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Justice for LIKE A PRAYER


Andymad
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So, this isn’t a bashing post. After a few glasses of wine I decided to watch the Re-Invention Tour. Came across Like A Prayer after some fast forwarding. And I cringed. Did she ever get it right?

I mean, every live performance seems to have gotten it wrong. In my eyes. Like, what do I know, right? BAT wasn’t horrible. It was new, the Immaculate Collection version was bangin, people were into it. It was fun.

she has embraced the song more now but in the strangest way that I cannot comprehend. Every version she has sung since Sticky has been... well... flat. Hokey Pokey guitar strumming get these mild Garage Band beats. Why hasn’t she embraced the original version? THAT baseline. THAT electric guitar. THOSE organs. It baffles me because it’s incredibly beautiful and justifies the whole intention of the song. 
Look, I’m all for reinvention but... that song deserves better. 
 

What are your fav versions of Like A Prayer?

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Like Human Nature, I think it needs a good long rest from being performed live, and the key needs to come down considerably if it’s brought back in the future, to make the original version something she can sing again.

BAT Version was good but I fast forward it on every subsequent performance now. Partly because I’m absolutely sick of hearing it and because it drags so much. 

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Guest Nobody Knows Me

I personally loved the Sticky & Sweet Tour performance of Like a Prayer, but aside from that and Blond Ambition World Tour, I don’t tend to revisit many performances of the song either. I always wished she’d perform the song with more of the electric guitars, more of the organs, and more of a baseline. For me, the electric guitars especially are what makes the song so phenomenal. 

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It’s funny - when the drowned world tour came out everyone moaned that she had missed off like a prayer on the previous tours and now everyone is sick of it - I think it’s there to entice the not die-hard fans kind of like how Prince always sang purple rain in his tours - the BAT performance is my favourite as she used live drums in it - I’m sick of the backing tracks she uses now ? it’s just lazy 

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I see it as an anthem of hers. It's iconic and just a no brainer to pull it out whenever.  Certainly, she hasn't hit it out of the ball park when singing it, but for the most part, it's a huge crowd pleaser  It wasn't even part of the set list on Rebel Heart tour, but every time she sang it, people were living for it.  Again, vocally she may have struggled singing it for Rebel Heart and even MDNA, but I just love how the crowd was into it.  If I recall there were a few times she sang it on Rebel Heart, she sounded pretty good.

I never had an issue with the RIT version, but my favorites will be BAT and STICKY AND SWEET tour version. The inclusion of "Feels Like Home" was just bad ass.  I also enjoyed the Live 8 version even though she didn't sound that great.

 

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Blond Ambition performance of the song was rather brilliant. It really captured the emotion and 'feel' of the song and she made the performance so iconic. However, ALL other 'live' renditions of the song over the years have always fallen rather flat to me, getting progressively worse. As much as I adore the song (and I really do love it), she needs to retire it from her live repertoire... especially after her murder of the song at Eurovision... she simply cannot perform it well anymore (especially with her post-Evita voice). It is sad as it is very much the magnum opus of her back catalogue.

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23 hours ago, PWCCA said:

Blond Ambition performance of the song was rather brilliant. It really captured the emotion and 'feel' of the song and she made the performance so iconic. However, ALL other 'live' renditions of the song over the years have always fallen rather flat to me, getting progressively worse. As much as I adore the song (and I really do love it), she needs to retire it from her live repertoire... especially after her murder of the song at Eurovision... she simply cannot perform it well anymore (especially with her post-Evita voice). It is sad as it is very much the magnum opus of her back catalogue.

See, I don't get it?  Why would you suggest her to "retire" her most beloved and iconic song?  That's the one song most people (not just fans) think of when they think of her music.  That's the song most people are looking forward to hear from her.  Most established artists as her, has that one song everyone looks forward to hearing in concert.  Like a Prayer is that song.  Again, I'm speaking in general, just not the hard core fans.  No matter how bad she might sound singing, people join together and sing along and it completes the show for them.

I think of what @Vogueristasaid regarding the MDNA performance.  While it may not been the best version she sang, Voguerista remembers how Madonna and the song took a hold of the crowd.  And if I was to be honest, I recall having that same feeling during the MDNA performance and the few times I saw her perform it on Rebel Heart Tour.  Most fans who have gone live to Madame X express the same feeling. 

Certainly, I think she should try to keep her future performances closest to the original and keep it simple, because I don't think anyone cares when they are there how off key she might be or if it packs the same punch as one's past future performance.  These days it's her Opus song, and people just enjoy hearing it and singing along with her. 

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1 hour ago, Amlo said:

I always thought she should do a ROCK version of the song, with more prominent guitars but...

We know, when there's guitars she...well...tends to shout....... so ...forget about it!

A long time ago before all the Fill in the blank "got talent shows", "idol shows", "Voice shows", etc, got extremely popular. there was an early version of Idol or something, I can't remember where this guy did this awesome rock version of the song. I saw it a couple of times and no longer can't find it.  

To me, it's a classic Madonna song that pretty much only Madonna can sing.  When she recorded it, she had the right sort of voice and vulnerability to it, that she hasn't really ever been able to recapture live.  Still, when she performs it, the crowd usually goes wild and it ends up being a sing along moment.  Every artist needs that moment in a concert. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Guest Nobody Knows Me

I would definitely love a rock version of “Like A Prayer” in the future. The rock guitar in the song is a highlight for me, so I would really like to hear more of it in the future. 

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I don't mind the Sticky & Sweet live version because it's so different and full of energy, but honestly, the BAT is the ultimate champ when it comes to the musicality and arrangement of the song. You just can't beat live instruments, period. I feel that a good percentage of "live" music now is recorded playback with just some additional live aspects. Back then, the serious bass, banging drums and fierce guitars were palpable, and you felt the music in your soul when performed. 

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Same! Bring back Niki to do the solo. I am not fan of the MX version. It sounds so cheap despite being a great song. I would hope she incorporates Prince's solo and other bits of the original version meanwhile modernizing it. She's never performed a variation of the album version. It's always closer to the remixes.

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