Frozen had an overwhlemingly positive initial reaction. The hype surrounding Madonna's first original studio album in four years was so intense, Madonna probably could have released something as out there as Shanti/Ashtangi and still ended up with a top ten hit. Frozen was heavily hyped on MTV, with several teaser 30-second ads for the debut of the video (those literally gave me chills).

Frozen was also subject to some interesting side news -- mainly in the form of so-called "internet piracy." Since, for some reason, Madonna's new songs always seem to premiere in rather obscure parts of the world, particularly Singapore, one website owner recorded the song off the radio weeks before its intended US release, and posted a sound file for the song online. While it was a major treat for Madonna fans, it got this guy in some deep trouble, and made international news reports, heating up the debate on full-length song files on the web. The silly thing is that the sound file was of such poor quality (recorded off the radio) that anyone who was curious enough to spend the time downloading the file would almost definitely buy it as soon as it was available. If anything, this website owner was increasing demand and adding that much-sought-after industry "buzz."

The song was a radical change for Madonna, which may be hard to remember for some, since we're all now used to her Ray of Light sound. The techno undertones, eastern strings, and new vocal range were all previously unexplored territory for Madonna. However, she succeeded brilliantly and this is easily one of her best songs. Its success worldwide also marks it as one of Madonna's biggest hits ever.

Unfortunately, in the US Frozen had to settle for a lot of number 2 peaks. In fact, the single was stopped at number two on four charts: the Hot 100, Hot Dance Maxi-Single Sales, and the VH1 and MTV monitors (Frozen was Madonna's highest peaking video from Ray of Light on MTV). Still, that's nothing to sneeze at. The single made the top ten on every chart it appeared on except for Rhythmic Top 40. It also was Madonna's first in what is now a long run of multiweek #1 Dance-Club Play singles, solidifying her as the biggest Dance music artist ever.

The Frozen video was met with mixed reaction. Its director, Chris Cunningham, was better known for his more "out-there" videos for artists like Aphex Twin and Portishead. And while there were some stunning special effects (when Madonna falls and "breaks" into a flock of crows is amazing, as well as some of the subtle morphing techniques), there seemed to be a lot of downtime in the video. However, just looking at the pics below makes me still feel that rush inside of excitement, as Frozen as a whole was a wonderful endeavor for Madonna (with a couple great remixes to boot!).

TRIVIA: Madonna refers to the video shoot for "Frozen" as the most difficult one in her career due to the frigid temperatures during filming. Also, during the shots where Madonna seems to float in the sky in silhouette, that's not Madonna at all -- it's a mannequin. During the song's recording, William Orbit is said to have banged on trash cans in attempts to get the right percussive sound.