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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Madonna reveals her true depth as an artist, 28 Nov 2002
Like a Prayer could very well be Madonna's most important album; marked by maturity, honest emotional content, superior musical form and style, and overall quality, it is a remarkable achievement by an artist whose earliest work was dismissed by some as throwaway pop. Perhaps no other album I own starts off as strongly as this one. Like a Prayer and Express Yourself make one heck of a one-two punch. This is the Madonna I like the most--brave, strong, unafraid of controversy, and willing and able to rock your world. Personally, I found the controversy over Like a Prayer and its video to be quite overblown, but it certainly did nothing to hurt album sales. The gospel background vocals gives the song a powerful, full sound that only reinforces the driving beat and mass appeal of the song. Express Yourself is a Madonna statement song--Madonna knows all about expressing herself, and the song does inspire you to be yourself and let others know what you are thinking.Love Song is a song I can take or leave. At the time, Prince and Madonna were pretty much the king and queen of pop music, and it was really something to hear them team up on a duet. Unfortunately, the song has little substance, and Prince overplays his peculiar, distinctive voice and style. Till Death Do Us Part is, in my opinion, the best song on the album. It has meaningful, important lyrics, yet its tempo makes you tap or sway along with the music; it almost moves too quickly, achieving a perfectly vibrant, energetic pace, and the chorus is just wonderful. Promise to Try is a slower song with beautiful lyrics and a graceful sound, offering yet more proof that Madonna is a real singer with great vocal skills. When Cherish was released as a single, I heard it so often on the radio that I eventually came to dislike the song; listening to it again now, though, I realize how great the song really is. Cherish strikes me as possessing a certain air and spirit of 1960s pop music. It's definitely an uplifting song to listen to, with a strong "feel good" quality to it. Dear Jessie is another example of Madonna's new sound and style on this album. The music itself is rather subdued, placing the song's emphasis on Madonna's lyrical stylings; this calming track is the kind of song I imagine Madonna would sing to her children at bedtime. For emotional content, the striking Oh Father tops the list on this CD; it definitely sounds like Madonna is singing this one right from the heart. The flow between verse and chorus is striking, and the whole song is a delight to listen to. After a string of slow, emotional tracks, Madonna decides it is time to get the place jumping again with Keep It Together (although even this song carries a strong message). Spanish Eyes is another poignant song of beauty and wonder. Act of Contrition is a weird way to end the album, but I like it. The harmonic dissonance of the Like a Prayer choruses, electric guitar riffs, and free-style lyrics is refreshingly different. This is a really deep album of great substance. For me, this great asset became somewhat of a vulnerability, though. Hearing songs such as Oh Father and Cherish over and over again on adult contemporary radio stations sort of led me to believe Madonna had lost her edge (despite such evidence to the contrary as Express Yourself). In terms of musical structure and delivery, Like a Prayer is vastly superior to Madonna's previous albums; I easily recognize this fact, but, in general, I prefer the fun dance songs of earlier years to the poignant, beautiful music that typifies this album.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
5 Stars is not enough!!!!!!!!! One of her best!, 2 Oct 2006
Ok, so I've been a Madonna fan for almost as long as she's been at the top of our charts - which is almost 25 years!
She has released a hell of a lot of music in that time. From the early days of what would become dance music (Holiday, Everybody, Lucky Star, Physical Attraction) to her classic 80's era (Papa Don't Preach, Open Your Heart, Who's That Girl) to this, her pre-"Blond Ambition" days.
If I had to put her albums into any sort of order - either "best", "most iconic" or "most defining Madonna", then Like A Prayer would definitly be in not only mine, but most people's top 3! The title track Like A Prayer is classed as many peoples most defining Madonna song, with titles like Vogue, Music, Into The Groove, Papa Don't Preach and Hung Up following closly behind.
We all remember the famous/infamous Pepsi ad. Madonna, dark haired for the first time since Live Aid, dancing on the street and getting down with the choir. Then we remember the video. Burning crosses, a black Jesus, the stigmata and the crime. All of which could have easily overshadowed the album and title track if it was anyone else. But with the music and performer being this powerful, NOTHING could overshadow it no matter how controversial.
This album is Madonna at one of many peaks of her career. The others being the release of Like A Virgin, the 1990 Blond Ambition tour, the release of Ray Of Light, her amazing 2004 Re-Invention Tour and 2005's Confessions On A Dancefloor album at al.
The production on Like A Prayer is amazing. She worked with long time producers Stephen Bray (Into The Groove, Keep It Together etc) and Pat Leonard (Papa Don't Preach, Who's That Girl, Frozen etc) who both along with Stuart Price and Mirwais, remain a favourite with Madonna fans around the world.
She released 4 singles all together off the album in the UK - Like A Prayer, Express Yourself, Cherish and Dear Jessie, all massive top 3 hits. The latter in the US wasn't a single, intead she opted for Oh Father (which wasn't released here until the Something To Remember album in the late 90's) and Keep It Together. But there are many more powerful songs on the album - most notably Promise To Try (about the life and death of her mother), Til Death Do Us Part (her only song (that we know of) about her marriage to actor Sean Penn), Love Song (a collaberation is rare for Madonna, this time with Prince) and Spanish Eyes (a beautifully sung ballad, showing off how far vocally she's come since the Like A Virgin and True Blue days).
All in all, she's had an amazing career and released some of the most iconic music which nobody dare deny whether a fan or not. An essential album and if you should own only one or two Madonna albums in your time, LIKE A PRAYER should be one of them!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One to cherish, 17 Aug 2000
By A Customer
Like A Prayer is the album that proved Madonna could make pop music- believable, heartfelt and chockoblock full of emotion.From the Beatlesesque little girl lost feel on Dear Jessie to the heartbreaking ballad of regret and fatherly love/hate- Oh Father- each track is adult pop at its finest. Keep It Together and Express Yourself send you spinning from the tearful songs and back onto the dancefloor! That's the great thing about this terrific album, it has a song for each mood. If you got into Madonna via Ray Of Light and you need some classic Madonna tunes to keep you listening until Music is released, then Like A Prayer is for you! If you don't already own it, why not? Like Michael Jackson's Off The Wall, this classic album proved Madonna's worth as an artiste and a musical icon. Cherish this.
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