Track Listing

1. Like a Prayer
2. Express Yourself
3. Love Song
4. Till Death Do Us Part
5. Promise to Try
6. Cherish
7. Dear Jessie
8. Oh Father
9. Keep It Together
10. Spanish Eyes
11. Act of Contrition

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6587 in Music
• Published on: 1994
• Released on: 1990-10-25
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com essential recording
Considered by many to be the Material Girl's most mature effort of the '80s, Like a Prayer upped the ante of controversy with its gospel-infused title track and the singer's emotional confessions throughout. It also unveiled the hit "Express Yourself," which ushered in the era of Madonna as a "stainless steel sexual icon." Musically, Prayer showcased her burgeoning songwriting prowess, with the beautiful "Oh Father" and the perky pop of "Cherish." Besides a throw-away collaboration with Prince ("This Is Not a Love Song"), the CD stands as one of her strongest works, eschewing the strong dance beat influences from her past--she saved that for the remixes--and concentrating instead on melody and structure. Like a Prayer also gave a hint of things to come with the delightful "Dear Jessie" displaying a maternal side worthy of her name. --Steve Gdula

Customer Reviews

Madonna reveals her true depth as an artist
Like a Prayer could very well be Madonna's most important album; marked by maturity, honest emotional content, superior musical form and style, and overall quality, it is a remarkable achievement by an artist whose earliest work was dismissed by some as throwaway pop. Perhaps no other album I own starts off as strongly as this one. Like a Prayer and Express Yourself make one heck of a one-two punch. This is the Madonna I like the most--brave, strong, unafraid of controversy, and willing and able to rock your world. Personally, I found the controversy over Like a Prayer and its video to be quite overblown, but it certainly did nothing to hurt album sales. The gospel background vocals gives the song a powerful, full sound that only reinforces the driving beat and mass appeal of the song. Express Yourself is a Madonna statement song--Madonna knows all about expressing herself, and the song does inspire you to be yourself and let others know what you are thinking.

Love Song is a song I can take or leave. At the time, Prince and Madonna were pretty much the king and queen of pop music, and it was really something to hear them team up on a duet. Unfortunately, the song has little substance, and Prince overplays his peculiar, distinctive voice and style. Till Death Do Us Part is, in my opinion, the best song on the album. It has meaningful, important lyrics, yet its tempo makes you tap or sway along with the music; it almost moves too quickly, achieving a perfectly vibrant, energetic pace, and the chorus is just wonderful. Promise to Try is a slower song with beautiful lyrics and a graceful sound, offering yet more proof that Madonna is a real singer with great vocal skills. When Cherish was released as a single, I heard it so often on the radio that I eventually came to dislike the song; listening to it again now, though, I realize how great the song really is. Cherish strikes me as possessing a certain air and spirit of 1960s pop music. It's definitely an uplifting song to listen to, with a strong "feel good" quality to it.

Dear Jessie is another example of Madonna's new sound and style on this album. The music itself is rather subdued, placing the song's emphasis on Madonna's lyrical stylings; this calming track is the kind of song I imagine Madonna would sing to her children at bedtime. For emotional content, the striking Oh Father tops the list on this CD; it definitely sounds like Madonna is singing this one right from the heart. The flow between verse and chorus is striking, and the whole song is a delight to listen to. After a string of slow, emotional tracks, Madonna decides it is time to get the place jumping again with Keep It Together (although even this song carries a strong message). Spanish Eyes is another poignant song of beauty and wonder. Act of Contrition is a weird way to end the album, but I like it. The harmonic dissonance of the Like a Prayer choruses, electric guitar riffs, and free-style lyrics is refreshingly different.

This is a really deep album of great substance. For me, this great asset became somewhat of a vulnerability, though. Hearing songs such as Oh Father and Cherish over and over again on adult contemporary radio stations sort of led me to believe Madonna had lost her edge (despite such evidence to the contrary as Express Yourself). In terms of musical structure and delivery, Like a Prayer is vastly superior to Madonna's previous albums; I easily recognize this fact, but, in general, I prefer the fun dance songs of earlier years to the poignant, beautiful music that typifies this album.

The Complete Madonna Guide.
Madonna has 7 full length studio albums out there, which one to buy first? Well, they're all great discs, excluding the dated and naive debut. While Like A Virgin and Ray Of Light are definite contenders, I always like it when an artist takes a risk. Madonna did just that in 1989 with Like a Prayer and then did it again in 1992 with Erotica. However, Like a Prayer is tighter, more cohesive than Erotica. Like a Prayer is the first time Madonna expressed deeper emotion in her lyrics, and it was the first time her music was no longer Spice Girlish. Songs about religion, death, divorce, camraderie, childhood, love and self-respect fill this wonderful disc. It's true, as the people before me have attested: There is not a note wasted on this cd, all the tracks are great. Sure, the duet between Prince and Madonna could have been left off, but it adds more flavor to the cd's rich well of songs. It's worth the money to have this in your music collection.

Madonna grows up
First of all I'm not a Madonna fan. When this album came out in 89, me and my buds were all hardcore headbanging maniacs. If anyone even knew I had this album, my life might have been over. Why did I buy it? 1989 was a crazy year for me, (left home on bad terms, bitter/sweet first love relationship, experimentation). Anywho when I first heard the song Cherish, I said to myself 'Wow wouldn't it be great to have someone feel that way about me? Then I heard Oh Father, and I had to break down and buy the record. It's not my kind of music, but it really struck me, and I still listen to it now and then (Hey I still headbang too! ) It's very listenable, I espescially like 'Act of Contrition'. The only dive nose tune is the godawful duet she does with Prince. It's so terrible my finger is on the FF button before it even starts. If not for that one tune, I would have given it five stars.