Four stars

OH MADGE, just a little less rapping and fondness for Cher's voice synthesiser and you'd have all five stars!

When Madonna sticks to what she does best - using that beautiful voice in acoustic-backed ballads - she is unbeatable. But when she starts playing around with musical toys and summoning up the angst of youth to rap, then it's time to hit that skip button. Rhyming Mini-Cooper with super-doopah ! I don't think so!

She should just be happy to have a voice that sounds stronger than it did 16 years ago, yet still retains a sweetness and a young sound belying her years.

Of the 11 tracks on the album, only two are real turn-offs - I'm So Stupid and Nobody Knows Me, but the rest are real winners. Love Profusion, Nothing Fails and X-Static Process are classics just waiting to be covered by Madonnas in the making.

Knowing that she wrote all her own material with Mirwais Ahmadzai, it is a little disappointing that there are no sleeve notes shedding a little more light on the emotions driving her lyrics.

We have to guess they are to do with Mr Ritchie, but it would be nice to know.

SCC