| American Life |
| File:AmericanLife2003.png |
| Studio album by Madonna |
| Released |
April 22, 2003 |
| Recorded |
June 2002—January 2003 |
| Genre |
Folk, pop, rock, electronica |
| Length |
49:39 |
| Label |
Maverick, Warner Bros. |
| Producer |
Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Mark "Spike" Stent |
| Madonna chronology |
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| Singles from American Life |
- "American Life"
Released: March 24, 2003
- "Hollywood"
Released: July 3, 2003
- "Nothing Fails"
Released: November 21, 2003
- "Love Profusion"
Released: December 8, 2003
|
American Life is the ninth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna. It was released on April 22, 2003 by Maverick Records and distributed by Warner Bros. Records. The album produced in its entirety by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï featured references to many parts of American culture. The album is considered a concept album, with recurring themes of "American Dream" and "materialism". Furthermore, the themes reject the reputation Madonna held in the 1980s with her worldwide hit "Material Girl".[1] American Life is a folk album in its purest definition, instead of a general pop record. The album also contains rock and electronica music, as well as influences of acoustic music on many tracks.
The album peaked at number one in fourteen countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom.[2] It was nominated for two Grammys at the 46th Grammy Awards. The record was the world's 32nd-best-selling album in 2003. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and British Phonographic Industry (BPI) both certified it platinum in recognition of one million shipments in the US, and three hundred thousand shipments in the UK, respectively.[3][4] It is the second Madonna Album to have a Parental Advisory sticker, after Erotica. Generally critic opinion was mixed with responses noting the "warmer sounds" as well as several critics noting the "innovation" at a time of R&B dominance, but general responses calling the record uninspired and uninteresting.
Four singles were released from the album. The first, the title track was released to a mixed critical reception with Blender naming it as the ninth worst song of all time. A controversial music video was pulled after scenes of war and violence were criticized which led to an edited version being released, charting at number 37 in the US elsewhere it entered the top ten in most countries placing at number two in the UK. The second "Hollywood" became her first to miss out on the Billboard Hot 100. A music video directed by Jean-Baptiste Mondino was subject of a lawsuit for plagiarism from French fashion photographer Guy Bourdin. The third "Nothing Fails" featured a lack of promotion resulting in a poor commercial performance, topping the charts in Spain, it once again missed out on the Billboard Hot 100. The final "Love Profusion" featured a music video directed by Luc Besson but once again failed commercially charting poorly in most countries whilst once again topping the Spanish Singles Chart.
Promotion for the album took place in a small promotional tour between April and May 2003 before she ventured upon her sixth concert tour, the Re-Invention World Tour. The tour was divided into five segments: French Baroque-Marie Antoinette Revival, Military-Army, Circus-Cabaret, Acoustic and Scottish-Tribal, gaining positive responses controversy arose over a statement by recording artist Elton John after he stated she was lip-synching. The tour was chronicled in a documentary titled I'm Going to Tell You a Secret. A CD+DVD was also released along with the film. At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards Madonna performed alongside artists; Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Missy Elliot in a medley of, "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" and engaged in open-mouth kissing with Aguilera and Spears gaining great controversy and publicity.
Madonna during the performance of "Nobody Knows Me", the fifth track of the album during the 2004
Re-Invention World Tour.
American Life became Madonna's final studio album with Maverick Records, and marked the end of an eleven-year recording history with the label.[5][6] In an interview with VH1 Madonna discussed her motivations behind the record discussing her 20 years in the industry and stating that "material things" were unimportant and she also stated, "I look back at the 20 years behind me and I realized that a lot of things that I'd valued weren't important" in response to the non-materialistic themes of the record.[7][8]
The album has been deemed by some as a concept album featuring political themes based around the United States. Whilst talking to MTV she discussed the political themes within the record saying; "I feel like America has changed over the years and that a lot of our values seem to be materially oriented and so superficial. And we all seem to be obsessed with fame just for the sake of fame, no matter what — sell your soul to the devil if that's what it takes. And we're also completely obsessed with the way we look. And I bought into a lot of that, so a lot of the record, especially the first three songs are just like, "What was I thinking?"".[9] After being asked by John Norris of MTV he discussed the first three tracks as a trilogy discussing things she wishes to put behind her, in response Madonna stated "I think they're an extension of "American Life." They're examining things I valued and things I found myself worrying about, caring too much about, and realizing that those things aren't important and wanting to get out from underneath that cloud, the world of illusion."[10] Madonna discussed the materialistic themes of the record and her personal encounters which have led to the composition with MTV saying:
"Who better to say those things don't matter than somebody who's experienced them? [People may say], "How can you say they don't matter? How can you say that money won't bring you happiness if you don't have a lot of money? How can you say that fame and fortune are not a guarantee for happiness and joy and fulfillment in your life?" You have to have that experience to know. 'Cause you have all those things, I've had all those things, and I've had nothing but chaos around me. So I'm just sharing what I know with the world. 'Cause I do think that we've become completely consumed with being rich and famous, our society has. And I just want to tell people, take it from me, I have all those things and none of them ever brought me one minute of happiness."[10]
"Basically, we had recorded the whole song and we had this instrumental thing at the end and Mirwais was like, "You know what, you have to go and do a rap." And I was like, "Get out of here, I don't rap." And he was like, "Yeah you do. Just go in there, just do it." He totally encouraged me. I had nothing planned, nothing written, and he just told me to do stream-of-consciousness, whatever I was thinking. Because I was always drinking soy lattes in the studio, and I drive my Mini Cooper to the studio, I was just like, "OK, let me just talk about the things that I like." So I went and it was just total improv and obviously it was sloppy at first, but I got out all my thoughts and then I wrote everything down that I said and then I perfected the timing of it. So it was totally spontaneous."
Madonna discusses the recording of "American Life" and her materialistic influences.
[9]
The album was mostly composed and entirely produced by Madonna and Mirwais Ahmadzaï. Both had previously collaborated on Madonna's studio album Music, Madonna discussed Ahmadzaï's influence and production style saying "Mirwais is a very unique individual. His influence on me obviously was very big, he's a great musician and great guitar player. He can also program syntheshizers and create the most amazing futuristic sounds on the computer. He's a sort of genius, experimenting and I'm lucky to be there."[11] Madonna started recording the album in late 2001, after filming the movie Swept Away.[12] The album was written and recorded over one and a half years, becoming her longest production on a studio album.[13] Recording of the album was finished in London and Los Angeles in early 2003.[12] Madonna discussed the recording of the title track stating that the producer Mirwais had encouraged her to rap spontaneously and that the rap sequence featured in the title track was composed using the materialistic objects that she herself had been using.[9] Rooksby author of the Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna stated that a recurring theme of the record production was the dry and blunt lyrics, in an interview with Q Madonna said, "I've had twenty years of fame and fortune, and I feel that I have the right to an opinion on what is said, and what isn't".[14]
During the time of the production Madonna learned to play the guitar and she stated, "Now that I've learned to play the guitar I don't always depend on the help of other people." [15] In an interview with Q Magazine Madonna discussed the relationship she developed during the production of the album with executive producer Ahmadzaï discussing intimidation being a possible factor due to her "iconic" status, she stated "I don’t say to anyone, Are you intimidated by me? [...] Obviously, if you feel comfortable with me I can feel it. We can have a chat and a laugh, but I’ve never sat down with someone I wanted to work with and not got along with them. William Orbit was very nervous when I met him, dropping things all over the place, but I found that really endearing. I don’t dwell on it."[16]
Che Guevara is considered as inspiration for the thematic of the album.
French design team M/M Paris (Michael Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak) were responsible for the artwork of American Life. The duo are best known for their collaborations with musicians.[17] One of the first rumored titles of the album was Ein Sof, which Madonna had mentioned in an interview with Larry King in October 2002, during the promotion for Swept Away.[12] In mid-January 2003, in Los Angeles, the photo shoot for the album was done by photographer Craig McDean. McDean had already worked with Madonna for the portfolio for Vanity Fair magazine in October 2002; this work had a military theme, with Madonna posing in dark greens and blacks, combat boots, and holding guns. Her hair was dyed dark brown, and on the cover of the album, Madonna is wearing a beret and is almost a copy of the famous image of Che Guevara. In an interview to the Italian version of TV show Top of the Pops she said that the choice to emulate Che's image was because she likes what he represents and was feeling revolutionary when she wrote the album.[18] Also, a cause of the paramilitary theme, the dyed hair and the artistic composition, was compared with Patty Hearst.[19]
American Life is Madonna's second album to bear a "Parental Advisory" label after Erotica (1992), due the strong profanity used in the title song.[20] On December 9, 2003, Warner Music France released a box set version containing both the album and the remix collection Remixed & Revisited in a cardboard sleeve entitled Édition Spéciale 2CDs: American Life + Remixed & Revisited.[21] To counter illegal Internet downloads of the album's songs both before and after the album's release, Madonna's associates created a number of false song files of similar length and size. Some of these files delivered a brief message from Madonna saying "What the fuck do you think you're doing?" followed by minutes of silence.[22] Madonna's website hacker add a message appearing on the Main Page, saying "This is what the fuck I think I'm doing..." followed by download links for each of the album's songs.[22][23] The website was closed after the attack for about 15 hours.[23]
"This song, Mother and Father, is about letting go of the pain caused by my mother's death. And at the same time not to use it [the pain] as an excuse for a certain behaviour: oh please feel sorry for me because I had to suffer so much pain, or: I am only doing this because I went through such a hard time. That’s really bullshit. In the end you have to be responsible for your own actions. Towards my father I often pretended to be this rebel who doesn't care about anything, and I say whatever I want and do whatever I want. But that's not really true."
Madonna discusses the track "Mother and Father".
[11]
Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani stated that "Madonna couldn't possibly have intended to make a pop album. American Life is a folk album in the purest definition of the term—and it's reflected right in the title."[24] Greg Kot from Chicago Tribune called the record an "electro-folk album" with electronic beats and synthetic burps.[25] "American Life", the title track is the first featured on the record. Starting with Madonna's voice multi-tracked questioning, "Am I gonna be a star", "should I change my name", the lyrics then develop into what Rikky Rooksby of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna states is a complaint about modern-day life.[26] The lyrics accompany a "punchy octave synth figure" synchronized with a drum and bass beat.[26] "American Life" features violent transitions, the repeated acoustic guitar riff "adds a touch of pathos" until after three minutes Madonna performs a rap naming the people who are working for her.[26] The second single and track "Hollywood" is introduced with sounds of tweeting birds before an acoustic guitar starts a four chord sequence that has been compared of that of the band Red Hot Chilli Peppers.[14] The texture grows as drums and synths until after a minute the instrumental is pulled leaving just Madonna's vocals and the acoustic guitar accompaniment.[14] The final sequence is another rap part, as is featured in the first song with the repeated phrase "Push the button". Lyrically like the first track it discusses American culture and greed focusing on Hollywood as a place of stars and illusory dreams.[14]
"I'm So Stupid" is the third track on the record, an introduction with a two-chord electric guitar leads to a minor drum beat, with the guitar later changing to a three-chord chord. The chord scheme throughout is generally minor.[14] At the 2:15 mark different pitched synths change manically, the synths are treated with effects but towards the end the synths become less prominent as the guitars become the main focus.[14] Lyrically the song expresses disillusionment with Madonna singing "I used to live in a fuzzy dream" and "It was just greed", also proclaiming that once she was "stupider than stupid" before stating "Everybody's stupid" towards the end of the song.[14] Track four "Love Profusion" starts with another acoustic guitar introduction, rhythm is produced by a bass drum with synth-strings added later in the song.[27] Vocally the line "I got you under my skin" is repeated, whilst a male voice acts as the backing for the track whilst the final words "feel good" are performed with no backing instrumental.[27] "Nobody Knows Me" is the fifth track, featuring vocoder treated vocals the song is accompanied by bleeping synths and a heavy drum part. The title is repeated throughout the song as she references "social disease" which is also repeated.[27] A recurring theme to the record is the acoustic guitar introduction to a song which is yet again featured in the sixth track "Nothing Fails".[27] The guitar is accompanied by a "light" drum section and low-pitched vocals from Madonna, the song also features a cello in the first part of the song.[27] Lyrically the song discusses a lover who is the one, and how their meeting was not just chance, a reference to the "tree of life" is made during the song as Madonna states "I'm not religious" but she wishes to pray.[27]
Acoustic guitars introduce another track on the album, a repeated concept throughout, the seventh track on the record "Intervention" starts with a three chord minor sequence which changes to a four chord sequence during the chorus section and a bass section starts at the end of the track.[27] Lyrically the song is an optimistic track about how a relationship will last as Madonna says "the road looks lonely but that's just Satan's game".[27] "X-Static Process," the eighth track starts once again with an acoustic guitar part, throughout there are vocal harmony lines in addition to an organ part which is also featured in the track.[28] Lyrically like the title track, it questions modern life as Madonna sings "Jesus Christ will you look at me, don't know who I'm supposed to be".[28] "Mother and Father" is the albums ninth track, with a drum and bass beat paired with an electric guitar present the instrumental.[28] Lyrically the song reflects on Madonna's childhood including her mother's death and her father's reaction, and the effect on their relationship.[28] The tenth track is "Die Another Day", the theme to the James Bond film of the same name which featured dominating string and synth parts. The eleventh and final track on the album, "Easy Ride", is a heavily string-oriented song. It addresses Madonna's feelings towards old age, wanting to live forever, and coming full circle to a point in her life where she could be comfortable, "Not defined by time and space".[28]
Aggregator site Metacritic scored the album as having an averaged score of 60 out of 100, indicating mixed reviews from critics.[29] E! Online gave the album a generally positive review claiming the album featured "warmer sounds and earthy touches" responding well to the track "Nothing Fails" commenting on the "acoustic guitars and a choir that comes from nowhere" featured in the track.[29] Uncut also responded well calling it a "21st century version" of the Love album Forever Changes saying " it does a similarly eerie ambivalence with its fusion of mind-altering sonics and mellow acoustics".[29] Billboard's Michael Paoletta noted the lyrical differences from past albums such as Ray of Light positively saying "American Life relies less on spiritual introspection and more on woman-in-the-mirror confrontation."[39] Entertainment Weekly generally responded well making comments such as "At its best, her new album offers blunt, questing, decisive music at a chaotic time" but also produced less positive statements such as "At its weakest, she sounds like a gal who's grown content with hubby and kids and the hard-earned privilege of hiring the help to keep herself at tip-top tautness".[32] Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine magazine gave the album a mixed review comparing it to the success of album Erotica "American Life isn't the masterpiece that Erotica so quickly revealed itself to be. It's frequently self-indulgent, misguided, unpleasant, difficult to listen to, silly yet somehow humorless" however Cinquemani also stated "it's also consistent, uncompromising and unapologetic." and that it also "stands as the last time Madonna seemed to make music without the primary objective of scoring a hit".[40] In an earlier review Cinquemani concluded "After years of flip-flopping between sub-genres and finally finding a comfortable niche in electronica, then teasing us with her electric guitar-wielding rock goddess persona during 2001's Drowned World Tour, and now showing promise as a folk-rock songstress, the only thing left for Madonna to do is plug in and make a full-blown rock album".[40]
Generally critics responses were average as shown in Allmusic's review as they stated "Overall, American Life is better for what it promises than what it delivers, and it's better in theory than practice" with Q magazine calling it "a record about being Madonna".[30] Alex Petridis of The Guardian responded well to parts of the record saying "American Life's best tracks make a mockery of virtually all other current pop music" however his conclusive point in the review was "The album's problem has nothing to do with controversy or extreme points of view. This time, there just aren't enough good songs."[41] James Hannaham from Spin compared the album's introspective themes to that of her previous albums; Ray of Light and Music but also noted "Madonna spends much of American Life bemoaning the emptiness of celebrity culture.It's a dramatic gesture from an artist who's synonymous with American glamour, but instead of lashing out at the system that created her, she castigates herself."[42] Ed Howard from Stylus gave the album a negative review calling the album "about Madonna" instead of American culture explaining "it's Madonna who, surprisingly, has simply run out of things to say."[43]
Madonna performing the album's third single "
Nothing Fails" on the Re-Invention World Tour. Due to lack of promotion, the song failed to make a big impact on the charts.
American Life debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with 241,000 copies sold in its first week. It was Madonna's second consecutive number one debut, and her fifth number one overall in the US[44] On July 7, 2003 just months after the release it was certified Platinum, signifying sales of one million copies in the US alone.[45] In Canada the album topped the charts,[46] and gained a Platinum certification in June 2003.[47] In Japan the album peaked at number four on the Oricon Weekly Albums chart,[48] and went on to gain a Gold certification that same year.[49] In Oceania the album entered the top three in both regions, in Australia the album peaked at number three[50] and gained a Platinum certification,[51] whilst in New Zealand the album peaked at number two.[50]
In European countries the album fared well topping charts in at least nine countries consisting of; Austria, Belgium (Flanders), Belgium (Wallonia), Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and in the United Kingdom.[50][52] Overall in European countries it gained a Platinum certification signifying sales of over one million copies.[53] In the United Kingdom the album was certified Platinum just months after the release,[4] in France this was also the case, after the album topped the chart and was certified Platinum that same year.[54] Worldwide it gained Gold certifications in countries including; Argentina,[55] Brazil,[56] Greece,[57] Japan[49] and the Netherlands,[58] as well as gaining Platinum certifications in countries such as; Australia,[51] Canada,[59] France,[60] Russia,[61] Switzerland,[62] the United Kingdom,[4] and the United States.[3] Overall in 2003 the album became the 32nd bestselling album of the year[63] with worldwide sales over four million copies.[64] In addition to this the album gathered several other accolades and nominations. In 2004, American Life was nominated at the 46th Grammy Awards in two categories "Best Short Form Music Video" and "Best Dance Recording", both for the song "Die Another Day".[65] It was nominated for "Best Video from a Film" at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards.[66]
"Die Another Day", was the first single from the original score of the same name for the twentieth James Bond film. It later was added to the album. The song peaked at number eight in the United States;[67] and number three in the United Kingdom.[68] The production costs for the music video were over $6,000,000, making it the second most expensive music video ever made, after "Scream" by Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.[69] "American Life" was released as the lead single from the album on April 8, 2003 in the United States and on April 14, 2003 in Europe. There are two music videos.[70] The first develops in a fashion runway, where the topic is war. At the end of the music video, is shown the then-President of the United States, George W. Bush. The anti-war content of its music video was interpreted as being unpatriotic, making Madonna withdraw its release for American music channels. She issued a statement saying she did so because she believed it was not appropriate to air it at that time, and that she did not want to risk offending anyone who could misinterpret its meaning.[71] Later, was filmed a second video, which shows Madonna using military clothing and singing in front of the various flags of the world. The song debuted at number ninety on the Billboard Hot 100;[72] and peaked at number thirty-seven on the chart; becoming Madonna's 45th Top 40 hit in the chart.[67] The song also peaked at number two in the UK;[73] seven in Austria and Australia;[74][75] and ten in Germany and France.[60][76]
The second single, "Hollywood", launched on July 3, 2003 in Europe and July 8, 2003 in the U.S., failed to chart in the Hot 100, becoming Madonna's first single in twenty years not to do so, since her song "Everybody". The song was a top-five hit in Canada, Italy and the United Kingdom.[77][78][79] "Nothing Fails", was released in Europe on November 21, 2003 as third single. It was a minor chart success, but did not match the success of previous singles from American Life in the Continent, charting outside the top twenty in some countries. Also, it peaked in the top-ten in Canada, Ireland and Spain.[75][79] In late 2003, "Nothing Fails" was remixed as "Nothing Fails (Nevins Mix)" for Madonna's remix EP Remixed & Revisited. The remix peaked at number seven in Italy.[79] "Love Profusion", was the fourth and the final single from the album, released on December 8, 2003. It peaked in the top-ten only in Greece, Italy and Canada, her fifth top ten Canadian hit from the album and thirteenth top ten in-a-row.[77][79] Also, it debuted and peaked at eleven on UK Singles Chart;[80] becoming Madonna sixth single, of eight, in lost the top-ten on the chart, after One More Chance on 1996.[81] The promotional releases, "Nobody Knows Me" and "Mother and Father", became very successful in American clubs, peaking at number four and number nine, respectively on the US Hot Dance Club Songs chart.[77] American Life became the first album to achieve seven top-ten songs on this chart.[82]
To start marketing the album, Madonna performed the American Life Promo Tour. A performance on Tower's Fourth Street in Manhattan was presented to around 400 people,[83] the set started with an acoustic performance of "American Life" followed by the track "X-Static Process".[83] The promotional show also saw Madonna perform two other tracks from the album being; "Mother and Father" and "Hollywood" before performing an "impromptu" performance of "Like a Virgin", and lastly performing the title track again but this time being the album version.[83] A stage was built in preparation for the performances with long dark drapes and large speakers, according to Billboard was so that over one thousand fans nearby could hear the performance.[83] As well as several other television performances, Madonna performed at the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, her performance consisted of a medley of two of her singles "Like a Virgin" and "Hollywood" and featured popular singers; Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears as well as Missy Elliot who performed her song "Work It" at the end of the performance.[84] After the song "Hollywood" was performed by Madonna, she engaged in kissing with both Spears and Aguilera becoming an infamous moment for all three acts and in television history.[84] In 2003, Madonna planned to release a special commemorative box set to celebrate her twentieth anniversary in the music business and the release of her first studio album, Madonna, in 1983.[30][85] The plan for the box set was eventually cancelled and Remixed & Revisited was conceived in its place. The compilation contains remixed versions of four songs from American Life and a previously unreleased song called "Your Honesty".[86]
In 2003, Madonna collaborated with photographer Steven Klein for an art installation project called X-STaTIC PRo=CeSS. The installation portrayed Madonna in different incarnations of her spiritual practices – from yogi, prophet, queen to freak and pole dancer.[87] The publication was a worldwide success, leading to a number of exhibitions in New York, London, Paris, Düsseldorf, Berlin and Florence.[88] After the exhibition was over, Madonna was inspired by the images from the exhibitions and decided to incorporate them into her then unplanned tour and asked Klein to help her with the task. The poster released for the tour used one of the images from the installation project. It featured Madonna in a seventeenth century style dress, crawling on all fours towards the camera.[88] The central theme of the show was unity versus violence.[24] It was divided into five acts with different themes: French Baroque-Marie Antionette Revival, Military-Army, Circus-Cabaret, Acoustic and Scottish-Tribal segments.[24] During the Re-Invention Tour, the Q magazine awards, Elton John accused Madonna for lip-synching in her shows which gained great controversy and was denied by Madonna's representatives.[89] No official DVD has been released yet. A documentary titled I'm Going to Tell You a Secret, which chronicled the tour, was released. The documentary was recorded during Madonna's performance on the tour and was finished during the recording of Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor album.[90]
|
| 1. |
"American Life" |
Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
4:58 |
| 2. |
"Hollywood" |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
4:24 |
| 3. |
"I'm So Stupid" |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï, Mark "Spike" Stent* |
4:09 |
| 4. |
"Love Profusion" |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
3:38 |
| 5. |
"Nobody Knows Me" |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
4:39 |
| 6. |
"Nothing Fails" |
Madonna, Guy Sigsworth, Jem Griffiths |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï, Stent* |
4:49 |
| 7. |
"Intervention" |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
4:54 |
| 8. |
"X-Static Process" |
Madonna, Stuart Price |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
3:50 |
| 9. |
"Mother and Father" |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
4:33 |
| 10. |
"Die Another Day" |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
4:38 |
| 11. |
"Easy Ride" |
Madonna, Monte Pittman |
Madonna, Ahmadzaï |
5:05 |
- Note: *denotes additional production
- Producers – Madonna, Mirwais Ahmadzaï, Mark Stent
- Engineers – Paul PDub Walton
- String engineer – George Foster
- Assistant engineers – Rob Haggett, Tom Hannen, Jeff Kanan, Tim Lambert, Gabe Sganga, David Treahearn
- Mastering – Tim Young
- Programming – Mirwais Ahmadzaï
- Choir arrangement – Nicky Brown
- String arrangements – Michel Colombier
- Photography – Craig McDean
- ^ American Life by Madonna | Rolling Stone Music | Music Reviews
- ^ Madonna uses secret nightclub focus groups to pick songs for new album
- ^ a b c "RIAA Certifications Search". Recording Industry Association of America. RIAA. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ^ a b c d "BPI Certifications Search". British Phonographic Industry. BPI. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved 2010-02-15.
- ^ Teather, David (2004-06-16). "Madonna ends her Maverick era". The Guardian (London: guardian.co.uk). http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2004/jun/16/citynews.arts. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ^ "Heads Roll at Madonna's Maverick Label". ABC News. ABC News/Entertainment. 2004-07-20. http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/story?id=103495&page=1. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ^ 'Madonna Speaks' For The First Time To VH1 On New 'American Life' Album and Video in Half-Hour Special, Followed By U.S. Premiere of a Performance Only Version of the New 'Ame...
- ^ Mad-Eyes - Madonna news headlines - April 2003
- ^ a b c Norris, John. "Madonna Her American Life". MTV News. MTV Networks. http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/madonna/news_feature_042203/. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
- ^ a b "Madonna her American Life". MTV. http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/madonna/news_feature_042203/index2.jhtml.
- ^ a b "Madonna News April 2003". Mad Eyes. http://www.mad-eyes.net/news/2003/03_04b.htm. Retrieved 2003-01-08.
- ^ a b c King, Larry (2002-10-10). "CNN Larry King Live". Larry King Live (CNN). http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0210/10/lkl.00.html. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ^ "American Life". Mad-Eyes.net. http://www.mad-eyes.net/disco/al/index.htm. Retrieved 2010-11-04.
- ^ a b c d e f g Rooksby 2004, p. 62
- ^ "Madonna News April 2003". Mad Eyes. http://www.mad-eyes.net/news/2003/03_04b.htm. Retrieved 2003-04-21.
- ^ Madonna Interview - Q Magazine (April 2003) | all about Madonna
- ^ Frankel, Susannah (2008-01-23). "Master Minds: From album covers to Calvin Klein ads, the artists have revolutionised the way we see fashion". London: The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/features/master-minds-from-album-covers-to-calvin-klein-ads-the-artists-have-revolutionised-the-way-we-see-fashion-772067.html. Retrieved 2010-02-17.
- ^ "Madonna Tormenting Italian Interviewer on Top Of The Pops". Top of the Pops. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NcMIoAJYPY&feature=PlayList&p=F17539357D1F9ED7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=5. Retrieved 2010-02-16.
- ^ Dominic, Serene (2003-05-14). "Madonna American Life". Times-Shamrock Communications. Metro Times. http://www.metrotimes.com/music/review.asp?rid=20462. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
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- ^ "Archívum - Slágerlisták - MAHASZ - Magyar Hangfelvétel-kiadók Szövetsége". Mahasz.hu. http://www.mahasz.hu/?menu=slagerlistak&menu2=archivum. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
- ^ "GRAMMOTEX - Veckolista Album". Sys2.grammotex.se. 2003-05-02. http://sys2.grammotex.se/netdata/grp006.mbr/lista?liid=54&dfom=20030421&xpdato=&xpwlnr=. Retrieved 2012-05-15.
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