This one is fucking HARD!!!

But...
they were released within 6 months of eachother, sold around the same amount of copies, both had huge hit singles, and were both creative highs.

Madonna "Ray of Light" (1998)

Janet Jackson "Velvet Rope" (1997)


i have to pick...










"VELVET ROPE"

Actually, we've already had this topic (whatta surprise ). But anyway, I reaffirm my vote for The Velvet Rope, because I was in high school when I first heard this record and I related a lot more to it than I did to Ray Of Light.

I love both but I go with...

"Ray Of Light"

It's more original than "The Velvet Rope"!!!

And it includes "Mer Girl" & "Shanti/Ashtangi"

They're about the best that either artist has come up with, so it's a tougher choice. But again, I've gotta go with Madonna.

An easier choice for me - Ray of Light. Velvet Rope had too much filler and continued Janet's trend of filling every last byte of space on a CD just because she can.

RipHer2Shreds said:

I think Velvet Rope is pretty solid other than perhaps Tonight's the Night, Special and I'm not a big fan of Rope Burn, but it isn't a bad song. I wish she'd replaced a few of those with Accept Me and made Can't Be Stopped part of the album proper.
[Edited 7/31/05 12:14pm]

GangstaFam said:

Damn, I love Special.

I always thought that "Together Again" has some really boring arrangement!
And "You" sounds like some angry Michael Jackson song!

VoicesCarry said:

It's a nice enough sentiment. But it's borderline Michael level of sappy a la "Childhood".

And hey, I said I liked most of it!

Chico319 said:

Ray of Light on this one. I didn't like VR at all.

Though I hold "Velvet Rope" in very high esteem as Janet's biggest artistic breakthrough, 4 me it's no contest. "Ray of Light" was an amazing album that changed Madonna's entire sound. Instant classic. Madonna at her very best.

I'll go for Ray Of Light as it's more consistent.

VoicesCarry said:

Man that song is awful. At least Mike could write a corn fest song and not make it seem it was written for a barney episode

VELVET ROPE!

I rarely spin Ray Of Light anymore.

So, the Madonna fans are picking Madonna albums and the Janet fans are going with the Janet albums

RipHer2Shreds said:

I'm both, really

RipHer2Shreds said:

I dunno where I fit in. I was a massive fan of both but fell off over the last 5 years. More partial to Janet these days but I reckon I'm honest enough in these picks.

Ellie said:

I'm the same as you really. Not as big a fan of both as I used to be, but I do still like them.

Again, I'll go with Madonna, which is strange as I don't prefer one artist over the other. Ray of Light was really meaningful to me during my last year of high school and heading on towards college. The Velvet Rope is also an awesome album, but it didn't have the same personal meaning.

Let me rank both of their albums right now and cut the crap.

1st tier:

1. Rhythm Nation 1814 (my favorite non-Prince album!)
2. Like a Prayer
3. Ray of Light
4. Madonna
5. All for You (Honestly!)
6. The Velvet Rope

2nd tier:

7. American Life
8. Erotica
9. Bedtime Stories
10. Control
11. True Blue
12. janet.

3rd tier:

13. Damita Jo
14. Music
15. Like a Virgin
16. Janet Jackon

4th tier:

17. I'm Breathless
18. Evita

5th tier:

19. Dream Street

I think the reason I've chosen Madonna each time is strictly a consequence of the choices posed. Put Rhythm Nation against [/i]Like a Prayer[/i] and it wins. Put All for You against Music and it wins wholeheartedly. Put Control against True Blue and it wins.
[Edited 7/31/05 23:01pm]

CinisterCee said:

The height of my Janet fandom was from '89 to '93. I haven't been as hardcore with her since. I still think fondly of her old work. I just very rarely play her music or think about her anymore. I want to like her. She just needs to give me a good reason to.

This is actually fun.

In this case, I think I would go with Janet again. "The Velvet Rope", while being for the most part a slower R&B record, it had a lot of heart and soul. Janet's voice was great on this CD as well. While I love Janet's more upbeat dance track, she does a good job with intense pop rock ("What About", "You") and soft emotitional chants like "Special". I thought the album closer clinched it as her best CD!

I never got into "Ray Of Light" that much although I like a lot of it's songs. Her voice is pretty strong and her lyrics are interesting (especially "Swim") and it's very adventrous ("Mer Girl") but it's very cold (although in the case of aptly titled "Frozen", I do honestly get goose bumps even when it's on the radio) and distant ("Skin" got a great beat but if the intention was sexual, it fails although I don't think it is...if anything it's quite the opposite). Very strong but not a personal favorite. I like "Music" better but don't make me decide between it and "All For You".....

CinisterCee said:

So am I....if the contest where involved their albums before the late ninties....I would probably go with Madonna each time, though. Especially if it was "Erotica" or "Bedtimes Stories" (my two favorite Madonna Cds) vs. "Janet.".

I listened to 'Velvet Rope' 3 times before i really got into it. 'Ray Of Light' 2 times. Janet released the right singles. Madonna's Frozen was the song that stood out more to me. I liked the'Ray Of Light' cd better. Even though i thought 'Velvet Rope' was the last best cd Janet released.

i cant decide they are both really really good, and totally opposite to each other, but i guess i have to go with ray of light, cos of those damn annoying interludes on velvet rope

Chico319 said:

I have only heard Ray Of Light 3 times, and nothing really kept me wanting to go back to it. It's verys spacey and I have to be in a mood to listen to it. So u Yoga instructors can vote for Ray, while I will take my 2 shots of Velvet thank you very much.

Velvet Rope aaaaahhh the memories.

Nothing on Ray Of Light can top:


What About
Free Xone
You
Velvet Rope
Empty
Go Deep
[Edited 7/31/05 23:01pm]

Not hard... Velvet Rope...

paisleypark4 said:

"Sky Fits Heaven" can top all of those!

Cheek said:

[Edited 7/31/05 23:20pm]