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  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (156 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,096 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

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22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

Peter Marinari (Philadelphia, PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Like a Virgin (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?

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

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

By 

Westley (Stuck in my head) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Like a Virgin (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.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars THE BIG SOPHOMORE ALBUM..., February 8, 2002

By 

Peter (New York, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Like a Virgin (Audio CD)

Many people have made speculations that an artist's second album is the album that will make or break that artist's career. I don't believe that statement, but it would appear here that Like A Virgin made Madonna's career. I think the reason for this would probably be because Madonna did more than just dance music for this album. She expanded her horizons to music further than the simple dance songs on Madonna. Here, Madonna moved on to pop, ballads, but still stayed with dance here and there.

The album starts with Material Girl, though it would just seem to be pop, it was really controversially speaking out about the materialistic mentality that our world holds. Angel was a dancy pop song with sweet lyrics and a very addictive hook. Like A Virgin, one of Madonna's better remembered songs, was pure mid to up-tempo pop, with dance synth thrown in. Over And Over, one of the more fast paced songs on the album was too fast for dance, but suitable to just be called pop. Love Don't Live Here Anymore was a less than mediocre ballad in my opinion because it held extremely underpowered acoustics and beats, however, it was sung with too much of an overstatement: bottom line, it mis-matched. Dress You Up is a fun song with dance synth and a rising pop sound to it. Shoo-Bee-Doo is a semi-ballad and I hated it because the lyrics are cheesy and it sounds like Madonna was confused as to whether she was singing a ballad or a pop song. Pretender is my favorite track on the album because it's dance beat was so perfect for its time. Stay had the perfect beat and lyrics for the closing track, not too slow, but meaningful.

I consider Like A Virgin to be a good album, however, I felt hesitant to give it five stars because the sounds were too mixed for me to say whether I like everything or nothing on the album, but it was good overall.