Reviews (page 2 of 8)
Pop a cardy on grandma
Hmmm this is not what I thought this was gonna sound like but I’m not mad at it so far Oh I’ve heard Ray of Light before It’s not bad but it’s going on way too long; might have to stop listening before it goes down to a 2; 2.5 is probably my official rating
I can see why this was once revolutionary. The problem with being a top-notch pioneer in the 90's means what you've done then is now overdone.
There's some cool sounds on this one, the dark wave techno elements suit her voice well. Especially that delay/phaser sound on Frozen is very on point. But then I am reminded you can get this vibe from other artists that have better lyrics. Definitely the best sounding Madonna album I have heard.
Very late 90s electronica/pop. I like it. However, like a lot of cd era albums, tad too long and it drags. 3.5/5
This was ethereal, wow not bad! Standouts are Drowned World, Swim, Skin, To Have And Not To Hold and Little Star.
Think any of these songs are about Dennis Rodman? Wiki says they aren't explicitly. But maybe
Madge is in great voice on this record - possibly at her best. It's a thoughtful group of songs that make up this record, showing yet another facet of the former material girl.
Madonna, Een waar fenomeen, niet echt mijn muziek. Hoewel ik de Dancemuziek wel echt kan waarderen.
Ik had in mijn hoofd een heel ander beeld van Madonna. Dit was wel een aardig album. Ik had het met Julia er over. Julia zei Madonna deed eigenlijk wat lady gaga nu doet, maar Madonna deed het beter. Dit album is wel echt iets anders dan de hits die altijd in de club worden gespeeld, de technoachtige beats passen goed bij de stem van Madonna. Prima album.
Maf album, Geen idee wat ik moest verwachten, heb het een paar keer moeten luisteren. De aantrekkingskracht van madonna heeft nooit echt grip op mij gehad. Ze kan wel ok zingen maar om haar te bombarderen als queen of pop vond ik op muzikaal vlak altijd een beetje overdreven (geen haat). Het heeft natuurlijk ook te maken met de culturele impact van madonna op de pop muziek. Het is hierdoor dus voor het eerst dat ik een heel album van Madonna luister ipv losse singels. De elektronische invloeden op dit album zijn eigenlijk best wel leuk. Niet alles werkt even goed maar er zitten wel veel leuke dingen in. Veder is het niet heel consistent en springen er sommige nummers zoals rozen en ray of light er wel meer bovenuit maar dat heb je vaker met pop albums. De spirituele inslag van dit album maakt het voor mij wel weer een beetje dom en oppervlakkig. Het was een aardige ervaring maar daar blijft het bij.
Ik heb mezelf een paar keer moeten reanimeren omdat ik bijna doodging van verveling. Wat een ontzettend saai kutalbum is dit. Het leek wel alsof ik naar één lang, saai nummer aan het luisteren was. Ik moet dan ook wel zeggen dat dit muziektijdperk ook wel piekte in domheid. Niks interessants hieraan, saaie zang, saaie beats vol met saaie, stomme geluiden en effecten.
Ray of Light is absolutely brilliant. I love the electronic sound and William Orbit’s production, and for me it has really stood the test of time. It still sounds fresh now. The singles are great, but Sky Fits Heaven and Skin are just as strong and could easily have been singles. One of Madonna’s very best albums for me. Five stars.
it was honestly a more philosophical and spiritual album than i was expecting
On the one hand this album is solid throughout and aged well. I'm not sure it really belongs on this list I guess. Who hasn't heard these songs? It's Madonna! Throw us the deep cuts when the artist is a superstar!
already listened before love love love
not my thing
Not bad, just kinda boring. For those of us that grew up on Madonna this one still feels out of place for her.
BORING. Every song sounded basically the same. She obviously has a great voice but needs a better song writer.
Favorite songs: Drowned World/Substitute for Love, Swim, Ray of Light, Sky Fits Heaven, Shanti/Ashtangi, Frozen
This one surprised me. Growing up I just knew Madonna was just not my thing. Not sure I ever listened, especially a whole album
Deliberated on whether to give this a 4 based on how much of it I actually enjoyed or give it a 5 based on the sheer artistic merit exhibited by Madonna. This is a spiritual album where the dancefloor is the temple to resolve whatever issues or pressing philosophical questions you might have. But alas, I don't dance and I am quite at peace with myself. So this gets a very high 4 but make no mistake, this might be the best album of Madonna's career. To top it off, the music video for Ray of Light might be one of the most creative and innovative pieces of multi-media out there by Jonas Akerlund.
I think I would like the old Madonna better, this sounds very ethereal but not in a way I enjoy
i was listening to this while driving with the windows down. this album is so bad the car in front of me crashed. can only assume it was from the music and not because some asshole was on their phone while driving
The album that changed my mind about Madonna. Exceptional.
The sounds!
Wish I could say I liked this more after my trip hop phase earlier this year, but it's just solid with a lot of filler, the hits are great ofc
This is exactly why I started this project. Never expected to like a Madonna album so much, its so good! Power of product, her voice really blends in with it. Really dreamy lyrics (here and there a bit too cheesy). Also listening this on World Pride 2026, coincidence? 4.5/5
Ma poleks osanud albumist oodata seda kerget elektroonilisust, aga kui järele mõelda siis minu ootused olid eksitavad, vaatame kasvõi aastaarvu: 1998. Album on kerge ja osad laulud meenutasid mulle kõlalt unelaule ja osad neist sõnade poolest oleks võinud olla ka. Madonna hääl on siin hästi pehme ja pingeta. Ma väärtustan muusikas pinget. See on see mis mind enamasti kuulama tõmbab, aga aegajalt tuletan ikka endale meelde, et muu muusika võib ka kummitama jääda. See album kummitab kui nagu väljade sahin. "Frozen" oli mul juba enne salvestatud ja lisandus teine laul "To have and not to hold". Annaksin 4,5 kui saaksin. Ma ei tea miks mitte 5, midagi abstraktset hoiab mind tagasi ja mul pole enda kaitseks midagi öelda. Kuidas küll objektiivselt muusikat hinnata? Kuulasin lennukis Varssavist Tallinna.
Not really what I expected from Madonna! I enjoy the new-age nature of the album and had a lot of fun with the downtempo, trip-hop beats. The music feels super late-90's, but in a good, optimistic way. I'm here for it. Favorite track: I'd have to listen a few more times to decide, but let's go with "Frozen" for now
It’s alright, it doesn’t really know whether it wants to be 90s house or pop and doesn’t really excel in either genre in my opinion. Perhaps though it’s just not my cup of tea or maybe I need a few more listens to get it, but I don’t think it’s bad by any means. FT: Swim Rating: 3/5
Spacey pop music is not my thing.
Not a horrible Madonna album. 2.5
Not what I expected. Reading the wiki and fully listening, I’m surprised this is, allegedly, one of her most well received and critically acclaimed work. I can appreciate exploring your craft. Her voice is beautiful. The production reminds me of the album “Beyond Skin” thats also on this list. Didn't quite land for me, but again, I get that it was explorative and a branching out of her typical, so I understand it I guess.
Wrote a whole things that got lost. I like it, but it drags on... Alot of the songs over stay their welcome. But I like the low and chill aesthetic of these tracks. Hypnotic and mellow while being quite experimental. Not really something I'd return too, but I enjoyed listening.
Tengo harta preferencia por el pop. Primer álbum en un buen rato que si me gustó y eso que ni siquiera para poner 5 estrellas.
Chil Madonna, just maybe not that much.
MadonnwannalistentothisbutIdidanditsoundedthesame. 3/10
This was such a great album. I’ve listened to it before many years ago but it was such a fun album. The combination of ambience, dance and guitars in this era actually sounds so far ahead of its time. Banger
Abba on steroids. Nah
Quite possibly the best mainstream Pop album ever made. Here, Madonna continues the Downtempo trajectory of her previous two albums but wraps it around the most vibrant production she could find. Whereas Erotica and Bedtime Stories were influenced by mainstream R&B subgenres, Ray of Lights looks for inspiration in Trip-Hop, Trace, Techno, and other dance music styles. And while there are explosive and euphoric moments like the title track, most of the album is quite mellow and medititative. William Orbit, whose album from this list I just heard a couple of days ago, handles most of the production with his career-best work, and Craig Armstrong, who I like to mention any time I get, delivers the gorgeous string arrangements on "Frozen" and "The Power of Good-Bye". Throughout the tracklist, Madonna muses about love, spirituality, motherhood, and how these conflict with her position of fame, with probably the best vocal delivery of her career, brought about the training she underwent for her role as Eva Perón in the film adaptation of the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita. After this, however, Madonna probably felt disappointed neither the album of any of its singles reached #1 in the US, so she went right back to the dancefloor with Music in 2000. While that album and the ones after do display Madonna's unique artistic vision each in its different way, we never really got another triumphant record like this, although we did get close with 2005's Confessions on a Dancefloor. Key tracks: Drowned World/Substitute for Love Ray of Light Candy Perfume Girl Skin Nothing Really Matters Sky Fits Heaven Frozen The Power of Good-Bye
What happened to the boundary-pushing pop princess of the 80s? This is pleasant but quickly becomes repetitive and boring. I can't think of anywhere or anytime outside of dinner party or hosting a pool party where I would want to put this on. I'm not familiar with the genre enough to tell if she's setting a bar, extending, or simply promoting the whole house thing but a lot of music that comes later feels like this -- even last week's XX I See You. My initial rating reaction is a 2... Maybe my heart just wasn't open. 2/5
I spent yesterday afternoon listening to this on the back porch, reading until I fell asleep and woke up getting rained on by a pop-up thunderstorm (summers in south Alabama). The opening track is so incredibly ethereal. It really sets the perfect mood for a lazy day. I instantly recognized a couple of these songs just from hearing them all over the radio back in the 90s. William Orbit's electronic production blends beautifully with her vocals, giving the whole thing this sprawling, underwater techno-pop atmosphere. It flows naturally from ambient trance to darker, trippy electronic beats. Still, the album is way too long for it's own good. Again, good background music while you're relaxing...if I had been listening to this while at work this very well may have been a 2.
Pretty good
This isn't a bad album. It's kind of remarkable, even, given M's sustained ability to reinvent herself. But it's also not something I'm ever going to spend much time listening to.
++: Swim, Ray of Light, Candy Perfume Girl, Skin, Shanti/Ashtangi, Little Star, Mer Girl +: Drowned World/Substitute for Love, Nothing Really Matters, Sky Fits Heaven, To Have and Not to Hold +-: Frozen, The Power of Good-Bye 8,1/10
More less.
Atmospheric but doesn't go anywhere and all one note. It all sounded the same with a tonne of reverb and echo effects slathered on. The extremely long album dragged on and on and on. 2/5
Ein großartiges Elektronik-Pop Album. Bekannte Hits "Frozen", "The Power of Good-Bye" und "Ray of Light" 5/5
After a string of cult artists and mediocrity it’s refreshing to see an important artist. Ok it’s the techno stuff. But she at least brings a gravitas to it. 4 stars.
I'd reckon she's had as many shape shifting moments as Bob. This was something else when it came out and listening to it again only reinforces her genius. And she got a bit spiritual which I always love, especially when they do the grab bag of different traditions, bit of yoga, bit of mysticism, bit of Buddhism and he presto some really good lyrics. A fantastic record from an incredible artist, strongly recommend.
I am reviewing ‘Ray of Light’ days after the release of ‘Confessions II’. Reviews are everywhere, people are talking about it as her best album in 20 years. But her albums always get reviewed -- they are always an event -- which is extraordinary for someone more than 40 years into a pop music career. Not even Paul McCartney really managed that. Pop music is a genre fickly obsessed with youth and novelty, so the idea of anyone remaining an important and relevant pop artist after 40 years is one of the most monumental achievements in popular culture. I mean, here is an artist who has had 38 US Top 10 singles and 50 US Hot Dance chart #1s. Fifty! So, amongst her long and illustrious career, there are a few albums that stand out above the others. ‘Ray of Light’ is one of those career peaks. It showed that, at the age of 39, she could produce a relevant, exciting and contemporary dance pop album. It also has some of her strongest songwriting, in the title track and Frozen especially. Ray of Light is, to my mind, a song that captures the ecstasy of the dance floor better than almost anything else ever written. She continues her history of working well with cleverly chosen collaborators; kudos to William Orbit for constructing a fascinating, warm, spacious and not over-polished backing track that complements but never overpowers Madonna’s singing. Unlike much electronic music of the period, it has aged well. Orbit was everywhere in the 90s, remixing and producing. He had a distinctive and tasteful sound, but I don’t think he ever really topped his work here (with the possible exception of the Bass-o-matic ‘Fascinating Rhythm’ single, but never for a sustained album). I have always found Madonna to be a _believable_ singer, which makes her a surprisingly good ballad singer given her technical limitations. That said, her work on Evita had left her voice stronger and more controlled than ever at this point. I would argue that Frozen is one of her greatest performances. Even the faux-spiritual content here is tolerable because of that credibility. The lyrics occasionally verge on yoga-mama religious dilettantism, but Madonna sings every word like it is important and she believes it with all her heart. This is ironic, because I never believe a word she speaks in interviews (or, worse yet, her megalomaniacal turn in the Truth or Dare documentary, where she comes across like a constantly calculating mean-girl control freak). She often comes across as performative and provocative and boorish but not credible when speaking. But when she sings, she seems like the real deal. It’s a paradox. Minor nitpicking; the mastering on the streaming version I listened to today was weirdly inconsistent. Also, this suffers from the late 90s trend of albums that fill CD capacity. There is some filler here; Shanti, The Power of Goodbye, or Little Star. Personally, I'd like to see this trimmed to a more focused 45 minutes. But these are minor quibbles and this album is a monumental highlight in Madonna's extensive and extraordinary career output. She is at her best when she leans into a slightly more experimental dance sound, as she does here. Madonna is one of the greatest pop artists of all time, never better than on this record, and you can dance to it.
On of her better albums.
Of course I know the title track, which was a fun, softer direction for her, but the rest of this was a bit too trance electronica for me.
Madonna does trip hop while showing maturity. I prefer the remix of the title track, but other than that it's a great album
Si crea una bella atmosfera e sono certo che abbia portato nel mainstream molta sperimentazione. Ci sono canzoni alte ma molte si perdono. Un album da ascoltare per intero piuttosto che per singoli.
If I closed my eyes I saw a club from a movie where there is a strobe light, glow sticks, confetti and a lot of sweaty people. Not my ideal music but I do find myself swaying along.
This album is beautiful and brilliant. I was obsessed with the song Ray of Light when it came out and it still hasn't gotten old. I love how seamlessly she creates deeply emotional and reflective songs and makes them electric. I'm a big fan of her pop music, but I loved this change in direction too. It's a crime this only has a 3.02 global rating.
solo un par de canciones buenas como la homónima 2.8
Some really good and some not so good
Always been my favorite of her albums.
typical pop. There are a couple of songs that everyone has heard at least once. Overall, the album isn't bad, but I just can't imagine listening to it on a regular basis. Her voice is pleasant, and the music and song structures are interesting, too.
Many of these songs are just too long, and I don't understand why middle-age Madonna finds the need to sound like a young girl on so many of them. Nowhere close to her best.
Way too much synth, was this created by Madonna or ChatGPT?
Nice
genuinely perfect
a pop classic
Gillar den här Madonna-eran! Men några lite sömniga låtar
Inte ett så stort Madonna-fan överlag men den här eran har helt klart något!
Queen.
Inte riktigt det ljud jag förknippar med Madonna, men det funkade.
Seguramente el mejor disco de Madonna, se puede escuchar hoy en día con agrado. Buena producción.
When to listen: on your way to Kabbalah. This album is ambitious and interesting, I understand why it's getting so much hate but I think it's genuinely cool and a fun listen. Obviously love Ray of Light.
a surprisingly good electronica album - Madonna re-inventing herself, yet again, and putting electronica in front of the great record-buying public
I was surprised by how many songs I already recognized, despite never having owned this album. Listening to the album now reminded me how willing Madonna was to embrace different musical styles while still making great pop music. My favorite track was The Power of Good-Bye, especially for its beautiful dark atmosphere and drum and bass-inspired rhythms.
Ray of light does give a different vibe than her most popular song Vogue ( fav song from her ) and I can see the inspirations she took into the production of this album. Omg frozen was that one trending song remixed from like idk some years ago???
Not a big time mains
Well I am not really familiar with Madonna's music outside of her main hits, but I am surprised this album is included. When looking at the biggest songs she has had there is not really much on this one, which makes me belliever there could have been better choices for her in this list. Still not a bad album, so an average rating for this one. 3/5
Who'd know one of my favourite albums of all time would come from Madonna? Just mesmerizing...
While Ray of Light is a much heralded record, I find it to be a frustratingly good experience. Everything about this album oozes William Orbit, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but this is a Madonna release. Unfortunately she's just a singing head bouncing along to a finely crafted Orbit soundtrack. At the end of the day this feels like the first time Madonna relied on the talent of someone else instead of pushing the trend herself. Call me picky, but it dilutes the overall quality of her brand 🤷♂️
Blind album, know the artist. I think I hate this because I dont get it. I really dont care for generic dance pop from the 90s that is made up of artists from the 80s trying to stay relevant. Why was this popular? Why is this considered good? I understand she did a lot in the 80s and her hits then are still relevant, but i have never EVER wanted to listen to her and her later work and after this I don't think I will. 2 at best, not repulsive just confused. Rant over. I hope Lourdes isn't bullied for her name and I hope Madonna's yoga did more than make this confusing dumb generic electronic dance pop.
90s electronica pop with great production chops Favorite track: nothing else matters, other picks: frozen, ray of light, candy perfume girl
- Oh yay, another Zionist. So gross. Thankfully, Mamdani-backed candidates just won their primaries last night, so hopefully this is a sign that Zionist celebrity worship will finally drop off. That said, this site really doesn't give me hope - seeing that close to no one in the reviews ever seems to give a shit that the majority of the artists on here are Zios, SAers, and pedos (this site appears to be full of old, white men & incels). The Ray Of Light is that this project has me researching different artists, learning who to boycott. - I never got into this album... If I wasn't already boycotting her, I still wouldn't have saved the album, but I might have saved Nothing Really Matters, Frozen, and the Power of Good-Bye (I'm pretty sick of Ray of Light, and it feels really dated now). - Overall, I like that the album is dancey, the sound effects, and tone of the instruments production chose. On the other hand, the album and songs feel dated and like she's trying to cash in on electronic music being underground and cool at the time more than this being a good example of the genre or taking it anywhere interesting. This basically feels like friendly, entry-level electronic music for the masses. No self-respecting rave DJ at the time would have picked it over the cool stuff of the era. - The songs don't feel very fresh anymore and don't have the impact of early Madonna, probably because the overall voice of this album doesn't seem very authentic (I mean, look at her trying to dance to it in the videos, lol), what with the genre and faux-spirituality. - Her vocals are nice and clear (minus the highest notes in Ray of Light) . - Album is definitely way too long.
wait i loved this. this is the type of music i crave nowadays. thanks madonna
'Drowned World' is my favorite Madonna song. The whole album is spectacular. William Orbit takes the weaker songs a long way and the strong songs are already great. (Obviously.)
Better than I was expecting, I like Madonna but thought she had lost it by this point in her career. Great production
3.5 - Good
A classic of my childhood.
Why must I hear this before I die?
The gag with Peter dancing is still the funniest shit. 3/5
Madonna is nothing if not a diverse artist. I really like this album, more than her earlier work. Something about it connects with me.
Wow what a surprise this one was. I listened to this album a few years back and didn't think much of it at the time, but recently I've been more into 90s electronic music so it really hit this time around. I like Madonna as much as the next guy, but I've never been a huge fan or anything, but this album blew me away upon revisiting it. This must've been such a bold move for the 80s queen of pop to make what's basically a trip hop album and do so successfully. Like imagine if Taylor Swift did something like this for her next release (horrible thought). My respect for Madonna has really increased quite a bit. This is the prime example of a mid-career project successfully shifting to modern trends. I'm gonna round down to four stars because it is a bit longer than it needs to be, but regardless I really do adore this album and I am so happy I fell in love with it. Favorite track: Swim 4.5/5
Not my kind of music, but I liked the title track and, for once, the music video: so 1990s!
Too many clouds
It had a few high points but felt drawn out, not really my thing.
The production is really cool and of it's time/what would come a couple years after but feel the song writing and Madonnas performances leave a bit to be desired.
Definitely a good album, not a Madonna fan but this is a bit good. I suspect a lot of the plaudits for this album go to William Orbits arrangements and production, but Madonna’s vocals are also excellent
a mixed bag, one i should probably listen to again at some point
I actually liked the first two tracks well enough, it was trending toward an enjoyable but forgettable 3 stars but it just dragged on at some point. I could see how many would have seen this as an incredible album at the time, just being exposed to different things that were big elsewhere - but to me many tracks felt so bland.
I started out vibing with this album, but by the 2/3 mark I was so ready for it to be over. It felt very much like I already got what was going on and we were just dragging it on at that point. Didn't help that each track was like 5-6 minutes apiece without a ton of variation sonically.
Today I learned I don't really get Madonna's appeal. It wasn't a bad album and honestly I'm trying to find something to give it 3 stars but I think I'm comfortable landing this at 2. It had its moments but overall I don't think it was her best work (I hope)
I liked her better in the 80's when she wasn't drawing from younger talented people
Horrendous, had to split it into two to get through it. Lazily using a general ambient electronic sound that never goes anywhere, then stretching out to over an hour of runtime. Madonna can't really sing, the lyrics are the real sweet spot of being odd but not interesting. No redeeming features.
Ray of Light has a fun tune, but the rest of the album is weird. I don't want to jump on the "1 star, rubbish" bandwagon, but I can't give it more than Like A Prayer, which at least contains a genuinely good song. Here, wildly overproduced, trance nonsense. Shanti/Ashtangi is particularly perverse.
Better than "music", didn't actively hate this one. Not as good as "like a prayer", and the bar was low. There is this kinda disco/dance music bass line throughout this. Knew Ray of light and frozen, the latter of which is ok I guess. 1.5 and that's possibly generous
There are some decent tracks on this record, but for the most part this didn’t come together all that well for me. Definitely prefer her earlier stuff to this. 2/5
A great album for people whose idea of “self-care” is smoking weed and abandoning their friends.
Its not horrible, but she has managed to try something different and still turn it into pop
5/10
Enjoyable
nah
kaulo vaag, 2 leuke nummers
This was pretty cool. Cooler than I expected. A lot of air.
Rather liked this
A solid e try in her career, more dreamy and in line with the water theme
I love Madonna but did not enjoy this one. The songs wanted to put me to sleep and there was nothing that caught my attention. The beats were fun, but that’s about it.
For a pop record there's some interesting choices instrumentally. You wont hear many pop stars over downtempo trip hop beats, but Madonna does a good enough job over them to make for a decent experience. A pretty neat electronic sound throughout. I definitely didn't need an hour of this, but its not bad.
I bet this hits way better, over giant nightclub speakers
Madonna and trance? What a combo. A bit long and a bit over drawn. But good overall
Madonna throws her hat in the trip hop ring along with the greats like Bjork and PJ Harvey. Overall it was quite good. Might come back to this, might not.
Look, aside from the absolute shitwreck of songs like 'Little Star', this album is full of complex songs i wouldn't expect from Madonna, mostly due to my bias, but here i am giving the album a 5.
Wanted to like it but it is pretty Middle of the road
I’ve always liked this Madonna album even though I’m not a huge Madonna fan. It doesn’t sound like any of her other records, even though some of it is dance music, sort of. There’s a distinct mood and feel conveyed and It’s sonically consistent and cohesive. The soundscape is rich with a beautiful depth. Feels quite spiritual. Which sounds strange because some of it is EMD, or house, or electronica (or whatever this style is called). Vocals are excellent throughout. Wondering about “Shanti.” Is it cultural appropriation? I think it’s more exploration than appropriation and doesn’t feel out of place. Clearly an exploration of faith and spirituality. I think this record is excellent… probably the only Madonna album I’d ever say that about. Almost a 5, but it peters out a little on the last couple of tracks.
The first half is a fun album with more pop sensibilities but the second half goes into more electronic and world vibe. It’s not bad but it’s long.
La resurrección de Madonna, después de Erótica, Bedtime Stories, Evita... el ostracismo (y la irrelevancia) en el que se metió a partir de entonces. Aquí hablamos de un disco enorme, que sigue reluciendo y que junto a Music y Confessions on a Dancefloor (pasando por un American Life que ha ganado con el tiempo) configura la cúspide Madonna. Con ello tenemos que publicó discos esenciales en los 80 (True Blue o Like a prayer), en los 90 y en lo s 00s. Ahí es nada. Aunque me gusta más la Madonna ochentera de True Blue y sobre todo de Into the Groove, esto es otra cosa. Es el paso de Babyface a William Orbit, introduciendo (con éxito y talento) jungle, drum and bass, trip hop... entre The Prodigy, Massive Attack y ella misma. Y sí, Madonna canta aquí mejor que nunca. Frozen es un clásico, una revolución cuando salió. Ray of light fue otro enorme éxito. Swim está inspirada en (la muerte de ) Gianni Versace. Más interesante es Skin, cercana al trance. The power of goodbye o Little star están bien , pero quedan algo romas. Mer girl, cierra de un modo íntimo.
I so admire Madonna for the roads she paved, and "Ray of Light" is one of her most significant contributions to pop. The star of the album (other than the Queen of Pop herself) is the complex production and experimental choices made by Madonna and William Orbit. Just listen to “Drowned World / Substitute for Love” and notice the lush, intricate orchestration with Madonna’s lovely vocal performance nestled delicately within the mix. She sounds great throughout the album, and the songs are enhanced by all the imaginative choices they've made.
Crazy. First, I just listened to/ rated Mariah Carey’s Butterfly from around this same period. It also was a mid-career change up album by a pop star seemingly trying to stay relevant. Mariah leaned heavily into the RnB/ hip-hop trend I guess she felt was working for her. I definitely did not feel it worked on Butterfly. Yeah. The more distance I get from that listen, the more I find I want. So when this came up, I was… less than enthusiastic. And less open minded than I generally try to be. Second, I found this album saved in my library. Often not a good sign, if I have no memory of it. I mean, at some point I felt I needed to listen to this mid career Madonna, but I was drawing a complete blank on what I was going to find when I hit play. But man…. This works. Obviously, a huge part of what’s working is William Orbit. But this partnership is… well damn if it ain’t magic. Madonna sounds awesome in the mix. I love it. It’s the polar opposite of the Mariah album. A totally different sound for our pop star, but it’s consistent and cool. I can see why I listened to it once. And I am glad to hear it again. I almost want to give it a 5. It’s too long. But if someone just got her to trim it, it really could have been a 5. 4 Boolean: True, I needed to hear this, obviously multiple times, before I die
You know, I just didn't get it. Maybe in another few years
The beats were great, but Madonna's vocals don't really do much with them, to me at least. Many songs were also stretched too long imo. Highlight-Ray of Light and Candy Perfume Girl
Madonna has the Jack Nicholson problem. Anything Jack Nicholson appears in is overwhelmed by a voice in the back of your head constantly saying "that's Jack Nicholson" which drags along every other movie he's ever been in, so it's nearly impossible to evaluate it on its own merits. You're not watching a movie or a Jack Nicholson performance, you're watching EVERY movie Jack Nicholson has been in and EVERY Jack Nicholson performance at once, and Jack Nicholson's character in whatever the movie is is just Jack Nicholson. Same thing with Madonna - I can't listen to this without thinking "this is Madonna" every second of every song, and simultaneously hearing in the back of my mind every other Madonna song I've heard since the beginning of her career (much of which I really like!). I can't separate the songs from the performer and the performer has a whole overlay that gets in the way of my ability to evaluate the songs. In short, I might have liked this as an album made by anyone other than Madonna, but adding in the whole Madonna thing, I thought it kinda sucked.
madonna was always an artist i heard of but never went and listened to. now my children will know her. sky fits heaven is exactly how i imagine sailor moon
Didn't move me much
sorry for doubting you madonna, didn't even know she made trip hop
Surprisingly good, I wouldn't have thought this was my thing but I could listen a few times
Pretty good
Not a fan of overproduced dance pop or whatever this is
I've heard a lot of Madonna but I had no idea she dabbled in electronica/trip hop! This is mind blowing.
Boring boiled dog shit
I wasn't a fan of Modonna in the 80s. Don't know why. This album is clearly a forefunner of the pop of the new millenium and deserves to be honored as one of the great pop songs of all time. Well, I guess it is. 4.5/5
"Ray of Light" the song is an absolute jam. Every other song on this album puts me to sleep.
not for me
Definitely could've died without this one.
#2 from Madonna for me, the other was that god awful dance pop album she released right after this one. That one is one of the worst albums I've ever heard. This one? It's better, I guess? It's not great. I would imagine that Like A Virgin or Like a Prayer (or both) have to be on this list, right? I don't know, I feel like once Madonna got out of the 80s or early 90s she kind of just started to blend in with everyone else rather than stand out. She does have a great voice, great presence, but this album is just so mediocre. I feel like her creativity just sort of plateaued after the early 90s and she didn't really know what to do anymore to stay relevant. I remember when this came out the title track was everywhere and I even thought it was pretty trash back then. I would totally feel let down if I had grown up hearing her name but had never heard a Madonna album before and then listened to this. 2.5/5 and rounding down.
I really enjoyed the beats and the vibes.
There are some songs here that I will be listening to again. But there are also some songs that border on outdated and a little culturally appropriated.
Sometimes it would drag on, but overall I really enjoyed this album! I was close to rating it a 5, but some songs were just a bit too repetitive for me. So 4.5
Madge is a queen. I wanted to be her when I was 9. Ray of Light felt more like an attempt to remain relevant and it lost the edgy pop fun she is so fantastic at bringing.
Madonna jumping on the bandwagon giving it a super sheen pop polish
I turned it off halfway through. Everything sounded exactly the same.
Great album. Favorite songs: Drowned World/Substitute for Love, Ray of Light, Nothing Really Matters
Not necessarily iconic, but this enjoyable listen has some standouts
Sky Fits Heaven sounds like a song ending up mid-table at Eurovision in the 90s. Not sure that's a good thing.
I LOVE Madonna's early work. I remember being really confused when she pivoted towards this electronic/dance stuff. I get wanting to try something new, but this style definitely isn't for me. 2/5
Did not expect to ever give a Madonna album this high of a rating but this genuinely floored me. What an incredible album.
A 90s classic from Madonna, and maybe her most important album, if not her best (Like A Prayer maybe shades that one). The few years before Ray Of Light saw Madonna falling out of the limelight a bit. The queen of pop needed reinventing, so with the help of William Orbit and Craig Armstrong she made her most British album and took on the 90s club scene with a mighty slice of electronica and trance with Eastern philosophy thrown in for good measure. Substitute for Love is a gorgeous opener, Skin combines a hypnotic vocal with a hectic beat and the cinematic Frozen took her back to the top of the singles charts. This album is so far removed from anything she had done and put her back on top of the tree. A brilliant album. 5☆
I really wanted to like this more. 3/5
And i feel like i just got bored
Not her best, but not terrible
I don't think I'm a fan of this 90s Madonna sound. I think other people do it better.
RATING: 9/10 HIGHLIGHT: Drowned World/Substitute for Love LOWLIGHT: Little Star
Would be a surprising 4 for me if the songs were shorter and a few cut from the album. Drops to a 3 for those reasons. I hope I never hear Shanti / Ashtangi again as long as I live. Truly terrible song.
7/10 - brings 8yr old me childhood memories back, not because I was a massive fan but because frozen was always on TV... Do have to give it to Madonna, this does have some pretty memorable songs
Didn't love it, didn't hate it. But did get tired of it before it was done. One strong song and a bunch of others that just don't separate themselves from each other.
Fantastic pop album. Standout production all across this thing and some amazing vocals from Madonna. This does go on a bit longer than it probably should've, but I still enjoyed pretty much every song here to some extent.
87/100. Ray of Light by Madonna is a truly special listen, one of the best art pop albums I've experienced. Infused with ambient soundscapes, trance rhythms, and even psychedelic touches, this album takes you on a captivating emotional journey from start to finish.
I liked this more than I expected, I guess the lack of horrible 80's synths and beats, but not quite into the 2000s edgy Electronica made the music tolerable, and her voice is definitely nice. 3/5
Pretty good, runs a little too long
This didn’t really do anything for me. Even the big hit felt lack luster to me.
This has very little appeal for another listen. Like most electronic music it's just a bit longer than it needs to be. It's not bad and Madonna is good on here but it's just a bit repetitive to my ears.
It really didnt resonate with me, i can see that this album was influencial in certain gernes of music but it didnt sound good to me. Very repetative
This is such a strange record. It tries to be many things, blending styles from EDM and pop, but often fails to stick the landing. It just isn't cohesive and honestly, Madonnas singing isn't a good addition to the record. It's just a strange blend between pop-y style vocals and kinda trippy instrumentals. What's worse is that while the instrumentals are all over the place, the vocals are just mostly the same in every track. Blending genres can be done well, as is seen in Janelle Moneé's Archandroid, but this record just shows how hard it can be. At least Madonna tried something new, something which can't be said about many of the records on this list. 6/10
it is VERY 90s, I cannot say I find it particularly memorable. I can imagine how it was adventurous and new for Madonna, but in the grander scheme I don't find it particularly special. Overall a nice album and great background music, but it has trouble actually grabbing me.
“Do you play techno?” “Oh we have both kinds: trip-hop and trance!” Honestly I liked Sting’s late 90s spiritual techno journey more but I think that’s just a familiarity bias.
This an epic album. It touches so many different styles of electronic music and has two of Madonna’s biggest hits: „Frozen“ and „Power Of Goodbye“. But it also sounds like its decade which is not that great. So a solid 4/5.
Madomma
I never thought I’d see this on the list. I remember when this came out, but never listened past the title track. It’s not bad. It’s not my style at all.
Every ringtone Samsung has made in the 2000's tried to recapture the magic of this album's sound, but never quite made it. Very trance-y, clubby, Y2K-y, and just right. Really, Frozen alone makes this worth a 4-star rating, criminally underrated song. Faves: Drowned World / Substitute for Love, Ray of Light, Frozen
linda musica ray of light
It has one really good song, ray of light. The rest are good, but not memorable. I don’t really understand what makes this particular Madonna album one of the most influential of all time?
Dette er et av albumene fra barndommen. Husker jeg våknet til denne musikken da jeg var liten, Mamma-musikk! God assosiasjon, og egentlig ganske bra! Liker det veldig godt, og er selvfølgelig biased, bringer frem gode minner
Not my favorite music but the album was ok
Liked it more than I expected
Wasn't the Madonna album I was expecting. Honestly decent as background music. Sounds like it would be playing over the speakers at UTC. 3
Ah so this is Madonna? - not to shaby
Decent album. Some nice hits.
Better than I expected for a Madonna album. Quite honestly, the worst thing about this album was probably Madonna's vocals themselves, not bad, but not the standout part of the album that you might expect. Quite a few different styles in an electronica meets pop genre. It almost reached four stars, but it didn't quite make it, so three it is.
I wasn't excited when I saw this but I liked it a lot more than I expected. She can still bring it to an extent, an entertainer for sure. Not my cup of tea but not bad.
Mediocre pop.
Идеальный поп-альбом 90-х
A regular on my car stereo in the late 90's I'm not really a fan of Madonna, but I loved this collection I really wish she had done more in this kind of style
One of the best albums from the Queen of Pop. Different from her other stuff, but still great. Side note: The fact that Madonna only has two albums on this list is criminal. And one of the two is Music?! True Blue? Confessions on a Dance Floor? Favorite Songs: Ray of Light, Shanti, Frozen, To Have and Not to Hold
Sounds like a Bjork album
Best Madonna album ever. Almost every song is a lyrical journey of exploration and emotion The power of goodbye To have not to hold Little star Drowned world Frozen Nothing really matters - just incredible! The power of goodbye - beautiful words. The spell has been broken, you were my lesson.
Yes it's more than a little cringey, but it's great fun in most parts
Unexpected
Not entirely sure this is the record where Madge shifted to adult contemporary of if that sensibility had been creeping in as early as Live to Tell and I just overlooked it. Whatever the case, largely thanks to Orbit’s unifying production, this is possibly the most cohesive Madonna LP from start to finish. It has the occasional zags into spiritualism, which felt skin deep phoney at the time and play now more as a harbinger of her wackadoodle trajectory, but Ray of Light is largely consumed with being a mother and an adult, less the bedroom and dance floor. Judging by her subsequent releases, she viewed this as an aberration or even a mistake, which is too bad. The history of the title track is a fun one for understanding how pop music got and gets made, going from an unknown singer’s stab at the mid-90s zeitgeist through a possibly zeitgeist-defining song once Orbit and Madonna had their way with it.
Had to stop midway, sorry ..
Favourite Songs: Skin
Yeah, I’m not feeling this one chief first ever Madonna album. I don’t think this is the best work seven studio albums maybe I should start at the first that’s not how the cookie crumbled with this project. Very slow very airy not the mood for right now. I’m sure I will find a project that I liked from Madonna, but this one is not it.
# In-Depth Review: Madonna's *Ray of Light* (1998) ## Overview *Ray of Light* is Madonna's seventh studio album, released on February 22, 1998, and widely considered her magnum opus. It represents a dramatic reinvention—transitioning from the R&B-tinged *Bedtime Stories* (1994) into a futuristic, spiritually-charged electronic landscape. The album emerged after pivotal life changes: the birth of her daughter Lourdes, intensive study of Kabbalah, Buddhism, Hinduism, and daily Ashtanga yoga practice . --- ## Production & Sound ### The William Orbit Factor The album's sonic identity is inseparable from producer **William Orbit**. After failed sessions with Babyface and Patrick Leonard, Madonna connected with Orbit, drawn to his experimental, "cutting-edge" background . Orbit's production created what critics described as a "light batter of electronica" —not a pure techno record, but pop songs adorned with electronic flourishes. The sound palette is remarkably diverse: **trip-hop, techno-pop, ambient, house, drum and bass, rock, new wave, Eastern classical, and new-age** all swirl together . Orbit's approach was intentionally raw. As he noted, Madonna's favorite phrase in the studio was *"Don't gild the lily"*—resisting the urge to over-perfect everything digitally . ### Vocal Evolution Having trained extensively for her role in *Evita* (1996), Madonna emerged with a transformed voice. She discovered "a whole piece of my voice I wasn't using" , resulting in a fuller timbre, greater range, and a deliberate abandonment of the vibrato that characterized her earlier work . On the title track, her upper register cuts like crystal . --- ## Lyrical Themes & Song Analysis ### Spirituality & Mysticism The album is saturated with Madonna's spiritual explorations. **"Sky Fits Heaven"** directly references her studies, with lyrics adapted from Max Blagg's poem *What Fits?*: *"Sky fits heaven so fly it, that's what the prophet said to me / Child fits mother so hold your baby tight"* . **"Shanti/Ashtangi"** goes further—an up-tempo techno track sung entirely in Sanskrit, adapted from the Shankaracharya prayer . ### Motherhood & Transformation **"Drowned World/Substitute For Love"** opens the album with a declaration of change: Madonna has traded fame for motherhood, finding that fame was merely a "substitute for love" . **"Little Star"** is a direct, heartfelt lullaby to Lourdes: *"Never forget who you are / Little star / Never forget how to dream"* . ### Mortality & Grief The album's emotional core lies in **"Mer Girl,"** a harrowing meditation on the death of Madonna's mother, Madonna Fortin Ciccone. Recorded in a single take, it features visceral imagery: *"And I smelled her burning flesh / Her rotting bones, her decay / I ran and I ran / I'm still running away"* . Producer William Orbit recalled the session: *"She stepped out of the vocal booth, and everybody was rooted to the spot. It was just one of those moments. Really spooky"* . ### Love, Loss & Letting Go **"Frozen"**—the album's lead single—addresses emotional unavailability: *"You're frozen / When your heart's not open"* . **"The Power of Good-Bye"** meditates on loss with Eastern-tinged production, while **"To Have and Not to Hold"** explores loving someone who remains perpetually distant . --- ## Cultural Impact & Influence ### Mainstreaming Electronica *Ray of Light* is credited with introducing electronica into mainstream pop culture at a critical moment—affirming the 39-year-old Madonna's relevance during the peak teen-pop era of Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys . It laid groundwork for the EDM and neo-house movements that would flourish in the 2000s and 2010s . ### Awards & Legacy The album won **four Grammy Awards** from six nominations at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards . Madonna herself has called it her "quintessential album" . Its creative DNA remains visible in contemporary pop—critics have noted its influence on artists like Addison Rae and the broader Y2K dreamy dance-pop revival . Commercially, it entered the US *Billboard* 200 at number two with the biggest first-week sales by a female artist at the time, hit number one in 17 countries, and has sold over 16 million copies worldwide . --- ## Pros | Strength | Details | |----------|---------| | **Production Innovation** | William Orbit's fusion of electronica with pop structure created a sound that was futuristic yet accessible | | **Vocal Maturity** | The *Evita* training gave Madonna her most full-bodied, technically impressive vocals to date | | **Emotional Depth** | From maternal love to unresolved grief, the album offers genuine vulnerability rare in mainstream pop | | **Cohesive Vision** | Despite genre-hopping, the spiritual and maternal themes unify the record into a coherent journey | | **Cultural Resonance** | Successfully bridged underground electronic music with mainstream pop, influencing decades of pop and EDM | | **Standout Singles** | "Frozen" and the title track remain among the most acclaimed songs of her career | --- ## Cons | Weakness | Details | |----------|---------| | **Production Homogeneity** | Orbit's sonic palette, while distinctive, can feel repetitive across the full album—some critics felt he "doesn't have enough tricks to produce a whole album" | | **Spiritual Heavy-Handedness** | Tracks like "Shanti/Ashtangi" risk feeling like spiritual tourism—Sanskrit techno-pop is an admirable risk that doesn't fully land for all listeners | | **Uneven Pacing** | The shift from euphoric dance tracks in the first half to darker, more meditative material in the second half creates a tonal whiplash | | **Occasional Pretension** | The album's philosophical "sermons" can feel overwrought—Pitchfork noted it arguably opened floodgates for the "sanctimonious and Instagram spirituality" of later celebrity wellness culture | | **Lyrically Uneven** | Songs like "Candy Perfume Girl" feel underwritten compared to the album's heavier material | --- ## Final Assessment *Ray of Light* succeeds because Madonna's life changes—motherhood, spiritual seeking, vocal training, and the death of her mother—were not marketing angles but genuine transformations that bled into the music. The album captures an artist at a crossroads: the Material Girl dissolving into something more searching and vulnerable. While not every experiment works perfectly, the record's ambition, sonic beauty, and emotional honesty make it not just one of Madonna's finest achievements, but one of the most compelling arguments for pop music as high art.
Favorite Track: Candy Perfume Girl Least Favorite Track: Ray of Light
Had absolutely no hope of enjoying this album going in to it. Really didn't know what to expect. Very surprised at how much I enjoyed it. Some fantastic down tempo and ambient electronic songs throughout this album with big credit to William Orbit and Marius de Vries doing wonders with the production. The late 90s chill out / electronic vibe suits Madonna's vocal style down to a tee. Very enjoyable listen
Boring
shanti is a banger
Comeback? Maybe don’t next time
Not a fan in the way I don’t like some of the bjork songs. The beat and the vocals are fine individually, but feel at odds with each other. I just keep waiting for something to pick up. Would rather listen to like spelling or fka twigs
It got very boring and repetitive after a while. Not the kind of pop I can get into.
Relaxing nostalgic summer vibes. Liked Swim and most the others were ok too.
This album has such a mellow feel. Almost like having a personal Madonna concert all to myself.
Not good. I love a lot of Madonna music, but not this album
Classic Madonna cultural appropriation. Love. It. Holy fuck I forgot about Frozen. What a gem.
this was actually soooooo boring, sorry
Pretty nice stuff. Low 4/5.
I got back to back Madonna albums (lucky me), i found it easier to engage with Music than with Ray of Light, only liking Frozen. Shanti/Ashtangi is awful and a clue that we are in the yoga era of the artist.
I had stopped listening to Madonna a few years before this came out. I’d heard this was well reviewed and seen as a kind of comeback album for her, but aside from the title track I didn’t give it a chance. Listening today, I mostly enjoyed the record. I thought it started great, loving the first four tracks. It kinda bogged down a bit after that and was a bit more hit or miss for me. There were a couple of songs that kept me interested enough that it was overall a positive experience.
Why is this album on this list? Sorry Madonna
Meh. Kinda disappointed
It was ok not a huge fan of her music
Ok - just a little run of the mill pop - pleasant, but nothing special - last track a bit more interesting - perhaps worth another listen
There is no doubt in my mind that this is one of the best albums of all time. I've listened through many times before and it always moves me. Listening again yesterday was an emotional journey and reminded me how perfect this album is from start to finish. It's a reflection of her life in her music that very few artists can pull off. Madonna has always been and will always be a controversial person, and I know we can't stop the misogyny that affects how people review her music, but I truly believe this album speaks for itself. It succeeds in everything: lyrics, production, vocals, pop, trip-hop, dance, electronic - it is the best of the best in every way. I will never get tired of listening to this album and hope I get goosebumps every time. Top Songs: Frozen, Ray of Light, Skin, Shanti / Ashtangi, The Power of Good-Bye, Little Star
boring
I love Madonna. I can remember sitting in my grandparents' house watching the 1984 MTV Movie Awards on one of the three channels they had back then. You know the show I'm talking about. The one in which Madonna performed Like a Virgin in her lace lingerie, rolling around on the stage. Whoa boy! I’m not sure how that memory is burned into my mind…I mean, I know why, but my grandparents didn’t have cable, and this was way before DirecTV. I assume CBS or another channel aired an edited version of it. I digress. I always loved Madonna. She had hits, nice, big, spectacular hits. And even though I was a metalhead and probably never bought a Madonna album, I loved the singles. Then, as we both got older, I kind of aged out of Madonna right around the time Ray of Light came out. Beyond the title track, I’m not sure I really know any songs off this album. And because this album is one of the many times Madonna reinvented herself, I’m excited to hear what she sounds like reinvented with electronic music of the 21st century. Track 1 is Drowned World/Substitute for Love, and I already love the mysteriousness of it. There she is. Madonna has an unmistakable voice. She isn’t the best singer in the world. She has no Mariah Carey range, but she only got stronger as a singer as she moved on through her career. What she lacks in technicality, she more than makes up for with emotion and character in her voice. The song is quite sad. She’s basically going over the list of things she’s traded for love, either from a partner, or a child, or God, maybe all three. At the end of the song, she finds the love she’d been substituting for and decides to accept that love over all the other things. This was the third single off the album. Track 2 is Swim, and I love the music. The music isn’t there to be the focus. It’s just giving Madonna a chance to shine. In fact, the music is actually kind of sparse. There isn’t a lot going on. This album so far sounds like one you’d put on after a long day to just relax and chill to. Track 3 is the title track, Ray of Light and it was the second single. It’s very bright and energetic. It’s the total opposite of the first two tracks. This is a dance track. I can imagine DJs did 1,000 remixes of this song back in the day. The album was released in 1998. I could have sworn it was in the early to mid-2000s. It sounds like the early 2000s. This song makes me think of summer. Track 4 is Candy Perfume Girl and it sounds like a Beck song. This album is kind of all over the place, but it’s all connected in a way, so it’s not jarring. Most of the songs are credited to Madonna and producer William Orbit, but there are certain songs with another name or two credited. That may explain the different vibing songs. This song gets kind of heavy at the end. I feel like I’d hear this on an episode of Veronica Mars. Track 6 is Nothing Really Matters and I’m quite sure this isn’t a cover of the Metallica song of the same name. This is a pure old-school dance song. It was also the sixth and last single issued from the album. This song is the first song that sounds dated. I’m not sure that’s the word I’m looking for, but the beat and groove are more rooted in early 90s dance music and less in the 2000s. It may be that this album was one of the albums that pushed dance music forward in production, at least in the mainstream. Many critics believe this is peak Madonna, her magnum opus. The music is brilliant, and her lyrics are really good. They sound more personal than I'm used to hearing from her. This album was recorded after the birth of her first child, and I’m sure motherhood changed her in ways she may have never anticipated. I must say, I really am enjoying this album. I was a Madonna fan, but just a casual fan at best. I can see what all the hype was about. It’s great pop and dance music. Her voice is so strong on these songs. Track 9 is Frozen, and it too was a single. I love the start of this song with the strings swelling up as what sounds like an acoustic guitar plucking. I remember this song. It’s a beauty. This is less a dance song than a love song, or lack of love song, as Madonna’s lover has a frozen heart. If Madonna can’t melt your heart, you’ve obviously got a frozen brain as well. Of course, she could be a devil-woman, but I’d be willing to take that chance. Track 9 is The Power of Good-Bye and it’s also a single. These songs have all been homeruns when it comes to the music. It’s all electronic and robots, but when done right, it can be very satisfying. I’m not sure if this is the best Madonna album out there, but it sure sounds like it. I believe this is a must-listen album. It’s brilliant. I should have been listening to this 30 years ago. If you’re a fan of dance music or electronic music, this is an album for you.
Vastly superior to Music, which is to say, mediocre. I’m left wondering who this is for, and what artistic impulse it serves
A lot to like on this album. Love that Madonna was willing to push in new directions from her beginnings.
not for me
Fav- drowned world/ substitute for love 2.5/5
8.5/10
Muy bueno, no me esperaba para nada esto Me encantaron los beats y sintetizadores, en algunos momentos se sintió muy noventero pero en otros muy futurístico No conocía esta faceta de Madonna, la banco No me parece un tremendo álbum con temazos, pero es un buen disco para escuchar chill
ok
I really like Madonna, but this isn't it; especially compared to her other works of different genres.
Not bad. A bit long in the tooth and I'm eye-rolling at the Kabbalah track but she pulls off the somber, pensive stuff pretty damn well. The title track was unavoidable at the time.
Always liked the title song and now I know the album is pretty good aswell!
I didn’t listen. Sue me.
As a firm believer that 13 is Blur's best album (and definitely should be on this list!!), I was looking forward to listening to more of William Orbit's work. I loved everything about this - the lyricism, the vocals (why do people think Madonna can't sing?!), and especially the production. I've had this on repeat ever since my first listen! 4.5/5 rounded up to 5/5
She lost the juice, this is boring
great sound
Not great at all. 2 in generous
First time listening to a Madona album and pleasently surprised. Not the pop sound I expected. Production is so good musically many different sounds and styles to enjoy. I found myself thinking how good it would have been to see this album preformed live.
Cracking album, reeks of being in my Mum’s car in 1998/1999 Favourite track: Ray of Light
I enjoyed this more than I expected to, so props to Madonna for surprising me.
I don’t love this album, but I think if I listen to her other albums, I would like them more. This album is just kind of mid I like the song swim
Enjoyed it. Liked the blend of pop and electro stuff. However, slightly too long for me and a lot of similar stuff.
William Orbit's production was innovative and still sounds pretty fresh today. Like many albums of the time it is too long as a whole and also most songs go on too long. "Frozen" is great and probably one of Madonna's all time greats, but other than that the songs are pretty boring and forgettable.
1. love - 1 2. zuuim - 2 3. light - 2 4. girl - 2 5. zkin - 1 6. nothing - 2 7. zky - 2 8. zhanti - 1 9. frozen - 2 10. pouuer - 2 11. hold - 1 12. ztar - 0 13. mergirl - 1
no bangers. just floaty ethereal instrumentals. not her best work Would I listen again: nah Deserves to be on this list: not enough of her 80s projects. how can this list skip over Like a Virgin bro 2.4
In the history of pop music, the Beatles may be the only group who were able to continuously re-invent themselves as effectively as Madonna. This album might be the peak of that re-invention, maintaining some of the core dance mix elements that are the most basic through line of her career and effectively blending them with electronica and world music pieces to create something we really hadn't heard before. She was an artist who always leaned into taking chances whenever she reached a new "peak" in her career, and in doing so, she blazed a lot of trails that artists are still routinely following today.
Enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I kind of didn't even remember the single from this album--it was before the one with Ali G on the video. The production is great, this comes off more like triphop or 90s electronica than the usual Madonna album. Not sure I'd listen to again but it wasn't bad at all, and I can appreciate how fans would love this.
5/10
My wife happened to buy it the day it came out. It was the first Madonna album I had liked since her first three albums. It’s the only one worth revisiting unironically. This and U2’s Pop make a good set. Cast your opinions of Madonna aside and listen to this without prejudice. It’s a great album.
This is such a good album. She stuck with what she knows and evolved into slightly new musical experimentation.
I feel like I just listened to the same bland song on repeat for 67 minutes
Cool! Airey, poppy, clubby. Couple boring songs but overall better than I was expecting. Not sure what I was expecting with Madonna but this was better. 3.5/5
I could listen to this on repeat forever. It doesn’t matter if I’m trying to be amped or relaxed, it somehow ticks both boxes.
to me this mid-late 90s electronica is a deeply dated sound that is simply odious. a note from wikipedia, "madonna pursued a new musical direction with english producer william orbit, which resulted in a much more experimental sound," which if you may recall (you don't, but you may) i rated orbit's 1993 album "strange cargo III" a solid one star. so, you've got that mind-numbing semi-orientalist "spiritual" sound with madonna (whose voice is lovely at least) singing about "mystical" themes across the longest most repetitive tracks i've heard in my life. insufferable.
80s Madonna is my favorite Madonna so this isn't exactly my scene. It's definitely a different direction from what I expected from Madonna but it does have the annoying foe depth that would pervade Madonna's worst albums (like American life). Lines like "Children Killing Children while the students rape their teachers" feel out of place coming out of "material girl" Madonna. It's coming off the back of her similarly hollow portrayal in Evita. It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth, like the White winemum from the gated suburb telling you about how bad the shit she's watched on the news is. That's my issue with this whole album really, it feels like Madonna is deeply uncomfortable with her identity and style and is desperately looking at a way to shake it up. But she seems so lost. Madonna has a great singing voice but its lost here, and the mixing is definitely going to be hit or miss for people. To me this late 90s sound is just incredibly dated and the writing sucks too. It's not offensively bad but I can't say I enjoyed any of it either.
Not great but I loved the spacey y2k production
Overwrought, drippy vocal performances mostly made up for by some absolutely banging techno beats
Écouté en deux fois assez distraitement, globalement cool sans être transcendant, surtout Frozen que je connaissais sans la connaître
This album sounds more like Massive Attack than it does Madonna's 80s albums. While it's full of interesting sounds and songs, I can't decide if it's aged well or not. On one hand, it still sounds immaculate. On the other hand, it sounds very 90s. That's not a bad thing necessarily - the writing elevates this over similar music - but I suspect this once sounded futuristic at the time and it does not anymore. The energetic songs here are great, especially the title track and "Skin." I also really like "The Power of Good Bye." But too many of the slower songs blur together. With some trimming - "Shanti" has definitely not aged well and several other songs could be cut - and maybe a bit more variety this could be a 4, but there are too many songs that just don't really move me.
I found it a little one note across the run time. A couple of good tunes, but I've never really gotten on with Madonna's music, to be honest.
Sign of the times?
A great collection of songs, far superior to the Like a Virgin era.
Madge in her sweet spot
Madge doing what she does, surfing the current fashion wave. And in that respect it feels like William Orbit should get joint billing. But, a bit like sausages, it doesn't pay to over analyse the manufacturing process - it's a great album. 4*
Ahead of her time. Madonna was the Queen. I could listen to this album constantly.
Not her best
A fine album that gets bogged down by trying to be too much of something that becomes quite repetitive after an hour. I often got bored listening to this record, but Madonna has a killer voice. I find it to be musically uninteresting but far from a truly bad album. I do not think this style of electronic music is for me, and that is okay. Favorite track: Drowned World / Substitute for Love
These late 90s/early 00s Madonna albums are SO good and they slap SO hard. What a delight! Also, her voice sounds so good on this album?? What kind of trickery is that (no offence)? I love it, what a quintessential 1998 sound, dare I even say I can hear a hint of bjork? A tiniest bit? What a record of the time (and I should know, I was 3)!!
The best Madonna album for me and it’s not really close, excellent Balearic late 90s vibe, amazing work from William Orbit, Madonna really selling it. Good stuff well done
Surprised by how good this is. Madonna was never my favorite, but I enjoy the restraint in these songs. Interesting production and some of her best vocals.
It was alright. Nothing much stood out to me, maybe because it's a style I'm not too knowledgeable about, but overall, the average song was enjoyable.
Her seventh album. Pop / Dance. Good production and an ethereal tone throughout. This is a long way from the bubble gum Pop Madonna of the 80s. A solid album without blowing me away.
This album is about taking drugs and vibing in a late 90’s club in Berlin. That’s great
Egész hallgatható, de azért nem az én világom.
A great listen, admittedly I was tired while going through this one and zoned out on a couple tracks but on the whole I really enjoyed it
I am now the age Madonna was when she made this, and that feels kinda wild. I still remember when the "Ray Of Light" and "Frozen" music videos were crushing on TRL, but it feels like a lifetime ago. Based on "Ray Of Light", I went into this expecting a very upbeat and dancey record and was surprised by how much it isn't really that. It's much more ambient and downtempo than I would have guessed so, in hindsight, "Frozen" was probably the more accurate indicator of what this album would be like. Whoops. This list has given me a sampling of where electronic music was in the 90s, but prior to that I might not have considered how much this really was a crossover record in 1998. I know she wasn't the first woman to sing over electronic music (by 1998 we had Massive Attack, Portishead, and plenty others) but this wasn't a new act trying to break-through, it was Madonna - the icon - testing the fences from the inside. They didn't hold. I love that the album whose title evokes images of sunshine ends with: "I ran to the forest, I ran to the trees I ran and I ran, I was looking for me I ran to the lakes, and up to the hill I ran and I ran, I'm looking there still And I smelled her burning flesh Her rotting bones Her decay I ran and I ran I'm still running away"
This is a brilliant album. A second phase for Madonna with William Orbit on production duties. I felt this transported Madonna into a more contemporary music world.
Boring Dancy Rave music that all sound the same. Where's my glow sticks? Is this when everyone was wearing Henna tattoos? Reminds me of when Cher turned into a robot with Believe.
Good singles, lots of filler.
Solid four stars for the songs I love. I dont love/like all the songs but this is a four star album for me
Not the best Madonna album
was actually surprised that this was quite good
Prefer her older stuff
beautiful late 90s iridescence
Thought it’d be unlistenable but it was pretty decent only skipped a couple songs. Who knew.
Incredible! I didn't expect this, an album focused on a single specific vibe that changed my evening
peak white girl in the 90s
This album is bad. Ray of Light is the only redeemable track, and even that one irritates me a bit. It will always confound me that this list will have several albums from the same artist that I apparently need to "hear before I die". And they'll throw a garbage album from them on there instead of expanding into other artists. It's criminal that Sublime did not make the list. Anyway. this album is awful.
To me, Pop music is like candy - it's fun and tasty and safe in small doses, but too much will make you sick. Sometimes, though, Pop music is a decadent desert - still a sweet treat, but more substantial and impressive. Either way, a meal it is not. This Madonna album leans toward the latter. The dance tracks are dance tracks, and I think Madonna does those well, and there's other candy in here, but there are some wonderful deserts here too - like the opening track and Frozen. This album gets a lot of flack, I think, for being a departure from her earlier work, but I think it's some of her best work because it's not just a bowl of candy.
I wasn't a fan of the title track. Still am not. But the rest of the album is actually quite decent. And I'm not really a fan of Madonna, either. Frozen is a great track, and Little Star and Power of Goodbye are grand, too. I'm hesitating to give this 4 stars, but heck, why not.
ну мадонна чего я там не слышал есть хит или два на альбома, но он фоновый шлейф радио в машине лютый переслушал дважды и не зацепило 3.2
Pop/electro poussive et assez ennuyante. Sauvé du néant par l'hypnotisant Frozen.
I've been promised electronica, which I love very much, but all I got was a supercut of cheesy 80s/90s rompler sins.
Wasn't for me.
An awesome album by the queen herself!
Solid, from start to finish. Mature Madonna is still good Madonna.
Not her best by far
Mid-stage Madonna
Much to my surprise, I really liked this album, which up until today, I was completely unaware of. A mixture of Electronica, Trip-Hop, Techno-Pop, and New-Age, a lot of the tracks are unlike any other Madonna music that I'd ever heard.
Never Heard any song from this Madonna album, but it was Nice, not The best tho