Customer Reviews

Like a Virgin (Rmx)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Madonna's debut album had produced three hit singles in 1984. The album sold a few million copies worldwide, but nothing could prepare her for the success she was to experience with her second album which was released in November 1984. It was called Like A Virgin and sold 20 million copies worldwide, spawned many worldwide hits and made Madonna the biggest female pop star on the planet. The first single from the album was Like A Virgin. It became Madonna's first US No.1 and topped the chart for six consecutive weeks. Elsewhere, the song peaked at No.3 in the UK in November 1984 and spent 18 weeks on the chart.

Like A Virgin begins with a brilliant beat that just grows better with time. Madonna then begins her singing. "I made it through the wilderness, somehow I made it through. Didn't know how lost I was until I found you" she sings on half of the first verse. This then leads up to the classic chorus with the brilliant lines, "Like a virgin, hey! Touched for the very first time. Like a virgin, with your heartbeat next to mine." Madonna's vocals are average at best on the song, which somehow makes it better. If they were incredibly strong and overpowering, the song would've easily lost its appeal. After the second chorus, we are treated to the bridge with an instrumental. This is perhaps the best part of the song as the music in the background gets to shine. The song then continues with the chorus which is repeated a few more times as the song fades out. The song caused a lot of controversy because of the title and its suggestive lyrics, but this only caused more attention and resulted in a worldwide smash hit that still sounds as good today as it did almost 20 years ago.

Madonna performed Like A Virgin at the 1984 MTV Video Music Awards in a wedding dress as she writhed around on the stage floor. The performance was explosive and people were really stunned. This was the first sign that Madonna knew how to get people's attention and that she could do it to sell records and make money, all while expanding her huge fanbase. The video to Like A Virgin is one of Madonna's most famous. Again she appears in a wedding dress in Venice as she cavorts around on a gondola that takes her down a river. All in all this is one of Madonna's most famous songs ever and perhaps, along with Like A Prayer, her most popular song of the 1980's.

Like A Virign was Madonna's first #1 hit single, staying at the top for six weeks. This was her biggest hit up until 1990's Vogue. This song has a catchy hook, and is very likeable. It is one of her standouts on her 2nd album of the same name. The B side Stay is also a good song, and very likeable. After Virgin, Madonna would have many more hits to come. If you want to hear an earlier Madonna song, Like A Virgin is a good place to start.

Overall Grade: A+ (10+++)

This is good for the Extended mix, but that mix can also be found on the remastered "Like A Virgin" album.

There is an exploration of the existential in Madonna's work now that shows a definitive maturity. I think that the ability that sets Madonna apart the most is not simply being someone who manipulates media well but in truth two things: One, she's not a big fan of TV or indulging in the media, beign a puppet to it in watching it. Two, Marianne Williamson talks about that people who become legends do so because they tap into the concept of what the human consciousness is available to, needing to develop and that rings within all of us. It is that work that interests the rest of us.

It's basically an extended version with some minor music changes. '80's mixes are so cheesy! You're better off with the original version.