Celebration

Photographers: Herb Ritts; Wayne Maser; Jean Baptiste Mondino.
Madonna's run at the top of the charts lasted so long, longer than almost any other star, it's almost impossible to squeeze all the hits onto one collection. And so it is that Celebration, a single-disc, 18-track set that also has a companion double-disc expansion, misses a few songs, hits as gorgeous as "Rain" and as goofily camp as "Hanky Panky," but truth be told, they're not greatly missed on this parade of pop genius that's hampered only slightly by its non-chronological order. Out of order, it does emphasize Madonna's consistency, but the bigger problem with the collection is that it mixes up album mixes, single edits, Q-Sound mixes pulled from The Immaculate Collection, and a couple of stray odd edits and mixes. This is a mess, but not quite enough to dilute what is one of the greatest bodies of work in modern pop -- even in this mixed-up confusion, these singles are a joy to hear. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine