Popdose: Popdose Flashback: Madonna, “Like a Prayer”
Chris X
· 6 months ago
great, great article on a great, great album by a formerly great, great artist.
How a duet by Madonna and Prince didn't turn into the biggest song of all time is beyond me . On paper, that read "sells a billion copies"
I remember all the hullaballoo over the video and religious imagery, and even at the age of 13, knew they all needed to just get over it already. Madonna never ceased to be the center of controversy, always coming up with something or other that angered the squares. Gotta love her for that, if nothing else. She still manages here and there, although her musical output has (save an occasional good song) took a huge dive since the Erotica era.
JonCummings
· 6 months ago
The reviews of "Like a Prayer" all harped on the critics' disappointment that the Madonna-Prince collaboration didn't produce something colossal. But my sense always was that the two of them hadn't set out to create a #1 single, but that Madonna already knew where her hits were and wanted to exploit Prince's experimental side. (It's worth noting that at the time Madonna was recording "Like a Prayer," Prince was working on "The Black Album" and wasn't in a terribly poppish place.)
Elaine
· 6 months ago
"Madonna never ceased to be the center of controversy, always coming up with something or other that angered the squares."
A better description of her entire career, I haven't read. She's still trying, too. The squares have a lot higher threshold of indignation these days.
jasonhare
· 6 months ago
What a write-up, Jon. "Like a Prayer" remains one of my favorite albums, and clearly my favorite by Madonna. I had no idea that Prince contributed elsewhere to the album. Thanks for the info!
DwDunphy
· 6 months ago
I'm not a Madonna fan, but I can appreciate what she did during this particular run. She made two songs in her career that even the most adamant Maddie objector couldn't deny - the 'contrition' era "Frozen" and Like A Prayer's "Oh Father" which is so deep and resonant it could make you shiver in Death Valley. For anyone that could dismiss her as just a shameless provocateur, that's damning testimony to the contrary.
BobCashill
· 6 months ago
Crawling out from under my rock (I was living overseas at the time, and never paid much attention to music videos anyway) I appreciated the opportunity to see these. Mary Lambert was certainly in the pink; her one and only successful movie, the (crappy) Pet Sematary, opened around the same time. Fincher has done better--there would be no concept without all those borrowings--but the thing works.
"The inversion of sexual exploitation into its own form of control"--that's the kind of thing porn stars like Sasha Grey say to explain their career choice. Might be more aesthetically appealing if they set it to a beat and kept it under five minutes.
JonCummings
· 6 months ago
That's what the fast-forward button is for.
Katie
· 6 months ago
Wow, this was a really great, insightful article. It seems to me you have some pretty accurate perceptions and your opinions come across as very objective. I just wanted to compliment you on that; it's so refreshing.
I was 8 years old when LAP came out and totally oblivious to any of the higher cultural significance and analyzations going on, I just knew how it felt. Everything that this chick touched at that time was thrilling and larger than life for people my age and I yearned to be just like her. I'd liked her very much since I was four and had heard the songs from her Like a Virgin album, but now I was totally obsessed, and everywhere I looked then there was a new Madonna manifestation to feed that obsession. I also remember how, just a few years later, all the kids in my little Episcopal school turned on her for being terrible and disgusting, and then it wasn't so much fun to be a huge Madonna fan.
However, such ardent worship can never really be forgotten; I can still remember that crazy, intense awe I experienced as a spectator of Madonna's artistic output of the time period. I'll always have an affinity for her music and a special affection for my girl no matter what. I think I made a good choice in who to be a fan of as a kid- she's now an icon!
jhallCORE
· 6 months ago
Prince played guitar on the song "Like A Prayer"? Really? That's the first time I heard that and I used to be a big Prince fan (prior to the whole Jevohah's Witness stage).
Agree with you about the "Love Song" collaboration. It was hyped big time prior to the album release but does sound more like a B-side from Prince.
Not a big Madonna fan but that "Like A Prayer" video was pretty ambitious for its time. Hard to believe that was two decades ago.
DavidMedsker
· 6 months ago
Great piece, and it didn't even cover my favorite songs on the album, namely "Till Death Do Us Part," "Dear Jessie" and "Oh, Father." Oh, and "Spanish Eyes," love that one. This album was positively loaded, and finally forced me to admit that I was a Madonna fan.
All Comments
How a duet by Madonna and Prince didn't turn into the biggest song of all time is beyond me . On paper, that read "sells a billion copies"
I remember all the hullaballoo over the video and religious imagery, and even at the age of 13, knew they all needed to just get over it already. Madonna never ceased to be the center of controversy, always coming up with something or other that angered the squares. Gotta love her for that, if nothing else. She still manages here and there, although her musical output has (save an occasional good song) took a huge dive since the Erotica era.
A better description of her entire career, I haven't read. She's still trying, too. The squares have a lot higher threshold of indignation these days.
"The inversion of sexual exploitation into its own form of control"--that's the kind of thing porn stars like Sasha Grey say to explain their career choice. Might be more aesthetically appealing if they set it to a beat and kept it under five minutes.
I was 8 years old when LAP came out and totally oblivious to any of the higher cultural significance and analyzations going on, I just knew how it felt. Everything that this chick touched at that time was thrilling and larger than life for people my age and I yearned to be just like her. I'd liked her very much since I was four and had heard the songs from her Like a Virgin album, but now I was totally obsessed, and everywhere I looked then there was a new Madonna manifestation to feed that obsession. I also remember how, just a few years later, all the kids in my little Episcopal school turned on her for being terrible and disgusting, and then it wasn't so much fun to be a huge Madonna fan.
However, such ardent worship can never really be forgotten; I can still remember that crazy, intense awe I experienced as a spectator of Madonna's artistic output of the time period. I'll always have an affinity for her music and a special affection for my girl no matter what. I think I made a good choice in who to be a fan of as a kid- she's now an icon!
Agree with you about the "Love Song" collaboration. It was hyped big time prior to the album release but does sound more like a B-side from Prince.
Not a big Madonna fan but that "Like A Prayer" video was pretty ambitious for its time. Hard to believe that was two decades ago.