Reviews (page 5 of 8)
Not bad nor great. A bit boring apart from the well known ones
108/1089 - This sure is 80s music.
Nice album
Decent pop album, did I love it? No. Was it better than some of the shite I've had recently? Shockingly, yes.
Madonna got sauce
I thought it was very good, including to big hits in "Like A Prayer" and "Cherish", which I kinda liked more. Everything else was mostly good, too. 7/10.
Prince!
lots of pop
began to lose focus/interest in the middle of the album, but once I read about the context of the lyrics I could enjoy the slow ones (very deep!) and got back to enjoying the second half to end
The first half was typical Madonna bubble gum pop, with a little sex thrown in. Then I heard Oh Father, which was actually pretty good. The second half seemed a bit better.
Great album. I was only familiar with the title track, which is an all-time classic, but there are plenty of other bangers on here. Generally, all the upbeat songs were hits for me, while most of the slow songs felt like filler - the latter are the only thing that keeps this from being a 5 star album
Rather non-poppy for being a pop album. Not always a bad thing, but some songs here are just weak and don't give much emotion, or only briefly touch on deeper topics. 6/10
Subtlety is an art that is very much absent from this
I skipped this at first because I said I didn’t feel like listening to Madonna right now. But when I played it I was reminded how superbly talented and capable she is. Her voice. The writing and production. The work they put into it to make it perfect. All top tier. No compromise. That’s a star.
WHADDIYAMEANITSNATINDACOMPUTER
Yeah, Like a Prayer is a perfect song. The synth bass is so great across the album, I need to learn some of those lines. Such a golden age for synths too. They had a few years with the DX7 already and I love the sound from that late 80s FM stuff.
Solid pop album, would listen again
No, immediately no
Like a Prayer Til Death Do US Part Cherish
Some keepers that hold up but only okay overall
Este estaba en vinilo en casa, era de mi hermana que lo escuchaba a todas horas. Sin embargo no me acuerdo de ninguna canción aparte de la del título. Pues poco más hay. Entiendo que es una artista icónica que hay que escuchar al menos una vez, pero creo que no es su mejor disco.
like a prayer
This is a great example of a good pop album: fun, enjoyable, easy to dance and sing along to. Madonna really knows her stuff, although I couldn't get over the 80s sound for the 5-star, but that's on me.
I really didn't like this
I'm struggling to say much about this one. It's quite good? I kind of took it all in and had a reasonably nice time, without really having many critical thoughts about it. It's perfectly serviceable and well-done 80's pop music.
It’s wild to me that Madonna used to be considered a bad influence on girls, I want every teenager I know to howl along to Express Yourself.
Album wyprzedzający epokę, niedościgniony fenomenalny z klasykami
Like a Prayer is a really good song. Express Yourself is OK. The rest is horribly over-produced.
3.4
Absolute banger of an album. The title track is of course the hook, but even that is overshadowed by the likes of Cherish, Express Yourself, Dear Jessie (my favourite track on the album) and Oh Father. The segue between Dear Jessie - a pure piece of candy floss pop, perfect for what De La Soul referred to as the Daisy Age, and the deep, soulful, heart rending Oh Father just works perfectly. I love this album.
My initial reaction was to downvote this album, mainly because I dislike Madonna as a public figure. But I do try to separate the artist from their work. So, about this album, much of it has what I don't like about teen pop. Maybe that wasn't her intention, but it really sounds like it foreshadowed artists like Britney Spears. It's got that very produced and manufactured sound. What I did find somewhat interesting was how you can still hear the influence of 80s sophisti-pop and art pop in some of the tracks. Ultimately, the album felt pretty artificial, though a couple of songs toward the end were decent. It definitely captures a moment when music was changing. As for Madonna, she's undeniably evolved a lot over her 45-year pop career, with mixed results. I have to admit I enjoy her early 80s synth-pop and her mid-90s explorations with house and electronic producers, especially her collaborations with William Orbit. So, while I'm generally not a Madonna fan, I will say she's pushed the boundaries of experimentation more than most pop stars at her level.
Would give it a 1 but the last track moves it up
Prime Madonna. So strong for the time
Zdecydowanie wolę taką, starszą, popową, balonową Madonnę. Płyta trochę zwalnia w drugiej połowie, brakuje czegoś z powerem, bo są same bujane ballady (aka. Smęty). Ale i tak, pierwsza połowa to hit za hitem. 7/10
Wasn't expecting too much, some singles admittedly great and filler. Well no, that's a disservice to Mads, this is a great album, enjoyed the other tracks just as much.
A beautiful album. Loved the variety of sounds and themes. From love to religion, from funky to chill, this album has it all. 4 stars.
I mean it’s the queen of pop guys. I honestly have never listened to anything by Madonna knowing it’s by Madonna, and I went in with high expectations. They were met. I was a little worried this would be one of those things that was really fun for everyone in the 90’s but going back to it it would just sound like the 90’s. But actually it aged well. Also didn’t expect the religious confrontation in such a pop album, but it was great.
Honestly this is the standard for pop. Really solid very fun good stuff.
I remember the ruckus when the video for Like A Prayer came out. As always with such things, it had a Streisand effect. This and her album made it clear that Madonna wasn't just some pop singer but wrote her songs with themes that mattered to her, controversial as they might be. There's still enough pop and dance on this album to make it a mainstream success, and that's what it is in the end.
This was much better than I expected, and compared to her last album. I think it helped that I was not listening to the lyrics. Stamd-out: Like A Prayer
Like most except bland poppy tracks
Absolutely solid album
A couple of great songs, and then the rest is just filler
Classic Madona
I don't like pop. I never have. My distaste towards pop is what essentially got me into music. When exposed to popular music, I used to think, "No way all of it is this bad, right?" And thankfully, after digging a bit deeper, I found out that there's a huge amount of artist that are driven by the pursuit of artistic expression and not profit incentives. I feel like most pop albums I liked appeal to me despite being pop. If your main motivation for creating is to make a product to be sold to a wide audience, it will only result in good art accidentally. Pop albums are usually professionally produced but completely lack soul. This genre is popular because it's inoffensive and specifically created not to alienate anyone instead of trying to create something interesting. The wider audiences don't want good music—they want accessible music. All of this is completely fine, by the way. I don't think that pop is harmful to music. If anything, exposing more people to the art form brings more potential musicians into the scene, and at least some of them are gonna stay for the love of the game and not money. I'm just a little frustrated by the fact that a lot of people seem to think that popular equals good, which is demonstrably untrue (and anyone who disagrees I challenge to sit through a single Ed Sheeran album). Not all pop is bad, of course (just most is), but enforcing strict boundaries on your artistic expression just to make sure that as much people like your output is certainly not helping make better art (I know this doesn't apply to all sub-genres of pop, but it should be obvious by now that I'm talking about pop of the corporate variety people like Taylor Swift make). I'm also not trying to shame anyone for liking pop. Most people just listen to whatever radio or the algorithm serves them, and nobody should be forced to exert effort to "understand" what "good" music sound like. I'm not gonna think less of you if you're convinced that Imagine Dragons produce straight bangers (well, maybe a little), and to think this is acceptable behavior is ridiculous. Despite what my affinity towards yapping sessions may tell you, I don't actually think it's that deep. This album, however, is a bit more unique, in a sense that despite being a pop record from the beginning to the end, it doesn't stick to a single sub-genre. It's not as monotonous as most of the records in the sea of corporate music. What we have instead is a sort of smorgasbord of slop, each song equally as uncreative and uninteresting but in their unique ways (except Oh Father—this song is actually good). Rock slop, dance-slop, slop soul, baroque slop, and even psychedelic slop—we got them all here! But the uninspired nature of this album doesn't let this fact help. And although half of the songs are fine, the other is very boring, probably because of the extremely generic vocals and dull writing, making the experience of listening through it a little tedious. 5/10
fine 3/5
Not a bad album. Feels experimental in some ways. I thought it would have a bunch of filler, but even the non-hits had a lot of soul behind them.
super pop. like a prayer no marxarà mai de l'hipotàlem colectiu
I'm rather reluctantly giving it a 4, and mostly because I do love Like a Prayer, and because it is her best overall album. I honestly think she's a weak vocalist but she's worked her flamboyance well.
I bought the patchouli-scented album in 1990, I saw the tour (from the worst seats in the Oakland Coliseum), and I see no reason to back down now. Definitely Madonna's best album and its influence reverberates through several generations of women in pop. And hello there Prince!
Good album, definitely a classic.
When I first saw the Material Girl video on MTV I thought, man, this is great…the beat, lyrics, the diamond necklace…then Borderline and I was a fan. That’s where it ended. Nothing after that, except Like A Virgin. excited me because I just wasn’t listening to that type of music back then. And I’m still not. 2 stars.
Getting this and Michael Jackson's Bad a few days apart has been interesting timing - two sides of the same 80s pop coin. The King and Queen of pop music at the time. Whilst I don't like Madonna nearly as much S MJ, if she's your thing this is pretty perfect too.
Like a Prayer - 5/5 Express Yourself - 4/5 Love Song - 3/5 Till Death Do Us Part - 4/5 Promise to Try - 3/5 Cherish - 4/5 Dear Jessie - 4/5 Oh Father - 3/5 Keep It Together - 3/5 Spanish Eyes - 3/5 Act of Contrition - 1/5 Total score: 3.4/5 three good songs among a pile of mid ones
Yeah nice but maybe self aware films like Deadpool were a mistake.
Amazing how some one with a very average singing voice can make such a great album.
Listening to a lot of 80's recently, but this album didn't do it for me. I liked some oft he funkier stuff, but I kept looking at how many songs left, and that's not a good sign. Highlights: Like A Prayer Love Song
not again
Streamlined perfect made pop music
For as influential as Madonna is, I found a good chunk of the music here to be very typical for its time—it's no 'Ray of Light'. Especially on the production end, it sounds like the run-of-the-mill new-wave and new-jack-swing fusion you'd expect out of a pop album in the late '80s. And it lacks the finesse of an album like Janet Jackson's 'Rhythm Nation 1814'. 'Like a Prayer' (title track) is always fun to get through; it's those over-the-top choir vocals that do it for me, and it's just irresistibly catchy in almost every way possible. I messed with the tighter synth groove of a song like 'Till Death Do Us Part', and 'Cherish' was maybe the catchiest thing here, title track aside. 'Oh Father' was a tragic cut, detailing Madonna's abusive relationship with her father - it's easily the best of the ballad-type tracks on the album. 'Keep it Together' further builds on the themes of family dynamics and loss - a theme that takes a different, albeit equally as devastating form on the flamenco guitar-backed 'Spanish Eyes'. For a Madonna album, I feel like something's missing when listening to this, but that's primarily on the production end. I can respect this album's lyrical themes and Madonna's undeniably charming vocal style. Plus, the title track will always be an all-time great pop song.
Really well produced. Some songs definitely better than others and her voice feels a little limited, less good for more serious songs. 6/10
Decent fun with some standouts (Like a Prayer, Till the Death Us Part).
Growing up there was no escaping Madonna. I knew her singles whether I wanted to or not, because they played everywhere. I never bothered to listen to any of her albums though, so this was my first. It gets points for having Prince involved with it, and anytime you hear his voice and/or guitar, it's good. There are 4 songs here I can say I enjoy listening to and could listen to again. 3 of those are singles I already knew though (the other is "Love Song"). The rest of the songs are not bad, but rarely impressive. Thankfully, none of them are annoying either, they're just very average, especially compared to the rest of it. The closing track is amusing, but unnecessary. At least it ends on a fun note I guess. Overall, not blown away by any of it, and I don't think it's a must hear for me, but I see the appeal.
This album renewed my faith in pop albums. Listening to other pop from this cite, I thought that all pop was either hit or miss (and if hit, overplayed). However, I thought that this music was pleasantly better than average. Not groundbreaking but decent.
Ok
Solid middle of the road album. It was also pretty interesting to hear just how much Lady Gaga ripped off this album. Nothing new under the sun, I guess. Super dated, though. 3/5
Shit, this is actually a decent listen.
Madonna i love you i wish you were real
When I was a kid, Michael Jackson died, and his popularity grew tremendously at that time, especially among us kids, who were getting in touch with this 80s pop music for the first time. Along with this whole new world that appeared before us, a kind of silly rivalry also grew between the King and Queen of Pop. The boys were fans of Michael, and the girls were fans of Madonna. And it was as simple as that: the boys didn't listen to Madonna because it was a girl thing, and the girls didn't listen to Michael because it was a boy thing. Silly, right? But because of that, Madonna is probably the most famous artist whose songs I've never listened to until today! And only today I realize what a huge mistake I made all these years. I had a lot of fun listening to this album, and just like in 2009, a new world of 80's pop music is once again open up before me to explore... even though it's a "girl thing."
Great album, littly too poppy for my taste, but the hits hit good.
It was okay I guess, but many filler tracks
Great from t
Starts off hot, then gets bad fast.
It's catchy, and also has a more diverse array of themes around its songs than I thought it would have.
Compared to some the other 80's pop on this list this one is very highly produced. It is its strength but also greatest flaw. The overproduction gives the sound an air of artificiality. Everything is just a little too clean, too safe. Sure the title track is good and Prince's appearances are nice, but I simply have no desire to listen to this again.
“The best pop album since Revolver”? Give us a break. Tinny, dated-sounding synths, excessively large and emoting backing choruses, songs too long, it’s all terribly overdone, which actually defeats quite a few good hooks (as on title cut). The likable melody on “Express Yourself” is similarly overburdened. Prince adds something to “Love Song,” which isn’t terrible, but the canned beats empty the song of soul. It all seems to be posturing and surface-y, commerically-focused and image-obsessed – Madonna wanting to keep street and club cred, and forcing controversy by flirting with religious heresy. As with much output from this era, the album feels synthetic and disposable. The shift to strings and pianos does not signal a major upgrade in class or quality. And then the closer is just silly – being elaborate makes it no less so. Also, what’s the cover supposed to mean? Seems rather more backward-looking toward her previous persona (which one liked much better for its [relative] innocence and earnestness). The whole thing feel more like marketing than music.
There's not a whole lot I can say about this album. It's perfect 80's pop music. Cheesy in places, sickly sweet, perfect production. I guess there's a reason why Madonna is dubbed the Queen of Pop. The title track is a classic. Prince pops up on a track or two which was a surprise. 'Cherish' is the epitome of 80's pop, my god it is so ridiculously catchy. 'Dear Jessie' has some nice classical elements to it and doesn't go in directions you think it will. I genuinely don't think there's a bad track on here. Some a bit "less good" than others (I didn't care too much for 'Oh Father' or 'Act Of Contrition') but overall a very good album.
Throwback Madonna
Great 80’s classic
Great pop song, very iconic. I won't say I like them but I think they're decent.
There are a couple of songs I love but more that I don't care for. I'm keeping this one at a 3.
i don't think i realized how beautifully simple and yet emotionally tactful Madonna's melodies were on this album. Also, the chord progressions are not at all straightforward - almost playful and yet sorrowful, which seems to be reflected in some of catholic imagery she weaves into her songs.
Like a Prayer is Madonna's fourth studio album, and amongst her extensive catalog, it is regarded as her best work. Her first three albums were filled with singles that topped pop charts; Like a Prayer is an extensive experiment diverging from the dance/pop that made Madonna famous. All of her experiments topped the pop charts, like the title track - an orchestrated, soaring near- hymn - became an anthem. Madonna included dance tracks - like "Express Yourself" - but even these were experiments. Like a Prayer was release in the middle of Madonna's dominance of popular music. In the 80s, she was showing the world how to do it.
Cracking singles - including the title track which is my favourite Madonna song by a long margin. A few dodgy album tracks but the singles are stellar.
Like a Prayer Madness might be an archetypal ‘best of’ band, but Madonna must have one of the best Greatest Hits compilations and her run of singles from her first one up to, say, Justify My Love, has a fucking crazy hit rate: Everybody - great Burning Up - absolute banger, one of my favs Holiday - absolute banger Lucky Star - absolute banger Borderline - absolute banger Like a Virgin - absolute banger Material Girl - absolute banger Crazy For You - absolute banger Angel - great Into the Groove - absolute banger Dress You Up - banger Gambler - banger Live to Tell - absolute banger Papa Don’t Preach - absolute banger True Blue - absolute banger Open Your Heart - absolute banger, possibly my fav La Isla Bonita - absolute banger (last night I danced with some Pedro) Who’s That Girl - absolute banger Causing a Commotion - banger Spotlight - decent Like a Prayer - absolute banger Express Yourself - absolute banger Cherish - banger Oh Father - decent Dear Jessie - decent Keep it Together - decent Vogue - absolute banger Hanky Panky - erm, not great Justify My Love - great And then later on she has Take a Bow, Frozen, Ray of Light, Drowned World, Beautiful Stranger, Music, Hung Up. Anyway there are three of those absolute bangers on here in Like A Prayer, Express Yourself and Cherish. The rest don’t ever quite reach those heights, but looking at that list you could argue that Like a Prayer or Express Yourself are among the best in her entire catalogue, so what does? They’re both joyfully fantastic songs of course, but for some reason I really love Express Yourself, there’s something about the melody line and percussion I just love. I had a nice silent disco dance to it earlier when I was making a cup of tea. Love Song is very Prince, but also what you might imagine a Madge/Prince (Pridge? Pradonna?) fusion to be and it’s definitely a grower. In fact most of the songs are growers, Till Death Do Us Part I really liked, Promise to Try I wasn’t keen on initially but it is a very nice piano ballad. Dear Jessie has a pleasing quirkiness, and Oh Father might have one of her best vocals. She’s an incredibly distinctive and characterful vocalist, but not necessarily the strongest, most technical singer, but on this she sounds fantastic. Keep it Together may not be as strong as many of her singles but it’s still a superior bit of synth-funk-pop. Spanish Eyes is also a grower, it feels cheesy initially but is actually a very nice melody and atmosphere. Act of Contrition is more Pridge, but isn't totally successful, even as a bit of experimental fun. It’s probably not consistent enough as a full album to get into the 5s, but it's a high 4 - anything containing Like a Prayer, Express Yourself and Cherish can’t be anything less. 🤲🤲🤲🤲 Playlist submission: As good as Like A Prayer is, I do love Express Yourself
The titular track is pop perfection isn't it. A hauntingly elegiac intro that propels into a funk-guitar infused, gospel burst of ultra-catchy chorus. And that bass; it absolutely underpins the whole production. To say the album is downhill after that is slightly unfair. Express Yourself is solid and Cherish a pop banger. The lullabyesque 'Dear Jessie' is a big box o' candy in song form. Highly saccharine, but rather irresistible and secretly enjoyable. 'Oh Father' has some very nice chord changes, and is very much like Kate Bush, into a post-2000 Radiohead style chorus with a floating feel, and off time drum beat. This, more than any other, shows her knack for inhabiting the world outside of pop. 'Spanish Eyes' is a decent attempt too, whilst not living up to the enigmatic promise of 'Oh Father'. Aside from those I feel like there's a bit of infilling, such as the dire Prince duet or Keep it Together. Very difficult to rate, but I feel on balance as an album it doesn't quite attain the excellence to warrant a four, notwithstanding some superlative tracks. A high three then.
Some pretty decent 80's sunshiney pop. Not my favorite but not bad!
The album kicks off strong, but after the first two tracks, it starts to lose some of its punch. Still, there’s no denying its influence, Like a Prayer helped shape pop music and remains one of Madonna’s most important releases.
I love the title track, but the rest of the album definitely isn't as strong.
Never realized Like a Prayer had that first riff?
Like a prayer war geil, aber was waren das bitte sonst für Songs? Eher so meh, gebe 2 Sterne
Tolle Hits, Lahme Nicht Hits. 3 Sterne, weil damals Krasses Pop-Album
oh, madonna. you definitely had a chokehold on the pop industry back then. this album is a lot more personal, and has heavy christian undertones. it's a really nice album. i would be surprised if some people think otherwise. this is madonna in her prime, not really now. the subject material is rather surprising at times, and i wonder how madonna could've felt writing all of it down and singing it. oh yeah, prince is here too!
Wasn't too much of a fan of the sounds and the religious messages, still good album
Excited for this one as I love Madonna and there’s some songs I don’t know on this record. Really enjoyed hearing Madonna do a little more emotion than I’m used to on “Love Don’t Live Here Anymore.” “Dress You Up” was a song I had completely forgot about and god it is just so fun. Sick saxophone on “shoo-bee-doo.” “Pretender” is a perfect song. And now for the last track “Stay” has some really cool drumming and sparkly beats. Overall it’s great to hear Madonna’s voice at the beginning of her career here, she’s got a throatiness that’s perfect and there’s nothing pretentious about it. Fun record with great 80s synth. God I love pop music.
Some amazing songs, but as an album it wasn't my jam.
I’ve never thought of Madonna as an “album artist” … and I still don’t! I joke, I joke – but only sort of. I would seriously suggest that if this record was just the single “Like A Prayer” and then 10 riffs, remixes and reworkings it’d be phenomenal. (It might be that a better album exists simply by chopping everything between “Like A Prayer” and “Act of Contrition” out entirely and then looping it around six times.) Anyway, utterly glorious first track aside* – I’m afraid it doesn’t do much for me. There were better pop records made in the 80s – the high points of this album can’t shake off the shadows of those (how “Oh father” is Tears for Fears without the conviction, for example) – and will be better ones coming in the 90s (the legacy of this record is all over the careers of The Spice Girls, Britney, Christina). “Keep it together” kicks it up to 2.5 but simply too much sloshy bumph to take it any higher. *Very, very fond memories of bopping hard to “Like A Prayer” at Fleur and my wedding. Wonderful moments, big singalongs, heavy swooping dance moves. I’ll hold onto that one forever, thanks, Madge.
like a prayer - now i can't hear this song without remembering it playing in kelli's karaoke and christine & jenn singing it like they are the last two people on earth who still like Madonna (10/10) alright ill be honest there are the bangers like a prayer, express yourself, and cherish but the rest make me want to pull my teeth out sorry queen
Like a Prayer slaps. Express Yourself - chefs kiss! Cherish is a fav probably because it hit my neural pathways at just the right time as they were forming. There rest of the album is meh.
I really enjoyed listening to this album today. I loved Madonna (in the day!) and despite not listening to this album for about 30 years, I still managed to recall most of the lyrics. It's not musical genius, but Madonna was one of the first female pop stars/idols and has managed to survive a pretty tough industry, so for that reason, she is to be celebrated. I think her choices in cosmetic surgery detract from her legend status. She has much better albums than this, but I'm giving it 3 stars, mostly for nostalgia.
I found this a bit disappointing. The hits were ok, though I don't get hyped for pop or Madonna, the rest fell flat
There’s some lovely personal sentiment here, but overall the effect is pretty sappy. Musically, it’s just not timeless like her first three slamming post-disco records.
I thought I would like this more but it was just okay :(
Straightforward pop goodness. Lots of bass makes the production stand out but I don't think it does anything to step it past "very competent" into "exceptional".
Contains some legendary songs. Pretty good album overall.
Fez mais pra chocar a igreja e cristãos do que qualquer banda de black metal
eh um baita album de fato
Love Madonna.
Dance pop, mostly on the softer/tender side
Kuulostaa välillä Disney-prinsessan lauluilta. Mutta ihan kiva! Ihmettelin ratkaisua panna sinkut heti alkuun, mutta kyllä tuolta myöhemminkin löytyi kiinnostavia sanoituksia ja pikku melodioita.
Like a Prayer on tajuton hitti, Spanish Eyes ja Till Death Do Us Part taas pelkästään helvetin hyviä. En tajua Express Yourself:iä, jonka pitäisi olla myös hitti, mutta joka sulautuu filleriin. Niin, tällä levyllä on filleriä. 3+
I get it but I don't like it.
There are songs on this that I think are undeniable. Specially “Like a Prayer” is one of the all time great pop songs. But then there a handful of true head scratchers. Nice to see Madonna experimenting. But I don’t want to listen to it. 3.5/5
This is so 80S!! The main tracks on the album, "like a prayer", "express yourself" "cherish" and "pray for Spanish eyes" are superb. I also enjoyed songs I had not heard before like "till death do us part" On the downside, there are some bang average songs on this album there to make up the numbers like Love song and "Dear Jessie" In summary this is a good fun that is very of its time. Favourite song: "Like a prayer" is one of the all-time great pop songs Least favourite: There were some tracks on the album I just couldn’t get into like "Love Song" Album artwork: Great cover
Before she went batshit crazy some absolute stonkers on this one
No my thing
Pretty much peak Madge.
Het was Michael Jackson en Madonna in mijn jeugd. Dit album heeft me van de 80s naar de 90s heeft gebracht. Geweldige muziek, goed gecomponeerd en goed gezongen. Het is echter nog leuker dat er verschillende genres te horen zijn op het album. Het is geen doorsnee album met een bepaald popstijltje. ****
Expected good things from this because I knew I liked the title track going in. Or at least I thought I did. Did it need really need to be almost 6 minutes long? Bohemian Rhapsody is only 14 seconds longer and that has three distinct sections to it, whereas this was just the same verse and chorus on repeat. Unfortunately that initial disappointment was the album at its peak. This turned into a right slog, not a decent track on here. +1 for pissing off the Catholic Church, but this album was dogshit
This got off to an absolute flyer and I thought a fiver might be on the cards after the first two songs. But it kind of fell flat after. Like A Prayer is a banger. Simpsons: Yes
First song or so were alright to be fair, enjoyed them more than I expected. Rest of the album was just fine.
Starts off well, but the ending is a little disappointing.
Madonna, I owe you an apology. I wasn't really familiar with your game. Mate, I really liked this. Like A Prayer was descent but then the next few songs really got me going. Till Death Do Us Part is a ballsy song and I love it. Cherish is just great pop, if not a little long, would have been a perfect 3 minuter. Act of Contrition has Princes fingers all over it and was weird and I liked it.
Not as many vocal gymnastics as later big poofy pop. Big beats, catchy rhythms.
I like Madonna's music, and I really like Express Yourself, Love Song, and Dear Jessie from this album. I think there are stronger Madonna albums, though, so I'll stick with a solid 3.
Amazing singles and pretty terrible album tracks but this one is close to my heart regardless. Not a Madonna fan but I’d absolutely buy this and keep it on my shelf.
The hits rock and everything is solid.
First Madonna album for me on here, and it seems to be the first one where she actually got a bit of critical respect. This '80s synth-pop isn't really my favorite genre, but this is generally a solid album. It starts off real hot with one of her most famous songs, "Like a Prayer". It's great and the energy is solid. "Express Yourself" is good too, but my biggest issue with the album is that the next three songs are a bit of a miss. The third song ("Love Song") is a collaboration with Prince, and while I like Prince enough, this song was not good and completely sucked the life out of the album that started out strong. The next two songs aren't quite so bad, but it doesn't really pick back up again until "Cherish", which starts a much stronger run on the back half of the album. Madonna shows a pretty wide range here, and while she's fine on the slower ballady songs, she definitely shines as a pop star. There seems to be a ton of context here about how this slotted into her career arch and some of the themes she tackles here. I'm not going to get into that, but I think this was an enjoyable album in a genre that isn't top tier for me. I get the appeal though, and "Like a Prayer" is a top-tier track. Favorite song: Like a Prayer Other: Express Yourself, Cherish, Dear Jessie, Oh Father, Spanish Eyes 1/19/25
Let's gooo, Madonna! "Like a Prayer" is a banger and I saw this video in IG not so long time ago... I was laughing very hard! 😁 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DCnMzL_ppVy/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== The last song game we WTF vibe, sounded like it was played in reveresed, but I loooved the ending and the last sentence! WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER?!
Nice album, but besides the first two tracks i don't think it's aging gracefully.
not my thing for the most part
Känne nur die erschte 2 Lieder. D Madonna isch natürli legendär, ich wird aber nüd würkli warm mit ihrne Lieder. Das d Madonna scho so lang im Business bestah cha, isch sch ä Leistig. Drum 4 Pkt.
ebe scho geeeeil like a prayer. riiichtige ohrewurm aber s arrangement mit immerwieder chörli und denn volle beat isch huuuere geil. david williams on guitar. isches uuuuuhuere sexuell? dummi frog. goh würkli extreeem blöd. express yourself slappt au extreeem. auscho ghört aber richtig geil. love song chli lahmer, prince cool aber joooo etz nöd meega spannend. till death do us part eeeehner langwilig. promise to try cuute? aber nöd meh. cherish cooole bass coooli gitti ui yes. ihri stimm scho ehner dünn. oke de synth goht au blöööd. dear jessie weeeird?? aso no herzig aber meeh oh father cooole drumbeat wo alles verschiebt. ihri stimm treit sonen song leider nöd gaanz aber d instrumentierig isch suuper. cooli chords. keep it together au no cool funky aber najaaa. aso nai sehr noice. pray for spanish eyes schöne song aber er macht en orientalism (said, 1978) mit spanie?? fangt hammer aaah, gheit nocher sehr schnell. 3.
like a prayer seehr geil am ahfang hanis easy gfunde, aber je länger s gange isch, desto besser isches worde aahh express yourself lebt scho fest vom refrain und de ischmer chli zu poppy love song megaa 80er beat hahaha till death funny ahfang actually cool, au wennd d türüüüdü wieder sehr 80er sind peomise to try LANGWIIILIIIG nei es isch eig völlig okay cherish isch sochli seichte fun? dear jessie kinda cute, kinda schrecklich aber kreativität chammer dem ahsatz nöd vorwerfe hahaha oh father hani au nöd soo gern, ischmer chli zu dramatischi filmmusig-mässig hmm jaa s verlürt mi chli, s spielt chli vor sich hii leider spanish eyes langwilig FUCK JZ LAUFTSMER NA jo s letschte lied isch meh es outro, bö joo de ahfang isch für mich so es starchs 3, mit versch. lieder und aspekt woni gern han, wo aber chli dur de heavy 80er und chli too much pop für mich zrugg ghalte wird, und wie gseit am schluss hets mi verlore leider. solids 3
First time listen via streaming
Pop
Classic 80’s Madonna with some killers, but also a few fillers. I prefer some of the later albums (Music, Ray of Light) - but still a good’n
Oh early Madonna...really so much of a game changer. When I hear this album it is a bridge between 80s and 90s pop music. Researching Love Song (because I was 100% Prince was the male voice) and it turns out Prince was the uncredited guitarist on multiple songs and Stevie Nicks actually wrote Love song!!! Sometimes when too many good people are involved it becomes a mess but this really turned out so well. Like a Prayer is so fire and Express Yourself is such an amazing Girl Power Anthem. Which really is what makes this album so great, growing up Catholic I knew people that burned her CDs and forbid their kids from listening to her music and listening to it now that is just crazy! All she is talking about is female empowerment, expecting a man to treat you well, and enjoying love. What is so wrong and crazy about that!?!? I can't say its perfect because some of the lesser knowns didn't totally hit, but this is an album that helped shaped 90's music and female empowerment!
I've never listened to this full album before so I felt a little like a virgin. Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish... all great hits! For the non-hits I like Till Death Do Us Part (great melody) and Keep It Together. Cool that she collaborated with Prince on Love Song. I didn't like that song at first because it was so minimal but after a few listens it's growing on me. I like Act of Contrition at the end. She's confessing all of her sins that she did while making this album by just cutting loose and making a wtf noise core piece. I wish more artists would end an album that way.
There’s so much I could say about this perfect album, but it’ll all just end up sounding too simple. This is Madonna’s greatest achievement, and that says much considering she has about four or five more albums that could compete for title of “her best”. Also, if you look at her 80’s output you might marvel at its near surreal perfection. Like, you have to step back and wonder how the F she made SO MANY bangers that not only bang for their time, but have not lost even an ounce of relevance 40 years later, and will still bang 100, 200, 500 years from now. Whatever you think of Madonna now doesn’t matter because she did the seemingly impossible then and time can never diminish that. While I do consider Like A Prayer to be her best album overall, since there are zero fuck-ups here, my PERSONAL favorite is 1992’s Erotica for its supremely underrated dark alley deep house vibe. Both, as full album experiences, are as close to perfect as album experiences can possibly get. Like A Prayer has not been outside of my regular rotation for the 36 years since I bought it. This little gay boy still thrills at the incredible confidence and honesty Madonna emits in every song (wishing the same confidence and honesty for myself), the incredible songwriting, the danceability, the freedom I feel from living inside songs that never seem to age and always make me feel like I’m 15 again; full of hope and the excitement that comes from all of the possibilities that life might have to offer. Isn’t that what music should be?? The ultimate expression of a persons true inner self, and the ability to return to hope at any point through it despite life chugging along and becoming more banal and used up with each passing day? Music was, is and always will be the fountain of youth and the key to believing that something even greater is just around the corner. 5 stars. 10 stars. 100 freaking stars all day, every day.
Madonna is a queen. The major hits (Like a Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish) are all pretty damn perfect works of art. I didn't have this album growing up, and this is the first time I've listened to the whole thing. I loved it all from start to finish. She sings about very real emotions and situations and weaves in great messages too (about falling in love, what to expect from a relationship, the pain of heartbreak, complicated family dynamics, the comfort of family, etc). The songs flow really well as a complete album, and there are so many different, fun and creative compositions. Some of my other favorite songs were Till Death Do Us Part, Oh Father, Love Song, and Keep it Together. Promise to Try is really beautiful too Easy 5!
Unintentionally I listened to the 30th anniversary release rather than the original release. The re-release album was two tracks shorter (woohoo) but some of the tracks were extended and\or dance mixes (boo). If you haven't worked it out yet I didn't enjoy this experience. I haven't lived under a rock so I am aware of Madonna and have heard several of these tracks multiple times - but that was never out of choice. I didn't even make it all the way through, so by default this gets 1 star!
Madonna's album "Like A Prayer" is a landmark in the evolution of pop music, as it seamlessly blends spiritual themes with mainstream sound. By audaciously incorporating gospel elements and church-inspired motifs, she truly "brought the church to pop." The title track and its accompanying music video stirred significant controversy, showcasing Madonna's fearless exploration of religious imagery and social issues. This bold move not only pushed boundaries but also opened doors for future artists to address deeper themes within the pop genre. Among the standout tracks, "Oh Father" emerges as a poignant and introspective highlight. The song reflects Madonna's personal struggles and complex relationship with her faith and upbringing. Its emotional depth, paired with a haunting melody, elevates it as one of the album's greatest achievements. "Like A Prayer" remains revolutionary, as it challenged the conventions of pop music through its innovative production and thought-provoking lyrics, solidifying Madonna's status as a pioneering force in the industry.
It's a much more evocative, moody album than I expected, which was a pleasant surprise, but frontloading it with two of the greatest pop songs ever written and following those with a Prince collaboration creates an imbalance. Imagine if you get the emotional peak of "Express Yourself" at like, track 5 or 6 or 7? Would hit in a totally different way, energy-wise and thematically.
ok it's already clear that I'm the Madonna stan in the group so I'm not even going to try and hide it. And I want to give this a 5. I partially think that any album that has "Like a Prayer", the song, on it, deserves a 5. Any album that has this much collaboration between Madonna and Prince (!!!) on it hypothetically deserves a 5. But.......while I'm willing to hype up Music at the expense of any reason, this is where I gotta take off the rose colored glasses. This is definitely where Madonna became too big too fail, where Pepsi couldn't stop Madonna then or where Lady Gaga couldn't stop her in the future. But are the songs all that great? Some of them definitely not. "Love Song" comes up short as the almost fanfiction-worthy collaboration of the 80s, and "Dear Jessie" goes for cute and innocent but ends up too maudlin. Of course, though, there's other triumphs - the anthemic triumph of "Express Yourself", the barely-proto-new jack swing groove of "Keep It Together". It's a shame, because if you'll forgive the critical pretense this album feels like the apotheosis of all of Madonna's 80s ambitions. But it's not the true Madonna 5. (which imo is True Blue. If you want to fight me on that though I get it.)
Some of y'all weren't around in the 80s and 90s and it shows. Madonna pushed all of the buttons and she wasn't like a lot of today's pop princesses that don't have the talent to back up their antics. Madonna did. Like a Prayers made a lot of people nervous. The Catholic Church called for boycotts, Pepsi had a collaboration film in the can and then cancelled it. Long story short, Madonna ran in the 80s so Sabrina Carpenter can strut in the 20's. 3.5/5
Pop art masterpiece
While I haven't listened to this album before there are so many songs I have heard a lot throughout the years. Hearing them on the same album makes me realize just how many good songs Madonna has. Even though I don't actively choose to listen to Madonna when I pick what to listen to she has so many songs that I never skip when they come on. That being said I really like this album and had a great time listening through it.
Like A Prayer and Express Yourself held up this album - the rest sucked.
i liked the more upbeat tracks the most, felt more madonna
This album was fine. I was honestly expecting to enjoy it more but outside of the singles, it all kind of blurred together.
Most of the songs on this album have aged really poorly, but the lead single is still a banger.
Like a Prayer is great but this project isnt really for me. It's got a disney disco thing that (to my ear) hasn't aged well. Points for being influential and Madonna is great but I'm not sure it holds up.
This is like the Michael Jackson albums we had a while back in that it defines the entire sound of an era. I've never been a huge fan of Madonna in general, especially as she got older and weirder, but it would be foolish to ignore her catalog based on her increasingly bizarre personality. This album was/is the quintessential pop music album for a time span of something like 20 years. People are still listening to this now, obviously less so, but the songs are enduring. The title track, Express Yourself, Cherish, Spanish Eyes, while not modern sounding, easily slide in to pop music rotations even today. I think the religious overtones, which became even more explicit in videos and performances, add an extra layer to this which served well for marketing the album I'm sure. She's not at the level of someone like Sinead O'Connor but there was (for the time) some pretty explicitly sacrilegious stuff in there. Even the titles of a few of the tracks could be considered a bit over the line, and of course her own stage name. There's no denying the impact of this album, but it's still fundamentally not the kind of music I enjoy, hence the lower rating than it maybe deserves.
Do kids still have 80's parties? I remember being able to play "Like a Prayer" in our grungy fraternity basement and the women losing their minds. It's undeniably poppy, catchy, and encapsulates the feeling of the late 80's/early 90's (at least to my understanding, I was still pretty young.) Madonna was an icon for a reason, the queen beside Michael's king. That being said, I'm hard pressed to find a time I would want to throw on the album for a listen. Grungy fraternity basement sorority mixer non-withstanding.
Always loved like a virgin album cause it was the one I grew up listening non stop in the mid 80s but hearing this now I stand corrected as this is a masterpiece with a story with issues around forbiden love and religion and having to deal with it. This is Madonnas finest work more mature, more serious and with a lot to prove at that point. There was little room to reach further and she delivered.
She has never been much of a singer, and it's not her best album. But it's not as bad as I thought it might be. "Dear Jessie" is nice, and I like the melody in "Cherish".
This album is better than I expected. Has some less pop centric material that I had not heard before that I found interesting.
Pretty good album. I love the the two opening singles, wasn't much familiar with the rest.
Liked this more than I expected. It's got a maximalist thing that I liked. It doesn't translate to all songs, but overall, it's a pretty fun album. 3.49/5
The title song in this album is transcendent to me. One of my top 10 songs. So right there the album is deserving a high rating. But I’m also going to give it the 5 stars that Madonna’s debut album deserves, but can’t get because it was somehow not included on this list! Like A Virgin should also be here. Meanwhile other Madonna albums that are definitely inferior are included. This is the best on the list, and is getting all the love that Madonna deserves. Hopefully future editions of this book will reconsider the Madonna choices.
As far as bubblegum pop goes, this is fantastic. I've been underrating Madonna for long enough, but this list is slowly making me realise that she is much better and more original than I initially thought.
The whole album is pretty awesome apart from the last track (Act of Contrition), which I didn't like. Nevertheless, it's getting five stars and going into my Tidal library.
A well made pop album from a master at her prime.
Like a Prayer // Till Death Do Us Part //
Meh
This was fine, nothing too crazy, just so good ol 80s pop.
Pretty good pop album. Nothing earthshattering but fun throughout. Started off really strong.
Madonna kinda rocks, actually.
maybe in another life I'm the right kind of gay to like madonna
This seems to showcase her vocals more than previous albums...Basically taking the vocal work on "Live to Tell" from True Blue and building an album around it to show more of her vocal versatility, especially the grit in her voice. Highlights: "Like a Prayer" (not sure I'd start the album with this song...seems like something that should be worked up to), "Express Yourself" (I like the horns...this is kind of like a Motown song on cocaine...i probably would have started the album with this one), "Til Death Do Us Part" (her vocal tone reminds me of Belinda Carlisle at times. A bit busy musically. It could be stripped down a bit.), "Cherish" Notable: "Love Song" (features Prince and, yup, it definitely sounds it), "Dear Jessie" (sounds like a Disney song)
This one feels like it’s trying to be personal and huge at the same time. The mix of gospel and pop reminds me of something Annie Lennox might try, but this leans more flashy. Some moments really work, but others feel like they’re trying too hard. The highs are high, and the lows are low.
A lot of mad Donna's greatest hits. All round very strong album. Would recommend
I pray that I never have to listen to this again.
I liked the guitar on Til Death Do Us Part. The rest of the album was nothing special for me. I recognized a few songs but there’s nothing on here that I would return to. It was fine, definitely of it’s time, it sounds very 80s.
Just not my thing, sorry Madonna
I of course had heard of Madonna, but I'd never sat down and listened to one of her albums in full before. It was definitely an enjoyable experience and is a piece of quintessential 80s pop. This falls into the category of pop that I do actually enjoy. Also something I thought of was while listening to this was how I could see how much inspiration Lady Gaga probably got from Madonna. For example, Express Yourself is essentially the 80s version of Gaga's Born This Way. It was definitely less hard to pick a couple of songs for my mega playlist off of this album as well. Cherish and, of course, Like a Prayer were my 2 favorites.
Forgot about some of the songs on this album. I have never been the biggest Madonna fan but I think this is some of her best stuff.
You can't really argue with what Madonna does, love it or hate it, she's very good at her pop thing. This album is full of classic pop tracks, easy to sing along with, easy to dance to, easy to relate to. I'm not a big pop fan these days but I enjoy most things she put out through the 80s. It's so streamlined and polished. Good stuff. 4⭐️
This album is on par with most of Madonna's other big records: fine, pleasant, but nothing particularly special. It's intensely 80s-pop-oriented, which could tank some reviewers' ratings, including my own. The production has that spacious electronic quality that is nearly universally agreed to have not aged very well. The percussion, as is to be expected for 80s pop, is mostly too artificial to really enjoy. There's not enough humanity in quite a few of these tracks. Even Madonna's singing, while technically very strong and excellent for the genre, could use a little more heart and/or soul. The song Express Yourself sounds like a mildly better version of Lady Gaga's Born This Way. (Seriously. The choruses have the same chord progression and a similar melody. And the singers' voices are pretty similar.) It's a very strong track – certainly better than the title track, which listeners seem to prefer – and a contender for my favourite Madonna song. Later in the album: I was not expecting the Latin-style brass amidst the sweet, poppy strings of Dear Jessie. Cool. The string arrangement in Oh Father is also worth a shoutout. The melody of the penultimate song Spanish Eyes is very hard to catch onto, and the track ends up dragging as a result. In addition, the odd reversed sounds and side-mixed electric guitar on the final track, Act of Contrition, are unpleasant and a poor choice to end the album. But excluding these two tracks, I enjoyed most of the album. Not a bad showing for the Queen of Pop. 3/5 Key tracks: Like a Prayer, Express Yourself, Oh Father
Pretty good album for what it is, not really my cup of tea though. The first two tracks are great, as is Cherish. As with a lot of 80s pop though, it's very dated. It actually sounds older than it is - I had to double check the release date. Some of the songs in the second half make me feel like I'm trapped in a shopping mall. She definitely mixed a lot of different styles together very effectively though.
4.5 Like prayer is a timeless banger
Disappointing
When this came out I loved it. It's Madonna, there are some solid songs but I'm just not a fan.
The title track is exquisite pop, but it gets pretty thin after that. A couple other songs begin to approach that level - I'm a real sucker for the maudlin 6th on "Till Death Do Us Part" - but nothing else feels like a song I haven't heard before, either by Madonna or otherwise. And a lot of the deep cuts, especially the slow, sad ones, are just straight duds. End of the day though it's fine pop, if not exactly inspired. I enjoyed listening to it.
Madonna is really good at being Madonna. It's really boring to me and sounds of the time but I was never the target audience
This is good pop record, no arguing there. But it's exactly that, feels very commercial (made to sell rather than as an artistic expression) even though apparently this is Madonna's most "arty" album. Some good songs e.g. Oh Father. Many songs are so embedded in my brain from hearing then 1000 times on the radio that it is hard to have an opinion on them - they just "exist". I suppose they are really good at what they do. Madonna surely is a pop phenomenon and I feel at least some of the albums need to be on the list.
Standard pop didn't age too well. Unlike me
realized this was going to be real boring by the middle if the first song
I really wanted to like this album, but honestly found it exceptionally dull. I tried to listen and relisten about 7 times until I finally made it all the way through. Other than the title song, the others were repetitive and not musically interesting. The lyrics and concepts were overall good. 2/5
Some absolute bangers let down by some middling tunes.
Some catchy jams. Like A Prayer suffers from too much airtime in the modern day but otherwise would have been my favorite track. Lots of 'dead air' where few instruments are playing simultaneously. I get heavy chiptune vibes surprisingly. Like only 3 or 4 channels are going at once. Fav Track: Dear Jessie
Not my style of genre it was listenable. Last 2 tracks kinda lost me a bit. 2.5 if I’m generous 3/5
A moment marking a time.
It’s more like a 3.5 bc I like Madonna but there are also a bunch of the songs on this album im kinda meh about.
classic pop. Loved that Prince contributed to a few songs on this album.
Grand 3/5
Meh, not the biggest madonna fan
This is the pop/fun Madonna. From long before the William Orbit collaborations and Evita and all that. Nothing wrong with pop/fun but it doesn't really lead to good, coherent albums. This has at least one banger - Express Yourself - and another couple of enjoyable singles in a dance-y but quite tinny funkpop vein. It also has a quite unexpected (to me) Prince feature that's not more than okay and some dreary ballads and other filler. I 1000x rather listen to the Immaculate Collection.
okay now that I've been transported back to high school soccer bus rides to away games, there are some real bangers on this album but also some really slow/weird jams.
11/13/24. I admittedly haven't listened to much Madonna, but now I understand why this album is so beloved by many people. Well crafted songs, and flows very nicely - you stay engaged. It also has something for everybody, in the best way.
A true pop legend in her prime here
Cassette classic, I recall the cardboard sleeve smelt great???
gotta give it to her, very well made album, like a prayer is gold
When the title track kicked in, I was thinking steady on here, we might be looking at a 5 star record. Sadly, the rest of the album can't quite live up to that but it does have several great singles. Also evoked fond memories of being 9 years old and hearing this music via my friend's big sister.
This was my favorite so far of the Madonna albums, and it seems to be her quintessential work, deserved for the list
3.5☆/5 11.09.2024
Drottning poppsins og ég skil alveg af hverju. Þetta er alveg þétt plata með góðum smellum. Eins og með margar poppplötur skilur hún ekki mikið eftir en ég hef ekkert á móti henni. Ég mun samt örugglega ekki muna eftir að setja hana í spilun aftur
1. prayer - 1.5 2. ezprezz - 1 3. love - 0 4. death - 0 5. promize - 1.5 6. cherizh - 0 7. jezzie - 0 8. father - 1 9. keep - 0 10. zpanizh - 1 11. contrition - 0
Couple huge hits here, some decent songs, and some filler (like some of the Michael Jackson albums I’ve had on the project). When you’re such a sensation and putting out lots of music, they won’t all be hits. Can hear Prince’s influence on ‘Love Song’ for sure. Solidly 4/5
Ahhh the 80’s when armpits and women were hairy. Bassless pop saccharine perfection. 3 for the memories
Nothing wrong with that
Some great hits. Up there with her best work. 3.5/5
A nice voice and a fun 80s soundtrack makes this album easy listening.
3/4
This was pretty meh.
Big title track is clearly still effective with its bouncy baseline and anthemic chorus. Just ask Ryan Reynolds. There's Express Yourself next, but it's the deeper cuts that really shine for me. Till Death Do Us Part , light and melodic with a catchy synth riff, might be my favorite song here. Promise To Try is an emotional ballad that also hits the mark and then Cherish brings back the bouncy bass and poppy vibes. Dear Jessie and Oh Father form a fascinating two-part suite. The production shines throughout but especially on Keep It Together, funky and rhythmic. Nothing less than an immaculate pop record.
Suffers from "put the absolute bangers at the very start" syndrome, but the rest still range from ok to very enjoyable. Those first two really are fantastic though, the title track is a legendary pop tune. At least there's enough variety amongst the rest of the album to keep it interesting, even the slower songs were pretty good.
This was pretty inescapable when it came out. The hits were everywhere. Madonna ruled the 80's and this is more proof of why.
Madonna! Starts off with the certified banger, Like A Prayer. Till Death Do Us Part had some fun music, and then you hear the haunting lyrics, well done song. Spanish Eyes had great music and her voice was beautiful. All in all, a solid 80s pop album, good representative of the genre. Best song: Like A Prayer
In the late 80s, Madonna was everywhere. The first time I heard her music was in a Long Island club, where she quickly became a staple. Then, she graduated to MTV stardom with her Material Girl album, and movie actor with Desperately Seeking Susan (as well as not so stardom with Who's That Girl). By 1989, Madonna could have rested on her laurels and settled in to just making more 80s techno pop. Madonna, however, was always able to read the tea leaves and by the late 80s, techno was on its way out and MTV was turning to hip hop. So, she reinvented herself. That reinvention yielded a remarkable album that combined pop with Gospel (Like a Prayer), Soul (Express Yourself) and bubblegum (Cherish). Besides (or in spite of) being eclectic, the album holds together. This is in part due to the near perfect production. Much of the success of this album though is the quality of the songs. In the years between True Blue (1986) and Like A Prayer, her song writing suffered as she pursued acting and remixes. Like a Prayer returns Madonna to her old prowess with her songs, presentation, and ability to read the zeitgeist, impeccable. It's just a great album.
I enjoyed it but it didn't seize me.
Eh
The high energy stuff is some of the best pop I’ve ever heard but she loses me on the ballads.
Previously rated: Ray Of Light (3/5) Music (3/5) *********************** No auto-tune, so it's already better than Music. This album may be when she started to put out more mature stuff. That doesn't automatically make it better. I still like her earlier stuff more. This is just OK. Favorite track: Til Death Do Us Part
Other than the two big hits that I knew, this was a chore to get through. I didn't discern anything worthy here, just dated pop music from the late 1980s that mainly fell flat.
The title track is fantastic. The rest is very solid
Reading the global reviews, man do people hate on 90's britpop (to be fair, the list seems to skew heavy on it). I liked this one. I recognized a few songs (the decade from 1995 to 2005 is sort of a sonic black hole for me as I was way too focused on growing my career).
Bit of a mishmash album
what can I even say? It is a pop album. as a Gen Z, I would unironically say this is mid af.
Great album
Solid. Banger.
Madonna, easily the biggest female Pop star of all time. Since she broke into the scene with some really energetic Synthpop, she's made her way through the top of the charts everytime she released new music. This album might be her biggest critically acclaimed album after her debut and features classic Pop songs such as the title track. And while most songs are Dance-Pop oriented, there is a lot of more artistic approach often in the style of Pop Soul or Adult Contemporary. It is the first wave of the more Art Pop approaches she'll go to try in the 90's and further on. The classic title track 'Like a Prayer' which blends aspects of stadium ready Pop Rock and adds some R&B and Gospel aspects. I think that the great moments of the song, namely pre-chorus and chorus, are really, really great but the songwriting on its own can be and often is holding the song back. There is too much stopping and tuning down which ruins the flow of the song. The longer the song plays, the better it gets but the first minutes are a little annoying but I think that the song overall turns out pretty okay. The second track 'Express Yourself' goes very much into a Prince inspired direction with a blend of Pop Soul and Synth Funk with a good amount of Dance added as well. Its songwriting is much more even and the energetic vocals are really adding to the groove of the track. I think that this song is overall much stronger than the title track and even when the highest moments are less high, they are close and with a more even songwriting, I actually think that this is a great track. It would've been incredible, if the bridge was less corny and the length was a little shorter but still, wonderful. The Prince influences don't stop because 'Love Song' isn't just thematically similar to a Prince song but it's a full on Minneapolis Sound Pop Soul track that even features Prince himself as a songwriter, backing vocalist and producer. The result is really good, production wise, but I think Madonna would've needed the strong sexual tone in her voice to really do the song justice. If this was a Prince song, it would've been really good but Madonna sadly cannot do that. It turns out boring and stale. One of the albums strongest tracks is without a doubt the New Wave 'Till Death Do Us Part' which is sonically pretty much an amalgamation of different popular 80's genres but Madonna does that surprisingly well. Synthy New Wave, Jangly Pop Rock and Danceable Sophisti-Pop all find a place tied togther by beautiful songwriting, production and one of the best hooks ever. Her vocals are on point as is pretty much every aspect of the song. If the song was a little tighter and had more focus in the verses, this would've been perfect. Now it's "just" an incredible Pop song. The Adult Contemporary 'Promise to Try' closes the first half of the album with a sombre and mellow song that mainly uses piano and vocals to create a song that is mainly focused on the lyrics. Even if the lyrics are technically alright, the songwriting is really boring and turns the song very average and nothing that you want to hear from Madonna. It's not terrible but it definitely isn't good. Side 2 opens with a mix of Dance Music and Sophisti-Pop and a couple of other inspirations but that's not not important here because the song is awful. It's the bad type of 80's music where the production is actually pretty good but the songwriting ruins all of it. It has a horrible chorus that is probably as annoying as some of the songs on "Cupid & Psyche '85" and I detest that album. I hate this song. 'Dear Jessie' is definitely better and I like the string addition as well as the Psychedelic Pop approach but overall the song doesn't go further than an okay song. The chorus isn't really sticking out, the verses are really uninteresting and the songwriting is boring. It is mainly the production that makes some moments have a cutesy felling to it but it ends there. I had 'Oh Father' much worse in my memory after the first listen and although I think the verses are bad, the chorus and some aspects of the songwriting do safe it from the doom that I anticipated. Especially the chorus is really intriguing but in the end it's not enough to make the entirety of the track feel boring and average. The New Jack Swing 'Keep It Together' gives a lot of similarities to something you'd hear from Janet Jackson and I do think that Madonna did a really good job when making this song. It's not great but it is pretty fun to listen too with the chorus and the production. It's mainly the generic and boring verses that make the whole song lack interesting moments. It is also too long. 'Spanish Eyes' brings in some Latin Pop inspired Adult Contemporary which, again, doesn't really work well. It's not terrible, the production has some really nice elements and the chorus as well as the vocals are spot on but the verses are a little lackluster and boring which together with the stretch of the length turns the entirety pretty boring. The album finishes with a weird Sound Collage that is a mix of Plunderphonics and Tape Music from different Hard Rock and Gospel tracks on top of which she sings and also just speaks. It's a neat idea but the result is pretty bad... Not terrible but this isn't a Madonna song and still it tires to. Favourites: Till Death Do Us Part, Express Yourself least favourites: Cherish, Oh Father, Act of Contrition Rating: decent 5 https://rateyourmusic.com/~Emil_ph for more ratings, reviews and takes
Never been a Madonna fan. Her voice is not good to my ears.
Takes me back to hearing my youth and hearing some of these songs in the house. Pretty standard Madonna work at the time. Heard worse in the 80’s!
Pop aussi légère et dansante que sentie. Sous couvert d'insubordination et de plaisir, Madonna continue de saper les fondations des impératifs du genre féminin.
Bruh moment.
Interesting to hear her early stuff before she became the spectacle that is Madonna.
I was looking forward to listening to this, but I ended up pretty disappointed. It's more of a one-hit wonder, as even the other big "hits" aren't particularly good. Like a Prayer stands so much taller than anything else on this album, that I would have enjoyed just listening to Like a Prayer for 50 minutes. Favorite Song(s): Like a Prayer
Might be madonnas best, nails 80s pop down perfectly
Love.
Good pop album. Always liked Madonna.
Just ok, Like A Prayer is definitely the standout
This album started off super strong with Like A Prayer and Express Yourself. Then it slowly falls off. I didn't think the album was bad but I was hoping for better after the strong start. I liked this one better than the other Madonna album we got but I'm still looking for something better from the queen of pop.
Fuck Deadpool and Wolverine! If I listen to Madonna then I'm unstoppable. Favourite Songs: Like a Prayer, Express Yourself, Till Death Do Us Part, Pray for Spanish Eyes. Least Favourite Songs: Love Song, Act of Contrition.
Like a Prayer is a banger. Interesting that I think most of the world will be unfamiliar with the version of Express Yourself on the album - this is not the version we know from the music video. Cherish is good. The rest is m'eh. This 1989 album definitely feels like it is straddling the 80s and the 90s.
A fuun 80s album. Loved the first half much better but still a solid one
Just solid 80s pop
I didn't think I'd like this album but it was pretty good.
nit schlecht, hab ma nur mehr erwartet irgendwie
This album did not age well, and it is not good to begin with.
Prince fucking carries on this album, which is insane because he's only 4 tracks. Madonna has some other pretty good songs on here, but a lot of songs were so forgettable I had already forgotten I listened to it by the time the next song got into the verse. Would have been a low 2, but Prince alone brings it to a middle 3
The song like a prayer is a 10/10. There was a couple other songs that I liked and enjoyed. I’d give it somewhere 3.5/5.
Gonna call Madonna Kylie MiNOPE. No wonder she had to make the music video for the title track so extreme, the rest of the album is a flop!
I liked the first couple songs but got bored pretty fast. I respect that it was probably great for it’s time but it felt dated. Favorite songs: 1. Like a prayer 10. Spanish Eyes 6/10
My only prior experience with Madonna is Weird Al's Like a Surgeon. It was fun and also rocked here and there. Album cover: B+. Sexy.
Extremely catchy. I had never listened to a Madonna album before. Like a Prayer is an absolute banger. The rest of the album falls off a little but still really enjoyable.
This is my first time listening to Madonna. She's kind of a lot like Michael Jackson? Maybe that was just the style of the time, but she's got a lot of those percussive beats behind her that remind me of songs like "Beat It". "Express Yourself" and "Keep it Together" are two good examples of what I mean. My favorite song is "Dear Jessie", it's got some Disney movie energy. I also really like "Till Death Do Us Part", and "Cherish". I like this album. I don't love the croony slower ballads, but I like all the more upbeat songs. 7/10
This is pretty good. Her voice is a weak point, but she makes it work like all the best-worst rock singers do. Prince puts some very recognizable fingerprints on his, but all the songs go personal familial catholic, and are still extended and danceable without outwearing their welcome. The title track is a monster pop song.
I mostly remember my sister and her friends listening to this album. Madonna wasn't the icon she is now, but this album was the start of that.
Sound album
I somehow have avoided listening to Madonna other than mega hits that I probably didn’t even know was Madonna. The super 80s style songs weren’t great, pretty dated and just kind of annoying. The songs that didn’t push the 80s theme in your face as much were better. Till death do us part was my favorite on the album. I enjoyed Dear Jessie and its innocent nature. I could just feel that something sinister was to follow and it did with Oh Father, a song about child abuse. Overall some hits, mostly misses for me at least. 6/10
Oh man, dit zijjn echt wel de slechtste clichés van de jaren tachtig samengebald. Over het paard getilde sterpretentie gekoppeld aan de lulligste blikken keyboards aller tijden, en dan ook nog een keer Prince ertussendoor. Het klinkt alsof het 1983 is, maar in werkelijkheid zijn we al aan het eind van het decennium. Zelfs de titel is een rip-off van een eerdere hit. Eerlijk gezegd vond ik de LP die ik laatst in Duitsland uit de 'zum mitnehmen'-bak viste (True blue) een stuk beter, maar vanaf vinyl klinkt natuurlijk alles beter.
Madonna, het symbool van vrijheid en (vrouwelijke) expressie. Waarom is dit album dan zo ontzettend cheesy?
Het eerste dat me eigenlijk opvalt bij dit album, is dat de nummers vrij lang zijn. Ik weet niet of dat gebruikelijk was in die tijd, of voor Madonna. Als je het laatste nummer gemakshalve niet meetelt, duurt het kortste nummer 4 minuut 20. En dat merk je al gelijk bij de eerste 2 nummers, de grootste hits. Like a Prayer lijkt een eeuwigheid door te gaan. Maar Madonna weet op zich wel te vermaken. En dat moet ook wel, want het is overduidelijk dat ze niet uitblinkt in zingen, getuige het ingetogen Promise to Try. Ze moet het meer hebben van overdadig uitgedoste 80s muziek, met een prominente bas, drumcomputer en veel toeters en synthesizerbellen. Al zitten er ook wat speelsere nummers tussen als Dear Jessie. Oh Father is dan weer een onheilspellend sfeervol nummer, wat in niets lijkt op de bubblegum 80s pop die je van Madonna verwacht. Het intrigeert, zeker het tweede gedeelte van het album. Grappig genoeg is dit het enige 80s album van Madonna dat in de lijst staat, samen met 2 latere albums. Dus de snobs kunnen wel degelijk keuzes maken. Terwijl ik nu dus juist wel benieuwd ben geworden naar die eerdere albums. Hulde voor de snobs! Net als voor Madonna, want ik vind dit best een goed album. Er staan hits op, zowel uptempo als ingetogen nummers. Kortom er is genoeg afwisseling. Ik ben bijzonder verrast met dit album. Ik had dit niet verwacht en vind er echt een paar hele sterke nummers op staan, met name in het tweede gedeelte. Ik overwoog zowaar om op die 5 sterren te rammen, maar na een herbeluistering vond ik dat dan toch weer teveel van het goede. Desalniettemin een hele dikke verrassende 4. PS. Ik heb dus de proef op de som genomen en er een mini Taylor Swift projectje van gemaakt, door als extraatje de eerste drie albums van Madonna achter elkaar te luisteren. Afgezien van de hitjes, die op zichzelf al niet al te best zijn, zijn Madonna en Like a Virgin maar matig verder. True Blue biedt al wat meer vertier, met oa het sfeervolle Live to Tell. Ik denk dat Like a Prayer wel het beste is wat de 80s Madonna te bieden heeft. Wel mooi om te zien dat er een duidelijke ontwikkeling in haar muziek is.
Like a Prayer is an all time banger, Cherish and Express Yourself are up there too. A few stinkers in there that keep this album from being a 5.
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Madonna’s large step into her introspective period felt genuine…when she committed to it. Those tracks were great, and she didn’t necessarily HAVE to stick to that style, but the songs that were a major departure just weren’t all that interesting
Madonna- its about time! I was actually really suprised by this album- it starts out really strong with "like a prayer" (a classic) but soon transitions into almost a concept album. A lot of religious overtones and songs that are less poppy and more storytelling. It surprised me, as I wasnt familiar with that side of Madonna. Overall- I enjoyed it. Probably a 3.5 but I dont think it quite got to a 4 syar for me.
Best Song: Express Yourself. The perfect soundtrack for an uplifting beach party in a world where nothing bad has happened or ever will happen. Worst Song: Promise to Try. Based on how fun and upbeat the first few songs were, why was there a need to slow things down for this ballad in the middle? Overall: Despite a really fun start, it felt like the album devolved into the kind of repetitive, surface, bubble-pop that characterizes too much of 80s music. Nevertheless, this feels likes the best of a genre that I don't like.
Giving it 4 stars for the singles and how influential she is. Plus, Prince! And some good messages that stand the test of time. But there's some filler here that was hard to slog through.
One of her most amazing albums, and Cherish is the song i love since childhood
thought this might be bearable given it's Madonna - it wasn't. Synth music that sounds direct from the 80s and boring to listen to - title track is easily the best on the album
Rather enjoyed this
“Like a Prayer” is the undeniable standout track here. Great song. But the rest of the album isn’t exactly filler. The songs are frequently off-kilter and the album has a range of styles. I don’t think all of it hits but I appreciate that Madonna doesn’t make boring albums. She goes for bold ideas. “Oh Father” is a powerful song. I love this insane closing track, “Act of Contrition.” Hilarious finish to the album.
This is one of those albums where it has one super famous track on it and the albums inclusion on this list is probably because of it. Going through the rest of the album I wasn't really blown away. I don't dislike Madonna in general, but these tracks felt pretty standard and the hooks felt forced. Many of those Rolling Stones-type top X of all time lists have songs/albums/musicians that I think are indisputably great; I tend to like all of the songs on these lists, and I can find good things included throughout. And "Like a Prayer" I'm sure is on many "best pop songs of all time" lists, but listening now, I don't really feel too much from the song. It just kind of feels like it lacks substance I think? I really struggle to like a lot on this record. Maybe it just feels kind of dated? "Express Yourself" has a great sentiment with some quasi lyrical relationship advice, but it feels so forced while also sounding a bit empty. It's a 2.7/5 for me, enough for it to be a 3.
Hats off to Madonna. A true trailblazer in the 80s.
Nice album.
This album was a bit of a mixed bag. I liked a few songs, such as ‘Till Death Do Us apart’, ‘Dear Jessie’ and ‘Keep It Together’, but found some songs (Express Yourself, Cherish, Pray for Spanish Eyes) insufferable. The production was pretty good throughout the album. I can see why it would be included on this list, but it just wasn’t really for me. Act of Contrition was awesome though
This classic brought me back
Title track is great as is Express Yourself. But I’m not a big fan of cherish (the other big hitter on the album). Overall pretty weak compared to Like a Virgin or even True Blue
I agree with Wiki description, there is more rock on this album compared to the pop sound on her previous releases. Plus the contributions from Prince is a bonus.
Should be an EP With a loaf of pop filler First track magic fades
++: Express Yourself, Love Song +: Like a Prayer, Till Death Do Us Part, Promise to Try, Keep It Together +-: Cherish, Dear Jessie, Oh Father, Act of Contrition -: Spanish Eyes 7,9/10
This was part of youth. But seriously I thought Madonna was over played.
4/5
I have better memories of this record than it really deserves.
A pop album with catchy singles and nothing else interesting at all. Rinse / repeat
Can’t go wrong with Madonna 3*
Like a Prayer is a banger but the rest is pretty mid. But Like a Prayer is good enough...
Some decent Pop songs, but most of the album lacks that something special. Really cool that Prince is on this album a few times. 2.5/5 Probably won’t listen again
no one can deny the icon she is
The hit songs are pretty good but the rest is just ok so 3 stars or C- for me.
Only first song is decent, didn't hate it but would not listen again.
Top heavy, but still a fun listen Best Song: Like a Prayer
Bien, pero no es mi rollo. Like a Prayer es mi canción favorita de Madonna, el resto se me hace un poco pasado, como muy de su época.
A really solid, cohesive album. The background available on Wikipedia is really interesting in understanding the importance of this album, outside of its massive commercial success. It was a turning point for Madonna, who is historical and cultural contexts, is an essential figure in music. Obviously "Like a Prayer" is a standout, but there are plenty of great tracks here (I really liked the production and sound of "Till Death Do Us Part", even though the subject matter, and actual history from Madonna's life, is pretty heavy).
Slightly weird 80s pop.
It's fine! : )
Oh dang I’ve been sleeping on Madonna. This album was pretty 🔥