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Your Opinion On Like A Prayer?


50ft Queenie
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 Ok, time for round 3 of me ranting about Madonna's body of work. This album is hands down the best thing she ever put out in the 80's and better than all her 90's music except for Erotica and Ray of Light in my opinion. Express Yourself might be my favorite Madonna song, it is the ultimate anthem of what she has done her entire career. The artistic growth from her debut up to LAP is incredible, especially when it comes to her music videos, Oh Father being my favorite one for personal reasons, it was her first album that really got to me in an emotional way. Even the tracks I was not initially crazy about like Love Song have grown on me over the years I was aware and interested in Madonna from the start but Like A Prayer was the album that made me a lifelong fan, even the cover is amazing, so simple and sexy at the same time. This album will always be pop perfection in my mind and a top 4 Madonna album. It is literally all the best things about her rolled into one, it is fun, controversial, danceable, thought provoking. emotional, rocking and the greatest way she could ever have closed out the first phase of her career and transitioned into the 90's, it has really stood the test of time better than any 80's pop record by a female artist in my opinion, always fresh and exciting, I never get tired of it.  What does everyone else think about Like A Prayer?

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OK, unpopular opinion here: The best album and era for me IF YOU REPLACE the album versions with the single versions and you include Vogue and Supernatural (because "Vogue" is like "Supernatural", a B-Side from "Like A Prayer" era). I love all tracks. And the video-clips are masterpieces, specially "Express Yourself", "Oh, Father" and "Vogue" (remember again, the song was created as B-Side. It doesn't belong to "I'm Breathless"). 

And the "Blond Ambition Tour" and "The Immaculate Collection" enhanced my love for "Like A Prayer". It was the perfect era.

 

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3 minutes ago, Aiwa08 said:

OK, unpopular opinion here: The best album and era for me IF YOU REPLACE the album versions with the single versions and you include Vogue and Supernatural (because "Vogue" is like "Supernatural", a B-Side from "Like A Prayer" era). I love all tracks. And the video-clips are masterpieces, specially "Express Yourself", "Oh, Father" and "Vogue" (remember again, the song was created as B-Side. It doesn't belong to "I'm Breathless"). 

And the "Blond Ambition Tour" and "The Immaculate Collection" enhanced my love for "Like A Prayer". It was the perfect era.

 

Supernatural? The really weird song about fucking a ghost? 

The Office Reaction GIF

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Ok, crucial on her carreer and on her becoming the legend she is, she sacrificed a bit on commerciality in order to become more serious and organic as an artist, and she achieved it. Like a prayer or Express yourself are icons on their own, cherish is lovely as Dear jessie is. I like a lot keep it together and I ´m always very emotional with Oh Father and promise to try. Till death do us part is a bit like Erotica would be a few years later. And act of contriction is a very clever and fun and aristic way of ending an album like this. 

 

But let´s be real: she sings out of key on some of the tracks and other songs could have been better: Love song anybody? Spanish eyes?

A great album, but not her very best. I did not lived that era with her as i was a kid, and I know what it means for her and her carreer, but I think this is one of the albums that you play out of context and you say: overated? 

 

PD: I love that demo about the dirty angels..it´s strange but I like her vocals a lot.

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33 minutes ago, Drownedboy said:

But let´s be real: she sings out of key on some of the tracks and other songs could have been better: Love song anybody? Spanish eyes?

I love both of them. "Pray for Spanish Eyes" was released as a single in my country because radio stations played it many times (more than Cherish or Dear Jessie). I don't remember another "non-single" track being played on the radio stations. Maybe Express Yourself (Immaculate Version) being B-Side instead Justify My Love.

First I hated "Love Song", but one day, I started to love that song. 

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53 minutes ago, Drownedboy said:

Ok, crucial on her carreer and on her becoming the legend she is, she sacrificed a bit on commerciality in order to become more serious and organic as an artist, and she achieved it. Like a prayer or Express yourself are icons on their own, cherish is lovely as Dear jessie is. I like a lot keep it together and I ´m always very emotional with Oh Father and promise to try. Till death do us part is a bit like Erotica would be a few years later. And act of contriction is a very clever and fun and aristic way of ending an album like this. 

 

But let´s be real: she sings out of key on some of the tracks and other songs could have been better: Love song anybody? Spanish eyes?

A great album, but not her very best. I did not lived that era with her as i was a kid, and I know what it means for her and her carreer, but I think this is one of the albums that you play out of context and you say: overated? 

 

PD: I love that demo about the dirty angels..it´s strange but I like her vocals a lot.

Couldn't have said it better ?

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Another masterpiece. What a slap. I still remember the surprise when the single LAP was first broadcast on the radio and the clip on TV (ditto for the release of EY). I am so happy to have lived this period as a teenager. It was unbelievable. Everything is iconic. Like a prayer is one of the best pop song ever. This new chapter have bring her to legends
Ps: Supernatural is a fucking good track :heart:

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Her best album from the 80s by far. Every song is amazing and had single potential. And the closing with Act Of Contrition is brilliant. 
If I had one complaint is that Stephen Bray did a pretty bad job as a producer on Express Yourself and KIT. Luckily they were both saved by Shep eventually.

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6 hours ago, Aiwa08 said:

OK, unpopular opinion here: The best album and era for me IF YOU REPLACE the album versions with the single versions and you include Vogue and Supernatural (because "Vogue" is like "Supernatural", a B-Side from "Like A Prayer" era). I love all tracks. And the video-clips are masterpieces, specially "Express Yourself", "Oh, Father" and "Vogue" (remember again, the song was created as B-Side. It doesn't belong to "I'm Breathless"). 

And the "Blond Ambition Tour" and "The Immaculate Collection" enhanced my love for "Like A Prayer". It was the perfect era.

 

I don’t know if Vogue fits in with the rest of this album. I feel like it’s the perfect closer to I’m Breathless

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1 hour ago, thegoldencalf said:

I don’t know if Vogue fits in with the rest of this album. I feel like it’s the perfect closer to I’m Breathless

Vogue is like the sister of Express Yourself and Kit (Shep's remix). Vogue belongs to "Like A Prayer" (it was created for the "Like A Prayer" era). The perfect closer to I'm Breathless is I'm Following You (part II). 

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I like it because it's arguably her first album created to be a body of work as opposed to a collection of singles. 

2 hours ago, Aiwa08 said:

Vogue is like the sister of Express Yourself and Kit (Shep's remix). Vogue belongs to "Like A Prayer" (it was created for the "Like A Prayer" era). The perfect closer to I'm Breathless is I'm Following You (part II). 

I agree. Maybe if they used the Shep remixes of Express Yourself and Keep It Together instead of the original album versions, people would be more used to idea of it fitting in with the rest of the album. It's unfortunate that it will be associated with I'm Breathless instead of Like a Prayer when they do the reissues. 

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I have to be really in the mood to listen to this album as a whole. With the exception of "Til Death Do Us Part" and the original production on "Express Yourself", it's probably her most timeless album. TDDUP would have done really well as a single at the time though. The music videos were perfection of course. I wish LAP had gotten a big awards show performance at the time. The live versions of the songs from this album for BA are the best versions.  I'm still waiting for the day she randomly breaks out "Promise To Try" live. I'm not sure she knows just how crazy people would go if she dug in the catalog like that.

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4 hours ago, Aiwa08 said:

Vogue is like the sister of Express Yourself and Kit (Shep's remix). Vogue belongs to "Like A Prayer" (it was created for the "Like A Prayer" era). The perfect closer to I'm Breathless is I'm Following You (part II). 

It’s not. It was recorded way after LAP was completed and with a different intention than the songs on the album.

There are similarities to the mixes but not to anything on the actual album. Also the lyrical content is totally out of sync with the rest of the songs.

Like A Prayer is a concept album dealing with specific themes and closes full circle with Act Of Contrition. There’s no room for anything else on it. 

Also there’s a conceptual intent of Vogue as a closer for I’m breathless that was brilliantly done. By transitioning with Following part II from the period sound to contemporary. While keeping the theme of the album through the lyrics.

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Undoubtedly the best album from the 80s. Sadly, it's the least recognized because of it's slightly weird single rollout (resulting in her lowest charting singles at that time). The album is perfect from start to finish. It displayed true artistic growth with some of her most personal lyrics at that time and it has aged the best out of her 80s albums.

Unfortunately, she barely included half of the album on BAT, while gems like Till Death Do Us Part and Spanish Eyes (two of my faves) were left to rot.

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1 minute ago, thegoldencalf said:

It’s not. It was recorded way after LAP was completed and with a different intention than the songs on the album.

There are similarities to the mixes but not to anything on the actual album. Also the lyrical content is totally out of sync with the rest of the songs.

Like A Prayer is a concept album dealing with specific themes and closes full circle with Act Of Contrition. There’s no room for anything else on it. 

Also there’s a conceptual intent of Vogue as a closer for I’m breathless that was brilliantly done. By transitioning with Following part II from the period sound to contemporary. While keeping the theme of the album through the lyrics.

Couldn't agree more. Yes, Vogue was created as b-side for Keep It Together but it was written and produced when she had long passed her LAP mindset and was already mentally in her I'm Breathless era.

Vogue is the perfect closing track for IB and Act of Contrition is the perfect closing track for LAP. 

Regarding Supernatural, it's easily better than Love Song and Dear Jessie but it don't really think it fits in with the rest of the album. It was also created in 1988 as potential holiday AA-Side with Santa Baby, so once again...probably meant for something else and thus not belonging on LAP.

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I'm pretty sure Im breathless isn't going to get the Reissue treatment. and Vogue will live on The Immaculate Collection Reissue where it belongs. IMHO it doesn't belong on I'm Breathless or Like a Prayer. Although I have to say I never thought about what @thegoldencalf said about it following the  NIFY Remix transition, that does make more sense than I gave it. But it always seems out of place to me except for on the Immaculate Collection. 

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10 minutes ago, RUADJAI said:

I'm pretty sure Im breathless isn't going to get the Reissue treatment. and Vogue will live on The Immaculate Collection Reissue where it belongs. IMHO it doesn't belong on I'm Breathless or Like a Prayer. Although I have to say I never thought about what @thegoldencalf said about it following the  NIFY Remix transition, that does make more sense than I gave it. But it always seems out of place to me except for on the Immaculate Collection. 

 Im Breathless will not be included in this reissue campaign, the official statement seemed to only make mention of her studio albums. The weird thing about Vogue is that the track feels so out of place on Im Breathless, the song was so big when it came out but everyone thought of it as a single. I agree with you that it belongs on the Immaculate Collection. 

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