Like new • Genre: Pop

MADONNA - Like a prayer

"Like a Prayer" is the fourth studio album by American songwriter Madonna, released on March 20, 1989 by Sire Records. In it, the singer continued to work with producers Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, with whom she had collaborated on her previous album True Blue (1986) and on the soundtrack of the 1987 film Who's That Girl. Artist Prince also collaborated on the record, co-writing and co-producing one of the tracks along with Madonna. Her most introspective release at the time, "Like a Prayer", is a pop record with elements of rock and dance-pop. His lyrics deal with personal issues that she was too afraid to approach on previous albums: her Catholic upbringing, her troubled marriage to actor Sean Penn, her mother's death, and her relationship with her father.
Upon its release, Like a Prayer received universal acclaim from music critics, who praised its introverted tone, coherence, and Madonna's heightened artistic value. It also achieved international success, topping the charts in 20 countries and being certified quadruple platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Worldwide, it has sold over 15 million copies. Six singles were released from the album: the title track " Like a Prayer " became Madonna's seventh hit to reach number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100, while " Express Yourself " and " Cherish " both reached number 2, and " Keep It Together " became a top ten hit.

The album was promoted on Madonna's third concert tour, the 1990 Blond Ambition World Tour, which visited cities in Asia, North America, and Europe. In retrospective reviews, Like a Prayer has been cited as a turning point in Madonna's career. She began to be considered a serious artist and not just a pop star. Critics and writers also noted the album's influence on the later work of female singers. Often cited as one of the greatest albums of all time, Like a Prayer has been included in numerous music reference books and lists of the best albums, including Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Like a Prayer is an album that combines "classic psychedelic rock with synth-pop sounds of the time". [37] It has been described as a pop record with rock and dance elements, with influences from bands of the 1960s and 1970s, such as the Beatles, Simon & Garfunkel, and Sly and the Family Stone. [ 38 ] [ 15 ] As Madonna's most personal and introspective album to date, its lyrics speak, in her own words, of "the influence of Catholicism on my life and the passion it causes me [...] They concern an assimilation of experiences I had in my life and in my relationships. It's about my mother, my father and my bonds with my family, about the pain of death, of growing up and leaving things behind." [ 39 ] [ 40 ]

The opening song "Like a Prayer" is a song about a young woman "so in love with God that it's almost as if she were the male figure in her life." [15] It is a pop rock song with elements of gospel music. A choir provides vocals that enhance the spiritual nature of the song, and a rock guitar keeps the music "dark and mysterious." [3] The second track, "Express Yourself", is one of the album's two homages to Sly and Family Stone. [8] It speaks of rejecting material pleasures and accepting only the best for oneself. Throughout the song, subjects are used . [24] "Love Song" is a duet with Prince that begins with Madonna asking in French, "I'm ready, are you ready?". [24] The piece has been compared to the work of Eddie Kendricks and the Temptations. Prince provides " Jimmy Nolen's funk guitar[s] and falsetto vocals ", singing in both his upper and lower registers. [24] Originally titled "State of Matrimony", the fourth track "Till Death Do Us Part" is an "autobiographical account of [Madonna's] ill-fated marriage to Penn". [ 28 ] It is a fast-paced track that expresses the conflict of being in love with someone who does not love oneself and ends with the sound of wah-wah guitars and broken glasses.
"Promise to Try" is a melancholic ballad about the death of Madonna's mother. The piano arrangement in the song is reminiscent of Elton John's work and has a cello solo to the Bridge. In one part of the song, Madonna specifically asks: Does she hear my voice at night when I call her? Later, an adult is seen scolding a child with the lyrics, Little girl, don't forget her face/Don't let memory play games with your mind/It's a faded smile frozen in time. [ 24 ] [ 37 ] [ 42 ] The sixth track is "Cherish". Built around the themes of love and relationship, with William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet being one of the main inspirations, the song includes a verse from "Cherish" (1966) by Association. [41] The lyrics present it as a simple love song, where Madonna talks about devotion and having her lover by her side, whom she would never leave. [ 43 ] After "Cherish" follows "Dear Jessie". According to Rikky Rooksby, the song sounds more like a childhood lullaby than a pop song. [41] The lyrics encourage little Jessie to use her imagination. It invokes a psychedelic landscape, where pink elephants roam with dancing moons and mermaids. It refers to fairy tale characters and creates an image of children playing with each other. [ 44 ]

"Oh Father" is a baroque pop ballad that talks about Madonna's troubled relationship with her father Tony during her childhood. [41] [45] She described it as the "second half" of True Blue's "Live to Tell" and is her homage to Simon & Garfunkel. [8] She uses a contrasting timbre, her higher, smoother voice with a lower one. In the vocal bridge, Madonna talks about the realization that her father never intended to hurt her and why he runs away. [41] Described as Madonna's version in Sister Sledge's "We Are Family" (1979), "Keep It Together" is the other homage to Sly and the Family Stone. [ 8 ] [ 46 ] A funk music-inspired track with double vocals in the chorus, sings about the importance of family and states that "blood is thicker than any occasion". [ 8 ] [ 37 ] " Spanish Eyes" is a slow, melancholic piece that includes orchestration by castanets and returns to the Spanish atmosphere of " La Isla Bonita " of 1987. [41] It has been described as "a cross between Ben E. King's 'Spanish Harlem' and something Billy Joel's". [47] His lyrics are ambiguous and have been subjected to various interpretations: AIDS, the lament of a Spanish-speaking mother over the death of her son due to gang violence, or someone who goes to fight in a war. [ 37 ] [ 41 ] [ 48 ] More specifically, "Act of Contrition" is an experimental song with psychedelic overtones. It begins with a "whispered invocation" and includes distorted guitar and reverse listening to a gospel choir. She has Madonna recite the Catholic prayer of the same name, before the vocals are downgraded to a monologue in which she gets noisy because she was denied a reservation at a restaurant.