Released on the heels of 1992’s criminally under-appreciated Erotica and its accompanying coffee-table book, Sex, Madonna’s Bedtime Stories served as both a course correction and an image rehabilitation for the artist. If the album, which outsold and out-charted its predecessor, isn’t widely remembered today as the comeback story that it was, it’s only because its success was eclipsed by 1998’s much-vaunted Ray of Light.
Bookended as it is, then, by Madonna’s imperial phase and eventual renaissance, Bedtime Stories is often overlooked altogether, but it arguably finds her at her most vulnerable—and most human. She candidly explores self-love (“Secret”), self-reproach (“Love Tried to Welcome Me”), and self-preservation (“Survival”). She sings of her late mother as if she were a long-lost lover on “Inside of Me” and intertwines existential death and physical desire on “Sanctuary.”
Aside from “Human Nature,” her clapback at the media, and a transcendent performance of the Björk-penned “Bedtime Story” during last year’s Celebration Tour, Madonna has largely sidelined the album’s songs in recent years. Which makes it all the more unusual that—notwithstanding the lackluster Ray of Light-era EP Veronica Electronica, released earlier this year—Bedtime Stories is, so far, the closest thing we’ve gotten to the catalog reissues announced by Warner way back in 2021. The original album hasn’t been remastered, and the bonus material—available as a standalone vinyl EP, or bundled with Bedtime Stories on CD—isn’t exactly abundant.
The EP, The Untold Chapter, is faithful to the spirit of the original album’s sound and surprisingly cohesive, limited to its R&B-leaning remixes and outtakes. That means the only demo from the early, more dance-oriented Shep Pettibone sessions is “Love Won’t Wait,” a song that Gary Barlow took to the top of the U.K. charts in 1997. Here, it feels a bit out of time, a Motown throwback that wouldn’t sound out of place on either of Madonna’s first two albums.
The rest of the tracks remain squarely within the set’s genre brief: “Right on Time” is a charming but abbreviated R&B ditty, while the previously released “Freedom” boasts a soulfully defiant vocal performance from Madonna. The demos for “Survival” and “Don’t Stop” have a harder edge than their final versions, the former featuring the iconic trumpet sample that producer Dallas Austin would later repurpose for TLC’s “Creep.” And the “Secret” B-side “Let Down Your Guard” is a curious (and curiously infectious) oddity whose lyrical innuendos and unexpected mix of Asian and electronic influences probably account for its omission from the original album.
Sadly, “Something’s Coming Over,” the long-fabled Pettibone track that would eventually become “Secret,” an early version of “Inside of Me” titled “I Will Always Have You,” and an official release of “I’d Rather Be Your Lover” featuring 2Pac will ostensibly stay locked in the vaults for now. Perhaps Madonna will deign to release another chapter someday. Until then, the story of one of her most underrated, nakedly revealing albums still has some loose ends.
Since 2001, we've brought you uncompromising, candid takes on the world of film, music, television, video games, theater, and more. Independently owned and operated publications like Slant have been hit hard in recent years, but we’re committed to keeping our content free and accessible—meaning no paywalls or fees.
If you like what we do, please consider subscribing to our Patreon or making a donation.
5 out of 5, WE ALL KNOW IT and how lucky to have bonus after a successful album years later and a career that is at the tops- LEADER still to this day. Madonna is as fresh as ever with many extended tracks unloading continuously. Bravo, Bravo, Bravo Super Star ETERNAL Madonna!
Sing la di da di and believe in the ray of light!
Not a widely shared opinion, but I still think this her best record start to finish. Sadly, while Erotica has (rightfully) grown in critical stature over time, Bedtime Stories remains fully under the radar, barely remembered for much beyond Human Nature and not even for Take A Bow (which people still forget is her longest reigning Number One). I agree with Sal though, this package is pretty underwhelming; this could’ve easily been a three disc super deluxe.
Thanks for the review and the historical context. I’ve been enjoying this EP for what it is; I really like the cohesion of the style (aside from LWW). I can also see the criticism, because it hints at what this could have been. I would have liked a deeper dive that included the title track in some form, along with alternate versions of “Secret.” Maybe someday? Though I doubt the Tupac collaboration will ever be officially released, given it would have to be approved by his estate maybe?