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'Like a Prayer' appreciation thread


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Why did you put a poll for this? Isn't that a little redundant since we all know what the winner will be and it should go in a separate thread anyway.

Can't you just remove the poll and get it moved back? Defeats the purpose of LAP month if the thread's going to be shunted to the poll sub forum.

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Love love this album and all the songs from it!!! My ranking:

1. Promise to Try

2. Express Yourself

3. Oh Father

4. Like A Prayer

5. Cherish

6. Keep It Together

7. Dear Jessie

8. Spanish Eyes

9. Love Song

10.Act Of Contrition

11. Til Death Do Us Part

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I loved LAV, TB, WTG...but this was the album that made me a true fan.I remember that in the beguinnning I didn´t like LAP, the song, because it had a weird rythn, it wasn´t a ballad and it wasn´t a dance song,I only loved the last part with the choir.I remember talking to a friend of mine telling him that it wasn´t a good song, that La isla bonita was better...well, obviously I changed my mind.but one strange thing about this album is that everybody surrounding me loved it, all my class, even the heavies, the punks...they liked it.

and a favourite song...I´ve choosen PTT, yes, but I could have choosen any of them, they are great, and right now, 20 years later, i feel very nostalgiuc about those years, the friends...

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Simply the greatest album of Madonna's career, and her most critically acclaimed album. :)

Rolling Stone Magazine said it best, it is "as close to art as pop music gets."

I can't pick just one or a few songs that were great about this album. As an overall piece of work, it just works so well together, and I believe it to be her most consistent album from an artistic standpoint.

I truly believe this era and particularly the title track cemented Madonna's icon status in pop music. For the first time, we had an album that was raw, introspective, and gave a vulnerable side of Madonna that we'd hardly ever seen before or even after. It comes off as less calculated than say Ray Of Light , her other artistic triumph.

20 years later, it still holds up well and it still exposes to us the true artistry of this woman and the greatness she is capable of.

I'm waiting for this album to be remastered, Warner! :hurt:

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LIKE A PRAYER album is an amazing body of work.

my fav tracks are...

3. CHerish

2. KEep it together

1. LIke a prayer.

the whole album is great tho...

i remember people saying :

"shes so sexy, why is she putting her

hands on the cover?"

and i said...

"but its also her crotch."

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Simply the greatest album of Madonna's career, and her most critically acclaimed album. :)

Rolling Stone Magazine said it best, it is "as close to art as pop music gets."

I can't pick just one or a few songs that were great about this album. As an overall piece of work, it just works so well together, and I believe it to be her most consistent album from an artistic standpoint.

I truly believe this era and particularly the title track cemented Madonna's icon status in pop music. For the first time, we had an album that was raw, introspective, and gave a vulnerable side of Madonna that we'd hardly ever seen before or even after. It comes off as less calculated than say Ray Of Light , her other artistic triumph.

20 years later, it still holds up well and it still exposes to us the true artistry of this woman and the greatness she is capable of.

I'm waiting for this album to be remastered, Warner! :hurt:

:clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

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I loved LAV, TB, WTG...but this was the album that made me a true fan.I remember that in the beguinnning I didn´t like LAP, the song, because it had a weird rythn, it wasn´t a ballad and it wasn´t a dance song,I only loved the last part with the choir.I remember talking to a friend of mine telling him that it wasn´t a good song, that La isla bonita was better...well, obviously I changed my mind.but one strange thing about this album is that everybody surrounding me loved it, all my class, even the heavies, the punks...they liked it.

and a favourite song...I´ve choosen PTT, yes, but I could have choosen any of them, they are great, and right now, 20 years later, i feel very nostalgiuc about those years, the friends...

The same with me!.. This is the first Madonna album that I didn't immediately like; in fact, I remember being disappointed listening to it the first time. Like, God! where's the aerobics music??? But upon repeat listening, LAP proved to be the most rewarding of all her albums and I appreciated its artistry and rich layers more and more. It is truly an AMAZING work, one that majestically holds up til now and one that I think NONE of her contemporaries/rivals or the newer artists have been able to match.

My personal favorite is PTT, too. So beautiful, so touching, so heartfelt-- LOVE it in TOD.. The LAP single was an experience, with the video, the controversy, the brunette harlot look (gorgeous!), the stigmata, the sound. But all the songs are top notch. However, Madonna shouting, "What do you mean it's not in the computer!!!" frightened me! :chuckle:

---

btw, I'm surprised that some here don't like (Pray for) Spanish Eyes, it's a great song with a beautiful melody and is sung with heartfelt intensity. I LOVE IT!

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Rolling Stone Magazine said it best, it is "as close to art as pop music gets."

was that not Q magazine that said that? not that it matters in the slightest but still :lmao:

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  • 4 weeks later...

I don't understand how the RS review was 3 1/2 stars with that kind of write-up. They barely criticised it. Surely it was a typo and it should've been 4 1/2, unless they marked it down cause it was "pop music" and not art.

By the way, that NME review is pretty special, I only recall a handful of albums ever getting 10/10, Massive Attack's Blue Lines, Screamadelica by Primal Scream, REM's Automatic For The People and the first Arctic Monkeys album.

I've hardly ever seen it, most ACCLAIMED albums get 8/10 and 9/10 is usually the highest mark, very rare indeed.

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I had already fallen in love with Madonna prior to '89 (what teenaged gay boy in the '80s hadn't fallen in love with her?), but this was the album that sealed the deal. From start to finish, it's absolute perfection and remains my favorite Madonna album.

The songs, the singles, her look(s), the videos... they all add up to one of the greatest eras in her career.

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Excellent album with just a few minor flaws (the god-awful bore "Keep it Together" and the pointless "Act of Contrition"). Lot's of great memories here...Madonna was in her prime. LAP is not my all time fav Madonna album but it's still up there with Erotica and ROL.

It's a shame the unreleased songs from the LAP sessions have yet to see the light of day! :rant:

For me the best songs are the title cut, Oh Father, Till Death, Spanish Eyes and Promise to Try.

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I don't understand how the RS review was 3 1/2 stars with that kind of write-up. They barely criticised it. Surely it was a typo and it should've been 4 1/2, unless they marked it down cause it was "pop music" and not art.

By the way, that NME review is pretty special, I only recall a handful of albums ever getting 10/10, Massive Attack's Blue Lines, Screamadelica by Primal Scream, REM's Automatic For The People and the first Arctic Monkeys album.

I've hardly ever seen it, most ACCLAIMED albums get 8/10 and 9/10 is usually the highest mark, very rare indeed.

ROLLING STONE, especially in the 80's, very rarely gave any pop album more then three stars. You had to be considered "alternative" and rock to warrent more than a few stars. I remember many of the best pop albums from that time period were rated three stars or less. It was RS's way of trying to look "cool".

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This is my 3rd favorite album behind COADF and TB, which is my favorite.

My ranking of tracks from best to worst is:

Like a Prayer (one of her best songs) (7" version is best)

Oh Father (also one of her best songs)

Cherish

Express Yourself (7" version is best, the one that sounds like the album version but has more punch, which I believe was the version on the radio)

Keep It Together (I think the original is better than the Shep remix)

Promise to Try

Spanish Eyes

Dear Jessie

Till Death Do Us Part

Love Song (Madonna and Prince together is a genius idea. Would've liked to have heard something else with them together.)

Act of Contrition (don't really count this as a song, more like an outro)

I love all the songs and never skip anything. I wish my copy had the little story about AIDS and the scent of patchouli. Also this album is in DESPERATE need of a remaster. The sound quality is terrible.

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Are you talking about the CD or the vinyl? Which one do you own?

It needs to be remastered for CD. The original CD is ok but it could use some remastering skills. I was surprised (and a little shocked) when the first three CD's were remastered and re-released...why did they stop after True Blue? I hope Warner will finally DEMAND that the albums be re-released with unreleased songs. Everyone knows there are probably completed unreleased songs from all the albums (except maybe the first one, which has unreleased different versions of the songs by different producers).

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Oh, ok, I was curious cause I think about buying both the CD and the vinyl of her 80s albums sometime in the near future. I guess I'll wait a bit longer. But does the vinyl sound better than the CD (if anyone knows)?

I hope Warner will finally DEMAND that the albums be re-released with unreleased songs.

Although not likely, but...YES, please :D:clap:

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one of her best albums. it was all leading up to this. everyone was infatuated with madonna, then she became an international star during the who's that girl tour and by the time 89 rolled around, people wanted to be let inside. it was perfect.

Perfectly said Pud, as always---a True Blue fan you are!

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Magical outing for Madge. This is the type of album that- if anyone ever wonders- separates her from her pop contemporaries, male or female. That NME review pretty much summed it up.

Madonna said every album should have one super sentimental song- and this album's is "Cherish." "Dear Jessie" isn't so much about sentiment, but a childhood fantasy- and that transition into "Oh Father"- has there ever been a better segue, sonically or thematically?

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Magical outing for Madge. This is the type of album that- if anyone ever wonders- separates her from her pop contemporaries, male or female. That NME review pretty much summed it up.

Madonna said every album should have one super sentimental song- and this album's is "Cherish." "Dear Jessie" isn't so much about sentiment, but a childhood fantasy- and that transition into "Oh Father"- has there ever been a better segue, sonically or thematically?

Right you are HG!!! Just incredible sounds/themes all-around...

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