'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enou...
'Allo! I'm not contributing to Ciao for the time being but if you are bored / desperate / weird enough to wish to continue to read my ramblings, you can find me on Dooyoo under the user name plipplop. See you around! :P
Member since:15.07.2000
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Like A Prayer is by far and away my favourite album by Madonna, and probably rates as one of my favourite albums of all time. Before you dismiss my music tastes immediately, I shall try to explain some of the reasons why I like the album so much.
Like A Prayer was released in 1989 at a time when pop music was struggling a bit. The charts had been taken over by the various signings of the Stock Aitken and Waterman camp, most notably by Kylie Minogue. Madonna seemed to have been missing from the charts for an eternity - and then suddenly she was back with a vengeance. This was one of the first albums I bought - I got into music quite late compared to most of my mates - and I bought the album whilst I was on a French Exchange holiday. Heck - it even had a sticker in French! The album was intriguing before you even played it, as every copy was sprayed with scent to add to the catholic imagery used in the title track. The track listing is 90% excellent:
1. The title track, Like A Prayer,
had been heralded in a blaze of publicity - which I am sure was what Madonna and her record company wanted. The video, sponsored by Pepsi, featured a busty brunette Madonna cavorting with a black Jesus amidst burning crosses and gospel singers. It was an exciting video - and an epic song. It is probably my favourite track on the album because it complements Madonna's voice so well, and I love the arrangement. The haunting choir introduction into the up-beat gospel really works well.
2. Express Yourself - this was the first time that Madonna got really saucy in her video - and probably the last time she did it with any real class. The video to this track was one of the most expensive of all time, but this is a real anthem. Madonna's vocals put her at her most aggressive and the lyrics are great. I loved a lot of the club mixes that were around - the album sticks to an effective pop music arrangement.
3. Love Song - a freaky, quite quirky track, co-written by and featuring the lyrics of Prince, this is more assertive stuff. I've never particularly liked Prince, but I like the lurching beat and bitter-sweet lyrics.
4. Till Death Us Do Part - in which Madonna sings a farwell ode to Sean Penn, whom she'd not split up with long before this album was out. The lyrics of this song are powerful stuff, and the personal nature of the song is heartfelt and endearing. Strangely enough, the song has a very boppy feel to it, and I always hoped it would be released as a single with some pumping club mixes. Unfortunately, it was relegated to the B side of Dear Jessie.
5. Promise To Try - a very slow, quite tearful ballad which reflects the loss that Madonna felt over her mother's death. Once again - like most of the album - this is a very personal song, and very sad.
6. Cherish - True Blue part 2 - remember the mermaid video? Brilliant song - full of energy and warmth and without much of the cynicism shown elsewhere on the album.
7. Dear Jessie - one of the stranger tracks that Madonna has recorded. This is a musical lullaby, full of childish imagery with a very dreamy melody. Remember the video with the pink elephants? The most Christmasy record that Madonna has ever recorded.
8. Oh Father - more moody memories here. Slow, and quite dark, I love the string arrangement in the background which gives the song a slightly sinister feel. This was released as a single years later, when it was featured on the love song compilation Something To Remember.
9. Keep It Together - Express Yourself part 2. This is another epic anthem, declaring the joys of looking after your family and "Keeping It Together". This should have been another single from the album, but was criminally ignored everywhere apart from Japan. Madonna back to her disco roots, this is funky house.
10. Pray for Spanish Eyes - in which Madonna screeches rather unpleasantly - one of two duff tracks on the album, this is probably what prevents this album being voted my all-time favourite.
11. Act of Contrition - a space filler - backwards recital of something or other - needless to say I always stop this cd at track 9.
I like this album so much because I love the way in which Madonna has opened up a bit of her history in every song. I can still remember wandering through the countryside of Southern France with this album providing all the company I needed. A wonderful album to relax to, to dance to and - most importantly - enjoy.
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I love this album too. It is full of really heartfelt lyrics and is just simply great pop music. Great op. JO:@)
EnglishPatient 08.01.2001 23:54
Excellent opinion, and I'm glad others are rating the actual content rather than basing their rating on what they think (which happens more than I realised). It *did* seem an eternity between 1987 and early 1989 (when Like a Prayer appeared), even though it was only 18 months on from her last new material. I guess so much happened in that time (Acid House, SAW). Not sure if it's my favourite Madonna album (I have them all), but it was definitely her best up to that point. Erotica, Ray Of Light and Music are possibly even better. Oh, by the way - Keep It Together also reached #8 in America....where it was released instead of Dear Jessie. I agree it ought to have been a single in the UK, but it was put on the B-side of Vogue instead.
Considered by many to be the Material Girl's most mature effort of the 1980s,Like a ... more
Prayerupped the ante of controversy with its gospel-infused title track and the singer's emotional confessions throughout. It also unveiled the hit "Express Yoursel...
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Considered by many to be the Material Girl's most mature effort of the 1980s, Like a ... more
Prayer upped the ante of controversy with its gospel-infused title track and the singer's emotional confessions throughout. It also unveiled the hit "Express Your...
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