Madonna

Ray Of Light

"Ray" is Anything but Light

Review Score:

(8/10)
Billed by many as Madonna's comeback album, Ray of Light is the project that brought her out of the shadow of Erotica and Bedtime Stories and brought her into the light of critical acclaim and musical success, as well as personal and spiritual awareness. Madonna embraced a techno god as producer and dove into an introspective landscape of cool orchestrations and hot bleeps and beats. The result was a new sound and new persona for pop music's favorite chameleon. It was an incarnation that paid off well for the new mom. This "Gospel According to Madonna" did much to resuscitate the ailing Madge, even earning her a few Grammy Awards. However, as a whole, the album is a heavy and often burdensome listen, far from the light and playful Madonna albums that brought her to this point. The lead single, "Frozen," weighs in at a hefty 6 minutes and 12 seconds and is a perfect representation of this album. It's an undeniably beautiful song that is just a little too long and a little too laden down with message. And often times it feels as though the message is forced, as if Madonna is trying too hard to get us to buy the fact that she really is spiritual guru ("Shanti/Ashtangi?") - honest to Allah. Many of the songs on here are simply gorgeous and can never be overlooked, but as a whole the album feels like a marathon for the spiritually motivated (I can count the amount of times I've made it all the way through to "Mer Girl" on one hand). Madonna often has something to say with her music, but with this album the message takes precedence over the music. And at the end of the day, it is the music that Madonna is known for.

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