| Ray of Light | 
 enlarge | Artist: Madonna
Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $13.97 (100%)
New (73) Used (328) Collectible (9) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  799 reviews
Sales Rank: 3386
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 46847
UPC: 093624684725
EAN: 0093624684725
ASIN: B000002NJS
Publication Date: 1998
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: good cd. no artwork, only the cd.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Definitely not worthy of all the praise April 26, 2000
9 out of 19 found this review helpful
This is supposed to be techno? If that's the case, then 'N Sync must be a hardcore punk band. I've listened to the tracks and there is no bold reinvention, no meaningful lyrics, no substance at all - just a somewhat technologically-advanced version of the adult contemporary pap Madonna has always recorded. She somehow managed to turn what should have been 15 minutes of fame into 15 years, but it wasn't her music or singing that did it. Her voice is still very weak, the music is nowhere near as entrancing as REAL techno, and the lyrics rehash the same themes - you've got "You're frozen when your heart is not open" from "Frozen", and "Your heart is not open so I must go" from "The Power Of Goodbye". Many of the other lyrics also sound like a self-absorbed pat on the back, but that's to be expected from Madonna. Anyway, most techno sounds better without lyrics/vocals unless they add something bold and interesting to the songs (like Underworld and Apollo Four Forty) - that's not the case with the dull and predictable Ray Of Light. Trust me, once you get into some real techno (not some adult contemporary act who's desperately trying to make teenagers think she is cool) you'll forget this ever existed.
 Haunting...mesmerizing...left me speechless... November 27, 2005
9 out of 9 found this review helpful
I am big Madonna fan myself. I loved her since the "Borderline" days. I have copies of "Like A Virgin," "True Blue," "Like A Prayer," "Immaculate Collection," "Erotica," "Bedtime Stories," "Something to Remember," "Music," and "American Life." These were all great pop albums, but I am looking for songs which I really can relate to my emotions. If you're also looking for the same thing that I do...you're in the right place. It's the "Ray of Light" album.
I will not dare review all of the singles, simply coz I'm too lazy to type:-). I will just review the songs which simply appealed most to my heart: "Frozen," "The Power of Goodbye," and "To Have and Not to Hold." These 3 tracks is enough to make you purchase the album and say to yourself: "Damn, I made a good purchase!"
1) "Frozen"---A song perfect to dedicate to someone who you really love but can't love you back, but you're still hoping that he/she would open your heart to you. It's like a chant actually...its like invoking to a Superior Being and asking him to make that person love you back. Madonna is also trying to convince the one that she loves to "melt" his heart and eventually love her. Clever and optimistic thought. The sound effects here are enchanting. I listen to this song when I feel "down," as I try to move on. Its somewhat comforting and reassuring, just like a pill...
2)"The Power of Goodbye"---Perfect song for someone trying to move on. You're trying to convince yourself to let go...but sometimes it's just damn hard to say "goodbye" to someone you really love who hasn't loved you back. One of the most emotional Madonna songs ever---with the lines "There's nothing left to lose, there's no more heart to bruise." I love the lyrics, which was aided even more by its sound effects. I imagine myself to be in Near East when I listen to this---it has a certain "Middle Eastern feel" to it. Video is great too---a vacation house near a beach is a perfect place to meditate and mend your broken heart...
3)"To Have and Not to Hold"---Perfect song for someone who you really have an attraction on, but you can't pursue him/her due to certain constraints. Its like blaming your heart for falling for this certain guy or girl, but you shouldn't. A good example---falling for your classmate but can't pursue him/her because he/she likes someone else, so both of you can end up as close friends---but not intimate lovers. This happens to me all the time, and when it happens, I always play this song:-)
Other excellent tracks are "Sky Fits Heaven"---perfect for travelers of "life," "Shanti Ashtangi,"---very mesmerizing, you can even dance to it in the end. "Ray of Light"---the song in which Madonna delivered her most powerful vocals ever, and "Mer Girl,"---very mysterious. In here Madonna became a visionary, just like Bjork.
BOTTOMLINE: Don't patronize my review. BUY this album yourself and give it a try. Trust me, you will be enchanted and you won't regret it...
Brilliant album... July 2, 2000
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
I am a big fan of real electronica music and the last thing I ever expected was that one of the best albums of that genre would be a Madonna album. But she proved me wrong. Instead of creating the cheap sugar pop "electronic music" so popular nowadays (Eiffel 65, Aqua, etc.), she actually went for the darker, more daring work of producers like William Orbit. To top it off, "Ray of Light" has deep and meaningful lyrics that talk about everything from mysticism to death to sexual desire. The title track ("Ray of Light") will go down in history as one of the best songs ever recorded. Aside from the single releases, the album has a lot of hidden jewels in it, like the electro-rock track "Candy Perfume Girl", an extremely rough rave track called "Skin", the minimalist-yet-brilliant "Mer Girl" and the Indian flavored "Shanti/Ashtangi". All in all this is the best album of 1998 and one of the best albums of all time. Definitely worth your money...
Utter joy.... November 22, 1999
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Madonna has the knack for grabbing you attention and with Ray of Light she keeps it. Profoundly deep and spiritually moving Madonna leads the way(again) for female singer of a new generation. Not to knock others down but what is Mariah Carey or Whitney Houston doing? The same old things...enlisting hard core rap artists to reinvigorate their music. Madonna is on her own-not trying to impress anyone but herself. "Frozen" is an utter masterpeice-the strings and drums give me goosebumps, and vocally she has never sounded better. People don't buy her records to hear her voice as they do Barbra Striesand or Celine Dion-they buy them because she always provides something fresh and new. I wouldn't classiy this album as electonica-it is pop. I think that the electonic sounds give a depth that is unreal. Take "The Power of Goodbye" for example-it is not you typical ballad-the syth sounds and vocal effects give it life and vitallity-unlike so many stagnant "power ballads" of recent years. If you choose to buy her album expect an aray of sounds and feelings-life, death, love, lose, pain, joy, and millions more; expect to be shocked at the music-extremely layered and provoative. Who else would turn an chant into a pop song? But most importantly expect to be moved-you'll be amazed...
Madonna: Electronica Style! November 11, 1999
8 out of 10 found this review helpful
It's a long way from "Everybody" to her latest solo album. In the traditional Madonna way, her artistry is in the music. "Ray Of Light" does not quite achieve any ground-breaking status, but it showcases a vocal confidence and growth not heard in previous albums. Madonna's vocals provide the pillars which sustain the structure of this stylish techno-effort. She definitely shines on all the songs included in her riskiest album to date in spite of the overproduction of repetitive and unnecessary electronic sounds that undermine the beauty of the music on which compelling lyrics about devotion, love, motherhood, reflection, and spiritualism are built. Madonna has always been a step ahead. This quality is what has kept her in the public's interest for the last 17 years. And her writing shows for it. Electronica could be classified as some sort of soulless music that is driven by pounding beats as cold as the computers and synthetizers from which they are generated. Now Madonna has given it a new face, heart, and most importantly: soul. On "Drowned World/Substitute For Love", Madonna explores the dark side of fame. It implies that the top can be a very lonely place. Fame is just an illusion that cannot replace the most basic of feelings: love. Great opening track! Madonna has said that "Ray Of Light" is an album that celebrates life and brings forth hope. Indeed, life is a cycle. It's "Holiday" all over again! "Frozen", the lead-off single captivates as it commands to open up one's heart. Undoubtedly, one of her best tracks ever and quite possibly the album's most beautiful song. For club buffs, this is one of Madonna's best remixes to date under the over-the-top production of Victor Calderone. "Ray Of Light", the title song, not only offers Madonna's best vocals yet, but also enthralls us to fall under the spell of the pounding beat. Wished the remixed version would have captured the energy and driving force that made this track a contender in the "Record Of The Year" category in this year's Grammy's. "The Power Of Good-Bye" and "Nothing Really Matters" were choices de-rigueur for singles. Record companies should take into consideration that for any single to work effectively both on radio and fans, the single should be released before it peaks on airplay or club charts --the point is to have the single available when it becomes sought after-- because after all, a single helps promote the album and in no way does it undermines the potentiality of album sales. Outstanding tracks that should have been singles are "To Have And Not To Hold" and "Sky Fits Heaven". For hard-core fans, "Little Star" is the heroin's ode to baby Lourdes. Not a bad follow-up lullaby to "Dear Jessie" from 1989's "Like A Prayer", do you remember? It was released as a single (and there is a video too!) in Germany. Overall, "Ray Of Light" --Best Pop Album Grammy Winner-- is a true testament of Madonna's music electronica style that is essentially and irresistibly pure pop. Madonna's creativity and musical merit in its techno incarnation will stand the test of time just as well as the numerous incarnations Madonna herself has undertaken in the last two decades. A must-have gem for every true pop music fan.
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