Trivia / American Life

• Creator Killer: The album marked the end of Madonna's nearly 20-year streak of chart success in her native United States. It divided critics and fans for its anvilicious message and failed forays into rapping and folktronica, the songs seen as filled with Clueless Aesops that did less to satirize modern America than they did to make Madonna look like an out-of-touch celebrity complaining about First-World Problems. The title track was poorly received and became her lowest-charting Top 40 hit in the US, peaking at number 37, not helped by US radio stations blacklisting her due to it coming out during the US invasion of Iraq, while its music video was so controversial that MTV pulled it at her request a day after its premiere and hastily swapped it out for a different one that was just her singing in front of a backdrop of various flags. While it didn't end her career, it still marked the point at which she went from the most daring woman in pop music to a nostalgia act who played it safe. Luckily, she made a comeback with Confessions on a Dance Floor, and its corresponding concert tour became one of the top 20 highest-grossing tours of the 2000's (along with her following Sticky & Sweet tour). She also headlined the 2012 Super Bowl halftime show, which has been deemed one of the best in recent memory.
• Dye Hard: Madonna goes with dark hair in the "American Life" music video. This was apparently because she associates her darker hair with a more serious tone like with "Like a Prayer".
• Working Title: Ein Sof.

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