Madonna’s “Girl Gone Wild”: Review Revue

Robbie Daw | February 28, 2012 9:35 am

Yesterday Madonna unveiled not only her new MDNA offering “Girl Gone Wild”, but also her body on the single cover art! Of course, at this stage in the game, are we really surprised about the latter? The Internet had plenty to say about Madge’s latest club track, and not all of it was good. In fact, some critics couldn’t help feeling that the song sounds a bit…reductive. Read our roundup of reviews below. :: Entertainment Weekly‘s Music Mix sees the true colors of the song: “Compared to the album’s first single ‘Give Me All Your Luvin,’’ this track is less Gwen Stefani-at-a-pep-rally and more Cyndi Lauper-at-Le-Bain…”

:: Chart Rigger is torn: “I’m pretty much of two minds about Madonna’s second MDNA single ‘Girl Gone Wild’: 1.) lyrically, it’s extremely cliche (‘You got me in the zone, DJ play my favorite song!’) and 2.) musically, it’s the best thing we’ve heard from her since the Confessions On A Dancefloor era.”

:: Pink Is The New Blog is also feeling the Confessions vibe: “I love that album so I’m digging this track. It’ll take a few listens for me to really fall in love, tho. It does sound a lot different than ‘Gimme All Your Luvin’’ … but is it a better single or not?”

:: Arjan Writes is also divided: “Yes, the Benny Benassi-produced tune is a solid dance number that, yes, perfectly caters to her loyal fans, but it doesn’t quite live up to what I believe she can deliver.”

:: Vulture thinks the tune is reductive: “‘Girl Gone Wild,’ her latest single off MDNA, not only owes its title to the artistic vision of Joe Francis, but its chorus is built around the lyric, ‘Girls, they just wanna have some fun,’ which is of course a lesson that we learned from Cyndi Lauper about 30 years ago. It doesn’t help matters that the song is a paint-by-numbers, 808- and Tanqueray-referencing dance track that falls even flatter when compared to its source material.”

:: Forbes takes things step further by comparing the two ’80s icons: “The astonishing thing about this is that Lauper has always been the Madonna also ran — a real musician and composer who’s been overshadowed by her rival since they each started their careers. Madonna is in the Rock Hall; Lauper is not. Lauper writes her own music and has released some of the most underappreciated albums of the last 20 years without a lot of money behind her.”

:: Unicorn Booty feels Madge is a mechanical animal on her new single: “It sounds like they hired a Madonna robot to sing the track, but it works. Does this mean we’ll never be rid of Madonna, because she’s actually an android super-human who has been sent to force-feed us ridiculously catchy dance music for all time?”

:: Flavorwire, on the other hand, rakes Madge over the coals: “There’s no such subtlety here, only a mega-rich dominatrix ranting at you to HAVE FUN GODDAMMIT while you cringe on the couch and wish she’d just go away. The horror, the horror.”

:: Crave Online isn’t exactly going wild over it either: “A saccharine escapade, ‘Girl Gone Wild’ is a benign track meant for life inside the club. It’s safe territory for the Material Girl, whose team of producers and songwriters are meticulously dedicated to keeping her fanbase equally satiated and unchallenged (because we’re all still trying to get that atrocious ‘American Life’ clip, wherein she rhymes ‘latte’ with ‘Pilates’).”

Enough of the critics. What do you think of Madonna’s new single? Let us know below, or by following us on Facebook and Twitter.