Ray of Light

This is a pretty good electropop album though nowhere near the fantastic joy of her 80s records. “Frozen” is a jam though.

Of all of the albums released in 1998 this one sounds the most like 1998.

Holy snoozefest. Incredibly forgettable

Frozens not bad, driving me crazy trying to think which song samples it, more or less the only thing compelling me to come back to this

1.5

Not bad, not great. I never wanted to turn it off, but I probably won't listen again, either.

Interesting to hear Madonna chuck middle eastern, Indian, and dance beats in a bag and shake them up. Some decent tracks. Particularly Frozen stands out as an interracial departure and a well-crafted tune for a batman soundtrack. Probably won't listen to the whole thing again but that one song was nice.

I wasn't familiar with this phase of Madonna. I liked it more than i expected. Great dance songs. Probably 4-5 star quality. I give it 3 because it's just not something I will put on

Shite!!

2 ⭐️

We all thought Madonna was ancient when this came out, but she was younger than I am now. I liked this album in 1998. It was a cool departure from her earlier work and I enjoyed the nods to trip hop and other electronic genres that I hadn't been too familiar with. This was my first listen since around that time and I found the record to be really interesting musically, even though Madonna's vocals seem a little distant and disaffected. The album has a lot of strong songs, but could use a little bit of editing. I'd give 3.5 if they'd let me, but closer to a 3.

There are good technical notes, but nothing about this is actually interesting or makes me want to have listened to it.

The third song is a meme song and that threw me off.

Peak late 90-s dance themes. It's fine.

1.77

Strange… you know how some albums from your youth don’t hold up when you go back and listen years later?
I actually enjoyed this one MORE now than I did at the time! Madonna in her enlightened spiritual stage was actually pretty interesting.

Meh, it was ok. Ray of Light had some nostalgia. The rest was fine in the background, but nothing I want to seek out in the future.

I wasn't expecting this at all, but I've got to say, it's excellent.

An intriguing fusion of 90s euro-trance, trip hop and downtempo; it's clearly ushering in influences from the likes of Massive Attack, Portishead, Culture Beat, Goldie, Björk, Ace of Base etc. but it somehow manages to blend all of them into something unique and thoroughly engaging. One of my all time favourite bands in The Gathering released "How to Measure a Planet" during the same year, where despite the album's generally more prog rock-oriented leanings, Ray of Light surely must have been on their radar to inspire their shift in direction towards similar forms of electronic which are showcased here.

There is a mystical, even spiritual thread running through a fair portion of the album, most pronounced in a track such as "Shanti / Ashtangi", with drips and drabs of Middle Eastern instrumentation on a track such as "Skin". The album also has a very personal feel to it, with themes ranging from the birth of Madonna's daughter and of struggles such as heartbreak, but delivered in a more sophisticated manner than your typical pop fare.

I can't believe that a Madonna album has been one of my favourite discoveries along this process so far, but here we are. It's going to be purchased.

I didn't think I'd like Madonna album - I did like Madonna album, hooray for progress and growth this is good. It was a bit long, but I'd merrily re-listen.

Gutes Madonna Album mit „Frozen“ und „City of light“.

"Madonna's magnum opus" my ass

There are a few good songs on here but as a while the album is slow, boring, and too long.

I remember loving Ray of Light by Madonna when it first came out—I thought it was a brilliant album, and I was excited to revisit it today.

On re-listen, it still holds up in parts, but the record is let down by its length. From Frozen onwards, the quality dips noticeably, with tracks 10–13 adding very little. They’re slow, overly drawn out, and, frankly, dull. That said, the album does contain some real highlights—Drowned World / Substitute for Love, Swim, Ray of Light, and of course the hauntingly brilliant Frozen.

Overall, a good but uneven record that starts strong and then fades badly. For me, it’s a 3/5.

Favourite track: Frozen—a powerful, haunting classic.
Least favourite track: Everything after Frozen, especially Shanti / Ashtangi, which really doesn’t work.
Album artwork: An iconic Madonna cover.

ok sound - nothing memorable