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[Tiago Rodrigues]

I don't know what was in the water in the late 90's with all the great music coming out from (most) artists at the time.

With Like a Prayer being on DeadpooI i started to listen to more Madonna's discography these last couple days (specially her 90's stuff) and i was listening to this album for the first time in like 2 or 3 years and you can't tell me this isn't a masterpiece.



The production is just crystal clear. Good mixing, great vocals (specially considering she had just done Evita), the lyrics are just a step up from most stuff we hear today on the radios as well.
Like...how the fuck was this produced in 1997? That's almost 30 years ago.

The album sounds more current than most pop albums released in the 2010's.

William Orbit was truly at his peak. Madonna clearly had a lot to say about motherhood, her own mortality, fame, etc...and the album overall is a great piece of art.

The visuals were also amazing and still hold up:









A little bit of trivia: This last video inspired Silent Hill 2 in terms of atmosphere when they were working on the game (and it's pretty obvious)

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

Never heard it before, so I listened to Swim and Ray of Light now.
And yeah, the mixing is fantastic. And as someone that was never crazy about her (vocally), I like how she sounds on these.

I don't know if she was the first artist to tackle this sound at the time, so I won't say anything beyond that.

I will certainly listen to the whole thing!
Also I like the cover art.

 

[Sybrix]

Ray of Light is a great song, one of her best.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Never heard it before, so I listened to Swim and Ray of Light now.
And yeah, the mixing is fantastic. And as someone that was never crazy about her (vocally), I like how she sounds on these.

I don't know if she was the first artist to tackle this sound at the time, so I won't say anything beyond that.

You started with track 2? The first one is the perfect introduction to the album tbh.

From mainstream pop artists she was one of the first for sure. Wlliam Orbit was already doing electronic music like this before and it was a mix that worked perfectly back then.

 

[Bring Back Scalebound]

You started with track 2? The first one is the perfect introduction to the album tbh.

Yeah, I just picked two random tracks.
I will listen to the whole thing proper when I can.

Listened to Sky Fits Heaven too, it's pretty great.

From mainstream pop artists she was one of the first for sure. Wlliam Orbit was already doing electronic music like this before and it was a mix that worked perfectly back then.

Got it!
Madonna being way ahead of her time is not new.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Yeah, I just picked two random tracks.
I will listen to the whole thing proper when I can.

Listened to Sky Fits Heaven too, it's pretty great.

If you enjoy this late 90's vibe of electronic music, the entire album will be right up your alley.

I just find it mindblowing how this type of music aged so much better than most 10's music. Frozen alone sounds like it could come out right now and it wouldn't sound dated at all.

 

[Soltype]

It's my favorite Madonna album from the '90s, loved how it mixed in then contemporary electronic music styles.

 

[Big Baller]

Im good. I do like Frozen.

 

[Azelover]

It's my favorite album of hers too. William Orbit is just out of this world. Listening to his production is like going to another realm. It's an experience.

I recommend his album called Hello Waveforms. Particularly the song Surfin

EDIT: Here it is

 

[Chuck Berry]

Nothing Really Matters rules. Fav song off of it.

Totally recognize the albums importance in the timeline, but I still much prefer her 80s stuff and Bedtime Stories.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I’ve never listened to the whole thing actually, just the one song. The video is pretty low budget as I recall.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Nothing Really Matters rules. Fav song off of it.

Totally recognize the albums importance in the timeline, but I still much prefer her 80s stuff and Bedtime Stories.

I feel like Bedtime Stories is always underrated because it came out after the SEX Book and Erotica album controversy and before Ray of Light.

It's that album with good music, amazing R&B vibes that had great visuals as well. The last 3 tracks are probably the best 1, 2, 3 punch in Madonna's discography though. Sanctuary ending with the Bjork-written Bedtime Story (the gapless transition will always be amazing to me) and ending with Take a Bow...amazing finish to the record.

 

[mitch1971]

The only album of Madonna I have. It's good.

 

[navii]

The album takes me back to the late 90s / 00s. Probably one of the few things I look back fondly on from that period.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

I am calling you out my nibba because this is bettur

 

[Mobilemofo]

I always go immaculate collection first if I'm in the mood for Madge. Then ray of light.

 

[ReBurn]

It's one of the only female pop albums I've ever heard of and I only heard of it because you mentioned it.

 

[tommib]

The last good thing she did. And it’s pretty good.

Haven’t listened to it in ages.

 

[clem84]

Confessions on a dance floor is good from beginning to end IMO.

 

[Rockondevil]

I am calling you out my nibba because this is bettur

Thanks you just wasted 5-6 hours of my life as now I have to go watch Austin Powers.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

Thanks you just wasted 5-6 hours of my life as now I have to go watch Austin Powers.

The Spy Who Shagged Me, I presume.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

It's one of the only female pop albums I've ever heard of and I only heard of it because you mentioned it.

And how was it?

 

[ReBurn]

And how was it?

I gave it a listen on Spotify while driving home. It was pretty ok. Pop music isn't my thing but I didn't hate it.

 

[Hypereides]

Another vote for Confessions on a dancefloor. "Jump" is underrated in my book.

 

[T8SC]

This & The Prodigy - Fat of the Land were the two albums of 1997 for me.

Back when albums meant something, with streaming now they seem to just come & go.

 

[Audiophile]

Always loved Frozen & Ray Of Light, get super-nostalgic for that period as it was on the radio all the time. Frozen has some of those off middle-eastern(?) vibes melded into it that I also loved in Sting's Desert Rose (which pairs really well with this in a playlist).

Got the '03 Vinyl last year and ripped it into the collection (better mastering than the CD/Streams). For £30 all-in on discogs I got that plus some singles on CD & 33RPM, plus a 12" 45RPM MAXI of Like A Prayer which sounds amazing:

I always loved this too:




It's odd to see her now unfortunately, barely seems like the same person.

 

[Drew1440]

Best era of Madonna, although I liked the music video for Rain

 

[SirTerry-T]

William Orbit is an unsung genius producer, up there with the very best.

 

[Pegasus Actual]

Like a Prayer was a banger, and basically everything else Madonna was total trash. crowderchangemymind.jpg

 

[*Nightwing]

Although not an album itself, Numa Numa is the greatest peice of female pop ever performed and captured for all humanity to forever relish and enjoy

 

[Alcibiades]

Wow hadn't heard Frozen in 20+ years. I had forgotten about the song, but I clicked on the Youtube video, all came back after a few seconds and I started anticipating the melody and even some of the lyrics came back. These are all great songs. I didn't grow up with Madonna exactly (born in '82 and didn't get really into music until about '97) when I was about to enter high school, so this is the Madonna I'm most familiar with and not the 80's stuff. As a grown adult I've gone back and listened to some 80's stuff which is good too though. Can't believe my mind had forgotten my intro to Madonna but just a few seconds of listening triggered and got me remembering.

I had also forgotten how Power of Goodbye went but after a few seconds of listening it came back as well and I vividly remember using my mouth to try to recreate that "thru-tu-tu-tu..." sound at . My friend laughed her ass off when I would do that in HS.

Ray of Light I remembered the main parts without listening at all, even though it's probably my least favorite compared to the other two I've mentioned.

 

[Dirk Benedict]

I like a lot of her earlier discography, however... she's dead to me, in general. I won't go into it. It is what it is.

 

[HoodWinked]

I think I started to listen to the album after it was used to promote Windows XP.

 

[Erebus]

Oh man the nostalgia hit hard, I was 10/11 back then and it was everywhere on the radio and MTV.

 

[kruis]

Ray of Light is the only Madonna album I've ever bought. It just goes to show how important a producer is, in this case William Orbit. It also helps that Patrick Leonard was one of the main song writers on this album

 

[12Goblins]

dam... power of goodbye brings me back . used to listen to that on repeat

rest of the album seems pretty trash. Frozn is good, but ray of light is so, so bad

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Ray of Light is the only Madonna album I've ever bought. It just goes to show how important a producer is, in this case William Orbit. It also helps that Patrick Leonard was one of the main song writers on this album

Most of Madonna's best material was done with him. He said recently in an interview that basically the entire song Live to Tell was written almost entirely by Madonna and they used the first take of the song (the first full take) as the final version of it because it was just raw when compared to the others:

Patrick Leonard speaks about it here:



(watch the full video for a random story that includes Madonna, Michael Jackson, Sean Penn and a few other crazy things that would only happen in the 80's)

He also mentions how her record label was scared as hell when Madonna wanted this as a first single for her new album because her previous hit singles were literally Like Virgin, Material Girl, Into The Groove, etc lmao...and she ended up getting ANOTHER #1 hit with this masterpiece from Patrick Leonard:



Since we're talking about Patrick Leonard...their collaboration is honestly quite fruitful. Look at this:









The incredibly underrated I'll Remember from the movie With Honors (big hit at the time, she forgets it even exists):



Then the songs in the OP that belong on Ray of Light: Frozen, The Power of Goodbye, etc.

These songs couldn't be more different from each other. I honestly wish i lived through the 80's (well except for the AIDS epidemic) and 90's. Pop culture after MTV debuted was simply crazy. 90's was peak MTV- videostar to me, really.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Ray of Light is my favorite Madonna song.

 

[TGO]

I own one Madonna album

 

[intbal]

Eh, it's no She's So Unusual.

I'm not even a Cyndi Lauper fan. But this album redefined female pop when it came out.

 

[DryvBy]

I mostly know Madonna songs from the movie Snatch. (Lucky Star) and "Weird Al" parodies or polka. Ray of Light was on a polka so that's how I know the song.

 

[Darkmakaimura]

Eh, it's no She's So Unusual.

I'm not even a Cyndi Lauper fan. But this album redefined female pop when it came out.

Trust me, it's good enough.

 

[Tiago Rodrigues]

Eh, it's no She's So Unusual.

I'm not even a Cyndi Lauper fan. But this album redefined female pop when it came out.

I mean…the singles were good bit thats it. I actually think Madonna’s debut was better ( Holiday, Borderline, Lucky Star, etc)