Ray Of Light

I’ve finally realized that Madonna’s catalog is the soundtrack to the white woman lifecycle. At this stage, she has transitioned from the center of the universe era to pondering her actual position in it. Likely using some foreign religion or philosophy as her North Star and appropriating the sounds that come along with it. That being said, it’s some mf bangers on here. Highlights: Ray of Light, Nothing Really Matters

Frozen has always been a banger

40 year old white woman tries yoga once and makes it her entire personality. Coincidentally, it also makes her album very good.

I’m a strictly 80s Madonna guy.

1083 - "Here's your juice box and orange slice. Thanks for coming."

i love this album i love her hair and makeup and shirt on the cover i love singing ray of light in the car. i used to put this on and mute the tv and play mario 64 <3

It's rare for a pop album to be produced in a way that still sounds fresh decades later. There are songs on Ray of Light that could be released today and still find an audience. While I wish more of the album had become widely known, I suspect the deeper cuts wouldn't carry the same impact if every track had been played into the ground. People love to hate Madonna for being Madonna, but part of her appeal has always been her willingness to push buttons. The controversy gets people to the table, but the music is what keeps them there. Her edginess brings you to the table to see what zaniness she's cooked up today. On Ray of Light, she pairs that edge with some remarkably enduring electronic pop, resulting in an album that holds up far better than many of its contemporaries. My Rating: 4.5/5

middle era madonna not that madonna has ever not been relevant, she won't allow that still recall this as a powerful album though had not considered how right that thought is, this one's good got big edm/dance/wipeoutXL energy 💥ray of light 💥skin 💥nothing really matters 💥sky fits heaven 💥frozen

Album #249: Madonna – Ray of Light ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Here, it’s more about the music than Madonna herself. Her vocals are good, but they’re almost perpetually understated. This is a downtempo electronic album and, judged on those merits, it’s excellent. It’s beautifully produced. Madonna plays her part very well, the lyrics are great and her vocals suit the music, but ultimately, the music is the star here. It’s not quite as ecstasy-inducing as the title track might lead you to believe. You’d come down from it almost as quickly as you’d come up. Still, I’m sure this was a brave step for Madonna to take at the time. The cynic in me wonders whether some of the high praise is more about the artist taking that risk than the music itself. But the music lover in me enjoys this album far too much to care.

Mixing feels very drowned out. Songs I kinda liked: - little star (I liked the bass line, and it almost sounded like an acoustic bass) - to have and not to hold (liked the bossa feel)

There's something about Madonna's voice that is so familiar and comforting that you almost forget she can't really sing. It's really apparent on a few songs on this record, however (even the title track, for all its merit, has some pretty pitchy moments). On the other hand, it's kind of adorable to hear a vocalist of her caliber without the benefit of the autotune today's weak vocalists have access to. The non-vocal aesthetics of the album are fantastic, thanks to William Orbit. Cut about 25 minutes of the record and you'd have a winner.

How do you do fellow kids? 4/10

I was not expecting to enjoy this, but it's actually kind of.. good? It's not the sort of music that I generally listen to, and I don't know that I'll listen to it again, but this is a good album. 4/5.

No longer the material girl, by Ray of Light Madonna had metamorphosed into a spiritual woman. Her music had transformed too and with William Orbit she produced an important trip-hop inspired album. Some of the production choices are dated by today’s standards but big respect to Madge for making the change

This was a big meh from me Fave track: Frozen

The opportunity to finally listen to a Madonna album presents itself. I'm all for the new direction she took her sound in and the production choices are pretty interesting considering that this is, at the end of the day, a Madonna album. An artist who, as far as I knew, is as quintessentially pop as it gets. Every track being a 5+ minute cut didn't really work for me - this is still a pop album first and foremost, and I don't think long tracks across an entire pop album really works. 3.5/5

I'm not a fan of either Madonna or William Orbit, but to a certain extent this works sonically.

It was Halloween so I wasn’t really in the mood for this. That said I listened to it and it’s arguably the best Madonna album. Probably not better than True Blue but the writing is excellent. She’s a bonafide pop queen for a reason. Could also trim a song or 3. 😎

Much better than I remember. Yes, there is some self indulgent rubbish on here and the album is too long, but there are some catchy songs. It’s a different sound for Madonna too.

Pleasant enough, except Shanti, which was deeply deeply white woman.

For a long time, I considered Madonna to be the most overrated pop artist on the scene. A thoroughly mediocre singer producing hyper-commercial music, usually with extremely daft lyrics, all tied up in a massive image and marketing campaign. Much like David Bowie, Madonna has created so many personas that it’s impossible to say which one is the ‘authentic’ Madonna. Presumably, there is no such thing as ‘authentic’ music. Madonna – and this is something I’ve learnt to ackowledge in recent years – has long set trends and, in doing so, pushed pop music in ever-changing directions, always striving to be ‘new’ and, in some way, ‘sensational’. The Madonna phenomenon has always had a strong visual and psychological element, and for a long time her personas also reflected the prevailing zeitgeist. In the late 1990s, trip-hop and electronic music were all the rage. Acts such as Portishead, Massive Attack, Björk and Radiohead dominated pop music with a surprisingly uncommercial sound. William Orbit was a leading producer of the era who epitomised this new sound. And it was precisely this Orbit who, as producer and co-writer alongside Madonna, crafted the sound of *Ray of Light*. Musically, this was a quantum leap for Madonna, who had previously tended to operate in shallow, crowd-pleasing territory. Suddenly she sounded mature, rhythmically structured and excitingly modernist (lyrically, however, Madonna largely stuck to her mediocre pop lyrics or grand ambiguity). “Ray of Light” is by far Madonna’s best album, perhaps because it doesn’t sound like Madonna at all, but rather like an album by a sort of ‘US-American Björk’ If you ignore the thin lyrics about heartbreak and the joys of motherhood, “Ray of Light” is still a pretty good album that’s worth listening to every now and then. Not truly avant-garde, but a very successful contribution to a fascinating phase in pop music (which was soon to be superseded by boy bands and girl groups).

decent stuff here 3/5

Grande álbum da Madonna, muito diferente dos demais, bastante experimental. Achei um pouco repetitivo de certa forma, pois é muito longo, mas vale a pena escutar para entender um pouco dessa artista tão versátil

Overall: 6/10 Probably the best thing that Madonna ever made. I think this style fits with her really well. I would have loved her to do more of this style. Fav Song: Ray of Light

Campy mid 90s Madonna. Not my cup of tea

Polished album, I do admire Madonna, without particularly liking her that much

This isn't my favorite Madonna, but I can't think of many solo female artists that pre-date her. She personifies the women's liberation movement for music. Total queen.

day 23 of not rolling Aja by Steely Dan i'm so used to seeing Madonna as she *now* that when i saw the cover before the artist name i was like "oh who's this" lmfao idk how to approach this album. on paper it has almost everything i want to love in an album, and yet i just find myself saying "this is okay" to every song that comes on. i think maybe it's the percussion i don't love, especially on tracks like "Nothing Really Matters" which I think I'd really enjoy if you just pulled the drum tracks out of the recording and rereleased it

Listen, I never really listened to a lot of Madonna. I never disliked her songs, but I never really liked them either. This one took me two tries to get through and I don't know that I'll be coming back. Sorry to the fans and sorry to Madonna. I respect the hell out of her, but damn bro I don't think I can do a whole album.

Wasn't a huge fan of the first few songs. The energy wasn't there for me. I found myself thinking, "this is the type of music that would play at a postmodern art exhibit." The second half grew on me though. I thought the exact same thing as above, though this time it was an exhibit that would be kinda cool to visit. 3.5

I was all in from the beginning, and even though it wavered here and there, this was a really solid album. I've never been a big Madonna fan, but this stood out to me. A high 3.5 to which I will be returning.

I like Madonna quite a bit but remembered not really liking this album, but then I listened to it today and was very very very into it. So upon research I discovered that actually, it was her following album (Music) that I don’t really vibe with. Idk what was in the late 90s euro-trash techno water but I wish we could bring it back. It’s not a staple for me like the Big Dumb Rock Album but it always puts a smile on my face.

Ray of Light is one of my favorite songs of all time. This is a great and ambitious album and easily my favorite by Madonna. Some of the tracks are a little long and not all of them hit, so I can’t quite give this a 5. But when it does hit, I absolutely love it.

Really quite good too long though

I had Madonna's follow-up record to this last week and I admired the risks took on that album even if they didn't pay off. Listening to this album made me understand why she was so daring in the first place. Taking a strong influence from the electronic scene, this departure pays off. Working with Orbit, the production has a strong trip-hop flavour to it. You can see how she ended up doing a Bond theme by how classy this all sounds. It is rather impressive that such a mainstream artist like Madonna could borrow from the underground scene and have it all come together as well as it does on here without sounding cheap.

Was all ready to trash this, wasn't a fan of the singe when it came out... but it is actually a really good album.Vocal work is awesome (and he was never a slouch).

The backtracks are very 90s futuristic underwater feeling and are ok. I feel like all the songs are missing some oomph. I feel Madonna has stronger albums than this. I appreciate the vibe, but the songs just aren't doing it for me. Sorry girlies.

This is the point at which Madonna “jumped the shark”. Her voice is still golden but her style veered off into freakdom and she spiraled down into irrelevance from this point onwards. The album sold and charted well, but that’s because it was backed by the legacy of the previous decade worth of work. In the end it had no enduring hits.

Admittedly, never properly listened Madonna. But this is an interesting version of Madonna i was never aware lmao, very spiritual. It was a tad bit boring to other than that it was fine?

The list is really backing late 90s Madonna over 80s Madonna, huh? Anyway, this is better than Music, at least. Raised up by some great production work, but marred by a lack of quality control (let's put all the songs on there, filler and all), and the fact that at heart, beneath the sound work, it's all deeply bland and banal.

I felt like I was having to listen to somebody who had just had a spiritual awakening and I hadn't had a choice. The music was okay, I liked it better than the Cyndi Lauper album beforehand, but unfortunately I got more bored as it went on and on. Rating 6/10

Ray of Shight

Probably falls at 4 or 5 on my list of favorite Madonna albums. But there’s no denying it was ground breaking when it was released and still holds up as a phenomenal album.

Pre Listen: First Madonna album I've gotten on here. Yeah I know the song 'Ray of Light', if anything because of the music video. Unfamiliar with the rest of the album, or most of Madonna's other work in general. Mid expectations. Notable Tracks: Ray of Light - Yup, that's the song I recall. My sister used to have this as one of her favorites of all time. Music video is a stimulant simulator. It's alright. Post Listen: One of those albums where I can tell I'm not the target demographic. Young women, 12 to 30 or so, seems like the focus group here. Madonna's voice is pretty great through the album, she has great vocal control, good range, good at both soft and full-chested singing, overall a major highlight of the album. That said, the instrumental backings that accompany her vary, which is neat because normally it's the other way around with most albums. The insturmentals are at their most complimentary when they keep that turn-of-the-century synthy, electronic futuristic-esk vibe. The more traditional songs with string instruments fell flat for me. I didn't dislike a single song really, but like I said, I don't think I was the target audience here. Nothing personally resonated, and despite Madonna's vocal talent, most of the album was just somewhat unenjoyable background music to me. 3/5

Ik ben hier opzich geen fan van, maar ik vind het voor een Madonna album eigenlijk best goed te luisteren. Een mengelmoes van pop, triphop en dance/trance. De producers doen het zware tilwerk, Madonna had in principe door iedereen vervangen kunnen worden en ik durf zelfs te stellen dat er genoeg zangeressen rondlopen die het beter hadden kunnen doen. Het ademt wel een beetje die eind jaren 90 sfeer, het zit op het randje van gedateerd klinken. Maar ik vind het alsnog wel een redelijk album. Met ruim een uur is het wel een wat lang album, maar zo tijdens het werken is het ook wel weer te overleven. Ik hou het op 3 sterren.

- I prefer Madonna when she is having fun. Some solid songs here, a couple of which are lesser known (like "Skin"), but I want sexual passion and whimsy from the Queen of Pop. Her more "mature" sounds do not do as much for me. - "Little Star" almost captured what I wanted. - I do not think this is at all offensive, but there is at least a whiff of cultural appropriation.

Madonna lives on and on. She has some danceable bangers on the front half of this album, then it kind of goes to mush. But when has she ever produced a wall-to-wall masterpiece? Still, she knows how to make hits, and that’s enough to make her legendary. Still firing them off with the likes of Sabrina Carpenter. And it’s, like her other records, pretty good, even if she’s riding pure nostalgia at this point. Now that’s immortality.

Great album, I think frozen is where Madonna peaks for me.

It's okay

3.0 I tried to approach this with the context of removing Madonna from this album. Would I like it if it were some other artist? I think I would have been pleasantly surprised by something like this. But most of the aspects I enjoyed the most were in part of the Madonna machine and the resources and collaborators that she would have. Or maybe we should put some respect on the name. Long way to say album was interesting, but not coming into a regular rotation for me. Songs were a touch long and Candy Perfume Girl sucked big time

This was cool, I don't have a great context for her work beyond what's on the radio, so this was enlightening

BEST MADONNA ALBUM!! this album brings me so much joy, i love it so much.

Its pop...

Drowned World - Substitute For Love - 67 Swim - 61 Ray Of Light - 64 Candy Perfume Girl - 51 Skin - 48 Nothing Really Matters - 54 Sky Fits Heaven - 55 Shanti / Ashtangi - 31 Frozen - 50 The Power Of Good-Bye - 47 To Have And Not To Hold - 52 Little Star - 42 Mer Girl - 49 Ray Of Light - 47

не найкращий її альбом

I enjoyed this far more than I expected. It was too long but the production (full on 90s electronic with trip hop elements) took a lot of fairly inconsequential songs and elevated them. Madonna’s voice is richer here than in her earlier work which helps. I’m probably being generous here but I am also giving credit for a bold attempt at a pop star doing something different at the time when it would have been easy to just do the same thing.

It’s a surprisingly bold choice for Madonna to transition so heavily into electronic influenced music based on her career until to that point. It’s better than much of her other output but I’m not sold on Orbit’s production through this album as it all sounds a little hollow (maybe that’s part of the point) with the mids scooped out in favour of the trip hop style drums and Madonna’s vocal leads being much more forward. It also suffers from bloat a little where trimming a few songs off (e.g. little star) wouldn’t have been a bad thing.

Such a mish mash of different things. Are the 90s nostalgic now? They are for me.

Ray of Light is a good song. The album overall is not exciting tho.

have never been a Madonna fan, and this album did not change that. It is well made and clearly ambitious, but it still left me mostly cold. The electronic and dance textures are polished, the production is sleek, and the whole record has a glossy late 90s sheen that critics often praise. I can hear why people call it a mature and adventurous turn for her. The songs move between reflective, almost spiritual moods and more club oriented tracks. Her voice sounds more restrained than on earlier records, and the arrangements give everything a spacious, atmospheric quality. William Orbit’s production is clean and detailed, with layers of electronics that feel carefully built. On a technical level it works. Even so, the emotional side never fully reached me. The big themes and the sense of personal reinvention that many listeners respond to felt distant rather than involving. It is an impressive sounding album, just not one I connect with. Ray of Light is a strong piece of craft. I respect the effort and the consistent critical regard it receives, but it remains outside my taste.

Musically good, just not for me. Never got into Madonna. 3/5

Gosto de algumas canções da Madonna, mas não gosto de ouvir um disco inteiro dela, a não ser uma compilação. A produção daqui é bem pedestre pra sua época, aquelas batidas meio triphop que chegam a ser clichês. Nada ruim, em alguns momentos é até legal, mas por 1 hora ele falha em te capturar. Passo. 2.5/5

Not a fan of her, and despise her "music". I wouldn't even be willing to call this one of her better albums. Just painfully bad on every level. Would give it a zero if I could.

The two hits were ok ... but still not sure why this is on the list!

Too much techno noise, Lacks the classic pop punch hooks, Way too long and dull.

I'm surprised Madonna put out an album that leant so much into the electronic genre, with down-tempo and trip-hop elements. I guess that speaks to her ability to stay relevant and appeal to audiences across multiple decades, and that should be applauded. I did enjoy this, but I can't say I was really massively taken with it. I like the songs in general, appreciate the production and approach, and had a perfectly nice time listening to it overall. It didn't really achieve much more than that for me though. A solid 3/5.

Well, I wasn’t expecting this. Looked at the playlist and went “Ray of light”, like that song. Don’t recognize the rest. A very listenable album and a real tour through the musical styles of the late 90’s I’d always thought of Madonna as more of an attention seeker than a serious musician, but this is a talented artist at pretty much her peak. It could be argued that her earlier stuff was more original, but nothing wrong with being influenced by others. Shockingly for me this is a 5/5

I have to listen to 1 hour of Madonna and I wanna cry. Ok its not that bad but its not too good either. Its INCREDIBLY inconsistent. Its half prety good pop songs half terible dogshit. Sometime theyr bad because theyr boring/forgetable (Little Star, shanti/ashtangi) sound dated( Candy perfume girl and a lot more)or have really weak songwritting (Skin, oh god this one is so bad) Or for all of these reasons. But some of the songs here id say are actually good. Like Drowned world/substiture for love, frozen and the title track. Also the album fearures a lot of electronic instrument/beats wich I dindt expect. It sounds good on some songs and dated on other. Again making this album even more inconsistent. Madonna and aphex twin collab when ????/5

The production quality is top notch! And that is perhaps what holds this album together. Madonna has an incredible voice, of course, but every track is curiously similar in sonic quality, so that the whole album almost sounds like one long song...which maybe is the point? It comes out of the gate seriously impressing you, but by the time you get to the end, you've definitely had enough of the ethereal electronica dance beat. "Swim," "Ray of Light," and "Sky Fits Heaven" are stand out tracks.

Interesting. On the first listen, I was taken with this. I am pretty sure I gave it a 4. Today, the second time through, it wore on me and I was ready for it to end long before it did. Still, it had production value. 3 Boolean: True

3.5

Such a great dance pop album

Great Songs: Nothing Really Matters, Little Star Good Songs: Drowned World / Substitute for Love, Swim, Ray of Light, Candy Perfume Girl, Skin, The Power of Good, Mer Girl Mid Songs: Sky Fits Heaven, Shanti/ Ashganti, Frozen, To Have and Not To Hold, The Power of Good-Bye Bad Songs

I just don't think Madonna has a good voice, or one strong enough to be layered over songs as produced as these. She's the weakest instrument in the room and the instruments aren't great on this in the first place.

Ooof. This record is hard to listen to. I’m not really a Madonna fan (I do like parts of the Like a Virgin record), but I think she’s got her niche. But why this piece of shit record? There’s so very little here that’s worth listening to. 5/10

giiiirl

I play Little Star for my daughter all the time. This didn't feel a huge change in direction musically, but in tone. I remember I couldn't believe when Frozen video premiered, I was still expecting more of a Human Nature "controvertial" kinda thing. As a whole, that change in focus made for such a better source of inspirartion for songwriting from a different perspective, as well as a new partnership that fell right on time to meld Madonna's current vision with William Orbit's production style. I love this album, great from start to finish.

Super fun. It’s only flaw is it’s length. More concise and this would be a pop favourite for me. RYM: Y (#959) Saved a song: N

After the relatively tepid success of her previous two albums, Madonna goes with a European DJ to produce the world-conquering Ray Of Light. It's alright.

and i feel.... like i'm in an episode of sex and the city. four stars. highlights - swim, ray of light, skin, nothing really matters, frozen, little star

easy to listen to but unremarkable to me

Perhaps the last great Madonna album. However, the backend drags at times. Another victim of CD era albums.

Not my vibe

Madonna. Madonna is a guilty pleasure for me. Ever since *Crazy for You* and, of course, *Rain*. Brilliant. Back then, when the album came out, I couldn’t believe my ears. Innovative, different, and yet still Madonna. Not all the tracks are great, but that’s a problem many artists with good albums face.

(6.8)

This is the Queen of Pop's crowning achievement, and sadly last great album. 4 stars for the album, bonus star for the nostalgia.

What can I say about this album that hasn't already been said? It's a perfect album. This was the first Madonna album I listened to, having only known some of her singles prior to this. The production, mixing, songwriting, vocals - everything is incredible. Easily her best album.

Ehhh, I guess it’s ok if you’re into 90’s electric dance pop, but I’m more of a Material Girl kinda guy.

So long and boring...feels like the English version of the Bjork album we JUST had, Vulnica or whatever.

01) Drowned World/Substitute for Love - 10,0 02) Swim - 9,5 03) Ray of Light - 10,0 04) Candy Perfume Girl - 9,0 05) Skin - 10,0 06) Nothing Really Matters - 10,0 07) Sky Fits Heaven - 9,0 08) Shanti/Ashtangi - 9,0 09) Frozen - 10,0 10) The Power of Good-Bye - 10,0 11) To Have and Not to Hold - 9,5 12) Little Star - 9,0 13) Mer Girl - 8,5 TOTAL: 9,50 (95/100) Current ranking: 24/1035

In general, I haven't been much of a fan of Madonna. But starting with this album and going into the next, she had quite the interesting run that turned my head. The majority of the tracks are a lot more electronic in nature; you can definitely hear the William Orbit sound here. I personally enjoy the vibe of this album more than most of her other material. It sounds both musically and lyrically more mature, and is pretty good throughout. Best Madonna album?

A surprisingly creative departure for Madonna, marrying her pop sensibilities with a more artistic, electronic dance exploration. It only works intermittently for me, and I prefer the somewhat tighter "Music" that would follow, but I respect the ambition. The restrained vocal performance is also one of her best.

Gosh, it’s woeful.

Most of Madonna's albums contain 2 to 4 worthy hits, but this is her best, most consistent work. It's banger after banger right from the off. It might be the best pop album of the 90s.

I honestly thought this was going to be a surprise masterpiece, but sadly it went on too long and got too dull, 3.75 stars.

Love the production and her trying to shake things up at that point in her career...but the songs are tepid and don't really go anywhere. Too many mid-tempo songs with pleasant backing and production but not enough variation and grit. The title song is great but a lot of this didn't register much other than the cool India/ Hindu vibe of "Shanti/Ashtangi." There is more honesty and emotion in the lyrics such as on "Little Star" and the closing song, "Mer Girl," is intetesting and fairy tale-like.

I didnt know Madonna made a trip hop world album. I'm here for it. Feels very 90s but not overproduced, her voice sounds great, love the bass on a lot of these songs. Really she has a few great albums in her discography, which i probably never would have discovered without doing this challenge.

Out of all the albums my Madonna that could be on this list, I don't understand why two of them would be from this late in her discography. I couldn't wait to get this one done. Looking forward to Like a Prayer, and dreading Music (2000).

The striking thing about this album is Madonna's vocal delivery - arguably the finest singing performance of her career. She sings quite beautifully on tracks like 'Swim'. As an album, "Ray of Light" successfully integrates underground electronic genres like techno, trip-hop, and ambient into a cohesive commercial release. The techno influenced numbers in particular really help the album's diversity and impact. Sonically, William Orbit’s detailed production gives the record remarkable variety and depth. Lyrically, it benefits from a noticeable shift in perspective, moving away from provocative themes toward introspective, spiritual, and maternal reflection. Stand-out track - Frozen. Four stars. 1 "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" (5/5) 2 "Swim" (4/5) 3 "Ray of Light" (5/5) 4 "Candy Perfume Girl" (3/5) 5 "Skin" (4/5) 6 "Nothing Really Matters" (4/5) 7 "Sky Fits Heaven" (4/5) 8 "Shanti/Ashtangi" (3/5) 9 "Frozen" (5/5) 10 "The Power of Good-Bye" (4/5) 11 "To Have and Not to Hold" (4/5) 12 "Little Star" (4/5) 13 "Mer Girl" (4/5) Total - 53 Average - 4.1 427/1001 225/427 albums reviewed were new to me.

the power of goodbyes is pretty powerful that's about it