Rarities #38: Madonna - Celebration Pop Up Promo Box (2009)

If you didn't know by now, Madonna has released her third greatest hits album, and it is her last album under Warner. She will be moving on to Live Nation next.

Celebration follows The Immaculate Collection (1990) and GHV2 (2001). There's a 1CD version and a 2 CD version. The 2CD versions contains 36 songs, with 2 new songs - the title track and Revolver featuring Lil' Wayne. It is the first time all of Madonna's greatest hits are compiled in one album, so it's been billed as the Ultimate Collection. Rightly so.

Also, there's the DVD album to accompany the CD release. The 2DVD album is titled Celebration: The Video Collection, and it has 47 videos, including the latest one for Celebration, but it's the Benny Benassi Remix of the song. It's pretty cool.

The most glaring omission on the DVD is American Life. The video caused quite a stir when it was originally released because of its anti-war message, just as the US was about to go to war with Iraq. It was shown on a few channels for just one day before Madonna yanked it and replaced it with a tamer version, where she is filmed in front of a backdrop of different flags of the world. However, not even the revised version made it to this DVD.

Needless to say, both the CD and DVD albums are essential to any music collection, and what's more the tracks on the CD have been digitally remastered, so they sound better than ever. I didn't really like Celebration the first time I heard it, but it sure grew on me. The spoken segment in the middle is classic Madonna ("I don't recognise you with your clothes on"). The Benny Benassi Remix is darn good too.

The pop up box is a promo item and it's super rare. It houses the 2CDs and 2DVDs in a pizza box with a magnetic clasp. The pop up images represent the different iconic looks Madonna had adopted over the years. She's not the Queen Of Pop for nothing.