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23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Madonna reveals her true depth as an artist, August 27, 2002
Like a Prayer could very well be Madonna's most important album; marked by maturity, honest emotional content, superior musical form and style, and overall quality, it is a remarkable achievement by an artist whose earliest work was dismissed by some as throwaway pop. Perhaps no other album I own starts off as strongly as this one. Like a Prayer and Express Yourself make one heck of a one-two punch. This is the Madonna I like the most--brave, strong, unafraid of controversy, and willing and able to rock your world. Personally, I found the controversy over Like a Prayer and its video to be quite overblown, but it certainly did nothing to hurt album sales. The gospel background vocals gives the song a powerful, full sound that only reinforces the driving beat and mass appeal of the song. Express Yourself is a Madonna statement song--Madonna knows all about expressing herself, and the song does inspire you to be yourself and let others know what you are thinking.Love Song is a song I can take or leave. At the time, Prince and Madonna were pretty much the king and queen of pop music, and it was really something to hear them team up on a duet. Unfortunately, the song has little substance, and Prince overplays his peculiar, distinctive voice and style. Till Death Do Us Part is, in my opinion, the best song on the album. It has meaningful, important lyrics, yet its tempo makes you tap or sway along with the music; it almost moves too quickly, achieving a perfectly vibrant, energetic pace, and the chorus is just wonderful. Promise to Try is a slower song with beautiful lyrics and a graceful sound, offering yet more proof that Madonna is a real singer with great vocal skills. When Cherish was released as a single, I heard it so often on the radio that I eventually came to dislike the song; listening to it again now, though, I realize how great the song really is. Cherish strikes me as possessing a certain air and spirit of 1960s pop music. It's definitely an uplifting song to listen to, with a strong "feel good" quality to it. Dear Jessie is another example of Madonna's new sound and style on this album. The music itself is rather subdued, placing the song's emphasis on Madonna's lyrical stylings; this calming track is the kind of song I imagine Madonna would sing to her children at bedtime. For emotional content, the striking Oh Father tops the list on this CD; it definitely sounds like Madonna is singing this one right from the heart. The flow between verse and chorus is striking, and the whole song is a delight to listen to. After a string of slow, emotional tracks, Madonna decides it is time to get the place jumping again with Keep It Together (although even this song carries a strong message). Spanish Eyes is another poignant song of beauty and wonder. Act of Contrition is a weird way to end the album, but I like it. The harmonic dissonance of the Like a Prayer choruses, electric guitar riffs, and free-style lyrics is refreshingly different. This is a really deep album of great substance. For me, this great asset became somewhat of a vulnerability, though. Hearing songs such as Oh Father and Cherish over and over again on adult contemporary radio stations sort of led me to believe Madonna had lost her edge (despite such evidence to the contrary as Express Yourself). In terms of musical structure and delivery, Like a Prayer is vastly superior to Madonna's previous albums; I easily recognize this fact, but, in general, I prefer the fun dance songs of earlier years to the poignant, beautiful music that typifies this album.
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is Madonna's 
