iTunedIN | MADONNA to revisit VERONICA ELECTRONICA

A Pop Music Feature

Quicker than a ray of light, Madonna, the reigning Queen of Pop, is taking her audience back in time and resurfaces remixes from her most brilliant era, many presented for the first time on VERONICA ELECTRONICA.

It feels like forever since Madonna performed live to over a million of her fans on the exotic locale of Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro. Little over a year ago, on May 4, 2024, the Queen of Pop concluded her record-breaking Celebration Tour in front of the largest audience of her career, marking the end of her greatest hits retrospective, a celebration of four decades in the recording industry. Since the concert's epic run, everyone has been curiously wondering what Madonna will do next, and there have been inklings of what the much-vaunted “Mercurial Girl” may have up her sleeve.

As sure as the tide comes in, Madonna revealed via her social networking that she had returned to the studio working alongside Stuart Price. The pair have collaborated often, and Price has worked as her musical director on several of her tours, including The Celebration Tour. What made this announcement so exciting is the suggestion that Madonna and Price were hard at work on “new music”, a new album that might be a sequel to their hit 2005 Confession on a Dance Floor. Fans were immediately thrilled by the prospect, but that would only be part of the big reveal…

Since Warner Bros. Records once again acquired Madonna’s extensive music catalog, the label has benefited from re-releasing her music, remastering many of her classics, and issuing digital singles and remixes, many of which are being made available for the first time. This strategy has also allowed Madonna to reexamine her music, and in many cases, follow the trend set by several of her contemporaries, revisiting album anniversaries and expanding the track lists with remixes or alternative edits, many of which are making their debut.

Along with her Confessions Part 2 announcement, Madonna also revealed plans for Bedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter. The re-release of the 1994 album, one that was largely overlooked by her public, included her hit ballad “Take A Bow.” The reissue was expected to feature remastered versions of the original album track list and would reportedly feature an additional EP of “never-before-heard stories, early demos, and more.” Alas, with pre-orders for both a vinyl and digital release promised in an online campaign that included cover art, The Untold Chapter will have to wait!

Pulled the Plug

Bedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter was expected to drop in the spring of 2025; a whole other footnote would come up, as several of the “never-before-heard” versions that were to feature on the EP were reportedly co-written or produced by Shep Pettibone. Madonna’s collaborator on her signature 1990 hit single “Vogue,” Pettibone, was also a significant contributor to Madonna’s most controversial album, 1992’s Erotica. Although the duo jumped back into the well soon after Erotica had its run, the Queen of Pop decided she wanted to move into a new phase with the new material.

Madonna took several of the tracks they had started and handed them off to a new set of producers, completing them with a talent list of co-producers that were less pop/dance-oriented and more on the R&B slant. By the time Bedtime Stories was ready for the masses, Madonna had shelved many of their original works in progress, which had evolved into something entirely different. She even addressed her collaborations with Pettibone in the liner notes of the album, thanking him for “understanding.” Decades later, The Untold Chapter might have given air to these unheralded original tracks, but not pleased with contract negotiations, Pettibone has, for the time at least, put a pause on its publication.

And as they say, when one window closes, another opens, and lets in a whole swath of light! During her recording sessions for 1998’s Ray of Light, Madonna was enthralled by the electronic vibe and the nuances of the syncopated, otherworldly quality, to the point where she mused that an alter ego had taken over. That other identity was given a name and was even hinted at as the title of an accompanying project. Veronica Electronica was intended as a remix compilation, with reproductions of tracks from Ray of Light collected as a companion disc.

The album is also getting a limited release on vinyl.

The success of Ray of Light and its longevity put that remix project on hold. Now, more than 25 years later, Madonna is returning to the remix. With the Bedtime Stories: The Untold Chapter back in the vault (at least for now), Veronica Electronica is getting a second life. The EP will spotlight seven remixes of singles from the Ray of Light era, remastered with an unreleased demo, “Gone Gone Gone.” The collection is being issued on vinyl, as well as a digital album. It is finally introducing the world to the muse that lauded perhaps Madonna’s most acclaimed and best-selling album of all time.

Here is your #FanzEyeView of Madonna’s first release from the upcoming remix album Veronica Electronica, “Skin” (Peter & Victor’s Collaboration Remix Edit):

VERONICA ELECTRONICA  | by MADONNA | is available now for pre-order in a special vinyl edition release and as a digital download on iTunes.

The cover image is already a timeless presentation.

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