Madonna's latest world tour has certainly not been lacking in controversy and column inches gained, so what's new? For this is the woman who for the last twenty-eight years or so has 'pushed the envelope' further than most and more often than not, we've all lapped it up and loved her for it.

If you want safe and politically correct then stay home and read a Mills & Boon novel but if you want some racy excitement mixed in, by and large, with great pop music then a Madonna concert is just the ticket, that is if you can get one.

Controversy was in the air right from the very announcement of the tour as the singer's trot around the globe, being titled the 'MDNA' tour after Madonna's current album of the same name, gave critics 'a field day' for, what they perceived as its all too close reference to the drug MDMA, better known as Ecstasy. To the more chilled observers though it was merely a clever play on words and an innocent abbreviation of her name.

Further outrage has ensued since the tour got going with Madonna getting it 'in the neck' from some for, amongst other things, daring to bare a nipple or two at the ripe 'old' age of fifty -three, superimposing a swastika on the face of French extreme Right-wing leader Marine le Pen, toting a toy gun during some theatrical set pieces and at times, littering her on-stage talk with expletives.

For those who have got all hot under the collar(and its largely been the ladies) about a 'blink and you'll miss it' baring of a nipple, one can't help but think a little envy could be driving the criticism. "She should act her age" they scream in horror but they ignore the fact that Madonna could easily pass for twenty years younger than her real age and has, quite literally, worked her butt off to maintain a well-toned backside and a body most women her age and a lot younger would secretly kill for. So if she chooses to show off that lithe bod, something she has been doing all her career, then heck, is it such a big deal?

As for the mixing of politics with music, what's the fuss about there? She certainly isn't the first to do that and she definitely won't be the last and the platform that music affords can be a very powerful and positive tool for getting across political messages. Madonna's gun -toting and overtly violent 'staged' routines as well as her somewhat excessive swearing at times might not be the smartest move but it's nothing we haven't seen or heard a thousand times before from anyone of many bad boy and girl rappers/R&B/hip-hop stars and it's all there too in computer games to be found in homes across the globe. That's not to condone Madonna for some of her antics but give the woman a break and it is, after all, her edginess and ability to shock, that has helped keep us all interested in her.

But what has really sustained her remarkable career and kept all other pretenders from stealing her 'Queen of Pop' crown has been her knack for continually reinventing herself and always moving with the musical times. All that is useless though if you don't have the music/songs to back it up but in that department, Madonna has rarely been found wanting.

Madonna's UK concerts this past week have, unsurprisingly, seen a heavy focus on her new, electropop material from the 'MDNA' album with eight of its tracks featured including show opener 'Girl Gone Wild' that saw the singer emerging from a confessional booth with a mock AK-47 in hand, 'Gang Bang', 'Give Me All Your Lovin', 'Turn Up The Radio', 'Masterpiece' and 'I'm A Sinner'. There could of and perhaps should have been a healthier splattering of the singer's biggest hits during the two-hour performance but those that were dished up predictably thrilled the crowd with the standouts being an energetic 'Express Yourself' with Madonna and her dancers decked out as a marching band in full uniform complete with twirling batons, the Abba-esque 'Hung Up', 'Papa Don't Preach' that is still a valid contender for Madonna's career highpoint and 'Like A Prayer'. One hit that missed the mark though by quite some distance was a ballad-like presentation of 'Like A Virgin' that strove for sophistication but came over as a damp squib and, the singer's adoring fans probably deserved more than just being teased with a brief video montage of snippets of hits like 'Justify My Love', 'Vogue', Holiday' and 'Lucky Star'.

Almost every song that was performed was impressively choreographed with stunning, super-charged dance routines against the backdrop of lavish theatrical set pieces with the super fit Madonna never once caught out of breath as she constantly kept pace with her young dancers whilst still simultaneously managing to sing her heart out. Breasts and nipples remained fully, or perhaps more truthfully barely covered, by skimpy bra tops during Madonna's UK gigs but she did 'treat' her fans to one lingering look at her scantily clad derriere.

In a brief 'doffing of her hat' to her so- called heir apparent, Madonna mixed in a few bars of Lady GaGa's 'Born This Way' during her 'Express Yourself' routine but then cheekily and pointedly ad-libbed the line "She's not me, she's not me" several times just to remind GaGa and everyone else that she's still the original and best and few, in truth, would contest that point. Let's just see which, if any, of today's female hot pop properties are still at the top of their game some twenty odd years from now. I would hazard, not many, if any.