[8] Shimkin affirmed that the original version was not "as slinky and sexy and grimy and dirty", until the mixing process; at that stage, the song was still an "experimentation", but when they realized it was going to be the lead single, a "different, darker vibe" was taken on.

[6] Author J. Randy Taraborrelli described Erotica as a "melting pot of nineties urban music ― burgeoning hip-hop and house, partnered with a more conventional synthesizer-based rhythm and blues".

[5][18] Additionally, it marked a departure from the "four-on-the-floor disco romp that listeners came to expect from [Madonna]", focusing instead on "heavy, cold [...] difficult and unpleasant" themes such as homophobia, queerness, female sex and sexuality, "not only in the hottest moments of physical relationships, but in their darker, more intimate instances, particularly in relation to the growing AIDS crisis", as noted by the Portland Mercury's Jeni Wren Strottup.

[26][24] Described described by Pettibone as an "ode to S&M", the song continued Madonna's exploration of potent spoken-word vocals, which she had previously introduced in "Justify My Love", and samples Kool and the Gang's "Jungle Boogie" (1973), and "El Yom 'Ulliqa 'Ala Khashaba" by Lebanese singer Fairuz.

[32] Its lyrics talk about sexual desire, but Dan Cadan argued in his text in the liner notes of Madonna's 2001 compilation GHV2, that they are actually about a young man coming to terms with his homosexuality.

[29] Set to a "jazzy, juicy" groove, with lyrics about the "finger-licking good" pleasures of cunnilingus, "Where Life Begins" includes long sustained strings, and wah-wah guitars in its instrumentation.

[5] The lyrics to sixth track "Bad Girl" talk, in the singer's own words, about a woman in a toxic relationship, trying to "distract herself from reality" through behaviors such as drinking and chain smoking.

[40] Its "sharp" lyrics find the singer lashing back at a lover who "won her with romantic letters, then used the same verbal skills to manipulate and humiliate her";[28] also present in the song are "typewriter-esque effects", and Pettibone's "clattering programs and icy synth block-chords".

[44] Madonna talks about the gay friends she has lost to AIDS, including Martin Burgoyne, her dance teacher and mentor Christopher Flynn, and artist Keith Haring.

is a "raunchy" rap song, in which guest rappers Mark Goodman and Dave Murphy tell their "disbelieving friends" about their sexual conquest of Madonna, who sings and repeats the phrase waiting for you.

[48][49] Photographs used for Sex were also included on the album's booklet; one shows Madonna in S&M garb, wielding a riding crop and licking her arm; another one features her bound and gagged.

New York City's HMV music store held a Madonna look-alike contest, and set up a booth where people could view Sex for one dollar a minute.

[63] Seen as an attempt to "revive" her musical career after the critical and commercial failure of Body of Evidence, an erotic thriller which she starred, it began in London on September 25, 1993, and ended in Tokyo on December 19.

[63][64] It was initially planned not to visit the United States, instead focusing on regions the singer had never toured before, such as Turkey, Israel, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South America and Australia.

[65] Madonna opened the show dressed as a dominatrix surrounded by topless dancers, while lighter moments included her descending from the ceiling on a giant disco ball wearing an Afro wig for "Express Yourself" (1989), as well as singing "Like a Virgin" (1984) in the guise of actress Marlene Dietrich.

[79] Its accompanying music video was directed by Fabien Baron, and features scenes of Madonna dressed as a masked dominatrix interspersed with footage of the making of Sex;[18][80] it was highly controversial, being aired by MTV only three times, all after the 10pm watershed, before being completely banned.

[78][84] The music video was directed by Bobby Woods, and was seen as a homage to American artist Andy Warhol and Italian director Luchino Visconti; Madonna plays a character based on Edie Sedgwick, who goes out to a nightclub to meet her friends and boyfriend.

[90] "Bad Girl"'s music video was directed by David Fincher; in it, Madonna plays Louise Oriole, a successful but promiscuous Manhattan businesswoman who engages in one-night stands with multiple men, until one of them murders her.

[38] Some critics acclaimed the presentation of them as raw and harshly realistic elements that justified the singer's unpolished and amateur vocals, and unexpectedly found the songs to be more about the pains of romance than sex.

[48] Barbara Walker of the Sun-Sentinel complained that the overtly sexual tone made the album uninteresting due to its frequency in Madonna's public image at the time.

[116] Richard Harrington from the Washington Post likened the record to a number from Bob Fosse's All That Jazz (1979), in which "dancers-as-nearly-naked stewards and stewardesses say, as they explore all manner of sexual coupling before a small, shocked audience of potential investors, 'Our motto is we take you everywhere but get you nowhere'".

The hard house beats of Erotica may have reflected the sexually explicit lyrically content brilliantly on tracks like 'Deeper And Deeper' and 'Thief Of Hearts', but over a whole album it seemed a bit much".

The Quietus' Matthew Barton called it a non-commercial but "intoxicating cocktail of house, samples, jazz, [and] trip-hop", an elevated version of the "'full-length piece of art' modus operandi" of Like a Prayer.

[120] Billboard's Larry Flick described the tracklist as consisting of "intelligent, pensive tunes and tough, dance/hip-hop jams" that "comes across like a conscious return" to Madonna's club origins.

[161] Influence of Erotica can be seen in the work of contemporary female artists such as Britney Spears, Beyoncé, Janet Jackson, Christina Aguilera, Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Cardi B, and Kim Petras.

[21][161][162][163] With the album, Joe Lynch from Billboard held that Madonna "set the blueprint for singers to get raw", while for Chuck Arnold it "forever sexed-up pop music".

[157] Sal Cinquemani elaborated: By 1992, Madonna was an icon —untouchable, literally and figuratively— and Erotica was the first time the artist's music took on a decidedly combative, even threatening tone, and most people didn't want to hear it.

[120] Writing for Stylus Magazine, Alfred Soto felt Erotica "proved too sophisticated for a mainstream besotted with The Bodyguard and a college-radio claque eager to praise R.E.M.

[164] Musician Doug Wimbish referred to Erotica as "ahead of its time", and applauded Madonna for being "enough of an artist to take the hues and shades of what's happening and put a concept together [...] She had Maverick, she'd done the [Sex] book, the film Dick Tracy, she dated a big-ass Hollywood actor (Warren Beatty).

[172] Brian McNair added that, by "dabbling in the pornosphere" with Sex and Erotica, Madonna took a financial risk with her career, and it wasn't until the release of 1998's Ray of Light that her record sales went back to "pre-Erotica" levels; nonetheless, the author concluded that, "what she lost in royalty payments, [she] more than made up for in iconic status and cultural influence".