It's 30 years tomorrow since the release of Madonna's fourth album, Like a Prayer. The album marked a significant shift in Madonna's career both critically and creatively; the moment she transformed from pop star to artist. This would be her most ambitious and personal body of work to date, dealing with experiences past and present such as the death of her mother, her troubles with her husband and her complex relationship with her father, which she presented with great honesty and sincerity. It's musically progressive, incorporating elements of gospel, funk and soul into current pop sounds and it broadened the process of recording; the use of live instrumentation and unpolished vocals add different dynamics and heighten the emotion of the songs. All the while, the album remains as accessible as her past works. The underlying themes explored can transcend to listeners all over the world and Madonna's ear for well-rounded, catchy pop songs is still central to her craft.
Madonna's determination to expand her vision and push her creativity was duly rewarded, with Like a Prayer peaking at #1 in the vast majority of its charting territories and shifting 15 million copies. It spawned six singles, including the powerhouses of the title track and 'Express Yourself', and continues to be cited as one of the most influential, ground-breaking and essential albums of all time. As we reach its 30 year anniversary, let us confess our thoughts and memories.
I adore this album easily my favourite Madonna album. Although 15million is obviously incredible I've always been slightly surprised it hasn't outsold Like a Virgin and True Blue as it is vastly superior and they both sold over 20million. I wonder if the religious theme did in fact turn off quite a few of her Christian fans?
It remains her best album and i too am surprised it didn't beat the sales of Like a Virgin and True Blue.
I believe the religious theme may have lost her some sales, back then, Religion had far greater power than it does now.
The religious theme has nothing to do with the sales . 1989 was a low sales climate compared to when LAV and True Blue were released. Madonna’s fans started as all young girls . As Madonna got older I assume these fans moved on and then the gays came
I really want Till Death Do Us Part to be performed on a tour.
I think this album joins Ray of Light and Confessions to complete my Holy Trinity of Madonna albums. There's definitely the sense that Madonna has pushed herself creatively, yet it all comes across as authentic and from a place of truth. She bares her soul and cuts no corners in expressing her emotion, no matter how personal or tough the issues at hand may be. She works to her vocal strengths too and I like how a lot of the vocals were from one take or were left unpolished as that really gives extra weight to the lyrics.
'Til Death Do Us Part' has to be one of her best constructed songs. A great example of how she can present hard-hitting topics in the guise of upbeat, catchy pop. The manic melody perfectly captures Madonna's anxiety as she explores the breakdown of her marriage. "You're not in love with someone else / You don't even love yourself / Still I wish you'd ask me not to go" is my favourite lyric and sums up the conflict Madonna faces. The three ballads are really striking and are great examples of Madonna's passionate, heartfelt vocals. Credit to Pat Leonard too who delivers beautiful piano performances. 'Like a Prayer' and 'Express Yourself' are giants that continue to influence artists to this date; huge production, huge vocals, huge messages, huge fun.
There's only one song I struggle with here which is 'Love Song'. I can appreciate the sort of vibe they were going for and I do find it interesting for the first minute or so, but then it just plods along and doesn't go anywhere. I can't say it's a bad song, I just don't think it works as well as they hoped. I read that Madonna and Prince had a few writing sessions together but they didn't seem to connect or be able to finish anything, which makes sense going off 'Love Song'. I do quite like 'Act of Contrition' though - it's silly and funny, helping to lift the album back up after dealing with some heavy content throughout.
Outtakes
Angels With Dirty Faces - Written by Madonna and Patrick Leonard. First mentioned by Bruce Gaitsch in a 2006 interview with Peter Magennis: "I have a tape somewhere of some songs I had to learn parts from and none of these songs are on it. But there is a song called Angels with Dirty Faces on it that is killer". In July 2017, Patrick Leonard shared a 20-second clip on Instagram (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgbqvCUkaWg) and spoke this of the song:
"Angels"...is a song called "Angels With Dirty Faces" that M and I wrote for the album and ultimately must have decided wasn't good enough. Having said that, it's a finished song with her vocal that no one has ever heard and it's pretty darn good.
By Alien Means - Written by Prince, supposedly sent to Madonna but unknown whether she recorded a demo.
Bruce Baron writes:
This is actually an unreleased Prince (The Artist) tune supposedly sent to Madonna for recording consideration. I do not recall the exact source of this rumour, but it has been around for years, and was supposedly inspired by the 1990 Blonde Ambition Tour. It has never been established that Madonna actually recorded it with Prince or on her own. The Prince collectors usually have lots of bootleg unreleased tracks, but this one had never surfaced in the collectors market. Many are the demos he had sent to other female vocalists which he did quite often. Therefore I decided to request a listen at the copyright office to check it out. If this demo had been sent to me for consideration, it would be like the same feeling as receiving a totally "WRONG" piece of clothing as a birthday gift from a relative. "Thanks, it's - neat". The song appears to be about asking young people not to commit suicide: "Explore the interplanetary space between your mind. Don't go out by alien means". The instrumentation is a wild blend of guitars and percussion. Not much of a melody, but Prince in full form. His vocals are just as insane with multi-layered falsettos and voices. The date of creation on the registration is actually 1988, so this could not have been inspired by the 1990 BAT. It could be possible that it originates circa the Prince/Madonna duet "Love Song" and was then sent to her later? How much truth there is to this story we may never know, but this song did not make me think of Madonna when I heard it.
First There's a Kiss - Written and produced by Stephen Bray, existence confirmed himself. The song refers to safe sex and the friends Madonna had lost to AIDS.
Just A Dream - Written and produced by Madonna and Patrick Leonard. Madonna considered the song "too rock" for her so it was given to her backing vocalist Donna De Lory for her debut album. Madonna's appears on backing vocals. Donna's version can be heard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_C5Z4zs6cfg.
Love Attack - Written and produced by Stephen Bray, existence confirmed himself. Rejected for not fitting the sound of the album.
Possessive Love - Written by Patrick Leonard, Madonna and Jai Winding. Madonna's demo was given to Marilyn Martin and included on her 1988 album This is Serious. Marilyn's version can be heard https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAzqMIn2T7A.
Supernatural - Written by Madonna and Stephen Bray during the True Blue sessions but completed and recorded for Like a Prayer. Released as the B-side to 'Cherish'.
From Patrick Leonard's instagram:
I always find it interesting reading about the creative process of an album, learning about what worked and what didn't. It seems like none of the outtakes were unjustly missed off the album as it seems they either didn't fit the vision of the album or there were already similar songs on the album that did the trick ('First There's a Kiss' seems similar to 'Spanish Eyes' and 'Just a Dream' is like 'Cherish', very True Blue era). 'Just a Dream' is really catchy though and I can picture Madonna singing it; wouldn't have said it was 'too rock' either. I really like 'Supernatural' too.
Quite surprising that none of the outtakes seemed to have leaked. They're obviously out there if Patrick Leonard says he has access to them still.
I love this album. It's not in my top 3 from her (Confessions, RoL, True Blue (I think)) but it's certainly high up. The title track is obviously massive but even away from that there are so many moments on it that just feel me with every emotion under the sun. Special shoutout to 'Til Death Do Us Part' and 'Keep It Together'.
ALSO special mention to the tender moments on it: Oh Father and Promise to Try are two of her best ballads. Stunning, heartfelt, beautiful moments that never fail to stop me in my tracks and move me
On my I tunes then have combined both albums , not happy lol
Completely agree why wasn’t Til Death Do Us Part a single ? I would have preferred this instead of Keep It TOgether.
The video would have been amazing .
Maybe they went with KIT cos she sang it on BA tour.
Powered by Invision Power Board
© Invision Power Services