The Confessions Tour (album)

Following the 2006 live release ''I'm Going to Tell You a Secret, Madonna released her second live album, The Confessions Tour. The album was recorded at Wembley Arena on August 15 and 16, 2006, during the London stop of her 2006 Confessions Tour, which was promoting her 2005 studio album Confessions on a Dance Floor''. and was released in both DVD and CD formats, capturing the tour as directed by Jonas Åkerlund. The DVD release consists of the full twenty-one song set list of the tour, while the CD captures thirteen highlights from the same. Madonna's performance of the latter, while hanging from a glass embellished crucifix and wearing a crown made of thorns on her head, faced strong reaction from the media and religious groups. Asian media and services company Fridae reported that the album was banned in Singapore, Malaysia and parts of East Asia, because of the inclusion of the performances in the DVD. ==Critical reception==

Stephen Thomas Erlewine from AllMusic felt that the CD version of the album was "not all that much fun to hear, even if the reinterpretations of the 20-year-old hits are interesting. The DVD doesn't feel as cold thanks entirely to the pizzazz of the visuals and the determined efficiency of the show, but even so, this is primarily of interest to the diehards who don't mind purchasing another live CD/DVD set just a year after the first." Tom Young from BBC Music said that he did not see the actual performances on the tour and felt that "some of the magnitude of the performance is lost and the track/scene changes appear needlessly long-winded. [...] As far as live albums go, this is a job well done." At the 50th Grammy Awards held on February 10, 2008, at Staples Center in Los Angeles, The Confessions Tour won in the category of Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video. ==Commercial performance==

" on the Confessions Tour was met with strong reaction from religious groups who deemed it anti-Christian. The Confessions Tour has sold more than 1 million copies worldwide. In the United States, the album debuted at number 15 on the Billboard 200 chart with first week sales of 40,000 according to Nielsen SoundScan. In Canada, it debuted at number two on the Canadian Albums Chart. The album topped the charts in Mexico, and attained the number four position in Brazil. The album was certified Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA), for shipment of 15,000 copies in DVD units. Across Europe The Confessions Tour reached the top of the charts in Belgium (Wallonia), Czech Republic, Italy, Portugal and Spain, while reaching the top ten of the rest of the European nations. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at number seven on the UK Albums Chart with 22,227 copies, while in Norway, the album just missed the top ten of the charts. The commercial success in Europe enabled the album to debut at position two on Billboards European Top 100 Albums chart, behind Norah Jones' studio album Not Too Late. ==Track listing==

Notes • "Music Inferno" includes "The Duck Mixes the Hits" medley video interlude. ==Personnel==

Credits adapted from The Confessions Tour CD liner notes: • Director – Jonas Åkerlund • Production company – Semtex Films, Semtex TV Productions • Producer – Sara Martin • Executive producers – Madonna, Angela Becker, Guy Oseary and John Payne • Photography – Eric Broms • Film editing – Jonas Åkerlund, Philip Richardson, Johan Söderberg and Danny Tull • Costume designer – Jean-Paul Gaultier and Arianne Phillips ==Charts==

Album Monthly album charts Year-end album charts DVD Monthly DVD charts Year-end DVD charts All-time DVD charts ==Certifications and sales==