True Blue (album)
Madonna's third album, a global best-seller and 1980s pop archetype.
True Blue is the third studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna, released on June 30, 1986, by Sire Records. It marked a shift toward greater creative control for Madonna, who co-wrote and co-produced every track for the first time, aiming to establish herself as a serious artist and appeal to a broader, more mature audience. The album became an immediate global success, topping charts in a record-breaking twenty-eight countries and remaining Madonna's best-selling studio album.
Quick Facts
- Artist
- Madonna
- Released
- June 30, 1986
- Label
- Sire Records
- Genre
- Pop, dance-pop
- Producers
- Madonna
- Patrick Leonard
- Stephen Bray
- Certification
- Septuple platinum (RIAA)
- Global sales
- Over 25 million copies
Facts from the source article.
Background
Madonna recorded True Blue in 1985 and 1986, collaborating with Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray on writing and production. The album's themes of love, romance, marriage, and devotion drew in part on her personal life and her marriage to actor Sean Penn. Musically, True Blue is a pop and dance-pop album influenced by the Motown sound, girl groups, and Latin pop, characterized by synthesizers, strings, guitars, drum machines, and backing vocal arrangements.
The first song recorded was "Open Your Heart," originally titled "Follow Your Heart" and intended for Cyndi Lauper; Madonna revised the lyrics and added a bassline, transforming it into a dance-pop track. "Live to Tell" began as an instrumental for a film score before Madonna wrote lyrics, and "Papa Don't Preach" was written by Brian Elliot for another singer before Madonna expressed interest. "La Isla Bonita" was initially composed as an instrumental demo for Michael Jackson; Madonna wrote the lyrics while filming Shanghai Surprise.
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Papa Don't Preach | Brian Elliot, Madonna | 4:29 |
| 2 | Open Your Heart | Madonna, Gardner Cole, Peter Rafelson | 4:13 |
| 3 | White Heat | Madonna, Leonard | 4:40 |
| 4 | Live to Tell | Madonna, Leonard | 5:51 |
| 5 | Where's the Party | Madonna, Bray, Leonard | 4:21 |
| 6 | True Blue | Madonna, Bray | 4:18 |
| 7 | La Isla Bonita | Madonna, Leonard, Bruce Gaitsch | 4:02 |
| 8 | Jimmy Jimmy | Madonna, Bray | 3:55 |
| 9 | Love Makes the World Go Round | Madonna, Leonard | 4:31 |
| Total length | 40:20 | ||
Track listing from the source article.
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