Madonna Goes Pg-13

By CHRISTOPHER JOHN FARLEY

Madonna's career has never really been about music; it's been about titillation, about image, about publicity. But amid all the hype over what Madonna wears and what her sexual orientation seems to be this month, one thing sometimes gets obscured: in the course of her career, she's actually produced several remarkably skillful and entertaining albums. She's never been an innovator, but she's always adeptly seized on the latest dance and music trends; and while any number of pop musicians have made a new style palatable to the masses by watering it down, Madonna has displayed enough talent and taste to remain true to the spirit of her borrowings. Her newest release, Bedtime Stories, is a case in point. It's one of her best albums -- an engaging, gently funky survey of contemporary R. and B.

By this time, Madonna has far overplayed her role as a sexual shockmistress. On Bedtime Stories the sexual content is more subtle, less brazen. With the fluid, soulful opening track, Survival, the singer even offers an apologia of sorts for her bad-girl antics: "I'll never be an angel/ I'll never be a saint, it's true." Of course, she doesn't leave it at that, and on Human Nature she lashes out at her critics. "Did I stay too long?" she mocks over a deep bass groove. "Oops, I didn't know I couldn't speak my mind -- (What was I thinking)."

Along with Bruce Springsteen and Michael Jackson, Madonna was one of the pop-music giants of the 1980s, and she has risked becoming an artifact of that era, like Dynasty and jackets with zippers all over them. On Bedtime Stories, though, she successfully pulls herself out of the time warp by surrounding herself with au courant '90s performers such as Babyface (who co-wrote two tracks on Bedtime Stories and also sings on them), critical darling Me'Shell NdegeOcello (who plays bass and raps) and Icelandic alternative diva Bjork (who co-wrote a tune). One of the songs on the new CD, Inside of Me, even shamelessly samples from Back and Forth, a pop hit by the hot teenage singer Aaliyah that is still on the Billboard charts (Madonna does list Aaliyah in the credits). Aaliyah and Babyface specialize in slick, soothing sounds, and Madonna adopts their aesthetic. The songs on this CD don't shout or rock, they purr and murmur.

In 1992, when Madonna released her dirty picture book, Sex, she seemed to be moving into self-destruct mode, finishing up her time in the spotlight as a parody of herself. The eroticism she hints at on Bedtime Stories is actually sexier than that of her more wanton songs and videos. Even if a more subdued Madonna is just another pose, it may help her win some of the respect she actually deserves. She is not a great singer, her songs are derivative, her public persona is tawdry. But she can make pretty good records. That's what her dirty little secret really is.