When I bought Music a few years ago I was afraid Madonna was hitting another low point in her career. American Life has proven that she is in another slump. Her songwriting on this album is contrived and manipulative. The title track is a fluffy song about how superficial fame and celebrity are. This topic is not new for Madonna (check out Substitute for Love and Goodbye to Innocence for superior songs on this topic). She continues with the silly child like writing skills that she began with Music and the "skipping sound" is also continued on this CD. The familiar vocoders are also present along with a couple of "minimalist folk/electronica" songs. Madonna and her producer have brought nothing new to the table with American Life. In fact this album should be retitled "Music: the b-sides"