I'm happy with Like a Prayer being #3, wouldn't have been in my personal Top 3 but it's a strong album and is obviously iconic. 'Promise to Try' and 'Spanish Eyes' are the best non-singles for me, with 'Like a Prayer' and 'Oh Father' being particular highlights for me too.

 

I actually don't mind 'Love Song' either. I can see why people would be disappointed due to it being a big name duet though (personally I've never really liked Prince - 'Purple Rain' is awful imo!).

Like A Prayer hasn't aged that well really, only Love Song used to be a dud for me but things I loved at the time like Till Death Do Us Part just suffer from being a late 80s production.

 

no no no no no. Till Death... is still incredible, so powerful and cutting. probably my favourite Madonna track!

 

third for the album is fair though, it has its dark spots whereas the remaining two are much more fluid and cohesive pieces of work.

That's the top 5 singles I was expecting, all deservedly there. 'Sorry' is a touch too high in my opinion, but it's still a fabulous song.

Great presentation though, I've become somewhat hooked and check up regularly on this countdown I'll miss it when it's gone.

That's sweet. Stick(y) around <3

I'm listening to all of Madonnas albums and 'American Life' is one of her best. :wub:

 

NAY TO THE HATERS.

Faster than the speeding light she's flying

 

 

| 05 // Ray Of Light // Ray Of Light // 9.06 (3: jonjo, 4: fgiboy // 11: liam, jark, cassandra, aled, lex, liamk, jakewild, 10: mr_aly, johnkm, niallminogue, leww, randomfurlong, omie, dandy, gavindeejay, robswift, haus, oliver, mikemyers, adamaloud, )

 

The first of two tracks from 'Ray Of Light' in the top 5, the title track also becomes the first song to have a 9+ average. Released as the album's second single and offering an all the more uplifting tone to what can often be a deeply tense and mellow album, it's easy to see why it picked up so many fans. An electronic dance song, and one of the rare club/dance moments from the album, it was praised to the heavens by critics, amassing 3 Grammy nominations, eventually winning two of them: Best Dance Recording, and Best Short Form Music Video. The music video, directed by Jonas Åkerlund, went on to also scoop up 5 awards at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards as well as becoming one of the best-selling video singles, therefore becoming one of her most celebrated and iconic visual moments. The video extends the meaning of the song (primarily that of freedom) by showing cities around the world in all their fast paced beauty and vivacity. Madonna in the video is simple, as she often keeps away from the hustle and bustle that surrounds her (or is she simply the ray of light that shines above it all?). A incredibly infectious and joyous song, Madonna has explained that it is centrally a mystical look at the universe around us, and our small, insignificant part within it. The song is very much like this, it is a small snippet of joy in the midst of the huge gaping hole that makes up the rest of the album. It was blocked off the #1 spot in the UK by S Club 7~ but its legacy speaks for itself as it has gone on to become a hugely influential song, both in terms of forwarding the genre it belongs to, but also in cementing its place as one of the shining moments of light from the 90s as a whole.

:wub: have such fond memories of this song/video. It was about the first time that i started to watch music videos (mainly because they were always on at my cousin's house everyday after school) and probably one of the first times i actually started paying attention to music more generally :o

Ray Of Light is incredible, so bonkers and unique :wub:

 

 

Plus wasn't it an All saints song that blocked it from #1 I thought? :lol:

Beautiful Stranger was blocked by S Club 7, Ray Of Light was blocked by the awful All Saints cover of Lady Marmalade (and the slightly better cover of Under The Bridge).

Ahh yes you're right. Not sure if i'm more or less bitter about it now :P

ANNA FRIIIEEEEEELLLLLL

 

I adore that song a lot though, 5th seems a justifiable placing for it.

I actually prefer Bring It All Back to Beautiful Stranger, albeit only marginally.

 

Ray Of Light stomps all over Lady Marmalade though, quite a chart injustice! All Saints No.1's were either incredible or horrifying.

I cannot put into words how much I love 'Ray of Light'! :wub: That final chorus where she gives everything she's got vocally is just immense! This was possibly the first Madonna song I heard, and to this day I can remember my 5 year old self seeing the video with the nightclub scenes and the bits where Madonna is stood in front of the sky backdrop. ICONIC. :heart:

Ray Of Light being 5th is better than I expected. Fully deserved though as it's INCREDIBLE.

Switch 'Ray Of Light' with 'The Power Of Goodbye' and YAS.

Strike a pose, there's nothing to it

 

 

| 04 // Vogue // I'm Breathless // 9.27 (0: jonjo, 6: robswift, simon // 11: mr_aly, leww, gezza, lex, adamaloud, sweetcandy, 10: liam, johnkm, niallminogue, luciano, randomfurlong, jark, titty, dandy, ultraviolence, jay, gavindeejay, cassandra, tyler, jsilv, aled, fgiboy, aarontm, liamk, jakewild)

 

From the sublime to the outrageous, camp and iconic. 'Vogue' could well be Madonna's most well known song, or at least her most quotable and the one most ingrained in our society. Coming at the start of the 90s, it looked back to previous generations of icons, as well as music, as it harks back to 70s disco and funk. An incredibly colourful pop/dance song, it is also one of Madonna's biggest selling singles, as it stormed to the top of over 30 countries in the year of its release and also became the biggest selling single of it selling over 6 million copies. Often imitated, covered, copied and cited, no one gives as good face as Madge. The David Fincher directed music video lent a hand in achieving this, and takes inspiration from 20s and 30s cinema; the golden ages of Hollywood are brought out not only lyrically, but also visually. Madonna is a diamond in the video completing owning her fashion. Winning 3 MTV Video Music Awards, it has gone on to be named as one of the single greatest music videos of all time in various publications. Cited also as further bringing dance music to the fore in the 90s, it helped to not only shape a generation of music lovers, but also of fashionistas, lovers of art, the homosexual community and the socially reclusive. 'Voguing' was a part of the underground gay subculture - Madonna made it mainstream and the song helped to cement her position not only as a musical icon, but also as a gay icon. In a real highlight of her career, the song's middle-8 rap section names 16 stars of the early-mid twentieth century and it's a bonkers, yet wholly tremendous moment when you consider just how widespread her influences have been borne out of. It's appreciative, but most of all it's a celebration not just of these past greats, but also of music, dance, love, fashion, and life as a whole.

 

Wasn't Ray of Light blocked by All Saints?

Vogue! :wub:

 

Such an iconic masterpiece! :wub:

 

 

YAS VOGUE YAS RAY OF LIGHT YASSSSSSSS

 

top 5 makes me more moist than a sticky toffee pudding

Don't particularly think much of 'Vogue', or 'Ray Of Light' for that matter. -_-