Madonna: Frozen (1998) Online

Madonna: Frozen (1998) Online

The video begins with the camera skimming along a cracked, desiccated desert floor, and within seconds Madonna appears, hovering just above the ground in the distance. Her hands are covered with mehndi and an enigmatic symbol on one palm. In the video she slowly gestures and sways her arms toward the sky in the video, desperately pleading to her cold lover cited in the song. At one point Madonna falls, and as she hits the ground, she transforms into a flock of large, dark birds. Later, she transforms into a black dog. Three Madonnas also appear walking and crawling amid the desert throughout the video. As the song progresses, the sky darkens, and Madonna levitates from the ground. Her form then changes to a shiny black liquid, which runs along the desert floor and appears to be absorbed by the tattooed hands of another Madonna, who is curled up on the crenelated ground. The video ends with a desperate and melancholy Madonna.

"Frozen" was written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard, and it was produced in collaboration with William Orbit.

A mid-tempo electronica ballad, "Frozen" talks about a cold and emotionless human being.

"Frozen" received acclaim from music critics, some of whom deemed it an album standout. It was described as being a masterpiece, and its melodic beat and sound were defined as "cinematic".

In 2005, a judge in Belgium ruled that "Frozen" was plagiarized from a song by Salvatore Acquaviva, and it was banned from the region. This ruling was overturned in 2014, lifting the Belgium ban on the song.

The song was a worldwide chart success, peaking at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Madonna's sixth number-two single and the artist with most number-two hits in the history of that chart, while it reached number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart.

The song peaked at number one in the United Kingdom, Italy, Spain and Finland, and also within the top-five in other countries, such as Australia, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.

The accompanying music video for "Frozen" was directed by Chris Cunningham in a desert in California, portraying Madonna as an ethereal, witch-like, melancholy persona, who shape-shifts into a flock of birds and a black dog.

The music video received a MTV Video Music Award for "Best Special Effects" in 1998.

"Frozen" has been covered by a number of artists, such as Talisman and Thy Disease.

"Frozen" was recorded along with the rest of the album at Larrabee North Studio in North Hollywood, California.

The song begins with austere, classical strings while the chord progression emphasizes tonic, submediant and flattened leading-tone chords. For the second phrase, which includes a dramatic crescendo, rhythm and ambient electronic effects are added gradually.

Santiago Fouz-Hernández and Freya Jarman-Ivens, authors from Madonna's Drowned Worlds, commented that the song is strongly inspired by different forms of classical music, notably contemporary classical music such as neoromanticism, as well as Italian opera composers and pieces such as Puccini's Madama Butterfly and Verdi's Aida.

Lyrically, the song is about a cold and emotionless man.

In an interview with The New York Times, Madonna commented that the lyrics to "Frozen" is built around "Retaliation, revenge, hate, regret, that's what I deal with in "Frozen".

Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine gave the song a positive review, praising its production and claiming it was "one of the great pop masterpieces of the 1990s.

Rob Sheffield from Rolling Stone commented positively about the "arctic melancholy" of the song.

Stephen Thompson from The A.V. Club approved the song's melodic beat and the sound, but he did dismiss the lyrics.

The Baltimore Sun's J.D. Considine called it a word-focused, emotionally nuanced ballad.

Jon Pareles from The New York Times was impressed how Madonna, dulcet and careful, performed the song.

Joan Anderman from The Boston Globe said that on Ray of Light, only "Frozen" achieves a "state of divine balladry", recalls the "emotional pitch" and simmers the "beauty of 1986's 'Live to Tell' with a dark, lush string section, the smash and patter of a lone drum, and an ominous, pulsing buzz".

Bryan Lark, writing for The Michigan Daily, called the song "gorgeous" and one of the album's best tracks.

Sputnikmusic gave the song a positive review, impressed by how "interesting percussion backing, beautiful use of strings with techno effects and Madonna at her soothing best".

Stephen Sears from Idolator noted that Madonna has a history of releasing albums with "killer singles" as "Frozen", and commented that "Not since 'Live To Tell' had a Madonna ballad carried such emotional weight - and this time it was done with a new level of sonic grandeur".

Jose F. Thomas from AllMusic rated the song two stars out of five, describing the song as "chilly".

In 2003, Madonna fans were asked to vote for their "Top 20 Madonna singles of all-time", by Q magazine. "Frozen" was allocated the number ten spot on the list.

Billboard also allocated "Frozen" at number 25 on a list containing Madonna's 40 hits, stating that the song marked a sonic change in Madonna's career.

Rolling Stone also ranked the song as Madonna's sixth best song of all time according to a readers' poll, saying that the song is "striking the perfect balance of pop accessibility, sophisticated balladry and cutting-edge electronic textures".

VH1's Mark Graham included "Frozen" on his list of his favorite songs from Madonna at number 36.

In the United States, "Frozen" debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached the second position of the chart on the issue dated April 4, 1998.

The song became the sixth single by Madonna to peak at the two position, surpassing Elvis Presley for the most number-two songs.

"Frozen" topped the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart, while reaching number eight on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart.

"Frozen" was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in April 1998.

The song was ranked at number 32 on the Hot 100 year-end chart in 1998.

According to Billboard, the song was played 99,000 times in the United States as of May 2012.

In Canada, the song reached a peak of number two on the RPM Singles Chart in its seventh week, being held off from the top position by Natalie Imbruglia's "Torn".

In the United Kingdom, "Frozen" entered the UK Singles Chart at number one on March 7, 1998.

The song was later certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).

According to Official Charts Company, the song has sold 556,000 copies.

In Belgium's region of Flanders, the song debuted at number 23 on February 22, 1998, and reached a peak of number three.

Similarly in Wallonia, "Frozen" debuted at number 29 and later reached number two.

In the Netherlands, the track debuted at number 27 on the Dutch Top 40, and reached a peak of two on March 7, 1998.

The song reached a peak of number two in Germany, where it remained for six weeks, before spending a total of nineteen weeks on the chart.

On the Swiss Singles Chart, "Frozen" debuted at number four on the issue dated March 1, 1998. After one week, the song reached number two, remaining there for eight weeks.

The song peaked at number one in Spain.

In Australia, "Frozen" debuted on the ARIA Singles Chart at its peak of number five on March 1, 1998. The next week it descended at number nine, returning at its peak on March 15, 1998, and stayed there for another three weeks.

It was present for a total of 16 weeks on the chart, and was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).

In New Zealand, the song had a similar run as in Australia, by debuting at its peak of number five on the RIANZ Singles Chart. It was present for a total of 12 weeks on the chart.

Directed by British artist Chris Cunningham, the music video for "Frozen" was filmed at Cuddeback Lake within the Mojave Desert in California during January 7-11, 1998.

The video was inspired by the film The English Patient and Martha Graham's work.

The music video premiered on February 16, 1998 on MTV at 4 p.m.

The black goth gown outfit Madonna wears on the video was designed by Olivier Theyskens, and provided by then-new collaborator, designer Arianne Phillips.

In an interview with MTV News, Cunningham stated about his work with Madonna, saying that he thought Madonna became interested to work with him after seeing his Aphex Twin-directed music video, "Come to Daddy" (1997).

Madonna stated that she and her team thought of filming the video in Iceland, as the idea to the video was to go someplace cold and where there is snow, but declined the idea.

The video introduces a sober, contemplative side of Madonna, revealing a mature mysticism.

Jim Glauner from MTV News commented that from the first scene from the video, the viewer discovers that this is not "Holiday" (1983).

Henry Keazor and Thorsten Wübbena of Rewind, Play, Fast Forward: The Past, Present and Future of the Music Video said that the large panels of cloth that gather and wind around Madonna gain an even more obvious independent movement quality.

Billboard considered it Madonna's third best video noting that it "conveys the song's bleak heartbreak perfectly" with Madonna's persona in the video.

Madonna first performed "Frozen" on the Sanremo Music Festival on January 24, 1998.

The following month, on February 21, she performed the song on the BBC 1's The National Lottery Show.

"Frozen" has also been included on three of Madonna's concert tours.

On the Re-Invention World Tour in 2004, "Frozen" was performed as the last song of the tour's French Baroque-Marie Antionette Revival opening segment.

On October 1, 2015, Madonna performed an acoustic version of "Frozen" on the Detroit stop of her Rebel Heart Tour.

A rock cover was recorded by Jeff Scott Soto with the Talisman band for their 1998 album Truth.

Polish industrial metal band Thy Disease used parts of the original strings and vocals in a cover on their 2001 album, Devilsh Act of Creation.

German gothic rock/industrial rock band Girls Under Glass released their cover on the Frozen EP in 2001.

Mad'House also re-recorded it for the tribute album Absolutely Mad.

Gene Loves Jezebel recorded their cover version which appeared on two albums, A Tribute to Madonna: Virgin Voices and Tribute to Madonna: Like a Virgin.

Doom Kounty Electric Chair gave the song a "dark rock" feel with their cover, released in 2004.

Italian rock band Absinth Effect recorded a cover version of "Frozen" for their debut album in 2009.

In May 2013, contestant Olympe sang the song on the second season of French version of The Voice: la plus belle voix, allowing him to reach the show's semi-finale.