Madonna

Ray Of Light

Step Into The Light

Review Score:

(10/10)
Summary: Cohesive, textured, intricate, deep and yet oh so fun to sing and dance to! Madonna really did it this time in 1998 when Ray of Light was released. Like many fans in the mid-1990s, I was beginning to lose interest in the Queen of Pop. Like many pop artists at the time, Madonna began to sound sadly generic. With a couture chameleon like Madonna, it should be second nature to play with an audience and take them on a roller-coaster ride of different "identities" all the while maintaining a signature presence in one's music and art. However, on her preceding 1994 album "Bedtime Stories", it started to become painfully clear that Madonna was becoming very much UNclear of who she was. I, like most fans, did not like the course she was heading down. Of course, this had much to do with the fact that she worked with multiple producers on the "Bedtime Stories" album. What can a pop artist do when "Pop" becomes a dirty word? Simple: be uncategorizable. With Ray of Light, she returned with a cohesive, well-assembled record worthy of all the high praise it garnered in 1998 on the charts and at the Grammy Awards. William Orbit breathed new life into her career. And of course, the return of Patrick Leonard is always a welcomed sight on any Madonna Record. All in all..... a very solid album. Though the album spawned five hit singles (Frozen, Ray of Light, The Power of Goodbye, Nothing Really Matters, Drowned World), it is the non-commercial tracks that really deserve attention. Highlights of the record: "To Have And Not To Hold", "Drowned World/Substitute for Love", "Skin", "Sky Fits Heaven". If you're looking for an album that will tire of you before you tire of it..... look no more.

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