Madonna Bedtime Stories (The Silver Collection)

On this, her seventh album proper, Madonna once again shows that one of her greatest talents is her ability to choose collaborators who bring the best out of her. This time around, the producers and co-writers include Bjork, Nellee Hooper (Massive Attack/Soul II Soul) and swing deities Dallas Austin and Babyface (who, amongst a myriad of credits, were the men behind TLC's CrazySexyCool). Mellower in the most part than her previous work, the album includes the usual handful of hits in "Secret", "Human Nature", the title track, and "Take A Bow", a duet with Babyface which is as beautifully glum as anything she's done. While the period between the Erotica/Sex fiasco and her triumphant return with 1998's Ray Of Light was a comparatively lean period commercially for Madonna, this album is up there with the best of her work.