Like a Virgin [Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered]

Madonna | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 22, 2001)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Label: Warner Bros / Wea
• ASIN: B00005J6SZ
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (168 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #17,702 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Material Girl

2. Angel

3. Like A Virgin

4. Over And Over

5. Love Don't Live Here Anymore

6. Dress You Up

7. Shoo-Bee-Doo

8. Pretender

9. Stay

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Madonna's second album was her breakthrough, thanks principally to two gimmicky hits: the sinuous "Like a Virgin," with its taboo-busting metaphor for that fresh, clean new-love feeling, and the cutesy, Betty-Boopsy "Material Girl." Most of the rest of the album, although similarly frothy, is superior to those warhorses, notably the irresistible LP tracks "Over and Over," and "Pretender"--which adds a bit of gossamer delicacy to the mandatory bounciness. "Dress You Up" is a Madonna classic, an insubstantial dance-pop delight bedecked in synthesized bells and replete to the beat with kinky suggestions. And there's a sign of greater depth to come in her cover of Rose Royce's elegiac ballad "Love Don't Live Here Anymore," a heartfelt vocal supported by a subtle, gorgeous arrangement helmed by producer Nile Rodgers and his two key Chic instrumental compatriots, Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson. --Ken Barnes

Product Description

CD > POPULAR MUSIC > ROCK

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Way Better Than You Remember It July 26, 2006

By Peter Marinari

Format:Audio CD

Madonna has never exactly been a critical darling, and Like A Virgin often catches the most flack from the opinionated masses. Through its two biggest singles her second album introduced both the idea of Madonna as "Boy Toy" and originating her virgin/[...] image. However, discounting this effort as a simple paean to eighties culture or debating whether or not the popular music Reagan's first term in office was truly better than disco ignores Madonna's first fully realized piece of pop masterpiece, one of only two discs that were released free of the immense baggage that her image and reputation would soon provide.

Both "Material Girl" and "Like A Virgin" were written for Madonna by outside songwriters, a practice she would forever escape starting with her next full-length effort. Take these hits for what they are - a move just as calculated as Madonna's wardrobe. In fact, a team that was also writing for Cyndi Lauper, who was Madonna's prime competition at the time, penned one of the two.

It was "Like A Virgin" that launched Madonna into the stratosphere after she performed it as a slutty wedding-day centerpiece on the MTV Music Video Awards, wisely escaping before the cake was cut only to wind up writhing around on the stage in a wedding dress and famous "boy toy" belt. However, the massive single that it often obscures is the much-less squeaky "Dress You Up," whose delivery defuses accusations that Madonna wasn't much of a singer. Here she is desperate, insisting that she will dress you in her love at the top of her lungs. You are inclined to believe her.

Also, feel free to ignore the weird dancehall bounce and edgy synthesizers of "Material Girl," which don't have much of an effect on the rest of the proceedings.... That massive hit all but erased the memory of the Madonna penned single "Angel," which neatly takes all of the musical themes of her first album and moves them inexorably forward towards pop perfection with the help of Nile Rodgers hip production. Despite the overpowering array of synthesizers brought to bare on this disc, there's something very real here: chirping guitars and the subtle under-harmony to Madonna's wisely under-delivered chorus are both details that make this a classic.

Like A Virgin also offers the first two ballads of Madonna's career; the later-remixed turn on "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" (a cover, which is rare for Mad), but also "Shoo Bee-Doo" -- the classy b-side to "Dress You Up." On this solo Madonna writing-credit we almost manage to lose the synthesizers entirely, and along the way pick up live piano and drums as well as the classic callback backing vocals that would go on to be a Madonna trademark on "Express Yourself" and "Vogue."

There are only three other songs on this short effort. "Over and Over" features frantic tic-tok percussion and is a perfect embodiment of pop, more-so than either of this album's infamous singles. "Pretender" is dramatically overwrought, but watching Madonna get worked into frenzy has never been boring. And album closer "Stay" sounds genuine and bounces throughout, an easy bridge from underdeveloped fare to the more adult hits from the more acclaimed True Blue.

Is there anything so horrible about this disc? If you still resent Madonna's international superstardom, then maybe yes. However, when it comes to popular music from the eighties this is one of the absolute zeniths, and it also bears the mark of an important step in Madonna's unstoppable journey towards becoming the most famous woman on the planet. And, to top it all off, it's her best and most under-appreciated disc up through the masterpiece Like A Prayer.

Really, when was the last time you listened to it? Read more ›

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Shiny and new October 22, 2005

By Westley TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

Madonna's second release, "Like a Virgin," made her a superstar and moved her from pure dance to a more pop- and R&B-tinged sound. Released in 1984, everything about this CD is superb. Madonna's voice was much improved from her debut (although still a bit thin compared to her later vocals), and the production by Nile Rodgers is first-rate. The first single, "Like a Virgin," was a mega-smash, logging 6 weeks at #1; it would be 7 years before another song had that many weeks at #1 - Bryan Adam's "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You." The song even made the Top 10 on the R&B chart! At the time, the song was a bit scandalous but today it's pretty tame. However, anyway you look at it, "Like a Virgin" is a great pop song. The video was also her first high-budget effort; although her writhing in a Venice gondola and being seduced by a man in a lion's mask are more than a bit silly, it's also a gorgeous video.

Three subsequent singles were released and made the Top 5. "Material Girl" became an anthem of sort. The video may have featured an actress spurning the advances of a wealthy lothario in favor of a poor, truck-driving Keith Carradine, but the message of the song suggested the opposite - Madonna proudly proclaimed her love of fame and power. The song helped make Madonna the Marilyn Monroe of the 80s, and gave her the dreaded nickname she tried vainly to abandon for many years. The third single was a bit of a surprise to me - "Angel." It's a beautiful song, but not as catchy or immediate as a number of other songs on the CD. It peaked at #5. "Dress You Up" was the final release, making it to #5. Shockingly, the song was included in the "Filthy Fifteen" published by Tipper Gore's Parent Music Resource Center, presumably for the rather tame reference to "velvet kisses...." It's a terrific pop song that's not the slightest bit profane.

"Love Don't Live Here Anymore" is another highlight - a lush remake of the Rose Royce 70s hit. I loved the song when "Like a Virgin" was initially released and wanted it released as a single. However, Madonna subsequently remixed the song and included it on her 1996 ballad collection (Something to Remember); the song was belatedly made the chart, although it sputtered out at #78. "Shoo-Bee-Doo" is another terrific song - it combines seamlessly a 60s girl group sound with 80s pop. Arguably the most dance-oriented song is "Over and Over," and it's very good. "Stay" has a great drum-loop unusual for a Madonna song. Finally, "Pretender" is arguably the weakest of the bunch, but still a pretty decent song.

Overall, the songs are much more diverse on "Like a Virgin" than on her first record, "Madonna." Her growth as an artist really started here and would continue over the next two decades. Although "Like a Virgin" is probably not Madonna's best CD, it ranks right up there, particularly if you like the more "pop" side of her music. Most highly recommended. Read more ›

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars THE ALBUM THAT MADE MADONNA AN ICON April 16, 2009

By Prof SR Shabalala

Format:Audio CD

"Like a Virgin" honestly is not my favorite album from Madonna, but I do remember it vividly as a kid, it was the first time I noticed Madonna, this beautiful, playful, spunky young lady with the confidence to match. I remember how the title track rocked the world along with its video. Other songs on the album that I remember well are "Dress you up", "Over and Over", "Angel" "Material Girl" and "Pretender". This is the album that made Madonna into an MTV Pop Icon, a classic.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Like a Virgin February 26, 2011

By Geminigirl

Format:Audio CD

Madonna did not experience a sophomore slump with this album - in fact this is the one that launched her into pop superstardom!

Her risque performance of the title track on the MTV awards show heightened anticipation for the album and the clever video for MATERIAL GIRL (a song with a strong opening drum beat & bass backing) helped cement her place as an icon.

I've found though that my favorite tracks are the ones that Madonna co-wrote or wrote by herself:

SHOO BEE-DOO - ballad that begins with a sweet acoustic vocal from Madonna and kicks into a doo-wopish sound; I can't hear this track enough even to this day;

OVER & OVER - love the lyrics of this song "and if at first you don't succeed, here's some advice that you should heed - you get up again, over & over..."

ANGEL - whispery vocals on this mid-tempo track

I also give Madonna props for taking on a classic r&b track, LOVE DON'T LIVE HERE ANYMORE - she really sings her heart out and although not as good as the original, she surely made it her own

The only song that I really don't like is PRETENDER and while STAY is ok, I just don't like it as much as I love tracks 1 - 7. Just as with her debut, listening to this album transports me back to a happier time in my life and I can't help but smile as I reminisce while listening to the music.