Sticky and Sweet Tour (album)

Background

The album was originally announced as Sticky & Sweet by Madonna's official website on January 12, 2010, with artwork depicting this title. This was later changed to Sticky & Sweet Tour and the packaging design was slightly altered with the additional wording, although the DVD and Blu-ray menu screen retains the original title announced. The album included 30 minutes of exclusive footage, filmed behind the scenes during the course of the tour. The release included "Don't Cry For Me Argentina" which was only performed at the River Plate Stadium concerts. The photography used on the front cover is by Guy Oseary and is included in his book Madonna: Sticky & Sweet. The imagery is from the video interlude section of "Die Another Day" and has been slightly altered, removing the dancers on stage in the mock-boxing ring. The filmed tour footage was broadcast on VH1 on April 2, 2010, just a few days after the official release.

The DVD was released in the United States on April 6, 2010. Spin collaborated with Madonna's official website and launched a promotional campaign for the release, giving away an autographed DVD of the album, a Sticky and Sweet tour T-shirt, a tour photo book, an official tour program and a free one-year subscription to their website. During an April 2010 interview with Interview magazine, Madonna noted how she was not able to focus on the development of the DVD as she was involved in her directorial venture, W.E. She said,

"I haven't really been focused as much as I should be on the music part of my career because this movie has just consumed every inch of me. Between that and my four children, I don't have the time or the energy for anything else. For example, I do appreciate that lots of people worked long and hard putting together things like the DVD of the Sticky & Sweet Tour that we just released, and I have seen the finished product, but I have got no idea how people are going to find out about it or how it's going to be sold."

Critical reception

Mikael Wood from Entertainment Weekly gave the video a B+ and commented, "This live CD-DVD can't replicate being there, Sticky & Sweet — taped in Buenos Aires in 2008 — does capture the show's rejuvenative streak, as on the electro-garage 'Hung Up'. Props, too, for a behind-the-scenes doc that actually goes behind the scenes." The Independent gave the release two out of five stars. The reviewer Andy Gill commented, "For all the multitude of crotches spread about the stage, this is as unenticing as pop gets, utterly lifeless despite the fervent activity." Mayer Nissim from Digital Spy felt that "Despite its absurd charm, this CD won't provoke the rediscovery of Hard Candy that it seems to nudge towards. That said, it's still an entertaining blast from start to finish. And with the DVD record of her outstandingly outlandish tour bundled in, this is definitely worth the entry price for anyone who still has even half an interest in the Queen Mum of Pop." Mark Beech from Bloomberg Television said that "It’s intriguing how note-perfect Madonna is while running around and doing splits." Rolling Stone gave the album three and a half out of five stars and wrote that it "featured stirring remixes, like a fresh mash-up of "Vogue" with the brassy funk of Hard Candy's "4 Minutes"."

Justin Kanter from Seattle Post-Intelligencer gave a positive review and commented on the performances: "Over the course of two full, uninterrupted hours comes an abundance of grandiose sets and effects; a voluminous line-up of dancers; precisely engineered sound and sequence; and sharply produced, celebrity-studded video clips. [...] Unquestionably, it’s Madonna and company’s actual show — the entire spectacle of song, dance, style, and attitude — that make the Sticky & Sweet Tour an invigorating and highly memorable happening." However, he felt that the performances of "Borderline" (1984) and "Human Nature" were disappointing. Ben Kaplan from Canada.com said "Sticky & Sweet is a document of a woman in her fifties who actually started peaking after most people thought she was through. Madonna doesn't speak with a British accent on her new record. But even if she did, it wouldn't really have mattered: Most of the stage banter is drowned out by the crowd's roar." He listed the performance of "Into the Groove" (1985) as a highlight of the tour. Tony clayton-Lea from The Irish Times said "Madonna has the experience to know what works and what doesn’t. It is this that makes Sticky Sweet such an interesting proposition: a superbly shot movie of the 'four-act' show that blends muscle with music, depth with deftness." Stephen Thomas Erlewine from Allmusic said "Since so much of the tour depended on overblown spectacle, Sticky & Sweet Tour is better experienced as a video instead of a CD – but even as a video this doesn’t rank among the best Madonna live albums, as there’s too much precision and not enough inspiration in the whole show."

Chart performance

In the United States, the album was released on April 4, 2010 and entered the Billboard 200 chart at number ten, with first week sales of 28,000 according to Nielsen Soundscan. Sticky & Sweet Tour became Madonna's 19th top-ten album on the Billboard 200, thus tying her with Bob Dylan for sixth place among acts with the most top 10s in the chart's 54-year history, trailing The Rolling Stones (with 36), Frank Sinatra (33), The Beatles and Barbra Streisand (30) and Elvis Presley (27). However, only the CD/DVD set and digital audio-only counterparts were allowed to chart on the Billboard 200. The Blu-ray edition of the album charted on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart, peaking it with sales of 5,000. It became Madonna's ninth number-one on that chart, extending her lead as the soloist with the most toppers in the 25-year history of the chart. Among all acts, only Bill and Gloria Gaither have more, with fifteen number-ones. The next week, Sticky & Sweet Tour dropped to position fifty-seven on the Billboard 200, selling 8,000 copies. It has sold 65,000 copies there, with sales of the Blu-ray version exceeding 17,000 copies. In Canada, the album debuted at three on the Canadian Albums Chart with sales of 6,000 copies.

In Japan, the album debuted and peaked at number ten on the Oricon Albums Chart, remaining on the chart for eight weeks. Sticky & Sweet Tour was her 20th top-ten entries on the chart, making Madonna the international artist with most top-ten albums in Japan, breaking the record previously held by The Beatles. She also became the oldest female artist to enter the top-ten in Oricon albums chart history. In Australia, the album charted on the ARIA DVD Chart at number three while entered the New Zealand Albums Chart at number 20. It was certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for shipment of 10,000 copies there. In the United Kingdom, Sticky & Sweet Tour debuted outside the top ten at number 17 with sales of 17,000 copies according to the Official Charts Company. The album was also commercially successful in other musical markets, topping the charts in Mexico, Greece, Croatia, Czech Rep, Norway, Hungary and Portugal, while attaining top-ten positions in the charts of Austria, Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Sweden and Switzerland. Sticky & Sweet Tour also reached number two on Billboard's European Top 100 Albums chart.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from the album liner.