Reviews (page 7 of 8)
Once again, not my style. I know the hits. They're pretty good. I mean, 15 million people can't be wrong? Am I right? The rest. Just not my bag, baby.
A classic album, enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
Skoro četvorka! Dakle, nisam baš očekivao ovakav album, a i jesam. Ne znam, nisam pametan. Like a Prayer, Till Death Do Us Part, Oh Father, Keep it Together i Pray for Spanish Eyes će biti pjesme kojima vjerujem da ću se vraćat, ali ostale pjesme ne kažem da su loše, ali npr. Promise to Try, Act of Contrition (bezveze) i eventualno Dear Jessie neb si pušto, ovo sve ostalo je vrijedno spomena. Pjesme mogu reći da znaju podosta biti duge, to sam zamjetio. Zainteresiran sam za diskografiju, ako bude još koji album ovdje od nje, rado ću poslušati. Dakle, album je sigurno 3.5/5, ak ne i više, zavisi. Stvarno fali ta polovice zvijezde.
Uživao sam puuuuuno više nego sam očekivao.
A mildly decent pop album. 7.1/10
Gut zu hören.
A really good pop album but after the opening few tracks (like a prayer and express yourself are absolute classics and the Prince collab really good) it feels a bit like mostly filler and one good ballad. Still enjoyable though.
Muy de su tiempo, aparte del tema homónimo apenas me llaman la atención un par de temas. Contextualizado gana bastante.
Great pop songs at the beginning however the ballads at the end really let the album down..
I mean, this is a great album. Not all songs are my cup of tea but there is no denying this should be on the list.
Really enjoyed the album esp the start of it. I can def see now that Gaga kinda stole Madonna's entire style ngl Fav tracks; First two tracks
Some amazing tracks on here. Singles are all great as is the song with prince.
j'aime sa musique a l'occasion soit en auto a la radio mais je n'acheterais pas son produit
Lots of different genres thrown into the mix, which I liked, even if "Dear Jessie" didn't seem to fit with anything else. I liked the weirdness of "Act of Contrition" Fave track - "Like a Prayer" - that shiz is anthemic!
Fun, but a lil too poppy.
some good pop. i mean its madonna what else can you expect?
3
Title track is by far the best song on the album. What a great tune. That drum beat is amazing. I also liked Cherish. Makes me think of True Blue. The second half of the album doesn't do it for me.
It's fine
solid pop but not a ton really connected with me
Surprised I didn't like it more. Sounds like they had a lot of fun with the MIDI, though!
Some good songs but overall I the rest of the album was fine
Not bad, but kinda boring and felt way too long.
6/16 Some great pop. Standout Tracks: Till Death Do Us Part, Pray for Spanish Eyes
I am giving this album one star for each track I actually enjoyed listening to.
This is truly awful, and my life is worse for having heard it. Like a prayer is a bit of a bop, though, so two stars.
2/4
Not my cup of tea
A little dull
What I'm learning is that I really don't care for Madonna outside a handful of hits, none of which are on this album
Not bad, not my thing. Reinforces my opinion of Prince I guess because oof that song was boring. I don't like pop, but I dislike Madonna less than most other pop.
Bar the title track, this is naff. I didn't like it. She deserves more than 1 objectively as a pop star, but this album is really weak.
The title track is a classic, obviously. That choir coming in behind Madonna still sounds huge, and there’s a reason the song has survived as long as it has. “Pray for Spanish Eyes” was the other song I actually liked. The castanets and mariachi-style trumpets gave it a completely different sound from the rest of the album, and Madonna’s voice gets surprisingly raw during the choruses. That song had some personality that I thought most of the album was missing. Outside of the title track and “Spanish Eyes,” I was pretty much ready for this thing to be over. There’s a lot of late 80s pop production here that does absolutely nothing for me, and even when the album tries to get more serious, I wasn’t particularly interested in the songs themselves. So I give one star a piece for the songs I liked here.
Even Prince could not save you, sounds basic. But maybe this was amazing and groundbreaking at the time.
4/10 - gonna be honest, apart from Like a Prayer, there's not much of note here. It's downhill from there as that is the opening song (never open with your best unless the rest of your album can match...)
1.5
Why are there so many Madonna albums on this list? This is 3 for me and the only one so far I feel like actually belongs here. Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, and Love Song (thanks to Prince) are great, the rest is questionable. I guess I'm not much of a Madonna fan but this is super dated and not in a good way. It's lightyears ahead of the more recent albums I've had from her though. It kind of makes me wonder if she got so popular because of her persona rather than the music she made. There are some good parts on this album and I can totally see why it was so popular in 1989 but it just doesn't hold up. Important? Yes. Enjoyable now? No. 2.5/5 but rounding down.
Too long. Only listenable in spurts.
Probably not the thing that I would listen to, but a few iconic songs I heard on that album.
El álbum "esta bien", no encuentro malas canciones, pero las canciones no son increíbles ni tampoco buenas, simplemente están bien. Es un álbum más comercial de los 80's.
Oof. I didn't listen to her in the 80s when she was popular but I expected that her music would hold up. Maybe this is the wrong album for that. It came out in 1989 past her mid-80s peak of hits (or so I remember it anyway). The beats are just so 80s. :) Way too bouncy and generic. She does have a great voice, but it comes off a bit thin with the tinny music. There is one song, though, called Love Song, written by Prince, that he sings on, but is uncredited. That was a nice treat. I'll never listen to this again. 2 stars.
Still cannot stand Madonna. Just instantly annoys me. Don't think I’ll ever be a fan. But, begrudgingly, this record is not 100% bad. Some tracks are abysmal, but I did find myself tapping along at times.
Good album but nothing my thing.
2 out of 5. Definitely a product of it's time. Never listened to one of her albums before and probably won't again.
I can see why it’s so well regarded with how influential it was but I didn’t enjoy it too much. I’m sure with repeat listens in the future it will catch me in a better mood. Rating: 2.4
Apart from a couple of hits, this album is really bad. Extremely.
Probably more than it deserves …an extra Star for the 25 yr old me
Title track and cherish are bangers, the rest is just filler.
Standouts Like a Prayer Keep it Together
Madonna was good in the eighties but her music hasn't aged well.
A lot of ideas that weren't fully developed plus a way too long runtime. I didn't have a fun time listening.
Beyond like a prayer is they any need. Unexpected prince gave it a 2
Like a Prayer is a good start. Thought 2nd song was the England football song World In Motion. Just ripped it off apparently. If its the other way round Im surprised Madonna didnt sue... 3rd song features Prince. The Cyndi Lauper album that was on here had him on too. Got a lot to answer for has ol' Princy Chops 1 song doesnt make an album. Stop with the nonsense.
Never listened. Expectations: Low - Verdict: Alright - The title track is a classic pop song. Express Yourself is fine. You can hear Prince all over Love Song even before you hear his voice. Most songs just sound a bit bland to me. Keep It Together is alright.
It’s not bad but also doesn’t do much for me. I wouldn’t have thought like a prayer will be a big hit. And other tracks are even worse.
Highlights: Like A Prayer, Express Yourself. In a nutshell: "no choice, your voice will take me there..." A great way to open an album- title track (iconic. The gospel choir makes it so much then Express Yourself (an anthem for hyping up a woman who feels "unlucky in love"). It gets inconsistent from track three. The lyrics are tender or completely sappy. Many songs didn't need another chorus tacked onto the end. The album needed two more upbeat tracks to make it less of a downer, in my opinion anyway. Overall: 4/10
Occasional good moments, but pretty much just downhill after the first song. Standout song: Like a prayer
I did not care for this not finish it. House music at a middle school slumber party
"She was raised catholic, then she became a whore" -Bill Burr
#946. Almost every time I hear some shitass 80s pop song playing that I've never heard before and I look to see who it is, it's Madonna. Why people love this woman is beyond me, I just find it irritating. 2/5: annoying
Cheesy pop.
I was quite excited since Like a Prayer is a great song, but I was left disappointed. This album was such a slog to get through. It felt boring and uninspired. Aside from the title track, I don’t want to listen to any of it again. Strong 2.
I recognize that people like her and that she’s talented. But I just find her and her music annoying. Hey that’s why music is subjective right?
no soy tan fan de madonna
I've never liked Madonna. Maybe part of the reason is because Madonna is my mom's reason for saying the 80s had the best music. I don't disagree that the 80s had some bangers, but Madonna isn't one of them.
First few tracks were good, others, meh. 2nd half of the album slowed up.
This was the appropriate ending to Madonna’s 80s era. And the beginning of whatever it is she became. 2.5
I think I prefer ADT Madonna to BDT (After/Before Dick Tracy). I like the singles ok, and "Dear Jessie" and "Spanish Eyes" were interesting. It was also cool to hear Prince - I didn't know they'd collaborated. But for the most part this was a slog. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER" almost saved it for me.
I mostly find this interminable, in large part because it comes out swinging so hard with the perfect title track. It's the remaining 10 tracks/45 minutes that are the problem. Actually, that's not fair, because Express Yourself also brings the heat. But THEN it's a problem! The record is dated in a way that puts it waaaay out of step with the other heavy hitters of 1989.
Pop is the appropriate genre name, it's so sweet and engineered it makes my teeth hurt. Some 80's nostalgia keeps this from the basement
The track play counts on spotify don't lie, there's 1 good song here Will I listen to again: 1%
Like a prayer remains a very good pop song. A good hook, interesting use of gospel music accompaniment, and subversive in its lyrics and overall messaging. Unfortunately the album doesn’t keep the same energy as the lead single. ‘Oh father’ and ‘Spanish eyes’ aside, where there are shades of Kate Bush and finally some interesting chord progressions, the rest of the album is formulaic and uninteresting.
Well well well, another album that a launches with it eponymous track. Also the most popular track from the record by orders of magnitude. It makes for a curious start, while I listen to the familiar organ laced sexy church bating pop banger, I look forward to the rest of the record with some trepidation. But it's Madonna, the queen of pop (has she been called that? it feels like she would have), I'm sure we're in good hands. Listening to Express Yourself I'm struck by a couple of thoughts. Madonna is 80's music! I totally forgot that. The drums and bass and synth are all absolutely textbook, maybe because of this album? Who knows. Anyway you just know this would have slapped in Stranger Things season 2 in the mall. Come to think of it maybe thats where I've heard it before? No, I'm thinking of Material Girl which... (checks track list) is not on this album. Well this shares a lot of the same DNA as Material Girl and works just fine. At Love Song though, things get interesting. Prince lending guitar and vocals to the track, and recorded at Paisley Park, it's got his finger prints all over it. The vocal harmonies are super interesting, the slow groove is brave, it's peaked my interest significantly - although it is perhaps a little idiosyncratic to have the staying power of a hit. Till Death Do Us Part is kind of good, but my favourite part, and I say this with the utmost respect, was the end which had an outro with some unconventional choices I rather liked. Cherish does a similar sort of thing in the mid-eight. I think it's basically that the extremely 80's and extremely persistent synth bass line thats in all the poppiest songs drops out and gives a bit of a change of texture for a minute. Cherish does have a hook that feels like I've known it my whole life. Chances are I probably have. Dear Jessie again swings for a different texture and doesn't rely on the same sonic palette as the poppier tracks. But it is weird in a new and usual way. Blending something at once chamber orchestra and a Mexican flare of midi trumpets, it feels like she might have been reaching for something in the vein of the Beatles. One thing it does do well is queue up Oh Father, a satisfyingly Celine Dione-esque ballad. Spanish Eyes drops a genuinely hooky last hurrah which has a certain character and vibe to it. This is definitely later to be by borrowed by the band named after the orgasmotron wielding villain in Barberlla, Duran Duran, on their absolute banger Rio. So we may have this tune to thank for it (I'd wager a fiver on it). Finally we reach the end, and the album closes out with An Act of Contrition. A prince guitar solo with a loop of reversed percussion and an effected choir singing over it. Easily the coolest idea of the record to be honest. The spoken word thing she's doing, the melodic ideas, the lack of cheese. I mean it's Prince through and through, even the drum kit has his prints on it. But it's fucking cool. If only more of the record was like this.
Мадонна знатная проститутка
Mostly bland saccharine pop. The instrumentals on "Act of Contrition" were pretty cool, and the track had some potential, but for some reason Madonna started yapping instead of singing.
Disappointed in this as an album despite having a good title track
cute. had it's moments
Disappointing. The singles are great but....
It’s terrible but the title track is one of her best which is why this isn’t one star
2/4
An iconic album by an iconic artist, who achieved cultural ubiquity by selling sex and controversy, with the first two tracks ("Like A Prayer" and "Express Yourself") still receiving air play almost four decades later. Prince is credited as a "Composer, Primary Artist, Producer" on the album. Still, it sounds like a consummate contemporary pop album of its time, and I'd probably switch to another album after listening to those first two songs...
80's trademark pop record which sounds very much like a product of it's time. Refreshing exception is 'Love song' where Madonna really seems more like a assistant and Prince is controlling things. Other standout track is Oh Father which sound bit like Kate Bush. On top of those there are couple of good pop tunes, but there are also too many fillers...
Didn’t finish, it felt a bit meh.
The title track is so awesome, but it really fails off in the second half and becomes a slog.
I was not familiar with this as an album. It does of course contain some of her bangers and ends up being an iconic listen. 7/10 [KEEP]
Ok album highlight is dress you up
I like the title track. But the rest, woof.
Ok. Religious conflicts and dad issues. This is a pop album by Madonna. There may be a reason you never hear deep cuts from Madonna.
Maybe it's one of those important when it came out albums, but I was pretty bored with this very '80's pop. All of these I was unfamiliar with prior to going in (but not all Madonna songs) and tried to keep an open mind
One massive hit and then some other middling Madonna. The title track is good though. I wonder what Tarantino's take on this one would be. I would have thought Express Yourself was a bigger hit. Maybe Spotify streams aren't the best barometer of how big a song was. Madonna and Prince, unfortunately, two great tastes that do not go great together. Love Song is a Prince song on a Madonna album. Cherish has never been one of my favorite Madonna songs but it is a highlight amongst the album tracks. Dear Jessie sucks; stupid lyrics, awful music. The difference between the 70s and the rise of FM radio where entire albums or sides were played and the more singles driven format is nowhere more clear in the loss of overall album quality than this album.
Always assumed I had heard this whole album, but no. The hits were fun. The rest. Meh.
This album was all over the place. Coupla classic hits but to a cohesive album
Likeca prayer, dear jessie
Good enough album. Not my style
All the songs sound the same. Dull.
This album is still among my small collection of cassettes from when I was younger. At the time, I felt this was a pretty magnificent album. Now, apart from the title track, it all sounds quite insipid and immature. It is perhaps quite accomplished musically, but I can't get past the lyrics. I picture Madonna with the back of her hand raised to her forehead over and over again. Ray of Light is the better album in my estimation.
An important album for pop and some classic tunes. 2 - a good album but not my thing
It's not that it's bad, in fact it's very good at what it does, it's just that I'd rather be listening to something else.
The headline song is great, everything else is not so much.
Hmmmm. Opens strongly, and then it just sort of meanders into mediocrity. I was expecting more. Hard to give it a higher score.
4/10
Like A Prayer is a total banger ofc, but further not a lot of memorable songs. A lot sounded the same.
I think I found Madonna more interesting as a new pop-culture phenomenon in the early portion of her career than I ever did her music. There's often a nasal quality to her voice that I find kind of irritating. The hits were just fine but the rest of the songs were bad to boring with the exception of "Keep It Together" which was funky and enjoyable. 2.5/5
Overproduced. Anybody could be playing any part, including her voicing. It is almost as if everyone involved has collaborated in removing any shred of individuality. I want to like more of Madonna than her nice body and voice and good attitude. But just can't.
I considered a long-form exposition of all the things I was feeling as I listened, but suffice to say I was never a fan and having listened more intently... affirmed. Production, songs, vibe, performance, nothing hits. "Express Yourself" saved this from a 1.
You know and love all the hits but the deep cuts are all over the place and not very good
I don’t rly care for this tbh
I stopped listening to Madonna with 'True blue', this is too full of burning cross and some para-mystical songs.
The title track is an undeniable pop classic and still sounds fresh today. The rest of the record, not so much. It's mostly vapid filler although it's generally groovy, and occasional number rises above the tedium. Spanish Eyes, with its moving lyrics on a taboo subject, is probably the best of them.
It's a fun album, first time hearing a whole Madonna project and it has a real fun 80's vibe to it, but it usually stays the same throughout which isn't bad but it just doesn't keep me invested into the album the whole time.
waarschijnlijk belangrijk in zijn tijd... maar de tijd heeft lelijk huisgehouden met deze plaat...
No thanks
Yeah.... Besides the first 2 songs that I already knew existed, nothing else was even worth listening to...
shit-pop
I didn’t enjoy it. I’m not sure if I was meant to
its fine, groovy but not all that interesting
I don’t think I like madonna
one of the biggest, lowest stakes, most meaningless fights i've ever witnessed was in college when a dancer was considering doing her senior solo to like a prayer and someone else insisted that like a prayer is about fellatio. it lasted for days and altered friendships. anyway, what a banger to lead off perhaps the most "only here for the single" album on the whole entire list.
like a prayer is always a vibe, didn’t majorly enjoy the rest
Pop Soul and Adult Contemporary from 1989 is something that I try to avoid with all my heart.
First two songs are solid radio hits. But her honesty and intimacy on this album give us another example of how thoroughly uninteresting she really was. This album actually diminishes my respect for Sean Penn. Add to that the fact that it would, legitimately, be a better album without her vocal tracks, and one is forced to conclude that it's another one of the, literally scores if not hundreds, of albums on this list that no one needs to hear, ever. Two songs - two stars.
Harsh but she loses stars for being a dick
only liked like a prayer
The title track is the only good song on here. The rest are meh.
Super-boring. I feel weird giving Madonna a 2, but that's what I'm doing. Don't tell Madonna.
Listened to the beginning of each song and very quickly concluded this is one of the weaker entries in Madonna’s catalogue, and man. Does she have some stinkers as she gets older and more tired. I can understand how this was something interesting back in the day but it just sounds to me like a more polished version of your run of the mill 80s pop slop. I much prefer the gravitas and unconventionality of her previous album entry, True Blue.
It has a couple of OK singles, but as an album it's not very good. Favorite song: Cherish
Meh. These pop star albums don't seem to have much individuality in the songs, just look at the cast of thousands involved, everything is a bit overdone. Plus I don't care from Madonna's voice. I'm not clear what criteria get an album on this list - surely it's not just sales?
Her earlier stuff is better. This is not very good
2/5
Certainly some of Madonna's best songs are to be found on here, classics of pop music perhaps, but the rest of it is either boring or pretty bad.
I've heard some of these tracks before...who hasn't, but hadn't heard the whole album. I can't say it's exciting, but It's not awful. It gave me the feel of being a Disney soundtrack (not that I'm a Disney soundtrack expert). That's all apart from the final track - Act of Contrition. How did that get there? It's just a bit weird compared to the rest of the album.
The title track is a great pop song, that's for sure. The rest of the album can't live up to that, unfortunately.
Really 80's and not as a compliment. The title track is great but that's about it. A lot of very tiresome cheesy late 80's pop that makes it more of a drag than an enjoyment. Don't really hate it but there isn't much to like here. Even the other hit singles aren't Madonna's best work.
Other than the hits, this album was pretty hard to listen to. I had forgotten about "Cherish" though. That song is a jam.
Tails off hardddd
Pretty mixed but overall not really my thing.
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.
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.
Music that was made with the sole purpose of being on the radio
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.
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.
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.
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.
A long series of various shades of beige
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.
It feels like it rides on the big hits and that it got big due to mtv
The title track is an obvious classic. Enjoyed a few others throughout the album, but overall wasn't hooked.
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.
Swing and a miss again, Madge
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.
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
Not a Madonna fan, and it felt Like A Prayer had been answered when this one was over.
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)
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
nah,not my thing
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.
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.
Meh. Generic 80's pop. I recognize she was influential for the times but it hasn't particularly aged well. 4/10
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
Not really my thing. I know the songs from the radio, but way too polished for me.
not as hype as I thought she'd be, couple good songs though
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.
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?!
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.
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.
Nope
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
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
I like her hits and this was a decent pop album but it just wasn’t very memorable.
2 ok songs
I like some of the songs but wasn't vibing so keeping 2.
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)
the not so famous song are quite boring
2.0 awful
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.)
so far the best 2/5
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.
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 is a really good song. Express Yourself is OK. The rest is horribly over-produced.
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
A couple of great songs, and then the rest is just filler
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
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.
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
Like a prayer war geil, aber was waren das bitte sonst für Songs? Eher so meh, gebe 2 Sterne
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 found this a bit disappointing. The hits were ok, though I don't get hyped for pop or Madonna, the rest fell flat
Dance pop, mostly on the softer/tender side
No my thing
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
Not as many vocal gymnastics as later big poofy pop. Big beats, catchy rhythms.
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.
Like a Prayer // Till Death Do Us Part //
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
Disappointing
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
Standard pop didn't age too well. Unlike me
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.
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.
what can I even say? It is a pop album. as a Gen Z, I would unironically say this is mid af.
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
This album did not age well, and it is not good to begin with.
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!
Madonna, het symbool van vrijheid en (vrouwelijke) expressie. Waarom is dit album dan zo ontzettend cheesy?
..
Should be an EP With a loaf of pop filler First track magic fades
This was part of youth. But seriously I thought Madonna was over played.
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
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
Only first song is decent, didn't hate it but would not listen again.
Correcto
🙄
Strangely I seem to know a lot of the songs on this album.... think my brother must have owned it. It's not aged well, sounds like a children's album but like a prayer is a bit of a classic. No more Madonna on this list please.
Not really sure why they didn't make an exception for Mamma Mia and shove the title track on at least a blooper reel. Certified anthem nonetheless, to be in the 90s fucked off my head with all my mates at a gay bar on a greek island... pwah! Synth edging out of the decade strong just like Disintegration. Express yourself failing to... disappoint! Was going to suggest that love song sounds like a shit Prince song and it actually is! Eternal sound but doesn't have enough dirt under the fingernails, especially for something that wasn't too far away from sign of the times (temporally). Actually warming to it but feels like we are getting towards something but not being fully delivered upon, suppose it's in the lyrics. Proper dance tracks like "till death do us part" and "keep it together" (slap that on a function playlist), but not fussed at all about some slower shite. Cherish very much upbeat, of its time. Like Dear Jessie though, feels like its reaching towards the 2000s. Last track sounds like she tried to do another Prince track but he was booked up and she was junked up. Funny one but overall low rating - 2.
Like a prayer is very good, cherish was alright. Otherwise very little else stood out to me
Liked this more than I thought I would. Like a prayer is an all time favorite, other than that falls a little short for me personally though.
Like A Prayer is a solid pop song. I also didn't mind Till Death Do Us Part, but this is a bit of a slog. Just isn't that interesting beyond a certain point. Really simple production doesn't help, nor does her voice. +1 for Like A Prayer.
Like a prayer is a fantastic pop song, I really like it. I challenge anyone to say otherwise. Unfortunately the rest of it is nowhere near the same level and frankly pretty shit. Alright pop album I guess, nothing more. No surprises. 2, would be 1 without like a prayer
duplicate
A few classics. Fun to hear all the non-singles for my first time (like a virgin...). The album feels like a musical, which I'm not a fan of. Glad to have listened to it all but I am unlikely to listen to again.
Can understand why she is famous, but it still feels like watered down pop to me.
- Auch wenns 89' rauskam verkörpert dieses Album sehr viel Schlechtes der 90er. Da war die Frau wohl ihrer zeit etwas voraus - Mal abgesehen davon, dass ich die Alte wirklich absolut mega unsympathisch finde, hat mich dieses Album sehr gelangweilt. - Es überwirft sich mit Kitsch und Klischees, hat aber auch, trotz sehr erfolgreicher Songs, für mich auch keinen richtig coolen ikonischen Pop-Song dabei. 2/5
Nicht meins, aber war okay-ish. Drei Songs waren etwas besser, der Rest eher meh.
Wasn’t particularly engrossed while listening to this one. I do like a few Madonna songs but the ones I know of weren’t on this album. Just felt a little indifferent towards this, not much to say. :)
Decent 80s pop. Not much to say about it positive or negative. Doubt I’ll be coming back to listen again. Distinctly average. 2.5/5, rounding down because it’s a bit preachy.
Other than the obvious big hit, which clearly stand apart, the rest almost seems like filler.
Idc
Overblown production sounds so stilted today - Like a Prayer, Express Yourself etc. were more about the video than the music itself. Extract this music from the hype and scandal of the time and it's just sub-Janet Jackson formulaic tunes with a less than stellar singer
The album feels like it takes from the production of Michael Jackson records. He was probably heavily influenced and participated in a musical movement at the time. Comparing those two artists he has more power and uniqueness in his voice. I don’t feel like missing anything in my life not listening to Madonna. The album didn’t captivate me, her voice bored me at times. On most songs, it’s neither griddy, carrying-you-away-light nor blessed with any other interesting features. Also with a few exceptions I gravitate more towards intimate and less ‘placative’ music (soundwise). I must say that it didn’t pull me in so I would pay attention to the lyrics.
Jaren '80 pop. Niet mijn favoriete decennium qua muziek en Madonna weet de vinger redelijk goed op de zere plek te leggen. Overgeproduceerd. Veel nummers voelen aan als huismerk Prince. (Dit typte ik voordat ik Wikipedia goed had bekeken.) Deze nummers hadden het stuk voor stuk beter gedaan als radio-edit van 2,5 tot 3 minuten. De nummers zoals ze op het album staan slepen over het algemeen veel te lang voort voor wat ze te bieden hebben. 'Promise to Try' is pure cringe. Madonna kan niet zingen, dit soort nummers moet ze laten. Het is niet dat ik popmuziek te min vind voor deze lijst, maar dit scoort qua luistergenot voor mij maximaal 2 sterren. Het was een flinke zit.
The opening song "Like a prayer" is also the highlight of the album. Unfortunately the rest is second class Pop.
If this is supposed to be the more mature version of Madonna with increased artistic merit... well. This kind of album is the whole reason why pop music has it's bad reputation as boring, over-produced, meaningless and unartistic. These albums may produce 1-3 recognizable sing-along tunes that get radio airtime and can be sung along to during a car ride. Other than that, it's just not worth my time or energy.
The slower more heartfelt tracks were nice, but I'm just never going to be that interested in pop music. Especially 80s pop. Top tracks: Promise to Try, Cherish
This was an interesting listen. Way more funky than I expected it to be. The lyrical content was intriguing as well. The thing that draws this album down is the song length. Some of them just meander for about a minute too long.
The title track is the only one worth listening to on this album.
Some classic songs here that were played A LOT. Wasn’t super into the rest of the album and some of it felt dated now. The prince collab song Love Song wasn’t bad and definitely sounded unique on the album.
Like a Prayer is a classic song, but the rest is just safe unimaginative 80's pop.
I don't think this album was really for me. Pop as a genre is the most vulnerable to changing trends and sounding outdated in a bad way. I was hoping to get a glimpse of the pop landscape around this album, and while that did happen, I just didn't find it very enjoyable. I still need to listen to more Madonna, but I think I'll look at some of her other stuff before I revisit this.
One ok song i guess
2 iconic tracks, not much else.
Pop drenched busyness, still full of hooks and enjoyable
I don't really get all the hype behind Madonna tbh. Songs like Like a Prayer are obviously amazing but the other songs on here don't really do anything for me. Also why is every song on here 5 minutes long. I like long songs but fuck me this is crazy. Madonna deserves to be on this list but I'll avoid this album in the future. Fav songs: - Like a Prayer
2.36 per track.
This one is really just a product of the 80s. I don't think it holds up all that well today, but Madonna will always be an icon. Thanks Deadpool
For such a global megastar I found this album really weak. Not much beyond the singles and not much more than a cobbled together collection of songs.
So. Much. Filler. Its a wonder she ever got big
lots of great musicians worked on this. Prince, Jeff Porcaro (co-founder of Toto), Rose Stone (from Sly and Family Stone), and tons of studio artists (Randy Jackson . . .lol).
I sadly can't get full enjoyment out of this, as I'm not a 38-year old mother of seven with a "Coffee is always a good idea" mug on my desk. I don't fully get the hype around Madonna. I don't think she deserves to have a Wikipedia article written about her that sounds like she's a cult leader - like, what the fuck is "Madonna-ology". She's one of the most famous people in human history, but ask a random guy on the street to name you a Madonna song that wasn't released as a single and he'll melt into black goop on the spot (this is true). Meh. The title track is good, but "Ray of Light" wipes the floor with this album.
Like a Prayer, Cherish and Express Yourself still hold up and are classics for a reason. Love Song, Pray for Spanish Eyes, Dear Jessie are some of the weaker songs on this album and I did not care for them. Til Death Do Us Part and Keep It Together have a generic 80s sound. Promise to Try and Oh Father are not to my taste but I appreciate the sentiments behind them. Act of Contrition is bizarre. This is an overall underwhelming album carried by the hit singles.
Pas trop mon style
Like a Prayer ist ein Ausnahmesong; sonst überzeugt mich auf dem Album nichts wirklich.
Well produced but fairly unexceptional 80’s pop. The title track is the standout. On the note of that title track, very bold of Madonna to blacklist Sinead O’Connor the way she did, for being anti Catholic, when “Like a Prayer” is a song comparing sucking dick to praying.
Was hoping for more hidden gems but it's carried by the lead single
Started out as I had expected, Like a Prayer and Express Yourself are both pop classics. From there on out Like a Prayer really loses steam. Cherish is fine and then it drops right off, what the in the Disney fuck is Dear Jessie? That was awful and then just as we are about to escape this fever dream, we have to get thru the mess that is Act of Contrition. This was brutal, album art was awful too, aside from a few tracks this is a train wreck. 2 stars
A very good 80s pop albums, but it’s just not for me. There’s a couple of great tracks on this, and a bunch of tracks I don’t care for.
why do people like madonna
Only one song I really liked (Cherish) and a few I actively wanted to skip make this a 2 for me.
- *Like a Prayer* is great, - Love Song kind of sucks - Till death do us part has a catchy drum, but over repetitive chorus - Disc is overall bland and uninspired. Might have been a hit at the time, but it didn't age that well for me.
why would i ever listen to this?
Slay
I'm so sorry to anyone that likes this album. I think that is totally okay. Madonna is a very talented musician, and I think she has done some great things in her career. I just don't get this. I feel wrong for giving it a low score because it's not bad by any means, but these songs just illicit zero emotional response in my brain. I just don't like most 80's music, I never have liked most 80's music, and I especially don't like 80's pop music. I don't have much to say. Sadly not a huge fan. Cherish is a pretty good song though.
Classic Album (Cover), which I had never listened to although I am of 'that' age. Anyway not a fan, although Dear Jessie took me by surprise, as thought it was a late 90's original from Roller Girl.
Hmmm
This sounds right on the cusp between 80s era and boy-band pop. I was clinging to consciousness through these ballads, so gd boring
Not a lot stood out away from the singles. I had no idea that Prince appears on this album. Love Song is more about him, than it is her. It's all the better for it.
Lost the review that I started yesterday.. oh well. My overall take on this one is that it just wasn't for me. The title track is an all time anthem of the 80s that is laced in overt innuendo, but has a chorus that is undeniably infectious. Only other song that really stood out to me was Love Song, which is more a Prince song than a Madonna song. Vocally its solid and the songs themselves are okay with a few exceptions on either side of that line, but overall I'm pretty meh on the experience. For that I'm landing at a 2 / 5
Hollow and inconsequential, much like an actual prayer.
One could argue that Madonna was The Artist of the '80s. But this particular album is average at best. 2 1/2 stars, and I'm rounding down. If this had the name of another artist on it, it would get little attention.
Understimulating. I'll have to listen again
Aika geneeristä poppia. Like a Prayer nyt on klassikko ja Oh Father oli uusi ihan hyvä yllätys
Never been a fan. But this record was huge
I was pleasantly surprised to find this as underwhelming as it was. Because I'd always wondered if I'd missed out on some genius, which is what so many people tell us she is. I hate the video of Like a Prayer, but it is a strong song, while Cherish is a sweet bit of pop. Is forgotten just how boring Express Yourself was. Truly terrible. The rest was lightweight and really quite boring. Just filler. As for Dear Jessie: people go to jail for less. Madge is the ultimate triumph of style over substance.
There are a few songs I love, and her voice is great, but later efforts are so much better.
There's some catchy bops on here but like most 80s music it just starts to wear down on me until I end up hating it.
Really disliked this, and Madonna lacks vocal ability
Album took a massive nose dive after like a prayer. Such a good song, and the rest if the album is... trash. Nah, not for me.
The first two tracks prevented this from being a single star outing with Madonna.