Madonna

Ray of Light

Ray of Light is Madonna's near-masterpiece and one of my favorite albums of all time. Beyond having some of my favorite Madonna singles ('Frozen,' 'Nothing Really Matters,' the title track), the album is a wonderful reflection on pop's spiritual potential. Time collapses as Madonna considers her past and her future through the sounds of the present; she transforms the dance floor into an asylum from trauma. It is Madonna's most ambitious and personal record, a sparkling jewel at the top of the ... read more

[Genre: Dance]

So to answer my question on whether the "dance" music was square dancing or break dancing... I guess it's neither?

Well I can't say I expected that! On Ray Of Light, Madonna incorporates elements of drum and bass and trip hop, and most of the time it sounds great! The combination works surprisingly well with her voice, and while sometimes it can feel dated (and also a tad bit long) it doesn't really matter a lot since I enjoyed this album quite a lot.

favourite ... read more

The pop queen flirts closely with 90s electronica, trip-hop and even drum n bass on her most celebrated release, Ray of Light. The whole thing is very well produced and breathes with the same kind of peace and comfort that she preached after discovering kabbalah, leading to a very zen-like overall sound. The problem, though, is how the vocals are layered in the mix, not rarely buried inside the bright instrumentals and performed in such monochromatic, comfortable way it gets difficult to ... read more

So I guess this is what a 1998 artpop album sounds like. The production choices are interesting and it's cool to see Madonna pushing some boundaries but the studio trickery on here all sounds a little dated in 2019. I don't think the technology was really there yet to deliver exactly what Madonna wanted. However, it is still really impressive for the time,