Like A Prayer

Fan, trodde det skulle vara mycket sämre. Eller snarare att just jag inte skulle gilla det. Like a prayer är ju bra. Sen kommer tre rätt dålig låtar. Men sen vänder det. Det blir bättre när det är lite mer avskalat (mindre renodlat 80-tals sound). Särskilt Cheish är bra (trots lite 80-tals(o)ljud). Hon sjunger jävligt bra, aldrig tänkt på det tidigare. Keep it together är sen inte så bra, men med spanish eyes lyfter det lite igen. Landar nog på en fyra i slutet då, för det som jag inte riktigt diggade är inte så pass dåligt att det sänker.

Riktigt bra popskiva. Många hits och de flesta låtar jag inte hört sen tidigare höll också bra nivå. Fyra med mersmak!

While this definitely isn’t in my wheelhouse it’s easy to see why Madonna was a 80’s hit machine. 4/5

Nudy na 3

Other than the hits, this album was pretty hard to listen to. I had forgotten about "Cherish" though. That song is a jam.

Amazing album that redefined pop at the time!

3.5 I l9ve all the hits but the fillers took it down a peg.

Tails off hardddd

Pretty mixed but overall not really my thing.

The lows on this could've made it a 3, but when there are songs as strong as the pop bangers are on this I have to boost it up

Classic! Great album! I find myself turning it up. It's great!... Ok after Express Yourself it kind of took a turn. I guess it's the big hits that I really like.

Ok, I've always wanted to listen to this album, but as a pop enthusiast, this is quite a let down. The melodies and instrumental feel very dated and for 2025, just a feel songs ("Like a Prayer", "Cherish") translate well.I know why this album should be in list but it's not good and not coherent. Madonna was never a good vocalist, but some of the songs here are painful. Thank God she did better albuns afterwards. ButbI am really disappointed 3/5

Not a bad listen. Singles are obviously incredibly well known but the rest of the content was surprisingly good.

Highlights "like a prayer" and "till death do us part"

Pas mal mais aucun morceau n'a retenu mon attention

The album is just o k. The better songs were the popular songs that stood out. And some of these other ones are horrible.

4/5, a ton of bangers on this thing man but I don't think it's perfect... probably a solid 4.5 but i dont wanna round up so 4 it is

aside from the last song not a single one is bad, album overall is very good

Wowowow

I am giving it a 3 instead of 2 only because the title track is epic af. The rest is boring.

If you like Madonna, then this is a classic album for you. If you don’t like Madonna then you won’t understand what all the fuss is about. It’s ok. The hit songs are good. The rest is forgettable.

I recently listened to 1989 and wrote that I wondered how they pick which pop stars get to be bigger than god for a bit. I wouldn’t say I really enjoyed this album, but I understood it a bit better than the Swift. Probably just for crotchety reasons though. This sounded more like it had a proper band, a bit more life to it. Pretty silly songs though.

A slog.

Heerlie

poptasti

Album 948 of 1089 Madonna - Like A Prayer (1989) Rating : 3.5 / 5 My first impulse is always to lean a little negative when it comes to Madonna, but I’ve been proven wrong before - and I was again today. While I can’t quite put it in the category of “greatest albums ever,” there’s no denying that this one represents its era and its genre incredibly well. It’s a well-produced, confident record that shows Madonna at the top of her pop game. The title track alone still holds up as one of her most powerful moments - bold, catchy, and perfectly crafted. The rest of the album keeps a steady, upbeat tone, with her vocals right on point and the production polished without feeling overdone. She knew exactly what she was doing here and executed it flawlessly. I have to give her props - she delivered what was expected of her and did it extremely well. Even if this era of pop isn’t my usual lane, I can recognize when it’s done right, and this is a fine example of that.

Big Madonna fan, Dimery? Yeah...I noticed. Odd that The Author has way more Madonna and Dexy's Midnight Runners on this list than Michael Jackson or Prince. Racist in the 80's much, Bob? Speaking of Prince, his fingerprints are all over this album. His presence improves the album's rating by a full star. And speaking of the 80's... that was the only decade where an artist using the mononym "Madonna" could produce a music video for the title track that features her displaying stigmata wounds, dancing in front of burning crosses, and kissing a Black Jesus, and then having said video used in a major advertising campaign for Pepsi Cola. Those were the days...

Some of these songs are familiar, I suspect I heard many of these tracks on the radio in period. Certainly none of my friends were Madonna 'fans'; she was 'pop' and we didn't do 'pop'. The track 'Like a Prayer' could be an ABBA number... dunno if that's a good thing. I completely panned 'Ray of Light' when it came up here. This is better. A more honest pop album, fun at times, and she has a great voice without a doubt. It is not really my thing and I don't want it in my album collection, I wouldn't choose to listen to it but if someone started playing it I wouldn't yell at them to change to something else. 3/5.

Three stars, barely. Would have been two if it weren't for Like a Prayer

Good

En la presura del día escuché por error el álbum "Like A Virgin" en lugar de "Like A Prayer", lo cual en cierto sentido ayudó en mejorar la experiencia de escucha por comparación. "Like A Virgin" es un álbum más inmaduro, con una esencia adolescente y una ideología que hace apología del consumismo capitalista y relaciones sexo-afectivas tóxicas. Además la voz de Madonna suena demasiado chillona e infantil. "Like A Prayer" es una mejora sustancial del estilo y el contenido. Por supuesto no deja de ser música comercial que abraza el capitalismo y el concepto de que "el sexo vende", pero se percibe mucho más maduro, y además la voz suena mucho mejor. El trabajo musical es interesante y no tan predecible como parece, a pesar de que son todas canciones pop, hay por momentos ciertos temas que sorprenden en cuanto a su estilo, sonoridad y estructura. Creo que sobre todo tienen mucho trabajo de orquestación (tradicional, electrónica y orquestal combinados). No es un estilo de música que me guste demasiado escuchar, pero aprecio el trabajo.

Eigentlich drei Sterne aber weil Like a prayer so bang gibt's einen extra

Not for me. 1/5

I actually knew Madonna before this!

80er, aber nicht alle songs sind gut gealtert - spärliche instrumentalisierung oder romantischer klangteppich findet sich hier neben hitparadensongs. detail am rand: Love Song mit Prince .. co-written, co-produziert, und co-performed!

Popgedudel vom Feinsten. Nein, war noch nie was für mich.

I don’t think it was the vibe for today, but it wasn’t bad by any means. It very obviously influenced a lot of stuff, which I can get behind. Favorites: Like a Prayer, Love Song, Act of Contrition

Really enjoyed some songs and really didn’t like others. Very strange way to end the album.

I don’t know much about about Madonna’s career, but something about this album feels desperate, like a pop star trying a little too hard to hang on.

2.3

Not as good as True Blue. Some decent songs but kind of average.

This is peak 80 (which means it’s not good). 80s pop is so dated and this album is no different.

The first track is great. The rest is pretty good.

First listen. I think Like a Prayer is... fine. It opens with a very strong run, and then kind of progressively tapers off from there. Initially, I found the slower, more ballad-y tracks to be good for the album's pacing - even though they were individually on the weaker side - but eventually, they started to take up a bit too much of the runtime. The album is at its best when it fully leans into unabashed, glittery dance-pop; and it really does shine in those moments, but sadly, they're a bit too scarce as far as I'm concerned. Perfectly cromulent, but nothing extraordinary. Fav. Track: Like a Prayer

"Like a Prayer" represented Madonna's move from 80s pop to more serious material. The lyrics are drawn from personal experience, with a general theme of sexuality clashing with Catholic guilt. The music builds on this theme with choirs and echoing sounds reminding the listener of a (mostly) empty cathedral. I could do without the more ballady filler but there are definitely a some standard setting tracks on there, especially the title track, "Express Yourself" and the Prince duet "Love Song". Madonna may have started as a mere dime a dozen pop star and may now be the butt of jokes but this album is a reminder that she was once a master of her genre.

Ein zwei Songs weniger hätten es kompakter gemacht, dann wäre es eher eine 5

3,64 - Komischerweise ist das Duett mit Prince der Tiefpunkt eines ansonsten grandiosen Pop-Albums, das allein durch das Titellieds schon eine gute Bewertung verdient. Highlights: Like A Prayer, Express Yourself

Overall pretty good and catchy, recognized a lot of these songs and I think the Artist formerly known as Prince was included on some songs? Overall a 3 for me however

The first two tracks are among her best ever. The duet with Prince is alright, but it's less than the sum of its parts. There's a solid run of tracks from Cherish through Keep It Together. In that stretch, Dear Jessie and Oh Father are almost prog-like and remind me of some of the pop-ier 2010s Steven Wilson stuff (Hand Cannot Erase-era). Act of Contrition is a pretty cool soundscape-y thing with what appears to be Prince doing an extended shred-fest of a guitar solo in the background. Overall, this is probably 4 stars.

I never realized Cherish was a Madonna song. I was surprised by the quality of the album, I normally scoff at Madonna and don’t think I’ve ever spun LAP in full before, but it was quite listenable.

Some good songs here, but it’s also kind of a weird album. The hits have that 80’s pop ballad sound, but the rest of the album is a mix - some of it is Disney-ish. Notable tracks include Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish, Oh Father, Spanish Eyes.

Loved this album in the 90's but it has not fully held up. Still enjoyable but not a masterpiece.

Every day's a school day - I never realised Hung Up was referencing Madonna's duet with Prince. Maybe the reason I'd never heard Love Song before is because that track is less than the sum of its parts - for two of the 80s most provocative pop stars, they don't have much chemistry – but the rest of this is Madonna at the top of her game.

Solid 3, it’s good pop music.

Surprising and fun listen. Though it might lose some steam for me around the three quarter mark, this album is very well produced and thought out. It seriously stands out as excellent Art Pop alongside the likes of Kate Bush's Hounds of Love or even Peter Gabriel's So.

I get why this is an essential album and it very much highlights Madonna's talent, giving you a first-class lesson on why she was such an iconic singer that released hit after hit. That said, the sound of the synthesizers, drum machines, and horn section plant this album squarely in that 1989 timeframe. For me personally, 80s music is so absolutely distinct that sometimes it can take you out of fully enjoying the music. It's not my favorite album and not a type of music that I often enjoy. I'm giving the album 5 stars, but only because I can recognize its quality despite whatever reservations I might bring to the table.

songs i liked: like a prayer express yourself cherish

I'm too young to appreciate this

Not for me. It's sort of catchy and obviously a cornerstone of pop music, but I'm not into it.

Greae

Funny that the reviewers here speak of „Promise to try“ as a filler track. This is the first album where Madonna became vulnerable and sung about the death of her mother, her complicated relationship to her father, her catholic upbringing. Just put her image of a pop goddess aside and listen to her moving life stories! If there is a filler track it‘s cherish which Madonna calls retarded. As for myself found myself with tears in my eyes and in awe of the richness in the title track. Absolute killer album.

Like a prayer is the stand out and a classic but the rest was middling pop. Expected more from the Prince collab. 2.5/5. Raising to 3.

Music that was made with the sole purpose of being on the radio

An iconic voice, I think there are better Madonna albums out there Fav song - Like a Prayer 3/5

Like a prayer is great and the random chamber pop song in the middle was fun

The 'Like A Prayer' music video was on constantly when I was growing up, seemingly every music video channel had it queued up to play multiple times a day, and this was over ten years after the song's release. It was this almost gothic religious affair. It haunts me still. Otherwise, this was a load of cheese and I worry what the neighbours think.

This is the most 80s pop record it could possibly be. Higher production quality than your average 80s pop but it all feels the same to me.

Not bad

There are a few great songs on here, but also quite a bit of filler. This isn't as consistently good as Ray of Light or Music IMO.

Way too heavy on the overproduced polished synth pop.. Struggled to get through this one.

This is a bit limp. Even the collab with Prince lacked soul, energy, and funk. The title song is the best.

The singles are exactly what i remember them being. Enjoyable 80s pop. Wasn't as interested in the rest of the album.

I liked this more than the Ray of LIght or Music, so I guess I'll bump it from my original thought of 2 stars.

Title track is solid gold. The rest of it is pretty lackluster for me. I bet at the time it was pretty special, but I think it suffers, now, from 35 years of artists doing this type of music bigger and better.

I developed a secret crush on Madonna the first time I watched the video for "Material Girl." Though, I was never moved to buy her albums. She seemed ubiquitous from 1984 on. Like A Prayer was released at the end of my freshman year in high school. I remember the "Like A Prayer," "Express Yourself," and "Cherish" videos in heavy rotation on MTV. By the end of my sophomore year, "Vogue" came out and the cycle kept repeating itself for a time. Fun fact: my junior yearbook, when I was on the yearbook staff, was titled "Express Yourself." I have lost it. For me, Like A Prayer suffers because of its success. However, I did like "Love Song" with Prince, "Till Death Do Us Part," and laughed heartily at the line "What do you mean it's not in the computer?!"

listening to this made me realize - of madonna's hit singles - like a prayer is the one i like the least, and the rest of the album didn't really hit the same high as the title track. so: we go from middling to a little under middling (middling-lite, maybe). a little bit disappointed to be so underwhelmed, but i did save a handful of songs, so it evens out. highlights - like a prayer, express yourself, love song, till death do us part, cherish

This is a classic, so many songs have béen used in movies and tv shows.

Solid madge

Fav: Like A Prayer Least Fav: Act Of Contrition One of the most front-loaded albums I’ve ever listened to. A great first half that the second half cannot hold a candle to, frustratingly

Great album 👌. Forgotten how good she was in her pomp

This was pretty good overall. Very much pop music, but she can sing and the production was pretty fun. I enjoyed all of the instruments and electronic sounds. "Love Song" is surprisingly the least listened to song on this album (besides the outro) and I really enjoyed this song and the Prince feature! Dear Jessie, is also a fun and catchy track that sounds so quintessentially of this time period. Respect to Madonna, I can definitely see feeling late 80's cool listening to this at a party or night club.

More like “Like a 😴”

While there are a few bangers everyone knows, the rest of the album is just solid. The non-single tracks just never reach the same heights. I do find it funny looking back on how much I wore out my cassette single of “Like a Prayer” as a kid, and my dad never once thought to stop me from constantly blasting a song about a blowjob.

Man, people really dismissed Madonna too easily

This album holds up a lot better than I thought it would. The Prince song is VERY Prince. The album gets a little weak toward the end but still excellent pop.

Really enjoyable.

The album lead in is excellent. Loved the 1st 3 songs, especially the Prince collab. Never knew that song existed. Some of these songs are a bit too 80s for me but I can see why Madonna was the pop diva of her time. Poppy and catchy.

3 absolutely brilliant songs, but the rest just ok 3/5

Reminds me of going to the mall as a child. This is the late 80s pop sound of America.

Outside of the three heavy hitters, I found this average. That said, the impact on pop culture of the title track between the airplay and the (in some circles) controversial video cannot be denied.

Probably not the album to listen to if you have daddy issues, let alone big daddy in heaven issues. Still, this was when Madonna ruled the airwaves and the public eye. Overall there is a surprising amount of variety and style-collision here which made for a good listen. I do think the back half of the record starts to lag, right around Dear Jessie/Oh Father tracks. But the high rating is deserved based on the front half of the album alone.

Started out reeeeally strong for me but kind of dropped off after Cherish. 3.5 and rounding up because 80s Madonna was 🔥

Real talk. I am giving this 4* on the strength of the first two tracks alone. Didn't really love the rest of the album. 3.5/5

- Niet afgeluisterd, bah bah bah - 0 nummers toegevoegd aan MMMM

Seré apedreado por los fans de Madonna, pero el disco me dio muchísima flojera. Fuera de Like a Prayer y aquella de Oh Father, el disco me mató de la aburrición. No entiendo la super fama de este álbum (y sí me gusta Madonna), pero con este nada más no conecté.

When I was a preteen, at least 50% of the music on my iPod had to be Christian music. Call me crazy, but I don’t think this album would have qualified.

I'm not a big fan of pop music, but I can see why so much of it is so successful. Madonna is a style icon and, in my opinion, she makes mostly good pop music. And that's also the case with this album. It features a few classics of the genre. The rest of the tracks are pleasant to listen to. A very catchy and polished album. But maybe I'll listen to it again. 4/5

The highs are as good as Madonna gets, the album tracks, including one with Prince(!) are a bit of a let down.

A long series of various shades of beige

Great memories of the hitsexpress yourself, like a prayer, cherish .. never heard the rest but it was typical 80s Madonna !! The song with Orince was very cool

Dear God, no. Not Madonna! Ok, open mind. Two songs in, and I don't like it, but cannot call it bad or irritating. But the synthetic beat is tiring. A couple more in and I'm bored. Did I just hear the voice of Prince? Still not enough to save this. Vapid lyrics, boring rhythm, and unappreciated music for me.

The defining sound of late 80s and early 90s pop. Not a sound for my regular rotation, but well done. Very catchy and upbeat. Department store stuff

Me gusta el pop de Madonna de los 80.

First album on this website. This music would be really fun to play while making love. Great music, truly wonderful, just listening to this album really remind me just how important Madonna was to creating modern pop and how justified it is that her music is credited for paving the path for so many wonderful singles-hit artists, which is surprising given how amazing this whole album is. I cannot overemphasise how great this music is, but this album is not something I would currently listen to often. Perhaps I should. Car ride music absolutely, and a trendsetter. All of this album is stupidly good, maybe the problem is that I am listening to it on my own instead of with a ladyfriend. I like Madonna. 4/5

It feels like it rides on the big hits and that it got big due to mtv

HELL YEAH MADONNA (solid but the only majorly noteworthy song is like a prayer)

The title track is an obvious classic. Enjoyed a few others throughout the album, but overall wasn't hooked.

Couple slow ones I didn’t much care for but the hits carried it to a three

Like a Prayer will be my second Madonna album to review, after Music, which I didn’t care for much at all. However, I really love Madonna’s music from the eighties and early nineties, so I have a strong inkling that I’m going to enjoy this album, even though I only know three songs from it. The title track is one of my favorite songs from the eighties, and it always reminds me of hanging out with my best friend, who I initially bonded with over a shared love of eighties music. Enough with the chit chat, it’s time to go to Church with Madonna! I really enjoyed listening to Like a Prayer. It’s an incredibly strong pop album from start to finish, full of a wide range of themes: self-empowerment, love and sexuality, religion, and familial relationships. Musically, it’s a treat for the ears, with perfectly crafted pop jams and some emotional ballads as well. Keyboards and synthesizers are used heavily on this album with great results. The bass playing is really great too, creating some fun grooves on each song. I can’t believe that Randy “that’s a no for me dawg” Jackson played some of those bass parts. And Prince is here too! He may not have ever been a judge on American Idol, but hey, not everyone gets the privilege of sharing a stage with Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul. Even though I think this album is fantastic, it’s not without a few faults (none of which sink the album, thankfully). The emotions on this album shifted quite over the course of the album, sometimes feeling like whiplash (more on that later), and the duet with Prince was a bit of a dud to me (more on that later as well). Some notes on individual songs: I love the organ on the opening/title track, it’s such a bop. The bass and drums are incredible, and the vocal effects and choir immediately transport you inside an empty church. There’s such great imagery with the lyrics, and it really takes you to a different world. The song doesn’t change in intensity in the sound until the additional choral vocals, but it *feels* like it does even before that point. The bass just gets better and better as the song goes on, and the handclaps towards the end punch things up perfectly. This is one of the best pop songs ever. The mood shift from “Like a Prayer” to “Express Yourself” is wild. Don’t get it twisted, “Express Yourself” is an absolute banger, but going from a more somber tone to this celebration of self-worth and is like whiplash. But man, those horns and the vocals smash. The backing voclas are amazing as well. There’s also a badass bass note at three minutes in that doesn’t pop up anywhere else in the song. That was awesome. The duet with Prince definitely feels like a Prince song, but unfortunately, I thought it was really bland. I liked the guitar, but there wasn’t much room for Prince or Madonna to show off their vocal talents, which is a shame. “Till Death Do Us Part” is awesome. I loved the guitar and bass, and the tempo is really fun. What a great pop jam. The fact that this song can stand out on an album with “Like a Prayer” and “Express Yourself” is a testament to Madonna’s talents. I can’t tell if that main melody is a guitar or synthesizer, but I love it regardless. Man, I love hearing Madonna sing. I loved the piano and strings on “Promise to Try.” It was a really beautiful song with an excellent sound, especially on the bridge. The raw emotion that Madonna expresses on this song is great. Madonna can sing with exuberance, but she can sing with vulnerability just as well. “Cherish” is great. I loved the gentler pop sound, and the synths and percussion were excellent. I loved the lyrics and vocals on this song too. I loved the way the synths sang along with Madonna on the chorus. “Dear Jessie” is awesome. I loved the fairytale sound, and the music is incredibly rich. Its sound feels a little out of place on this album, but it’s still a great song. The emotional intensity of “Oh Father” really caught me off guard. The sound reminded me of Kate Bush, but not in a derivative or cheap way. “Keep it Together” was probably the second weakest song on the album, but I loved the synths and bass. Thematically, it felt a bit like whiplash again coming right after “Oh Father,” but it was still a fun song. “Spanish Eyes” was really awesome, especially the horn arrangements. Madonna can write a heck of a love song, and throughout her career, all of her love songs feel so unique and different from one another. I really loved the guitar playing on this song too. “Act of Contrition” caught me off guard quite a bit. I was not expecting something so wild and intense for a closing track on this album. However, I loved that it brought things full circle from the opening track. Like a Prayer isn’t a perfect pop album, but its few flaws aren’t enough to sink it. This album is Madonna at her peak, and this album is full of awesome melodies, great songwriting, and vocals from a true pop diva at the top of her game.

What a time capsule. All the synth, choir, slap bass and choppy guitar feel a touch cheesy now. Lyrics are surprisingly challenging and non pop. I have no doubt it was huge at the time.

I grew up in the 80s in a household that mostly listened to Motown with the occasional Beatles and Billy Joel thrown in. As such I thought I would only recognise the title track on this album. Turns out I’ve heard a lot of them before somehow. Guess they were just out there in the culture of the time. I am firmly a rock fan but there is no denying this is the perfect pop record. Oh and Prince shreds on some tracks so winner.

I had fun and it makes me yearn for an outfit a la Robin Sparkles

I like this album. It’s grandiose and sounds great. Not my usual listening. Madonna tended to respond to trends rather than create them, but like Bowie was aware of them before a lot of people. This record reminds me of a lot of the sounds we heard in the late 80s. This is probably a good time capsule of what was popular in 88/89. The songs tend to be too long, and like most big pop stars, the singles are the best songs. Like a Prayer itself is epic sounding. I’m probably being too generous, because it isn’t a perfect album, but it’s more enjoyable than a lot of records on this list.

Madonna atinge a maturidade artística com esse disco. A faixa-título é é uma das obras-primas do pop. 5 estrelas

It was fine, but didn't really stand out to me much. I like a lot of Madonna songs, but all of them are singles. I don't know if her albums hold up. Or maybe I'm just more into Madonna in the '90s and 2000s, because that's what I heard more growing up. Who knows. But I didn't get much out of this.

Couple of decent tracks but overall very dull with little to recommend it.

Like A Prayer is a pretty good album. Instead of having a whole bunch of electronic elements like Ray Of Light did, This one seems to go for more of a typical 80s pop album. I like the former style more because it just sounds more interesting but this style is pretty good too. The songs could be pretty enjoyable but tend to blend in with each other a little too much. Madonna's vocals are the real highlight of this album as they could be really good and fit the songs perfectly. I also did like Prince's vocals in the one song that he appeared in. There are not too many stand out tracks here but i still enjoyed this album to a decent degree. Best Song: Keep It Together Worst Song: Cherish

Very good album. 3,5

I absolutely love the title song Like A Prayer. I also enjoyed Express Yourself and Cherish.

With "Like a Prayer", Madonna seemingly set out to create her 'serious' album. The album gets off to a stellar start with the title track being one of the best pop singles of the 1980s. "Express Yourself" is a dance anthem that showcases what Madonna does better than anyone, while "Cherish" is buoyant classic pop. All three tracks were undeniable hits, and for good reason. Beyond these iconic singles, however, the album is somewhat fragmented. The stylistic leaps—from balladry to the folk-tinged pop and funk collaborations, contribute towards a lack of cohesiveness and for me get in the way of the album’s flow. As a product of its time, the 80s production holds up quite well. However, after not listening to it for a long while, the sound, particularly the vocals, can feel a little thin in places, a contrast to the fuller sound my memory recalled. I much prefer Nile Rodgers production on "Like A Virgin". In the end, Like a Prayer is a good album with some excellent peaks and is a pivotal moment in Madonna's discography. Four stars. Would I listen to this album again? Yes. Would I buy this album? I did. 1- "Like a Prayer" (5/5) 2- "Express Yourself" (5/5) 3- "Love Song" (4/5) 4- "Till Death Do Us Part" (3/5) 5- "Promise to Try" (3/5) 6- "Cherish" - (5/5) 7- "Dear Jessie" - (3/5) 8- "Oh Father" - (3/5) 9- "Keep It Together" - (4/5) 10- "Spanish Eyes" - (3/5) 11- "Act of Contrition" - (3/5) Total - 41 Average - 3.73 90/1001

Swing and a miss again, Madge

Rounding up from 4 just for the lore. Like A Prayer alone could make this a 5, it transcends space and time. Sounds like it could’ve been written yesterday. Prince is all over this album. And besides the other classics on here I absolutely love this freak show song Til Death about her abusive marriage to Sean Penn but it sounds like bubble gum pop. I miss your old face Madonna :(

It’s an 80’s Madonna album.

The title track is stil a banger. 'Express Yourself' and 'Cherish are still decent, but that's about the extent of my enjoyment here.

I just couldn’t bring myself to listen to this album. Lots of skipped songs.

Thanks to this exercise to remind me that “Love Song” exists.

Classic Madonna, but not quite my jam

Madonna at her peak form!

De twee openingstracks zijn natuurlijk klassiekers. Ik had geen idee dat er een Prince-track op stond, maar dat is dus de derde track. Heel fijn. Daarna zakt de boel wat in. "Till Death Do Us Part" en "Promise to Try" kun je overslaan. Daarna weer wat singletjes, waarvan "Cherish" er bovenuit steekt. "Dear Jessie" en "Oh Father" vallen meer in de categorie b-kantjes. "Keep it Together" is een beetje een slappe Prince-ripoff. Had dan die "By Alien Means" track met hem opgenomen. De laatste twee tracks kun je ook weglaten. Bepaald geen plaat om per se te horen voor je doodgaat, maar wel goede singles natuurlijk.

Like a Prayer and Express Yourself is one hell of a one-two punch to open an album. Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn’t live up to this high. Basically every pop album I’ve ever listened to has a lot of filler. This one has less than average but I wish it had been more consistent throughout. One time at karaoke sometime put on Like a Prayer and it turned into the greatest group singalong of all time. The song just keeps going but somehow it keeps getting better? It’s genius. Other highlights: Till Death Do Is Part (what a catchy song about an abusive husband… Sean Penn, I’m looking at you), Cherish

This is a tough one. The album starts with one of the greatest pop songs ever written. And everything else after it feels underwhelming in comparison, which isn't fair to these songs. I don't know why they didn't put Like a Prayer as the last song on the album. Build up to it for christ sake. Give the rest of the songs a chance. Like a Prayer even feels like it's an epic final track, a conclusion of sorts (see the recent deadpool movie where it's used as the song in the epic climax of the film). It would be perfect at the end. And it seems like they even know that since they put a little reprisal track at the end that revisits and remixes pieces of Like a Prayer. It even has a religious title (Act of Contrition). They want what I want. Buttttt at the time I know on pop records it was customary to front load the album with the singles (i'm not sure if this is still a thing in the streaming era, but it was for a long time), so their hands were tied. It really doesn't do this album any favours. Now getting past that... the rest of the album is a mixed bag. These are long pop songs. Everything is over 4 minutes except the outro and Promise to Try. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it means when a song hits you get lots of it... but when it doesn't, you also get lots. What doesn't hit.... Express Yourself - Hot take... this song isn't very good. I think it was a hit, I just don't like it. It does sound like something lady gaga has ripped off aggressively though which is kinda funny (i feel like i know the lady gaga ripoffs which somehow taints the original? i dunno). I guess the message of the song is good... definitely an empowerment anthem about not settling? Also the title just makes me think of that old soul song "express yourself" which is just better. Love Song - I like Prince. I like Madonna. But this is just a hot mess. It feels like these 2 massive egos threw a shit ton of ideas at this song and neither one would back down or cut their ideas, so the whole kitchen sink is here and it is a bit of a disaster. I almost feel like there are a few good songs in here that just got mashed into one ugly one. I don't like it. Promise to Try - A slow piano ballad just doesn't work for Madonna. I feel like she doesn't have the singing chops to pull this off. She's not an Adele or even a Gaga. Dear Jessie - it's very whimsical and strange. It has like a medieval fair vibe at points (but with 80s production). Madonna just doesn't fit on this. Oh Father - Her vocals work better on this ballad.. but it kinda feels like she's ripping off Kate Bush... and not delivering on that. Keep It Together - I hate this song. Kinda feels like a Michael Jackson b-side. I also hate this message of "even if your siblings suck ass, you can go back to them and they'll always accept you." Perhaps as a celebrity this feels more real. I just hate the blood is thicker than water shit. Your family can be whoever you want. Spanish Eyes - this song is a mess. I don't like it. What does hit... Till Death Do Us Part - What a bubbly but moody 80s pop banger. I've never heard this before, but I love it. Such a great track. Worth listening to the album just to find this. Chorus is stuck in my brain. That synth line in the background is also great. Cherish - It almost feels like the theme song for an 80s sitcom about a teen girl named Cherish and i'm here for it. It's fun, 80s pop. Big anthemic chorus. I dig it. Act of Contrition - Anything that even has a hint of Like a Prayer, and I'm in. The solo that plays is sick. The weird distorted samples are awesome. Madonna monotone talking/singing a prayer overtop of the chaos... but then the prayer turns into a rant about a reservation being denied... and that iconic final line she shouts: What do you mean it's not in the computer?! It's pretty awesome. Like a Prayer - I stand by my statement that it's one of the greatest pop songs ever written. It's complex. Bold as fuck. Epic. Catchy as hell. It's perfect. I re-discovered it a few years ago and was obsessed. It was one of my top spotify songs that year. How the fuck did she make a song comparing sex and love to a religious experience in the 80s and have it go to number 1 in the US and around the world? It's a god damn miracle. She basically turned water into wine. I feel like I could write a few 1000 words about this song, but I will restrain myself because it's almost 3 am. A couple thoughts: 1) I love how even though it's almost 6 minutes long, it still leaves you wanting more. The bridge is this massive tease that feels like you're building to a final epic chorus and it never hits. Instead she fades out on this incredible bridge and it makes you want to put the song back on to get that chorus payoff you're brain told you was coming. I don't know if this was on purpose to make people keep requesting it to the radio station... but it's brilliant. 2) THE CHOIR. I don't need to say anything more. 3) There was this video that went viral where you had a church in the states now embracing the song and singing it as part of a sermon. This made me chuckle since the church was not happy about the song at the time, especially the video with black Jesus. I can't tell if them singing it is progress or hypocrisy or stupidity or just the passage of time. I hope they followed it up with a speech about abstinence. It would really complete the insanity. I once played it at a party and my one friend accused my one religious friend of putting it on and i just laughed and said read the lyrics. 4) Great claps. Without Like a Prayer, this album is a 2... maybe a 2.5 if i'm feeling generous. With Like a prayer.... it might be a 3.5... but i have to round down because half of the record kinda sucks.

I don't like Madonna's music, but I did enjoy the title track here. I know it already, of course. Two stars cos it's just generic pop, but that's a good track.

blerrrghh

It's okay. Title track is legendary.

Some great songs here - “Express Yourself” in particular has always been a favorite. I found myself too distracted by several factors to really feel like I’mable to evaluate this album fairly. First off, can’t listen to “Like a Prayer” without hearing the music video pitch from Kevin Gilbert’s “Shaming of the True”. But most of all, every time the little moments where Prince shows up, which are pretty pervasive, I suddenly wished I was listening to a Prince album instead. Madonna deserves her place in pop’s history.

Some of this is great, you can hear the Prince influence, and I love the baroque flourishes on tracks like Dear Jessie. Like A Prayer is a real earworm. Some of this bored me quite a bit. Pray For Spanish Eyes, for example, is just not a good song whatever way you cut it. Still, overall its not bad for super mainstream 80s pop.

Not a Madonna fan, and it felt Like A Prayer had been answered when this one was over.

Love it. Nostalgic.

I was never into Madonna's music. Ray Of Light had some fun tunes, but her 80s output was always the bad kind of 80s music for me. Love Song seemed like a wholesale ripoff of Prince's sound, so I wasn't surprised to learn he featured on it. Although I'd rather put it the other way around: i's a Prince song that features Madonna on vocals.

I like to think that I am normally capable of enjoying the “best” that any genre has to offer but the more that time goes on, the more I think that I might just not really like “Pop” music very much. “Like A Prayer” and “Express Yourself” still feel like obvious standouts but the rest of the album just feels like forgettable 80’s pop slop. Definitely not for me. 🤷🏼‍♂️ (2.5)

Well this was easy I grew up listening to Madonna this isn’t 1 of my favorites but it’s a good album !!

Grew up in prime Madonna days, she was absolutely huge, as much as a pre internet ⭐️ can be.. her jams played at every party, so some fun memories. From a music standpoint, it really doesn’t have a place

Takes me back to elementary school. I used to love hearing Madonna on the radio as a kid. If you’d caught me in 5th grade, this would’ve been a solid 4.

Dropping bombs with this one! What a little powerhouse she turned out to be, and a couple of these tracks simply dominated the airwaves and dance clubs in Denver in the 80’s. No escaping her for this punk, who happened to be living with a little pop tart at the time. Fun to mix the genres on any given night, and with a big ol’ amp and 3’ speakers, there were few dull moments in the house! Madonna is not my thing, but she is the Queen. Many have tried, but only one wears the crown. 5 Stars and fond memories. God Bless Madonna!

Like A Prayer is maybe the most iconic pop album of the 1980s. Side A is extremely bright, very 80s considering its 1989. I’d have thought a lot of this had been done before. Side B is more dark and moody, relatively speaking. Not my style at all but respectable 5.5/10

good

The title track and “Oh Father” are good songs. I appreciate the leap Madonna made here with subject matter, musical complexity, and additions like gospel backup. Still, I prefer Lucky Star and Burning Up-era gay club princess Madonna to Serious Madonna.

Like A Prayer - Madonna First thing I noticed about Madonna's third album Like a Prayer is that the production is not dated at all like a ton of albums released in the 1980s - in fact it could have come out yesterday or next month so kudos on that- so many 1980s albums are ruined to my ears by garbage production but Like a Prayer is wonderfully produced. The songs are fun, dance pop music that had me moving a great deal more than I usually do on an early Thursday morning on a day that I'm working overtime. Shockingly (to me anyways) I enjoyed Like a Prayer enough that I would add it to my collection as prior to listening to it I just knew Madonna from her singles, and I will explore her back catalog as summer turns to fall.

nah,not my thing

I always meant to listen to this. Great album a lot of good songs

This album has some of Madonna’s greatest singles (out of a long list of amazing singles). Queen of Pop, for real.

like a prayer is gold and ya she's queen of pop, I get it. I just got bored of it pretty quickly...

Not the best of the older Madonna, previous work is more nostalgic to me. Why this album and not True Blue? Really just singles stand out here, but Madonna deserves 4/5

Nothing too special as an album. A couple catchy songs. A lot of songs tend to drag out to long. Overall a decent album, but nothing that really blows me away. The biggest highlight feels like the intro with a awesome song in Like a Prayer. My top 3 songs from this album are probably Like a Prayer, Till Death Do Us Part, and Cherish.

I went back and forth on this one, but it has some great moments. Obviously Like a Prayer is a perfect song and Express Yourself is great too. Cherish and Love Song are both fun but I found them too repetitive. Oh Father has a GREAT buildup I was not expecting. I think it's a 3.5 overall.

Madonna’s famous pointy bra was actually a take on a fancy dress costume Len Houmous wore to Lionel Blair’s birthday party in ‘78. He was a female tin man from wizard of oz. Madonna and Lionel were such close friends! 4.4 2/11 Express Yourself

Decent 80s pop

iconic behavior 4/5

Liked it a bit, typical 80s, nice vocals, some decent sound and songs that probably go on far too long. 3 stars

I just love this album. It’s flirty, fun, and full of bangers!

Madonna was always the Queen of Reinvention. This album was definitely her move from teen chanteuse to Queen of Pop. It’s hard not to enjoy the first part of this album. Like a Prayer is gospel infused goodness in the Church of Madonna, and Express Yourself is a pop dance anthem for the disco or kitchen floor. I had to verify with Siri that Prince was a cowriter of Love Song, as it emanated his touch of retro-pop-funk. The album tapers off more than I remember it at the halfway point. Dear Jessie sounded like Alan Menken of 1990s Disney Princess fame could have written it, which was kind of the point of fantasy, and Oh Father I imagined came out of a therapy session. Good for you Madonna! You came to terms with your personal childhood trauma! I’m split: Top o’ the Album is an emphatic 5! The bottom of the album is a meandering 2. Is 3.75 and option?

Random thoughts: * Like a Prayer is still a pretty good jam. I remember seeing the video debut on TV live when I was a kid. I remember everyone losing their minds because of the burning crosses. * I forgot about Express Yourself. Fun song and fun flashback! * Madonna and Prince did a song together! What?!?! I don't remember this but listening to it was more like Prince did a Madonna song since it was so much more Prince than Madonna. * Cherish was also a fun bop that also brought back some nostalgia. * I enjoyed this album more than I expected. However, I won't be seeking it out anytime soon.

Poppiklassikoita! Kyllä iso M aina pystyy muuttumaan hieman levyjen välillä! 4/5

Avausmegahitti on toimivaa poppia, mutta taas levyllä on aika paljon tylsää ilmaa. miksi tämän piti kestää 51 min?

The front side of this album is pretty stacked with hits: Like a Prayer, Express Yourself, and Cherish. There's some good stuff on the back half that I've never heard, though. Oh Father is really good.

Not my preferred music certainly but I understand why people have been so obsessed with Madonna for so long.

Really good.

Insane how fantastic this is back-to-back, has a dud or two like ‘Oh Father,’ but songs like ‘Til Death Do Us Part’ make up for it tenfold. A time capsule to a time where digitization could be scary for live musicians, but also proof that they will always be cherished.

5.5/10

Until I had to listen to madonna albums on this list, I never realised how much I disliked her voice. So manufactured and packaged, nothing real or spontaneous about the material girl. Ugh, I hate it.

Love her voice

weird at the end

Good just not for me

Like a prayer tiene algo especial. La producción, la simbologia en la letra... el resto del disco es "ese disco de los 80". Homogéneo, aburrido.

Ouais pas mal pas le classique de l’année mais sympa

This is a good album - but I just can't stand much pop. She's great, talented, and great production on here. Songs are catchy. But still - pop.

This is a solid pop/dance album! Obviously the stand out tracks on here are ‘Like a Prayer’ and ‘Express Yourself’ so the album starts off very strong and then falls off from there for me. The songs are not very deep and you don’t need to overthink them like most pop music. Overall, I enjoyed my first listen through of a Madonna album but I’m not sure if I would pick this album up again.

Meh. Generic 80's pop. I recognize she was influential for the times but it hasn't particularly aged well. 4/10

I like Madonna, always did.

Like a Prayer is a perfect pop song. The rest of the album is also solid.

A few solid pop songs the rest are just okay.

Not a big Madonna fan. This didn't win me over, but there were some good songs.

A few undeniable pop classics surrounded by bland and/or saccharine songs.

Got 3 songs in and I wasn't feeling it. Listened to black Sabbath instead

title track is amazing but rest of the album doesn’t really do it for me. 2.5 stars

Queen of pop

Love Madonna!!!

01) Like a Prayer - 10,0 02) Express Yourself - 10,0 03) Love Song - 9,5 04) Till Death Do Us Part - 9,5 05) Promise to Try - 9,5 06) Cherish - 10,0 07) Dear Jessie - 10,0 08) Oh Father - 10,0 09) Keep It Together - 9,5 10) Spanish Eyes - 10,0 11) Act of Contrition - 9,0 TOTAL: 9,73 (97/100) Current ranking: 11/623 This was the first cassette I bought with my own money when I was 11 years old. It's still on the shelf with other cassettes, books, CDs... It has a very special place in my heart.

Not really my thing. I know the songs from the radio, but way too polished for me.

Sceptical at first but ended up really liking this one. Solid pop album with great instrumentals. As a collective piece the songs go together well. Some tracks did feel like they could've been shortened but oh well.

While I have enjoyed some of her radio hits over the years, I have never understood the hype behind Madonna. Her level of celebrity, especially at its peak in the 80s and 90s, it’s more a testament to her sheer will to be famous rather than to her level of talent, whether in music or film.

Madonna is one of those artists that’s most always been around. I’m mean, still, she is still making music and reinventing her sound. My first encounter with Madonna was her ‘Ray of light’ era. As I have got older I really think her 80s music is my favourite, although I wouldn’t say I was a massive fan, I love the hits. ‘Like a Prayer’ & ‘Exspress yourself’ are easily recognisable to me. The rest of the album is new to me and it is a good mix of slow and fast pop songs, some with deep messages. I can see why it’s a successful and celebrated album, although I do think some songs are a bit too long.

not as hype as I thought she'd be, couple good songs though

Like a prayer the song is a stunner. And all the other singles work great. But non singles including duet with Prince are mediocre to bad. Glad she tried though

80s pop, with some exceptions, kinda bores me. This is especially true for the 80s output of the two biggest pop musicians-- Madonna and Michael Jackson. Not that they're bad. They're are expertly written, sung and produced. But there's not much interesting in there. 3/5

It's fine, growing up in the 80s and 90s Madonna was played everywhere. It hasn't improved or spoiled with time. Take that as you will.

I quite enjoyed listening to this. I was an indie kid in the 80s with a stereotype to adhere to so I’ve never knowingly listened to a Madonna album before. I’ve quietly approved of some of her singles over the years (Borderline and Ray of Light for example) but I’ve never really considered myself to be in her demographic. Obviously, gospel singers can make anything sound good but this is neatly crafted pop and I was surprised at how many of these songs I knew. That said, I’m not sure how it qualifies for the list, it doesn’t stand out particularly, it’s just… quite good. If you like that sort of thing.

Off the cuff remark: I just cannot get around the Stock, Aitken & Waterman-ish production and I hate it. Standout track: Like A Prayer, I suppose Revisit?: No!

Two fantastic, iconic songs (the first two). One decent one pop ditty (“Cherish”) a Prince song that I didn’t realize was one and a bunch dated sounding boring pop. I fast forwarded during “Love Song” and didn’t think it worked because it sounds so the same. It’s probably 2.75. Maybe 2.5. Going with 2.

Like a Prayer

Веселенький, но я не развеселился. Было бы странно, если бы мне альбом очень понравился.

The first two songs are the strongest, and it’s not even close. I don’t really care for Madonna-flavored pop when it’s low energy like most of the album is. Even the godawful 'Ace of Contrition' with all its' shredding.

Not really a big fan of Madonna. This album doesn’t change that. The opening title track is obviously great, but it’s followed by a lot of predictable and uninspired classic Madonna-songs. She’s trying to do something interesting on “Dear Jessie” and “Oh Father”, but it’s short lived as it’s followed by one of the worst endings of an album to be featured on this list. I mean, “Act of Contrition” is actually unlistenable, right?!

I didn't know some of the tracks are Madonna. Fairly enjoyable overall, but not something I need in my life.

♫ Listening to "Like a Prayer" by Madonna (Like a Prayer, 1989) ♫

Madonna's most personal album, compared to what I've heard of her discography at least. A lot of her remembered singles came earlier in her career, and for good reason. But things seem to be a bit more cohesive and...eclectic here I guess? You can tell that Catholicism had a big influence on Madonna's life, as a lot of the tracks feel spiritual and draw some inspirations from gospel music. The album noticeably got slower (almost too slow for a pop record) and moodier in the second half (the last "track" isn't really a song), so there are two distinctive sides to this album. Second half was kinda sleepy as a result, but thoroughly enjoyed the first half though, (#1-6). "Like a Prayer", "Express Yourself", and "Cherish" are obvious standouts.

The first two songs are enormous bangers, but I can't image why it seemed like a good idea to make deep cuts that dabble in classical music and Spanish guitar

Pop stuff

There are a couple of decent tunes on this album, but the rest are either super dated or going for a sort of toothless Kate Bush vibe that really didn't do it for me. 2.5/5

Yes, I used a private spotify session for this album. I look at the album cover and wonder exactly she is selling, because it isn't great music. There are lots of radio hits on this thing, but listening to them didn't make me feel nostalgic, it made me feel angry that the local radio station and MTV crammed this crap down our gullets.

Some solid songs here. My favourites were the title track, Dear Jessie and Oh Father.

I don’t mind a little Madonna now and then. This is a good album and I enjoyed it. Some songs weren’t as exciting as the hits, but it wasn’t too hard to stay engaged. Lyrics, production, instrumentation, and structure are all fine. The writing and arrangements are where this really shines. Makes it special. 4/5

Still recovering from the wedding I attended 20 years ago where the bride and groom processional was to an a capella group performing Like A Prayer. This album falls off a cliff after the second song and never recovers. But in fairness, I'm like Mister Blue in Reservoir Dogs: I I like her early stuff. You know, "Lucky Star," "Borderline" - but once she got into her "Papa Don't Preach" phase, I don't know, I tuned out.

While I've never been a Madonna fan, I'm a bit shocked to realize that I've never heard this album outside of the (massive) hits on it (and I can see that those singles are over half of the album, so I guess I've heard more than I realized). A bit disappointing that this isn't the only Madonna album in the collection, given that it seems like this was and is likely her peak; that said, I give Madonna tons of credit for evolving her style and sound over several decades of performing. This is just too 80s-pop for me to be able to call out any particular tracks as favorites, but I like it that Prince collaborated with her on the album, most obviously on "Love song", which makes for one of the more interesting tracks on the album, but I liked his distinctive guitar work on the opening title track as well as "Act of contrition" too. (Apparently also on "Keep it together", but I didn't really hear it.) Of the many videos from this album, I particularly enjoyed the David Fincher-produced and Metropolis-inspired video for "Express yourself". The others weren't as compelling: I know the video for "Like a prayer" was a big deal at the time, but it didn't do much for me; "Dear Jessie" was just an insipid animated effort (much like the song); "Oh father" was a bit disappointing, given that Fincher also directed it; and what *is* the deal with the mermen (and mer-children) in the "Cherish" video???

Like a Prayer, Express Yourself, and Cherish are so good, they earn the 4 stars, and I'm sorry the rest kept this album from being even greater. Loved the last track too--great guitar on that one.

Wait, hang on... is like a prayer about a BJ? A few really iconic tracks, followed by a lot that was forgettable.

I love pop but apparently not Madonna. Fun but not for me.

Like A Prayer is so good, along with some great pop bangers. There are also a lot of duds. 3.5 rounded up.

This is good pop, I enjoyed the first few tracks and Dear Jessie, and the variety of topics discussed. Any pop artist that doesn't exclusively sing about boys is going to get a bump from me. Like any pop artist, I'm sure I would've been sick of these songs by 1990 if I was growing up back then just like I'm sick of Taylor Swift and Chappelle Roan now. But since this is fresh, it's nice. 3.5 rounded down

Woohoo! We love Detroit, don't we folks? Madonna is another in the esteemed category of artists I was too cool for until I listened to them, but in this case I've mostly only liked her as a singles artist--her albums haven't grabbed me much. Listening Notes: -Like a Prayer is a killer start. What a single to lead an album off on. It's a tad long but who cares. -I have mostly found the rest of this album forgettable, writing towards the end of my first listen. -Keep it Together: ah yes! finally some funk instrumentation. Give this album a little bit more substance to latch onto. Review: This album is unapologetically pure pop sound. With a fantastic start, the rest of the album feels fine, but not incredible. While the album tracks are reliably alright (Keep it Together stands out and Cherish is an ear worm), I wouldn't say this album is super special. But dang like a prayer is deep stuck in my head so good for her. 3 stars.

This is some good, quintessential 80's pop. There are some fantastic singles off this album that became pop anthems for a reason and one or two fun discoveries as well (Dear Jessie). But for an album of this length, a few singles and good discoveries meant a decent number of skips - keeping this from a 5 star album in my book.

While originally I liked this album, Act of Contrition sealed the deal for me. Simultaneously, this album is soooo 80s and sooooo not. Like a Prayer is so sweet, honest, and young, which I think is what makes it sing for me.

Clearly some bangers here, but I think the less well known tracks stand up really well. Really enjoyed listening to this.

Some absolute bangers!

I'm in holiday so caveat the following. I thought this was actually alright. Had it not had like a prayer on the tracklist its probably a 2ish, cherish was good, the prince track was interesting on its own. I think as a whole the title track being up front and so famous the rest seems weaker. Overall I'm rounding up to a 3

Title track does a lot of heavy lifting here, the rest was quite empty sounding

Never been a huge Madonna fan, so was very pleasantly surprised with this! Classic 80s production of course; still sounds fresh as a daisy. Favourite tracks: Like a Prayer, Till Death Do Us Part, Cherish, Dear Jessie, Oh Father.

This album has a lot of praise from when it came out. I thought it was fine but didn't feel especially noteworthy outside of the title track. It wasn't bad, great background music, but didn't really pull me in.

Nope

Madonna and her music had an outsized impact on my childhood, and I can’t help but love her music. I sang along, loudly, to Like a Prayer while my children looked on in horror. This isn’t my favorite Madonna album, but she is masterful in her craft.

3 - Finding out I'm not a big Madonna fan.

Like a Prayer (the song) is an all timer - the writing is so smart and subversive. And it slaps. The rest of the album is fine but I don’t feel like any other moments stack up. The Prince song is particularly disappointing. 3.3/5

Boring for the most part. Cherish is peppy. Dear Jessie is very Antiques Roadshow. I've always felt Madonna was an artist who starred when releasing a single more than a full album.

It's just not very good

great pop

Another one that gets some nostalgia points as i heard it allot as a kid in the late 80s. The first 3 tracks alone get it there and I forgot that Prince was on this too so yeah what the hell its a 5

Opel Agila, HDH - LD Ein paar Hits & viel Mist.

Not a big fan of Madonna but this was pretty decent. The first half is definitely better than the second, but it’s ok.

Solid

I feel like an old grump for consistently insisting that 1001 Albums keeps picking the wrong album by the right singer. But in this case…I mean, True Blue. C’mon guys. (We can’t even frame this as the ever nebulous ‘return to form’, because Who’s That Girl isn’t a proper album.) Oh Father is, though, one of Madge’s best songs ever, though. And she’s done a lot.

The title track is about as good as it gets, but a lot of the rest of the album is just fine for me.

Cutting edge soul - very dated, very sexy. Big gap between the best and worst tracks... Favourite tracks: Like A Prayer, Til Death Do Us Part

Overall: 4/10 Other than the title track, which is an absolute banger of a song, the best tracks here are the slow songs. They seem more vulnerable and real than anything else on here. The straight up dance songs are pretty horrendous though and I can't bring myself to enjoy the album as a whole, which is dissappointing cause I actually wanted to like this one. Fav Song: Like a Prayer Least Fav Song: Act of Contrition

it wasn’t bad but k expected more form madonna. fav Til Death Do Us Apart

Starts with a perfect pop song but then dies down a bit

I like her hits and this was a decent pop album but it just wasn’t very memorable.

2 ok songs

Damn, Girlie-Pop has come a long way. It's a well crafted album, but I honestly cannot stand Madonna's voice. Her lack of breath control just makes for some really weak moments that almost made me turn it off. I'm also not a huge fan of the lyrics. Part of that may be I don't find them particularly relatable, but they're still ridiculously on the nose and made me physically cringe sometimes. I really enjoyed Till Death Do Us Part and the bowed string work of Dear Jessie. The last track was awesome and I wish the rest of the album had followed a similar attitude. The rest of it felt like Abba had a bit too much pot. I might be a hater, but this album was not fun to sit through.

Cherish was a new one for me! But, the whole album is so poppy and fun.

Iconic

A pretty simple 80s pop album, not that bad honestly.

Girly pop music. Get it. Not my thing. Feels like I need to be driving an all white thunderbird or some shit.

The queen of pop had not yet made a bad album upon this release. In fact, each was better than the last. This was pop queen for several decades, and a slice of her prowess at its peak. Stand out is Express Yourself, followed by the title track and pretty much everything else, (props to prince)!

3/5 Strong vocals and clearly well crafted songs. Didn’t leave much of an impression on me creatively, almost played too safe. Top 3 Songs: Express Yourself Oh Father Spanish Eyes

pretty solid pop stuff. a little carried by the singles though

I like some of the songs but wasn't vibing so keeping 2.

Fun album overall but nothing to write home about

‘Like’ a prayer. Like, not actual, that’s the key. There’s nothing authentic here as there never is with Madonna. She’s pure hype, nothing but presentation all the way down. It becomes even more depressingly cynical when she pretends that there’s some genuine revelation or attempt at artistry. I’m not buying.

Quite underwhelming, this is supposed to be Madonna's best album?

Obviously Like a Prayer is a great song that is super popular but there are some other good songs too, in my opinion at least. Till Death Do Us Part has sort of a creepy music vibe to go along with the lyrics. Good stuff. It's not necessarily my genre but I enjoyed listening to it.

Madonna's obviously one of the most prolific female pop artists of all time but this doesn't do it for me. It's just not my genre and comes across as mass produced pop. Like A Prayer is good, but maybe because I'm just familiar with it. Act of Contrition is actually awful. 4.25/10 (2.125/5)

Holds up pretty well

It’s a good pop album - catchy, well-made, not actively annoying. Not really my thing, though, and I probably won’t listen to it in full again Like a Prayer

the not so famous song are quite boring

2.0 awful

It’s best ideas are from someone else, but still quite a good listen

This has all my favourite Madonna songs - the title track, Oh Father and Spanish Eyes are all excellent. The rest is mostly OK. Ish.

Good poppy background music. Not my cup of tea but enjoyable

yes

Yeah yeah, it’s "the artistic statement" album. And sure, it kicks off like a house of fire: the title track is straight-up GOAT material - gospel-tinged pop perfection with just the right amount of scandal. "Express Yourself" struts hard, and "Cherish"… well, it existed, it was a hit, and it’s cute if you squint. But then? Things start wandering. The production is immaculate, but a lot of the deep cuts feel more like homework than hits. "Oh Father" is heavy, "Promise to Try" is heavy and sleepy, and "Love Song," the big Madonna-Prince moment, is somehow less than the sum of its parts. Like, how do you screw up that pairing? It's MFing Prince! It’s Madonna! And we got… synth-beige. The real scene-stealer is "Keep It Together," a funky, low-key banger and much-needed shot-in-the-arm at the tail end. It grooves harder than anything else on the record and delivers the energy boost the album sorely needs. More of that, please. In the end, Like a Prayer is big, bold, and sometimes brilliant - but also patchy and a bit self-serious. It makes total sense that The Immaculate Collection ended up the must-own Madonna release from this era, redefining the Greatest Hits album. It cherry-picks the gems and leaves the noble misfires behind.

This is fantastic. Perhaps a bit of nostalgia, but it's good start to finish.

Madonna is undeniably one of the most influent artists of the past decades - and that's not necessarily a good thing, considering the kind of worldview presented in her works. Like a Prayer has some consistency, although some tracks are rather forgettable. What can't be denied, though, is her abillity to communicate through her art, which may be her strongest and most impactful trait as an artist. As I said before, the world view is very problematic, especially for mocking religion and blending it with sensual provocation. This drags down the album's rating considerably from a worldview-based perspective. 5/10 (I analyse arts through a christian worldview, which, as a christian, I believe is the correct way to interpret the world.)

I'm not wowed by Like a Prayer, but Madonna can be counted to make an easy pop album. The lyrics weren't much to write home about; I found myself cringing more often than not. The title song, yes, is legendary for a reason, but other than that, I was a bit bored. This album isn't bad enough to get a 2, but I suppose I had more expectations for Madonna. She may be an artist whose hits are the only good songs.

This was a pretty good Madonna album, but honestly, her presence on this project has made me question whether she's really much of an album artist. Her greatest hits are undoubtedly great and iconic, but her albums are full of a lot of fluff, for a lack of any better word. And that fluff is sometimes hit or miss, but I don't feel like there is often material on her albums that are "hidden gems" that missed becoming singles or hits -- usually her best songs are widely acknowledged singles. Anyway, this was one such album. And while I'd like to be able to give the likes of Madonna something higher than a 3 on this project, her album work hasn't really leant itself to that.

6/10

One one hand, the first three songs jam. And the album closes out with Prince ripping... always a treat. On the other, everything in between is so hit or miss. It's worth a listen.

Pretty good pop, what I think of when I think of Madonna Liked the general themes as well, was consistent without being repetitive.

Excellent album and great vibes. S-tier, 4.5/5

No. I lived through this second rate shit. I don’t have to listen to a single second.

3.5

Like a prayer slaps, not a ton else on the album that stood out to me.

reminds me of Kris and maybe Sanger? Where was I then?

Classic

Pretty cool

Solid pop album

Not a fan of how religious the album is, but the music is phenomenal 80s pop. Almost every song is solidly great, which should be unsurprising given Prince helped on several of them.

top

buenissssimo

I honestly did not get entirely through this album - I was busy and it also just did not capture me. Fun, and clearly influential of current pop. However, I struggled to connect with many of the lyrics.

madonnalla oli vahva albumi neljää tähteä tykkään tästä aikakaudesta poppia subjektive muttta silti objektia 4 star rouvalle.

Pretty good!

Madonna can be really hit or miss for me, and aside from the singles, this album is surprisingly a miss. "Like A Prayer," "Express Yourself," and "Cherish" are all top tier songs, but a lot of the rest are kind of lacking. This album falls into the trap that a lot of 80s pop albums do, which is having really great pop songs and then deciding they all need to be over 5 minutes for some reason. It's definitely to the detriment of most of these songs that they're so long. Many would be better and way more enjoyable if they were even a minute shorter. I really wanted to like this album more, but it just wasn't doing it for me. "Like A Prayer" is an iconic song, but if we're talking about early Madonna, I think she has better albums that should be on this list over this one.

Madonna demonstrating surprising versatility. Aside from the three singles, “Love Song” — a duet with Prince — and “Dear Jessie” stand out as examples of her willingness to take creative risks and step outside of her crafted image as a dance pop chanteuse. A robust effort overall.

As a known hater of 80's pop I wasn't looking forward to this. Then it started, and I couldn't help but admit that the first few songs were pretty catchy and well made (notably the title track). Then I got to the back half of the album and it kinda fell off a cliff for me. There's enough here for this to sneak into a 3, but barely. 2.5

This is not a far star, I have never been a fan of her music and don't want this messing up my future tidal recommendations.

The breakout for the original female popstar

It's Madonna! So it sounds pretty much exactly how you would expect, and that's not really a bad thing. Standouts are the title track, Cherish, and Till Death Do Us Part. A pretty good album, especially compared to Madonna's previous albums. Worth a listen at least.

i think i like madonna ? i like i would’ve been a stan if i was in high school during this time. okay transitions! i see you! act of contrition was really weird for me and almost ruined the album. but it’s the final song and i feel like the final song is usually the weirdest. just felt like i was tripping and this song was used for the montage.

Like a Prayer is such a great song. Some other great songs on this album as well. Madonna is one of my favorites from the 80s.

so far the best 2/5