Music - Madonna

The world needs Music more than Madonna does.

For a while it looked as though the year 2000 would pass without anything special to commemorate the millennium milestone. The same formulaic mix of pop, rap and rock that ruined 1999 has been dominating the charts again, setting up another dismal year for the Grammys and more pathetic lists of "favorites" for critics' year-end roundups.

Then came Madonna's single "Music," easily the most inventive hit of 2000. Produced by French electronica genius Mirwais, the fractured, pulsating dance song is nothing like any previous No. 1 - and only Madonna could have taken it there.

And to think she was upset when she couldn't land the production assistance of Moby, who at this point seems to be playing himself out. Mirwais was exactly the pioneer Madonna needed for Music.

The album follows up on the promise of its title track. With Mirwais at the helm, Madonna rides through the darkly throbbing and immediately rewarding "Impressive Instant," assumes the unusual role of an electronica troubadour on the elegant space-cowgirl ballad "I Deserve It" and indulges in experimental sorrow on the sweeping "Paradise (Not for Me)." Imagine Björk on the soundtrack of a futuristic "Midnight Express."

Madonna invites back her "Ray of Light" producer William Orbit, who guides the singer through the stately yet restrained "Gone." She also collaborates with Guy Sigsworth on the gorgeous mid-tempo "What It Feels Like for a Girl," which hums with romance. There are indiscretions. Mirwais cajoles the singer into vocoder abuse on "Nobody's Perfect," and Orbit retreads the songs "Ray of Light" and "Beautiful Stranger" for the gratuitous "Amazing." Still, these are minor flaws on this lean, 10-track disc. It's hard to believe in this age of teen divas, but the freshest voice in pop music is a 42-year-old mother of two.

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