#331 Madonna, 'Like a Prayer' (1989)
Previously #239
Thanks to her phenomenal success as a pop artist, it’s easy to forget that Madonna was more than just a popstar. This album is not a pop album, it’s art. Opening with two of the poppiest songs on the record, which just so happen to be the first two singles, ‘Like A Prayer’ and ‘Express Yourself,’ the songs are fun radio hits, with the latter being a female empowerment song. Track 3, ‘Love Song,’ is where it starts getting interesting, though. Enter Prince. I had forgotten they had a duet. I had only discovered it the last time I listened to the list. Incredible song. ‘Promise To Try’ is a song that deals with the grief of losing her mother when she was 5-years-old. Madonna addresses her 5-year-old self through the song in one of the most real and sad songs ever. Definitely the most raw and sincere I’ve ever heard Madonna. “Little girl don't you forget her face/Laughing away your tears/When she was the one who felt all the pain.” Into the third single, ‘Cherish,’ which immediately lifts the mood. Another song I loved was “Oh Father.” Last time around I claimed that this and ‘Love Song’ were two of the best songs I’d ever heard, and I stand by it.” Another personal song, following the death of her mother, Madonna became terrified of losing her father too. Two years later he married the housekeeper, and she immediately resented him. She hated him for a long time following that. “You can't hurt me now/I got away from you, I never thought I would/You can't make me cry, you once had the power/I never felt so good about myself.” Incidentally, Madonna had just turned 30 years old, the same age her mother was when she died; possibly the reason for all the surfacing of these feelings.
The album features not one, but two drummers that had recorded and played live with Michael Jackson; Jonathan Moffett and Jeff Porcaro (from Toto). Also on the album was Porcaro’s father, Joe Porcaro on marimba. It took three weeks for this album to reach #1, where it stayed for 6 weeks, Madge’s longest-running #1 record. This album was a major turning point in the career of Madonna. The album was groundbreaking. She transformed from a bubblegum pop act into a serious artist proving that she’s more than a singles artist. With this, she had firmly found her place as an album artist.
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