Madonna - Ray Of Light. It’s 20 years old! Update: 25 years old!*

Released 2nd March 1998. I was at work that day and shot into town at lunchtime to pick it up. Frozen was #1 that week and the album had already received great reviews. Easily the best since Like A Prayer (nearly) 10 years before.

I wasn’t so convinced that the old boot had suddenly become all spiritual and caring, but the music and album artwork were amazing! To be fair, it took a few plays to resonate, but once it did there were at least half a dozen songs that were amongst the best she’d ever done.

So, did you buy it? Do you think it’s aged well? Is it missing the guest rappers whom Madonna would take to heart a few years after?! Do tell!

 

WOW!! 20 years. I'll spin the cd tonight. Break the neighbors chops.

 

Remember when Ray Of Light was in a commercial for Windows XP?

 

I don’t. There must be tons of Ray Of Light related stuff out there.

 

ray of light windows xp - Google Search

 

I don't remember it either.

 

It's one of her best albums. Sounded great at first, and still does.

 

That’s cool. The song really fits the visuals. Thanks for posting it.

 

Anytime.

 

Took a couple of plays for me, but I knew it was special after that. It seems to be the last genuinely well thought of Madonna LP.

 

great album, one of her best

 

Frozen is one of her best.

 

I don't really like any Madonna albums after Like a Prayer, but I make an exception for this one. It's great. Kudos to William Orbit.

 

I don't own it (I'm trying to keep her as strictly an 80's artist) but it is one of her better albums.

 

Key moment in her history.
The album made Madonna sound like she'd be aging gracefully from this point forward.
It was the last Madonna album my wife bought. She was a fan from the olden days.

 

Yep. Loved it immediately. When "Music" came out I initially thought it was even better but time has proven Ray Of Light to be the better one.

 

Well, you're doing better than I! One of the few songs I have enjoyed by Madonna were two song used as soundtracks in films. "Live to tell" (Patrick Leonard/Madonna). "This Used to Be My Playground." (Pettibone/Madonna). Though I do enjoy them both.

 

I was only a very casual Madonna fan (still am), but the lead single from this album really resonated with me, so I took a chance and bought it. I'm a rock and metal-head, but this album floored me. I just love it, nearly every song is top notch (except Shanti), and there is a wonderful flow to the album that makes it a compelling full disc listen every time. The writing seems intensely personal, and though I once owned True Blue, I've not bought anything of hers before or since. Nor do I really own any other electronica, unless you'd call Moby that.

To me, it is a rare singular achievement of an artist who hit a second peak. Too bad the momentum was wasted. I couldn't even listen to the single for Music....

 

I didn't become a fan until about five years ago, but after only one listen to Ray of Light it became one of my favorite albums.

 

Excellent post. That really sums it up.

 

Ray Of Light was the first Madonna album I ever listened to in its entirety, and geeze was I ever impressed. I know she had gone through different phases in the early-to-mid 90's that I don't remember caring for, but Ray Of Light really struck me for some reason. Maybe it was something as simple as hearing (for the first time, really) how well she can actually sing without any instruments carrying her along. Whatever the case may be, I like almost every song on the album and that is something I never imagined, having grown up on an almost exclusive diet Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Aerosmith, Ted Nugent and Van Halen in the 70's and then all the hair bands in the 80's. One of my very favorite songs from the album:



This album had me going back and checking out her entire catalogue and I found SO much more great music than just what was on her Immaculate Collection cd. I was never into her social or political statements, but I have a new-found appreciation for her music as well as her vocals. She really can sing!

 

I think it was a perfect reinvention album. Still love it 20 years on (20 years! OMG!)

 

" there is a wonderful flow to the album that makes it a compelling full disc listen every time."
This!

 

I was just reading that she did a lot of vocal lessons before Evita to be sure she would do that role justice. That was a large contributing factor to the breadth and depth of her range on this album. Just the last chorus on Ray of Light alone does vocal gymnastics I would never have previously thought her capable of. There's a euphoria in that song that is simply infectious.

 

I never thought about that before (probably because the album IS perhaps sequenced to near-perfection) but that might be one reason this album is so easy to listen to -- and like!

That, to me anyway, illustrates how important something as simple as song sequencing on an album can be. It does make a difference. Sometimes a big difference.