- Included among the Record Descriptions of Favorite Albums (Part 1).
- Generally regarded by the critics as Madonna’s best album, Like a Prayer is probably her most controversial album as well.
Madonna – Like a Prayer (1989): Like a Prayer is Madonna’s fourth studio album and her third Number One album, one of which was her first remix album, You Can Dance (1987). The album is dedicated to her mother, who died when Madonna was a young child; she has said that Like a Prayer is a group of songs “about my mother, my father, and bonds with my family”. Also: “Like a Prayer is about the influence of Catholicism in my life and the passion it provokes in me.” Madonna co-wrote all of the songs on Like a Prayer, mostly with Patrick Leonard, and the two co-produced most of the album as well. Like a Prayer accelerates the maturity, depth and sophistication of Madonna’s music that was already apparent on her previous studio album True Blue (1986) – Madonna had come a long way from her persona as a dance-club diva that she exhibited seven years earlier on her first single “Everybody”.
Generally regarded by the critics as Madonna’s best album – though not her best-selling; True Blue is one of the largest selling albums of all time – Like a Prayer is probably her most controversial album as well, due to the Catholic iconography and religious imagery that are intermingled with the sexual themes that had long dominated her music, as well as the gospel elements that have been folded into the songs on the album, such as the choir who perform on “Like a Prayer”. Furthermore, the album title Like a Prayer is an echo of the title of her second album Like a Virgin (1984); and her (real) name “Madonna” is a Name that is often applied to the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus. In the back cover photo, Madonna is wearing a crucifix necklace as well as crucifix earrings; an oversized crucifix was also featured during the tour to support the album. In the music video for the title track “Like a Prayer” – the album’s lead single and Madonna’s seventh Number One song – Madonna portrays a deeply religious person who witnesses the murder of a young white woman and hides from the murderers in a church; the killing is blamed on a Black man, and she is conflicted about what to do. By the end of the video, she comes forward as a witness and at one point is clearly mouthing the words “he didn’t do it”. Along the way, the video shows Madonna exhibiting the Stigmata, blood running from the eyes of a statue, a group of burning crosses à la the Ku Klux Klan, and a dream sequence where Madonna has a brief encounter with the statue of a Black saint that has come to life, including a chaste kiss. This was all too much for the Vatican, which condemned the video; and pro-family and religious groups began boycotting Pepsi which had just begun an advertising campaign featuring Madonna that they quickly abandoned, while allowing Madonna to keep her $5 million fee. (In 1984, Pepsi had another unfortunate advertising campaign featuring a music superstar, when Michael Jackson’s scalp was badly burned during the filming of a TV commercial due to a malfunctioning pyrotechnic device). The other five singles that were released from Like a Prayer are “Express Yourself”, “Cherish”, “Oh Father”, “Dear Jessie”, and “Keep It Together”. “Oh Father” examines the authority figures in Madonna’s life, including the souring relationship with her father, with the music video showing a young girl trying to come to terms with the death of her mother. One rather shocking image from the video shows the dead mother at the wake with her lips sewn shut – Madonna herself is pictured that way on the cover of her latest album Madame X (2019). “Express Yourself” is Madonna’s most overt female empowerment anthem; the music video for that song was the most expensive up to that point in time and includes an extended nude scene. “Cherish” was praised as a quiet number that is a departure from the rest of the album; the song incorporates a line from a 1966 song also called “Cherish” by the Association. The black-and-white video for “Cherish” shows Madonna swimming with a group of mermen. Guinness World Records has certified that Madonna is the best-selling female recording artist of all time, with worldwide sales of over 300 million records. And I haven’t even mentioned the numerous starring roles that Madonna has had in major motion pictures that were often accompanied by hit soundtrack albums. Madonna earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Comedy or Musical in her most prominent film appearance, for playing the title role in the 1996 film Evita.