I guess she'll always be more closely associated with and fondly remembered for her 80's work but the 90's era was pretty impressive, musically speaking, and also somewhat underappreciated I find.

Erotica and Bedtime Stories are imo opinion as good as, if not slightly better, than Like a Virgin and True Blue. For me the later two yielded great singles but had too much filler.

Ray of Light is one of my favourite albums of all time so I'm gonna say it's better than Like a Prayer. And lest we forget 90's classics such as Vogue, Justify My Love, I Want You, This Used To Be My Playground, and Beautiful Stranger.

I also love In Bed With Madonna (aka Truth or Dare) and the Sex book.

But if I had to choose my favourite period I'd go with the 80's because of her image, The First Album, and The Virgin Tour video.

Anyone here for the nineties?
[Edited 1/6/05 20:26pm]

oh hands down 90's madonna....80's madonna was pure cheese...she seriously ran the risk of being a novelty act but proved herself a shrewd and intelligent woman.....

heck, i even prefer her 90's concert versions of her 80's hits over the real deals.....

wait, was Like A Prayer during the 80's? hmmm.....

well, early madonna was horrid.....Like A Prayer and beyond rocked...


until Music (the album)..before that she was o-tay with me...

Her music was certainly more adventurous in the 90s, but that's also when her music became a bit pretentious. Obviously, she's always focused on the direction of her music, but it became more of a priority as the 90s wore on. Part of it was her own doing, but there was so much attention paid to her personal life that her music really started to take a back seat, especially where Erotica is concerned. For the most part, I think her musical experimentation has paid off. People have written her off many times, but she's still around and likely will be for a while.

With the exception of American Life, I like every album she's released. However, I think her music was a lot more fun in the 80s, as was she in the media, interviews, videos, etc. A lof of people prefer Ray of Light from a creative standpoint, but I still contend that Like a Prayer was her best, most well rounded pop album. It bridged the decades, and finally and completed gave her a more adult sound.

RipHer2Shreds said:

i love you..

sosgemini said:

Well, shucks.

Like A Prayer is when she started the transition from singles artist to an album artist.

ehuffnsd said:

I have to say I strongly disagree, I think her first album is amazing, and probably her tightest album thus far.

kinaldo said:

her albums started to become more themeatic... that's part of the reason GHV2 doesn't work.

ehuffnsd said:

Absolutely.'Like A Prayer' marked her true arrival as a serious artist,and it's when I really became a huge fan.There were some fine singles during the 80s ("Into The Groove","Angel",etc),but for the most part,her 90s music is much more experimental,much more challenging (for herself and her listeners),and much more substantial.It's funny,most artists seem to make their best music in the early stages of their career (Whitney and Mariah for example) but with Madonna,it's the other way around.Her best music definitely came later imo.

i can easily say i prefer her 90's material. i'm honestly not a big fan of like a virgin or true blue and while i LOVE like a prayer and her debut release, i think her work was stronger in the 90's. my favorite madonna 'era' was erotica. the whole sex driven facade was great...i'm still annoyed that she has claimed it all a joke made out of anger in recent years.

'90s. Sex (the hardbody ), the BDSM fashion of the Erotica era and a more mature lyrical outlook. With greater wisdom came greater writing.

The early 1990s "house" Madonna.

it's hard to compare 80s vs 90s b/c to me madonna was so different in the late 80s than early 80s. I will always love the Virgin era of Madonna (it's my favorite) but I hated the Who's that girl era...I consider LAP to be more 90s (even though it came out in '89) but by then she was waaay past anything she ever did from the 80s....

well, just going by image and not music...because you can't have a discussion abt. Madonna w/o discussing her image...


i miss the ole slutty, material girl madonna...she was an icon of my childrood...

the early 90s house madonna (as someone mentioned) was ok...

hate the fake, kabbalah, irrlevant, married w/ children madonna


[Edited 1/7/05 23:29pm]

Am I the only one who thinks Like A Prayer is OVERRATED ? Don't get me wrong, the album has some great tracks but it's not even in my top three.

Rar Of Light is my favorite Madonna album followed by Erotica (So UNDERRATED). Bedtime Stories is also incredible ("Sancuary" .. my shit) and I loved Evita. So, I definately perfer 90's Madonna. That's the best Madinna IMO. Her tours, video's, EVERYTHING was better in the 90's.
[Edited 1/7/05 23:47pm]

The 90s Madonna is far better lyrically and musically.
Still i feel the first album was a well strutured album, afterwards releasing 2 not so stuctured albums, but with great singles.

It's hard to pick which is better because it truly is an evolution of an artist.

I'll take 80's Madonna for $100, Alex.

VelvetJ said:

Growing up under the madonna beam light, I have to say she meant a lot to me as a role model in the '80s (freedom of expression and sexuality and all that)

But I never appreciated her music until this year and seeing her in concert and discovering her 90's music after I had pretty much dismissed her musically.

So I appreciate both eras but for completely different reasons as not only has she evolved, but I have evolved as well.

heartbeatocean said:

oh oh oh..i love that..happened to me today when i was listening to sinead oconnor's Universal Mother..I love the album but was not emotionally matured enough to appreciate it until i listed to it today (almost ten years later)..


thats when you appreciate the power of music..

fuckin rock on!!