Doing a 180: Cibo Matto and Madonna

Rhino has made it a point to reissue classic albums on 180-gram vinyl on a regular basis. These are the latest to get that treatment. You're welcome.

Cibo Matto, Stereo Type A: It was their second album, and for a decade it looked like it was destined to be their swan song, but a 2011 reunion changed that situation. From a sonic standpoint, Stereo Type A is very much all over the place, but not necessarily in a bad way. Indeed, any group who can manage to deliver heavy metal (“Blue Train”), hip-hop (“Sci-Fi Wasabi”), and singles like “Working for Vacation,” “Spoon,” and “Moonchild” while showing this much musical evolution from their debut album deserves your attention.

Madonna, True Blue: Although the title track of Madonna’s third album wasn’t as titillating as the LP which preceded it, she nonetheless managed to cause a few eyebrows to rise with the album’s first single by shifting topics from feeling virginal to getting pregnant. Of course, the masses ate it up: “Papa Don’t Preach,” “Open Your Heart,” “Live to Tell” “True Blue,” and “La Isla Bonita” were all virtually inescapable during ’86 and early ’87.

Madonna, Like a Prayer: Hello, controversy! Yes, that’s right, this was the album that made all the headlines with its video for the title track, but it also features some of Madonna’s best songs, including “Express Yourself,” “Cherish,” and “Keep It Together.” Of course, it was all too recently that “Love Song,” her debut with Prince, was suddenly reexamined for all the wrong reasons, but if you’re looking for an underrated pop gem, you can’t go wrong with the psychedelic pop of “Dear Jessie,” which is about as Beatle-esque as you’re likely to hear Madonna get.