Madonna - True Blue

''True Blue'' is the third studio album by Madonna, released in 1986. The album became Madonna's biggest selling studio album internationally. On July 2nd 1995, the RIAA certified True Blue at 7x platinum, denoting sales of 7 million in the US alone, and a total of 20 million worldwide. On its release, it hit number one in twenty-eight countries, an achievement that The Guinness Book of World Records called "totally unprecedented". A remastered version including bonus tracks was released in 2001.

Released in June 1986, ''True Blue'' saw Madonna continue to collaborate with Stephen Bray and begin to work with Patrick Leonard. Unlike ''Madonna'' and ''Like a Virgin'', Madonna wrote or co-wrote every song on the album; she also is credited with co-producing every track as well. The album was recorded in late 1985/early 1986, during the first year of Madonna's marriage to actor Sean Penn. She dedicated the album to him, "the coolest guy in the universe".
The album's second single, "Papa Don't Preach", was surrounded by controversy due to its message about a young woman who tells her father that she is pregnant out of wedlock, but is going to keep her baby. Madonna's love for the Golden Age of Hollywood can be seen in the Jimmy Cagney tribute, "White Heat", which features a sample from the ending of the film ''White Heat''. Track number four on the album, "Live to Tell", was originally recorded as the theme to the film ''At Close Range'', and was released as a single before the album was released. "Love Makes the World Go Round" closes the album and made its debut at Live Aid a year earlier in July 1985.
The album cover, shot by photographer Herb Ritts, is one of Madonna's most recognizable pictures. It features a picture of Madonna from the neck up; the main colors in the picture are gray, white, and various shades of blue to reinforce the album's title.
In 2001, True Blue was remastered and re-released with two bonus tracks, remixes of the hit singles "True Blue" and "La Isla Bonita".

''True Blue'' received mixed reviews from critics. Music critics were less than impressed with the album's ending, but did praise the fact that Madonna's voice sounded stronger than it did on her previous efforts. Stephen Holden, in a review for ''The New York Times'', said that "her singing, which has been harshly criticized as a thin imitation of the sixties girl-group sound, has strengthened", and in a ''Rolling Stone'' review, Davitt Sigerson stated that Madonna was "singing better than ever".
The album's songs were called "catchy", but Sigerson in his review commented on the lack of outstanding songs. Forgetting about this comment, he later states that ''True Blue'' is a "sturdy, dependable, lovable new album" which "remains faithful to her past while shamelessly rising above it".
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in a review for the ''All Music Guide'', named the album as the record that made Madonna a superstar. He also calls it "one of the great dance-pop albums, a record that demonstrates Madonna's true skills as a songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun".
Whilst Madonna's first two albums have occasionally been seen as throwaway to some, ''True Blue'' was the first to be recognized as a classic album. In his guide to Madonna, Ricky Gardiner argues that it should be considered in any album-of-the-1980's list, whilst worldwide sales make it her second biggest seller after ''Like A Virgin'' and ''The Immaculate Collection''. It also remains her only album to date to spawn multiple number one singles in both the USA ("Papa Don't Preach," "Open Your Heart," "Live To Tell") and the UK ("Papa Don't Preach," "True Blue," "La Isla Bonita"). "Where's the Party," despite not being released as a single, became a dance hit and a fan and concert favorite and was later remixed for ''You Can Dance''.

Live to Tell (March 1986)

Papa Don't Preach (June 1986)

True Blue (September 1986)

Open Your Heart (November 1986)

La Isla Bonita (February 1987)