21 Facts About American Life

American Life is the ninth studio album by American singer and songwriter Madonna.

American Life initially received mixed reviews upon release; critics found the record confusing and "about Madonna".

American Life garnered two nominations at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004.

American Life was supported by Madonna's sixth concert tour, the Re-Invention World Tour, which was the highest grossing tour of 2004 earning $125 million.

American Life believed that the ensuing months with the war would lead to a politically charged atmosphere throughout the country, and wanted to express that in the record.

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The recording sessions for American Life started in late 2001, then was put on hold as Madonna filmed Swept Away on location in Malta and Sardinia and starred in the West End play Up for Grabs.

American Life returned to the Olympic Recording Studios and Sarm West Studios in late 2002 and finished off the sessions in London and Los Angeles in early 2003.

American Life explained that there are some influences from his work, but Madonna mostly wanted a minimalist structure for the album.

American Life is suffused with Ahmadzai's characteristic production techniques, like stuttering instruments and vocals, oscillating loop tones recalling 1950s Sonar pulses, morphing vocals consisting of grunts and squeals and treatments that make the music freeze in between rhythms.

American Life believed that people think it is not natural to skip and stutter the music.

American Life did not want "Hollywood" to sound like the music being played at the nightclubs, so he recorded Madonna's vocals with heavy compression in her headphones.

American Life is a folk album in the purest definition of the term—and it's reflected right in the title" and added that it has "an often ugly, lo-fi demo quality.

The title American Life is written in blood red color and has a punk rock style.

American Life is Madonna's second album to bear a "Parental Advisory" label after Erotica, due to the profanity used in the title song.

American Life performed a private concert in Paris, France, at restaurant Cantine du Faubourg to people who won tickets on a promotion hosted by NRJ Radio, and some of her French friends including designer Jean-Paul Gaultier, director Luc Besson and producer Ahmadzai.

American Life released a statement saying she did so because she believed it was not appropriate to air it at that time, and that she did not want to risk offending anyone who could misinterpret its meaning.

American Life became the first album to achieve seven top ten songs on this chart.

American Life then began developing her sixth concert tour called Re-Invention World Tour.

Allmusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine stated that American Life is better for what it promises than what it delivers, and that it is better in theory than practice.

Ed Howard from Stylus Magazine gave the album a negative review calling the album "about Madonna" instead of American Life culture explaining, "it's Madonna who, surprisingly, has simply run out of things to say".

American Life sold 335,115 copies by July 2008 and earned a Platinum certification from the British Phonographic Industry.