the project and create something that was in conversation with that album, not just a cheap turnaround to cash in on the hype.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Unterberger<\/strong>: The Confessions<\/em> branding helped get the ball rolling for sure, but the reason the set is generating the buzz (and the numbers) that it is owes far more to the high-level nature of the rollout and the higher-level nature of the music attached. Would it have moved a few thousand units fewer if it had been titled Everybody Get Up and Dance<\/em>? Possibly, but it wouldn\u2019t really matter in the long-term. It\u2019s a hit because it\u2019s a hit. <\/p>\n 3. Does this album actually feel like a proper sequel to\u00a0Dance Floor<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 and does it really matter whether it does or not?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Chris Eggertsen<\/strong>: First, I think it does matter. If the new album had failed to share any DNA with\u00a0Dance Floor<\/em>, calling it\u00a0Confessions II<\/em>\u00a0would have felt like cheap,\u00a0surface-level branding. Luckily, it does feel like a proper sequel. Sonically, the albums are somewhat different:\u00a0Dance Floor\u00a0<\/em>is, as a whole, brighter and more radio-friendly than\u00a0Confessions II<\/em>, which has more of a reflective, downtempo sound, particularly in its back half. But thematically, both posit the dance floor as an almost spiritual realm, where one can process and even exorcise the past \u2014 or at the very least, transcend it for a sweaty evening. That thematic similarity establishes a vital connective tissue between the two albums that puts them in conversation with each other, \u00a0and makes the experience of listening to both of them richer.<\/p>\n Lyndsey Havens<\/strong>: Yes and no, and I think that\u2019s why it\u2019s working. It\u2019s not hitting listeners over the head or trying too hard to look back, but it\u2019s not a total sonic divergence \u2014 resulting in a project that feels equally connected to its past while existing on its own in the present and<\/em> staking its claim as a future Madonna fave.<\/p>\n Joe Lynch<\/strong>: Yes and yes. These songs are truly evocative of the mood, soundscapes, melodies and themes of Confessions, thanks in large part to the unique brand of dancefloor ecstasy she captures with Stuart Price. It worked not because it was called\u00a0Confessions II,<\/em>\u00a0but because it really was<\/em> a sequel to\u00a0Confessions on a Dance Floor. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n Taylor Mims<\/strong>: It absolutely matters. If an artist is going to invoke a beloved album, it needs to be for a good reason.\u00a0Madonna\u00a0fans are passionate and know her work through and through. She\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0call a collection a sequel and not expect her fans to\u00a0have the receipts.\u00a0That being said,\u00a0Confessions<\/em>\u00a0feels like a sequel that opens on a black screen that simply reads, \u201c20 years later\u2026\u201d\u00a0The dance music of 2026 is not the dance music of\u00a02005,\u00a0and\u00a0Madonna\u00a0makes thoughtful\u00a0translations in her sound for the modern listener.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Unterberger<\/strong>: It does feel that way, but in the best way that decade-separated sequels from their original do \u2014\u00a0one where you feel the weight of the years that have passed in the interim, and the deepening of your connection to the original, without losing any of the latter\u2019s initial vitality. Even the most authentic sequels sometimes struggle to find true inspiration, but that\u2019s not the case here. And while Confessions II<\/em> didn\u2019t have to do any of that to be a success, it might\u2019ve had to do some of that to become an eventual catalog tentpole \u2014 which is early to call at the moment, but certainly doesn\u2019t seem out of the realm of possibility. <\/p>\n 4. While the album\u2019s chart success is inarguable, the album has had a harder time on the Hot 100 so far, with only \u201cBring Your Love\u201d with Sabrina Carpenter reaching the chart so far \u2014 bowing at No. 71 in May upon its release \u2014 and nothing from the set appearing on the Hot 100 in its debut week. Do you think the set will ultimately spawn a Hot 100 hit \u2014 and again, does it particularly matter one way or the matter?<\/strong><\/p>\n Chris Eggertsen<\/strong>: I would love for one of the songs on\u00a0Confessions II\u00a0<\/em>to make a major splash on the Hot 100 \u2014\u00a0in a just world, the remarkable \u201cDanceteria\u201d would be the song of the summer \u2014 though I fear Madonna\u2019s days of minting massive hit singles are behind her. (Interestingly, hit singles seem\u00a0to largely be the territory of the young, even as artists like Madonna, Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney manage to score No. 1\u00a0albums\u00a0<\/em>in their later years.)<\/p>\n \n\tIn one sense, this doesn\u2019t matter; again, Madonna has nothing left to prove. But in another sense, how great would it be for a single by a 67-year-old pop star to go top 10, or even No. 1? I can\u2019t think of any real precedent here \u2014 outside of seasonal catalog hits by artists like Brenda Lee and Mariah Carey, the closest I can get is Cher, whose \u201cBelieve\u201d hit No. 1 on the Hot 100 when she was 52 \u2014 15 years younger than Madonna is now. Ageism in the music business, particularly when it comes to women, is depressingly rampant, and to see Madonna summit the Hot 100 again would, in its own way, be a validation of the message she\u2019s been making for decades now: that older women are just as vital, if not more so, than any 25-year-old pop girlie.<\/p>\n Lyndsey Havens<\/strong>: I don\u2019t necessarily think it will, and that almost makes this success story even more compelling. It\u2019s clearly not hitched to one single or viral moment or manufactured push \u2014 the entire project is winning. And not just on the strength of\u00a0Madonna\u2019s decades-long career, but again because the project as a whole is what\u2019s grabbing listeners.<\/p>\n Joe Lynch<\/strong>: No and no. Might \u201cFragile\u201d gain some steam at Adult Contemporary, appealing to \u201cFrozen\u201d fans? Possibly. But I don\u2019t see a Hot 100 top 40 hit emerging from this set, and I don\u2019t think it matters, either.\u00a0Madonna\u00a0isn\u2019t in the radio\/streaming game at this point in her career \u2013 she has a core fanbase that will follow her anywhere, but she also has a wide swath of the population who are willing to tune into a new\u00a0Madonna\u00a0album if it ticks the right boxes (and most of those boxes are riveted to the dancefloor).\u00a0Confessions II<\/em>\u00a0did, and that\u2019s the victory here.<\/p>\n Taylor Mims<\/strong>: There is always the possibility that a track from this album outside of the Carpenter collab could become a Hot 100 hit. Tracks like \u201cDanceteria,\u201d \u201cRead My Lips\u201d and \u201cLove Sensation,\u201d could\u00a0easily be\u00a0stand alone\u00a0hits on the radio or on playlists.\u00a0But ultimately, I don\u2019t think it matters for this particular album.\u00a0Confessions II<\/em>\u00a0is best consumed whole.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0an immersive ride\u00a0that propels the listener forward\u00a0with tracks that flow seamlessly into one another.\u00a0That\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0leave much room for hitting\u00a0repeat\u00a0on one track.\u00a0With 16 tracks clocking in at just over an hour,\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0a lot of\u00a0album\u00a0to get through before fans replay tracks and makes it harder for one song to stand out in the pack.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Unterberger<\/strong>: It doesn\u2019t seem too likely, unfortunately. I would\u2019ve enjoyed it, just because it\u2019s Madonna \u2014\u00a0she\u2019s had such an incredible catalog of hit singles to this point that it would\u2019ve been good fun to see her a new one, in a new decade, to her ledger. But will it really matter in the legacy sense? Probably not a ton. The biggest songs will still resound like hits for the folks who care the most. <\/p>\n 5. What\u2019s another classic \u201900s album you think is ripe for a sequel, and could potentially return results like the ones\u00a0Madonna\u00a0is seeing with\u00a0Confessions II<\/em>?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Chris Eggertsen<\/strong>: This answer is a bit of a cheat, because I don\u2019t think this could (or maybe should) ever happen. But in a perfect world, I\u2019d love to see a sequel to Britney Spears\u2019\u00a0Blackout<\/em>. Unfairly maligned in its day, with its bleeding-edge sonic brilliance obscured by Britney\u2019s very public breakdown at the time, its status has only continued to rise in the nearly two decades (!) since its release. I think it\u2019s a great album, not to mention Britney\u2019s most self-referential set of songs and a vivid document of the dark underbelly of mid-2000s tabloid culture. A\u00a0Blackout\u00a0<\/em>follow-up reflecting back on that turbulent time, on both a personal and cultural level, would be a fascinating exercise.\u00a0<\/p>\n Lyndsey Havens<\/strong>: Ooh\u2026 I\u2019d love for Rihanna to hit us with a follow-up album called\u00a0Bad Girl Gone Good\u00a0<\/em>(Again).\u00a0<\/em>That approach would alleviate some pressure of an entirely new \u201ccomeback\u201d album, if you will, and allow her to work within a more confined narrative given (ahem) how much time between albums has now passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n Joe Lynch<\/strong>: I would be surprised if someone on Justin Timberlake\u2019s team isn\u2019t taking notice of this. In lieu of a couple career stumbles, JT could use a win that reminds people why they loved him in the first place \u2013 and if he were to reunite with Timb for a\u00a0FutureSex\/LoveSounds<\/em>\u00a0sequel, even the naysayers would perk up and take a listen (or 10). Obviously, the songs are key \u2013 it\u2019s not enough to just slap a sequel title on something, it really needs to continue the conversation started by that first album.<\/p>\n Taylor Mims<\/strong>: Outkast could really make a splash with a sequel to\u00a02003\u2019s\u00a0Speakerboxxx\/The Love Below.<\/em>\u00a0It\u2019s easily one of the most beloved albums of the 2000s, and fans of the original\u00a0would be all over a part two.\u00a0If they could tap into that early 2000s hip-hop\/R&B sound,\u00a0they would also draw in tons of listeners who may not be familiar with the original and ones who may not have been born when it first came out.\u00a0Honestly, they could do a sequel to\u00a0Stankonia<\/em>\u00a0as well with\u00a0similar results.\u00a0Andr\u00e9\u00a03000 could throw in some\u00a0flute\u00a0and\u00a0we\u2019d\u00a0all be grateful!\u00a0<\/p>\n Andrew Unterberger<\/strong>: Madonna\u2019s already given us the answer! Just hope Usher is OK with potentially sharing the title. <\/p>\n [analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/chart-beat\/madonna-confessions-ii-five-burning-questions-1236294093\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/02-madonna-2026-Credit-Rafael-Pavarotti-billboard-1800.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Six-and-a-half years into the 2020s, and we still hadn\u2019t gotten a new album from Madonna, from whom we last heard in full on 2019\u2019s Madame X set. But on July 3, she finally returned, and with a sequel set to perhaps her most-beloved LP of this century to this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2044765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2044765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2044765\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2044765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2044765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2044765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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