[UPDATE: Read my full track-by-track review here.]

Of course we all know, Madonna’s new album is out today. I’ll have a proper review out Thursday. I need to get into it. Live with it for a couple days. We’ve all heard some stuff from it, some whole songs as well as snippets, but it’s really just a taste. The deluxe version has 16 original tracks, so we need to give it some time. Yum! I can already tell it’s a big improvement over her last album, 2008′s ‘Hard Candy’, which is saying a lot, because even with Madonna’s lesser albums, there are always gems (The Beat Goes On, Give It To Me, She’s Not Me). MDNA already has a few that I can’t live without, the darkly odd ‘Gang Bang’, the thrilling and blurpy, bleepy ‘I’m Addicted’, the beautifully haunting, ‘Falling Free’. Sonically, this is a totally new Madonna. That’s refreshing for any artist, but for one that’s been in the game for 30 years, it’s a downright dip into crystal blue tropical waters, or maybe a vodka and Red Bull would be more appropriate here? Anyway, be sure to check back Thursday for my review, because I’d love to hear your thoughts too. So get to listening. Until then, isn’t there something Marilyn Minter about these images? Of course Maddy and Marilyn collaborated on the European leg of the Sticky & Sweet Tour background videos, but it looks like M still has some of the Minter vibe inside of her. It’s the colors, obscurity of the images, the subject matter, and the texture that makes me think so. Don’t you? Check out some of Marilyn’s videos after the jump.

Both Madonna images by Mert & Marcus © Madonna. All other images by Marilyn Minter.