CinisterCee said:

That would be true if it weren't for "Frozen", which gives me chills (pun not intended) the few times it every pops up on the radio (actually used to hear it more on terretial radio well after it's time...neve heard it on Sirius!).

This is a good question. ROL is very strong, albeit a bit watered down. But a very consistant album. Many songs that are not singles almost ousine thase that were. It's also a longer album than most of her others. It's also her most mature album lyrically.

Music is quite short in contrast. I am not one for the imagry it invokes...ala the country western motif, which suggests the later portion of the album which hints at what American Life was going to be. It's sort of 1/2 ROL and 1/2 AL. The Electronic stuff works better than the Guitar driven tracks. WHat is interesting is that it starts out very danceable and then veers off track to the guitar stuff. The electronic music on it stands up to even the best songs on ROL. I do think the album is widely uneven and lyrically stunted.

Axchi696 said:

I don't think Madonna fell out of the Public's good graces. But I do think that mainstream America embraced Ray of Light unlike anything else she had done since Like a Prayer.

I also thoguht the song Music was the laziest single Madonna has ever done. I like the song now, but the title with the throwaway lyrics rubbed me in a bad way when it came out.

superspaceboy said:

her so called "slump" from about 1992-1996 was a career most artists would give their right arm for: a slew of radio/MTV smashes (Erotica, Deeper and Deeper, Rain, I'll Remember, Secret, Take a Bow, You'll See, Don't Cry For Me Argentina); multiplatinum albums (Erotica, Bedtime Stories, Something To Remember), a Best Actress Golden Globe for a hit movie, and a multiplatinum soundtrack for that movie that was Showtunes. I think she did OK.

badujunkie said:

I think I should've picked my words a little more carefully. I don't think that Madonna's career had hit the skids between 1992 and 1998 by any means. However, I think that her star had lost a little of its luster by the time of Bedtime Stories and Evita; she still had hits, she was getting great reviews, the press was mostly positive, but to me it felt like there was something missing. I think Ray of Light returned Madonna to a level that she hadn't been to since the time of Like a Prayer and 'Vogue'.

I was only 6 when Like a Prayer came out, and didn't pay attention to the press or to the charts, or to anything other than what I saw on MTV and heard on the radio. By the time I really began paying attention to all of that, it was about 1994, and Bedtime Stories was being released. While MTV was still all over Madonna's jock, I didn't feel that she was getting the mainstream acceptance that she deserved. Something to Remember was more of a low key release, and while Evita was a success, it didn't feel like a "Madonna" release. However, with Ray of Light, it seemed that all of the stars aligned, and I think people that weren't necessarily Madonna fans finally gave her some respect. I think that a lot of her album/single sales between '92 and '98 were more fanbase oriented, and I think that Ray of Light sold to a lot of people that might not have purchased Erotica or Something to Remember.

I can't believe it's been 9 years since ROL was released; honestly, it feels like just yesterday that I caught the 'Frozen' world premiere.

MikeMatronik said:

but given time, so will "Music" and "American Life". that's just what
you get for using modern technology and having music that fits what's
hot at the time.

it doesn't mean an album gets worse over time just because it starts
to sound dated.

talk talk sounds hopelessly dated now, as do a lot of pet shop boys,
eurythmics, madonna, prince, michael jackson and other artists cd's.

those albums are simply subject to the technology used on them and a
production influenced by the time. it doesn't make those albums any
less innovative or good, they simply sound like the time they were
recorded.

therefore i say Ray of Light is the best album here

j/k



everyone has different taste and if i like ray of light and you like
american life more, so be it. that's variety and that's cool.

IstenSzek said:

Cheek said:

i'm gonna cut off your pinkie in a minute

IstenSzek said:

Haha.

Cheek said:

don't laugh, i'm being serious

IstenSzek said:

As always.

Okay, I'm waiting for you!

Cheek said:

look at your right hand. the pinkie is already gone.

IstenSzek said:

Cheek said:

i will keep it in a jar for you until you come to amsterdam

'ray of light' has more ambitious music on it than the 'music' album. But as a whole album, I think music flows better although it's not as deep as ray of light. Ray of Light is more electronica based while Music is more acoustic guitar-sounding

ray of light. it's probably her best album.

cborgman said:

..of the late 1990s

CinisterCee said:

period, in my opinion.

Id say Ray of Light. Its a great CD. I remember I was in middle school when that album came out. Prior to that, Madonnas career wasnt exactly at a low point, but she was lacking a bit of luster. With ROL, she'd finally gotten the mainstream to embrace her in a way that hadnt been seeing since the late 80s. That said, it is kinda dated(though not horribly).

As for Music...I recently started listening to it again after a good while of having it collect dust in my CD wallet. It actually got a bit better with time. Music is a good album, it's only drawback is that it's really inconsistant. One minute she's making a dance album, the next minute shes making a weird hybrid of folk and electronica. The dance cuts work the best. Had she stuck to that direction, Music would have been AMAZING.

cborgman said:

AlexdeParis said:

You do know that includes the 80s, the early 90s, and 00s right?

CinisterCee said:

I have all of her albums and Ray of Light is easily my favorite. AFAIC, it's her strongest artistic statement. Most of her other albums are collections of great singles and good album tracks with some clunkers sprinkled throughout, but ROL is a consistently good album that actually feels like an album to me. It's so far ahead of the pack I'm not even sure what I'd pick as #2. Like a Prayer? Confessions?

AlexdeParis said:

phrrell?

CinisterCee said:

What's Pharrell got to do with it?

AlexdeParis said:

I think Erotica is her best album ever. and her best time period. 1990-93 she was on fire creativitly. IMHO Confessions is second

AlexdeParis said:

haha I mean "for real"? that's just how I say it now

ehuffnsd said:

AGREED. Although I would say 1990-1995 to include the brillance that is Bedtime Stories, her cover of "I Want You" and "You'll See"/"Veras."

I would say her second best era is really her first incarnation--the debut album is still FIRE. Plus I actually did like her with a little meat on her bones. Her more zaftig figure was sexy.

CinisterCee said:

I know, I was just giving you a hard time.

I love a lot of Erotica, but I find it a little long.

just to settle this argument i am listening to ALL of M's studio LPs back to back today while I work from home. I'm on True Blue--there is an amazing MARKED difference between her vocals on TB and the first two--either she found producers that could mix her vocals better, the autotune technology came out in 1986, or she just became a better singer (or all 3?)

production wise, TB is the cleanest, but Madonna is better. Madonna has the best songs thus far IMO.

By True Blue Madonna was singing in a much lower register than before. Previous to that we were accustomed to her higher pitched vocal style (ie. Minnie Mouse on helium)

True Blue had the best singles of the first 3 albums, but I think the first 2 were produced better.