Ray of Light ● (1998) ● 'Ray of Light'

 

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To celebrate the 15th anniversary of Madonna's seventh studio album Ray of Light, Song of the Week brings you the five official singles from that era...

 

Background

Released as the second single 2 months after the album's release, title track Ray of Light was put together by a collection of writers - Madonna, William Orbit, Clive Maldoon, Dave Curtiss, Christine Ann Leach - with Madonna and Orbit on production. It incorporates rock, techno, trance and disco as well as a variety of sound effects, which aided it to become a standout on the album. Ray of Light was very well received by critics, commenting on its fresh, club-like genre, and this was reflected by the vast amount of music award nominations: Grammy Awards for Best Dance Recording and Best Music Video and MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year.

 

Ray of Light's chart success was less than Frozen's, but was still impressive with it reaching the Top 5 in UK (#2), Italy (#2), Canada (#3), US (#5) as well as #1 in Spain. As of 2010, Ray of Light has sold 275,000 copies in the UK.

 

Since the Drowned World Tour, Madonna has included Ray of Light on her set-lists, aside from the Re-invention Tour where she had to remove it as "as performing the song at the beginning of the show would hurt her voice beforehand".

 

Opinion

Thinking back to my childhood, I wasn't aware of many of Madonna songs aside from Music, Die Another Day, Hung Up, Sorry and this, Ray of Light. Before Hung Up came along, Ray of Light was my favourite - I remember being fascinated by the video and getting excited to hear it on the TV (obviously wasn't played frequently in the early 00s). Listening to it now I've decide it has re-overtaken The Power of Goodbye as my favourite single from the album, and I've always ranked it very high on my all-time Madonna singles. I love hearing live versions of the track, especially the performance live on The Oprah Winfrey Show: so much energy, perfect vocals and got the audience incredibly excited (not to mention Oprah herself! :lol:).

 

Versions

Album Version [5:19]

Radio Edit [4:33]

Sasha's Ultra Violet Mix [10:48]

Sasha's Ultra Violet Mix Radio Edit [5:10]

Sasha's Stripped Down Mix [5:04]

Sasha's Twilo Mix [10:59]

Victor Calderone Club Mix [9:29]

Victor Calderone Club Mix Radio Edit [4:55]

Victor Calderone Drum Mix [5:29]

Victor Calderone Video Mix

William Orbit Liquid Mix [8:08]

William Orbit Liquid Mix Radio Edit [5:13]

William Orbit Ultra Violet Mix [7:00]

 

Videos

Official Music Video:

 

The Oprah Winfrey Show performance:

 

If you have any requests for Song of the Week, feel free to PM me or SweetCandy! Also, I've added links to previous Songs of the Weeks below, so if you missed one, please do comment in them.

 

Songs of the Week

Week 1: I Know It

Week 2: Bad Girl

Week 3: Jump

Week 4: Sky Fits Heaven

Week 5: Causing a Commotion

Week 6: Die Another Day

Week 7: Dress You Up

Week 8: Frozen

Week 9: Ray of Light

This song never gets old for me , it's such a great vocal from her with another incredible video! The videos from this album were all stunning !!!

 

Live this song rocks the stadium / arena, I do however hope that a dance version can return to her next tour !

Was annoyed all saints beat this to number 1 but the album had sold tremendously well by then.

I've never really been drawn to ray of light when I'm playing the album, however I do love the live version Especially her playing the guitar the S&S tour version rocks I know most fans don't like her doing it but I love it, I missed it on the MDNA tour it should of replaced an "oldie but goodie" like, like a prayer or open your heart. On a side note the maxi single has some really good remixes.

 

This song never gets old for me , it's such a great vocal from her with another incredible video! The videos from this album were all stunning !!!

 

Live this song rocks the stadium / arena, I do however hope that a dance version can return to her next tour !

Was annoyed all saints beat this to number 1 but the album had sold tremendously well by then.

I've been listening to the single version/Celebration version all week! :wub: I agree with how great the videos from this era were, Ray of Light is certainly my favourite though. It would have been a brilliant number one, but unfortunately would be regarded as a 'non-number one' due to it's fall to #8 in it's second week. Although it's legacy and eventual 47 weeks in the chart would say otherwise! :P

 

I've never really been drawn to ray of light when I'm playing the album, however I do love the live version Especially her playing the guitar the S&S tour version rocks I know most fans don't like her doing it but I love it, I missed it on the MDNA tour it should of replaced an "oldie but goodie" like, like a prayer or open your heart. On a side note the maxi single has some really good remixes.

Quite surprising you don't get drawn to this, it's definitely a standout for me, purely because it's an upbeat song from an album full of calm and slow paced songs. Just had a listen to the rock version, you're right, it's brilliant! Adds to the edginess of the song and the audience seemed to love it - Ray of Light seems to always be a crowd pleaser, as seen in the Oprah performance! Great vocals too.

 

Yeah, when I used to play the album regularly when it was new, I always used to play Candy Perfume Girl & Skin I love these two songs, so I never really used to play the title track. It is a great song I can't deny that but only time I've been drawn to it is the live versions and the remixes (the William orbit ones are the best).