... I would normally expect a Madonna album to be the former, but for me, Ray of Light was very different. I originally purchased the album during its first week of release, and was so indifferent towards it that I sold the album to a work colleague. Months later, and after the release of several ... Read review
Ray of Light - Madonna
Never underestimate Madonna's power of persuasion: by nearly all critical accounts,Ray of ... more
Light, Madonna's first album of new material since 1994'sBedtime Stories, and her first since motherhood,is her richest, most accomplished record yet. WhileRay of...
Ray of Light - Madonna
Never underestimate Madonna's power of persuasion: by nearly all critical accounts, Ray of ... more
Light, Madonna's first album of new material since 1994's Bedtime Stories, and her first since motherhood, is her richest, most accomplished record yet. While Ra...
Light, Madonna's first album of new material since 1994'sBedtime Stories, and her first since motherhood, is her richest, most accomplished record yet. WhileRay o...
Light, Madonna's first album of new material since 1994'sBedtime Stories, and her first since motherhood, is her richest, most accomplished record yet. WhileRay o...
Light, Madonna's first album of new material since 1994's Bedtime Stories, and her first since motherhood, is her richest, most accomplished record yet. While Ray of Light is being tagged as Madonna's big leap into electronica, it's important to note two things: first, her music has always had close ties to dance culture, and, second, her collaborator William Orbit is no Chemical Brother. Though it has all the latest blips, bleeps, and crackles electronica has to offer, Ray of Light is still largely an adult album, completely within Madonna's realm. Still, Orbit's tasteful sonic constructions provide Madonna with her most adventurous, hippest musical backdrop ever. What's more, the arrangements and production are understated enough to highlight an even bigger development: fresh from singing lessons on the Evita set, Madonna's vocal range, depth, and clarity have never been stronger. But larger pipes don't necessarily make for deeper, truer music. Never a master lyricist, Madonna's words have worked best when they've practically been slogans ("Vogue," "Express Yourself"). This time she goes for more emotional depth, and even tries her hand at ethno-techno-mysticism ("Shanti/Ashtangi"). She largely stumbles, however. The tone conveyed on songs like "Nothing Really Matters" is a self-centred pat on the back that belies her claim to a newly found altruism. It's enough to make you wonder, now that Madonna's given up being our material girl, if maybe she's set her sights on becoming the centre of our spiritual world too. --Roni Sarig
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A review by LostWitness on Ray Of Light - Madonna September 16th, 2002
Author's product rating:
Originality
Groundbreaking
Lyrics
Sublime
Quality and consistency of tracks
A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases
Outstanding
Value for Money
Advantages:
Beautiful haunting music
Disadvantages:
Track 8
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Very often, one can buy an album of music that is instantly pleasurable and to which you become addicted within days. Other albums can be slow burners that require some effort to fully appreciate. I would normally expect a Madonna album to be the former, but for me, Ray of Light was very different. I originally purchased the album during its first week of release, and was so indifferent towards it that I sold the album to a work colleague. Months later, and after the release of several singles, I found myself drawn once again to the album, and I now consider Ray of Light to be one of the finest creations that Madonna has ever made.
Ray of Light is widely regarded as the album that regenerated Madonna’s career. After the unfairly overlooked Bedtime Stories LP, Madonna’s career had started to stall. Ray of Light is a blend of the old, overlaid with plenty of innovation and style. The album was largely co-written with the (hitherto relatively unknown) producer William Orbit, who had brief success in the 1990s with Bass-o-matic’s Fascinating Rhythm. When I read that he had co-written most of the material on Ray of Light, I wasn’t really sure what to expect – and the finished product was very much a pleasant surprise. Ray of Light also saw the welcome return of Patrick Leonard, who had bee responsible for most of the huge anthems that Madonna released in the 1980s and was sadly missed on Bedtime Stories.
Ray of Light is a spiritual album – there is something very reflective and almost maternal about the music and lyrics of the songs. As such, it is a very personal album and truly captures the Madonna of the time – she had just had her first child, Lourdes. Many of the songs on this album are retrospective – they look back, sometimes with regret and sometimes with fondness. The musical style is also very experimental – William Orbit’s production is not frightened to use sound effects, haunting lyrical styles and bizarre, trance-like mixtures of different instruments. In many ways, Ray of Light is probably the most credible dance music album that Madonna has ever produced, not in a disco “Into the Groove” way, but in an Ibiza chilled out trance way. This is a classic piece of mood music and you certainly wouldn’t want to listen to this album at any old opportunity. I tend to listen to Ray of Light when I feel like some time on my own, or when I need some time to chill out.
The album spawned five successful singles, all of which were excellent choices and promoted the album in an extremely positive way. The era of Ray of Light introduced a very new look for Madonna and this is reflected in the cover design and inlay of the album, where Madonna seems to be revelling in her beauty, rather than trying to seduce the viewer. The photography is still very sexual – in many shots, she is wearing a see-through black dress, where her breasts can clearly be seen – but for once, this easily goes unnoticed. Instead, your attention is drawn to her gleaming smile, and beautiful flowing hair. For many people, Ray of Light introduced a completely new Madonna – for others, it was simply proof of her ability to continue to evolve and re-invent herself.
A brief overview of the track listing:
DROWNED WORLD/SUBSTITUTE FOR LOVE
A brief appearance in the singles chart meant that the opening track to Ray of Light was sorely overlooked, and yet it is one of the most personal, honest pieces of music that Madonna has ever sung. Vocally, her voice has never sounded richer and more angelic, all arranged over an ethereal, misty arrangement that intoxicates and immerses you into a state of calm of relaxation. Beautiful.
SWIM
One of several album tracks that has subsequently been used in various film soundtracks, despite never being released as a single. This is an outcry against everything that is wrong with the world, and has a harder more aggressive tone, although the angelic vocal arrangement remains in place. A notable quality of the song is its water-like arrangement – it sounds as though a mermaid was singing it.
RAY OF LIGHT
A record that excited many people, which is in fact one of my least favourite on the album. A gentle, haunting introduction is pounded into the ground by a thumping bass line and guitar backing, as Madonna sings in a rather shrill way. The video was voted as one of the best of all time, by MTV viewers, but the song really seems at odds with the rest of the LP to me.
CANDY PERFUME GIRL
Dark, dirty and seedy – three words that would describe this song. It was used in the sound track to Marky Mark’s nude scene in The Corruptor and really fits the bill. One of the quirkier songs of the album, Candy Perfume Girl makes real use of Orbit’s musical imagination. I would describe this as an anti-ballad – it’s like a love song to filth.
SKIN
Patrick Leonard’s first contribution to the LP, although this is nothing like his older stuff. I love the strange vocal arrangement of the introduction, which sounds almost ghostly. This is the first track that could credibly be described as trance music – definitely chill out material.
NOTHING REALLY MATTERS
This is another deeply personal song, which seems to show Madonna at her most vulnerable. “When I was very young, nothing really mattered to me but making myself happy”. A strange, almost stuttered beat is used to deploy Madonna’s thoughtful vocals of her past and present. The song was released as a single, but drew most attention from the enormous club remixes deployed by Club 69 – and a very strange video….
SKY FITS HEAVEN
My favourite track of the album, Sky Fits Heaven was a massive club record when it was remixed and released as the B-side to Drowned World. This song became a full-on trance anthem, using an uplifting vocal and beat and the usual range of Orbit’s musical mischief.
SHANTI/ASHTANGI
Never one to be accused of following the pack, Madonna includes this rather strange track, which includes text taken from the Yoga Taravali so worshipped by Madonna at the time. It’s not a great song – and is more an exercise in self-indulgence than anything else.
FROZEN
The first single taken from the album, which catapulted Madonna to number one. It really is a beautiful song, combining a backing not unlike a break beat track with trance-like chimes and sound effects. The video featured a new-look Madonna complete with Henna tattoos and an ability to shape-shift. A timeless song – Frozen sounds as good now as it did back in 1998.
THE POWER OF GOODBYE
Released as a Christmas single in 1998, but this is probably far too mature a record to surf the Christmas sales charts. I love this song and would have to put this in my Top 10 love songs of all time. Terribly, terribly sad, but almost uplifting too. There really is nothing greater than the power of goodbye.
TO HAVE AND NOT TO HOLD
Some welcome relief from the emotion of the last two songs, this would have been better placed at the start of the album, nonetheless, as it feels rather out of place here. A fairly standard Orbit song, but probably the closest thing to a pop song that this album has to offer.
LITTLE STAR
This is without a doubt a record written for Christmas. A jolly, upbeat little lullaby, sort of like Dear Jessie, but much more credible. Not a favourite of mine, but very appealing in its own way.
MER GIRL
Mer Girl tends to be overlooked, as it seems tucked away at the end of the album. Once again, I think it would have benefited from earlier placing, which is a great shame because this is quite an unusual record that sounds as though it is constructed around a telephone ringing. The lyrics are once again very spiritual – this could easily have been a Kate Bush record.
One of the benefits of buying this later on in its lifetime was that I was able to buy a special limited edition, which features a glorious satin effect blue gatefold sleeve – the icing on the cake. Ray of Light is a tremendous album, which has grown to become one of my favourite mood companions. You could probably pick this up for a fiver now – and what value that would be too.
Highly recommended
More Reviews
Blindin' Review ofRay Of Light - Madonnaby
Glorificus1
Advantages: Relaxing AND dancey Disadvantages: Mer Girl?
...to be her. Ray of Light shows that Madonna is more than a beautiful woman who can take her clothes off and shock people. This glorious record sees her and lyrist Pat Leonard in a resounding return to form. The lyrics are personal and insightful. This combined with the collaboration of William Orbit results in one of the most energized CD's for a long time. This CD also features the talents of Marius De Vries and Rick Novels. Has Madonna got this ... ...doesn't have the boundlessness of Ray of Light and maybe you do get to a point in the record when you're thinking, well just say goodbye then, but its very good I'm getting over him/her music. 11. To Have and Not To Hold 7/10 'My heart is in your hand / And yet you never stand/ Close enough for me to have my way/' Another Novels collaboration. The lyrics aren't my favourite, but it has a somewhat Latin flavour to it than rubs along nicely 12. Little ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Outstanding, Thought prevoking and a Masterpiece Disadvantages: None
Okay... So I bought this in 1998 I was 15 at the time. and now 6 years later I still listen to it and continue to find elements of the tracks that I hadn’t heard before. This quality is rarely found. William Orbit rose to fame with this album, and his work is superb. It covers every emotion from heartache to the joy of life. It lifts you up when you are down, it grabs your attention and never lets you go. Its an album that you can relate to ... ...in and never coming back. The sheer attention spent on the writing, lyrics and production is simply outstanding...
Onto the Tracks...
**Drowned World/Substitute For Love**
The album gets of with a subdued pace. But this is certainly not a bad thing. This track is gentle tt is very atmospheric. Its a though you are gently floating through clouds. There is a subtle beat throughout the song. With the ending packing a punch being taken into a louder ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: graet songs, great vocals Disadvantages: a few songs aren't up to the v.high standard
Ray of Light was the album that really relaunched Madonna's career. It's quite an introspective, intelligent album, but also includes Madonna's usual mix of uptempo tracks alongside a few ballads. All this is greatly helped by William Orbit's help with the production on the album which gives the record a modern and distinctive vibe. Madonna's vocals are much stronger than in her earlier albums, maybe as a result of her vocal training for her role ... ...Here's the rundown on Ray of Light:
1. Drowned World/Substitue for Love - a exceptional start, this is one of my favourite Madonna songs ever - "I traded fame for love/without a second thought/it all became a silly game/some things cannot be bought" she sings. Very reflective and intelligent lyrics. The song builds and builds to a dramatic finish.
2. Swim - this guitar driven track makes you feel immersed in water, again the lyrics are very clever ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Originality
Lyrics
Quality and consistency...
How does it compare to ...
Value for Money
very helpful
16.04.2001
Ray Of Light Review ofRay Of Light - Madonnaby
Toady
Advantages: See op Disadvantages: None
Ray Of Light was released in 1998 and on the album are 6 tracks that reached the charts which are as follows: Substitute For Love, Ray Of Light, Nothing Really Matters, Frozen, The Power Of Good-Bye and Little Star.
There are three tracks which I’m not to keen on which are Candy Perfume Girl and Shanti/Ashtangt and Mer Girl.
The tracks Swim and Skin I found to be ok but I prefer the tracks Sky Fits Heaven and To Have And Not To Hold.
Of ... ...for me.
Track3: Ray Of Light
I think this song is a very catchy tune and quite a happy tune with a good beat to it, well that’s what I think of it when I hear it. I do like this song it’d be my 5th favourite on the album. I’m not quite sure what this song is supposed to be about but I’d say it’s a very spiritual song.
Track4: Candy Perfume Girl
I didn’t like this song at all as I found it to be to slow and ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Advantages: Polished and meaningful electronic pop Disadvantages: Not disposable enough for some, not sophisticated enough for others
"Ray Of Light" is the 7th album by Madonna and was released in 1998. It won 4 Grammy Awards, marked a change in musical style and helped revive the Material Girl's career. The musical style is mainly electronic with production work by William Orbit; digital sounding effects and interesting samples are usually present in the background of the tracks. The lyrics are introspective dealing with topics such as: love for her daughter, new beginnings, the ... ...varied with a few up tempo dance tracks; most are mid-tempo tunes and the last track "Mer Girl" has a complete absence of any beat at all. I enjoy the reflective and meaningful lyrics present in the album that show a more intimate side of Madonna, although they are never going to win any awards. Overall the tracks are fairly consistent, melodic and contain good production by William Orbit. The album sleeve contains the track lyrics, which is an additional ...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
...This is Madonna doing business as usual. Not quite as good as Ray of Light, but an excellent album none the less.
Some tracks are a bit formulaic such as the opener Music, and American Pie (Full of Billy Orbit twiddly bits) but for me the stand out tracks are What It Feels Like For A Girl and Don't Tell Me.
Madonna is still breaking new groud, continuing the path the started on Ray of Light.
If you're a Madonna fan you wont be disappointed , if you've not got it yet then buy it.
It is excellent...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful
Advantages: Good Music Disadvantages: No lyrics written in CD booklet
...The new millennium saw a change in Madonna as, ever at the forefront of popular music trends, she took the earth mother vibes of Ray Of Light and transposed them to the heart of the dancefloor. The end product, Music, is a wondrous mixture of the familiar and the audaciously new--tracks like "Amazing" and "Runaway Lover" would have slotted nicely into the more uptempo sections of Ray Of Light, whereas tracks like "Impressive Instant" and the title track "Music" take Madonna closer to the sound of the dancefloor underground. William Orbit, the man responsible for producing the Ray Of Light album, has a hand in proceedings again, but the majority of tracks are produced by French whizzkid Mirwais, who brings a distinctive Gallic House feel to the proceedings, taking Madonna's voice and putting it through a vocoder until it sounds more like...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Advantages: An excellent line-up of dance/country/pop tracks Disadvantages: None
...Madonna returned to set the charts ablaze yet again in late 2000 with this superb effort following on from the critically-acclaimed and grammy award winning success of what is still possibly her greatest album yet and one of the most significant albums of the 1990's, Ray Of Light (1998).
The album in question was of course Music and would again offer the sound of the future, continuing in a vaguely similar formula to Ray Of Light (1998). Madonna worked with a multiple number of producers on this project which included William Orbit (who also co-produced Ray Of Light), Mirwais Ahmadzai, Guy Sioworth and Mark "Spike" Stent. Music, offered a rather diverse range of tracks that were both adventurous and compelling which has always been the genius of Madonna as even now she still never ceases to amaze and surprise. Madonna has always had...
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Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Album Notes: Personnel: Madonna (vocals); William Orbit (guitar, electronics); Mark Moreau (guitar); Pablo Cook (flute); Marius De Vries (keyboards, programming); Fergus Gerrand (drums, percussion); Steve Sidelnyk (programming); Donna DeLory, Niki Harris (background vocals). Producers: Madonna, William Orbit, Patrick Leonard, Marius De Vries. Engineers include: Pat McCarthy, David Reitzas, Jon Englesby. Recorded at Larrabee Studios North, Universal City, California. RAY OF LIGHT won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Pop Album and for Best Recording Package, and was nominated for Album Of The Year. "Ray Of Light" won the 1999 Grammy for Best Dance Recording and Best Short Form Music Video, and was nominated for Record Of The Year. Relentlessly contemporary, RAY OF LIGHT pairs Madonna with producer William Orbit, an electronics wizard who has worked with major R&B acts and even such modern rockers as Blur and Depeche Mode. Reportedly, Madonna tried to snare Liam Howlett of high-strung techno-rockers the Prodigy into the project--Howlett claims to have turned her down. But the more dextrous, less in-your-face Orbit was probably a better choice anyway. He provides a dizzying array of soundscapes, incorporating everything from psychedelic-rock guitar to dub-reggae echo and cold, cutting techno beats for what critics are calling Madonna's most committed performance in years. From the slow chill of the album's first single, "Frozen," to the disco-like title track, RAY OF LIGHT finds Madonna embracing the club beats that are her roots while still teetering on the edge of dance-club vogue. It also finds the singer, who has become a mother since her last studio album, in a long-untapped spiritual mode. When the inevitable comparisons are made to Madonna's previous standard-bearer, 1989's LIKE A PRAYER, that may well be the reason.
Album Reviews: Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.82) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's." Q (10/01, p.45) - Ranked #46 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime" - "...Madonna was influential and interested again..." Q (12/99, p.100) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s." Rolling Stone (4/2/98, pp.70-71) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...RAY OF LIGHT is her maternity album as well as her avant-dance album....Our Lady hasn't assembled this many songs worth her time since 1989's LIKE A PRAYER....all her desperately chic decor can't hide her rock & roll heart..." NME (2/28/98, p.43) - 8 (out of 10) - "...RAY OF LIGHT is her most accomplished set for years. It offers a lightness of touch and a depth of feeling unmatched since the glory days of LIKE A PRAYER....here we're drawn into the depths by subtler means..." Entertainment Weekly (3/6/98, pp.77-78) - "...RAY OF LIGHT is some of the most alluring and captivating music she's ever crafted....Madonna looks for--and finds--a middle ground between her now-old-school approach and the new club music. She dresses her music up with her electronic love..." - Rating: A- Vibe (4/98, p.139) - "...with RAY OF LIGHT's futuristic music and ancient ideals, she's crafted something danceable but decidedly less commercial. Something more cerebral than usual, both sonically and lyrically..."
Titles on disc 1
1.: Drowned World (Substitute For Love)
2.: Swim
3.: Ray Of Light
4.: Candy Perfume Girl
5.: Skin
6.: Nothing Really Matters
7.: Sky Fits Heaven
8.: Shanti/Ashtangi
9.: Frozen
10.: Power Of Goodbye
11.: To Have And Not To Hold
12.: Little Star
13.: Mer Girl
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