First of all American Life is a very underrated album. If you haven't got it so far please get it. Nobody Knows Me is my favorite fast song. The remixes are out of this world. No one really knows Madonna and she talks about "people are not so kind" and "it's so hard to find someone to admire" great words. All remixes of NKM are awesome. Nothing fails is really good to. Original version with the chorus is the best. The first 3 remixes; Peter Rauofer Classic House Mix, Nevins Room Rock Mix, and Tracy Youngs Underground Mix, are a little repetitive but I would give it a 7 of out 10. The last 2 remixes are great and you would definately dance to them. This song talks about her love for hubbie Guy Ritchie and how she has climbed "the tree of life" and "no longer care if I fall". Which she has after being around for such a long time and seeing so many things and now if something happens in her life and it brings her down she will not fall, which is implied. I am so glad she sang both these songs at the Reinvention Tour!!I highly recommend this Maxi Single to any Madonna collectors!

Madonna's poorly received "American Life" CD yielded only one minor hit - the title track peaked at #37 on Billboard's Hot 100. Nevertheless, several other singles were released. "Nothing Fails" was Madonna's third single from the CD, and it followed "Hollywood" as only the second in Madonna's long career to fail to chart on the Hot 100. What a pity, as "Nothing Fails" is one of the highlights of the "American Life" CD.

The original version of "Nothing Fails" begins with Madonna cooing, "I'm in love with you - you silly thing. Anyone can see." The sentiment is sweet, and it's been suggested that she wrote it about meeting hubby, Guy Ritchie. The song has been compared (somewhat unfavorably) by some people to her earlier "Like a Prayer," mostly because of the choir that kicks in toward the end. On this remix CD, the song has been amped up to appeal to dance clubs. Not surprisingly, "Nothing Fails" hit #1 on the Billboard Dance chart, as well as on the Dance Singles Sales chart.

As usual, Madonna enlists the help of some brilliant remixers, including Peter Rauhofer, Jason Nevins, and Tracy Young. Some of the remixes are definitely successful. Rauhofer's Classic House Mix is a rather straight-forward and faithful remix - it works overall. Jason Nevins' two remixes reconfigure the song more dramatically and therefore are more interesting as well. His Big Room Rock Mix is perhaps the best on the CD, successfully focusing on Madonna's repeated refrain "You're the one." Surprisingly, the only disappointment is Tracy Young's remix - a rather average affair. Unfortunately, all of the remixes really lose the sweetness of the song, which is what made "Nothing Fails" such a good song in the first place. So, although the remixes are generally solid, this CD ends up being an average Madonna release.

As a bonus, the CD includes several remixes of "Nobody Knows Me." The song was released only to clubs, where it peaked at #4 on the Billboard Dance chart. The song is not one of my favorites on the "American Life" CD, and the remixes don't help change that opinion.

Nothsarva doesn't know what he/she is talking about. "Nothing Fails," by far the strongest single from American Life to date, serves so well to a remix, it's crazy. The five mixes here all bring something different to the song. Although, once again, I was not moved by Rauhofer's repetative mix (just like all his mixes the last few years have been, save Whiteny Houston's "Love that Man" and see below), it gives a classic-house feel to the song that others like. Though Nevin's Radio Mix ruined the song by ripping bare all the emotion of the song because of the guitars he added, his Big Room mix, being more of a dub version, works magnificently. Tracy Young, as always, brings her signature, unique brilliance to her mix and gives it a more mysterious club feel, while the Jackie Mix, the best mix by far, is just mind-blowing in it's twists and turns, strong beats, sound effects and awe-inspring use of the choir.

"Nobody Knows Me," the second-best track on the album, serves SO well to the remixes, and I had been waiting for mixes from the moment I bought the album. Here, Rauhofer finally worked some of the magic we used to know him for and has turned the track into a brilliant extented-play, harder-hitting club mix which stays true to the original. The Above & Beyond Mix turns the track into a trance-lovers dream and gives me tingles every time I hear it. The Mount Sims Mix, in the steps of Daft Punk and Felix da Housecat, turns the track into a retro-80s electro/euro track that brings me back ten years, while staying ahead of the game.

Sorry, but this is, by far, the best single off of American Life. It is such a worthwhile purchase, as every single track is unique, and brings life to two amazing songs. It is just too bad the US single does not include the Passengerz Club Mix of "Love Profusion," which is equally outstanding. As always, although the originals are always brilliant and I love them to death, a good Madonna remix is always better. This time around, these are AMAZING Madonna remixes.

Madonna has done it again. And not in a good way. For the second time in a row in a unmatched, twenty year career Madonna has released a single that is unable to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Why, you ask, is the Queen of Pop now the Queen of flop? Well perhaps it stems from her obvious disinterest in her own music and the poor single choice. Though I believe "Hollywood" was superb and robbed of its chart chances, "Nothing Fails" is perhaps Madonna's worst single choice.
Slow, sad and dirgey, "Nothing Fails" certainly fails to deliver what people expect a Madonna song to be: upbeat, catchy, armed with a lethal hook and a killer chorus. Why is Madonna singing about "no more fears" and "no more tears" when the music sounds like a Russian funeral march? Many fans said this was the song that would really make the album sell. Obviously they were wrong. The album version is boring enough, but that ear-piercingly bad radio edit makes a bad song worse. Madonna vocals are drowned out by more harsh guitar sounds (will someone tell Madonna to stop with this "rock" sound please?!) and over-produced, echoed guitar plucks.
That's right Madonna, nothing fails....except your boring, uninspired singles. I have been a fan of yours since 1989 and this is the first single of yours I do not enjoy and will not support. Better luck next time.

Madonna's release of a third single from "American Life" is proof positive of her inability to admit her own failure. (Ironically, the name of this single is "Nothing Fails".) I don't know why Madonna doesn't just quietly slip the entire AL project under the rug and get on with life. It wasn't enough for her to attempt to breathe life into AL with the pathetic "Remixed and Revisited" CD. Now she is issuing yet ANOTHER single. Madonna is clearly desperate at this point. For all of her preaching to us about how money isn't important anymore (now that she is financiall set for life), and how she is (WAS) going to spend her efforts on making the world a better place (i.e., her series of children's books), it is interesting how quickly Madonna tries to rush back up the "mainstream" ladder by hooking up with Britney Spears when her projects start getting less attention than she thinks is deserving.

I actually DO like you, Madonna. But, it is time to face the music, admit that you screwed up with AL--and start working on a better, more "thought-out" project next time around. Yes, you still have a HUGE fan base who will buy ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you put out. But based on the response to AL, it is clear that many of your fans still demand quality from you.