It's her best album, and a risk that payed off incredibly. Downtempo just fits Madonna so well.
Definitely better than 'The Sword & The Soaring', but not better than 'Memoirs in Armour'. A great ending to a great trilogy.
Narratively and lyrically great. Production is a little basic and one-dimensional, though, apart from a couple songs.
The first 3 tracks, which includes the 1 minute intro, are where this album peaks. Nothing too terrible after, it's just decent, albeit a couple bad lyrical moments.