Madonna and I both share a birthday and it just so happens to be today. However, unlike Madonna, I don't have more money than I know what to do with, nor a million adoring fans. That's cool though. I'm fine with that.
The Queen of Pop dominated the 80's with albums such as, Like A Virgin, True Blue and more, and finished the decade with a bang when she released her 1989 Like A Prayer. Much like her prior albums, Like A Prayer provided plenty of controversial imagery and subjective lyrics to send all sorts of activists into an uproar. Despite this, the album stepped forward as one of her best and propelled Madonna to be named "Artist Of The Decade".
However, it's not 1989 anymore. Over twenty years have passed, and the question now becomes, "Does it stand the test of time?" Is Like A Prayer just as solid an album today as it was deemed to be in the last year of the 80's?
As the guitar riff signaling the beginning of the title track flared through the speakers, I admittedly got giddy. I was excited to dive into the album and was already being sucked in. This was cemented with the haunting voice of Madonna singing, "Life is a mystery..." From there, it took off into familiar and friendly territory.
Express yourself was up next and once again I was happy to hear a familiar and great track...
...Then track three started and slapped me upside the head. Wait...Madonna did a duet with Prince? Why was I not aware of this? How did I miss this? What the heck?!?!?! While Love Song isn't the strongest I've heard from both Madonna and Prince, I dug it. It was awesome to hear the two together. It was also great just to hear something from Prince I'd never heard before. As I looked into the track further, I found out that Prince contributed other music to the album, including the above noted guitar riff for the opening to Like A Prayer.
As I was soaking in the above information about Prince, I also had an ear finely tuned to the deep lyrics of Promise To Try. It was a solid song but kind of depressing at the same time. Fortunately, the tempo kicked up with Cherish for the following track. It's kind of hard not to like that one. I mean, you really have to be trying.
The last half(ish) of the album kept up the momentum and good music, but didn't really hit as high a note as the first part. Still, it was an excellent and well rounded listening session. Like A Prayer definitely stands the test of time and still remains one of the best in Madonna's catalog.
Before wrapping this post up, I wanted to just mention that there will be a few more posts today, so check back for those periodically.
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Thank you, thank you!
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