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Brain Sync - Kelly Howell - Living Prayer: Discover the Prayer Within You toolsforwellness.com | Anxiety, Prayer and Spirituality, Clinical Evidence to the power of... holistic-online.com | Anxiety, Prayer and Spirituality, Clinical Evidence to the power of... holisticonline.com | Pages - Clergy and Prayer Ministries smhfranklin.com |
This article is about the Madonna album. For the Madonna song, see Like a Prayer (song). For the documentary, see Like a Prayer (documentary).
Like a Prayer is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on March 21, 1989 by Sire Records. The RIAA certified it Quadruple Platinum on July 16, 1997[2], recognizing four million shipments in the U.S. - making it her seventh best-selling album there. Worldwide, it has sold more than 11 million copies.[3] The album was also ranked number 237 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [4]
[edit] Album historyLike a Prayer incorporates rock, dance, pop, soul, and funk elements. Rolling Stone magazine hailed it "as close to art as pop music gets"[5]. Recorded in 1988 with collaborators Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, it includes a duet with Prince and features the first of several songs in her repertoire, "Promise to Try"[5], about her mother's death. The album is dedicated to "my mother who taught me to pray." She also addresses her failed marriage to actor Sean Penn in "Till Death Do Us Part."[5] In a rather unique instance of album marketing, the packaging on the first pressings of the CD, cassette, and LP of Like a Prayer were scented to simulate church incense, reportedly with Madonna's favorite scent, patchouli oil.[6] Also included was an insert about the dangers of AIDS and how to avoid it.[7] For years, there were rumors[by whom?] that Prince played rhythm guitar on "Like A Prayer" and "Keep It Together." Madonna had often reported that when Prince came to the studio to play, he was doing "some weird shit" on his guitar, little of which Madonna was able to use on the album.[citation needed] It was later confirmed by Madonna that Prince did in fact play on both songs, albeit uncredited.[citation needed] His guitar rambling can be heard in the intro to "Like A Prayer," and backwards on "Act of Contrition." Before the commercial release of the first single, the title track "Like a Prayer," Pepsi decided to use the song as part of a soft drink commercial featuring Madonna. In addition, the company struck a deal to sponsor her 1990 Blond Ambition Tour. The commercial aired twice before the release of the music video on MTV. Pepsi was unaware of the video's content: Madonna witnesses a murder, kisses a black saint (St. Martin de Porres), displays stigmata after cutting her palms on a knife, and dances in a field of burning crosses. Some religious groups were furious and threatened to boycott Pepsi, who in turn decided to cancel the ad campaign and tour sponsorship, though Madonna kept the contracted $5 million. The promotional Pepsi cans featuring a picture of Madonna from the "Like A Prayer" commercial were recalled, and have become one of the most highly sought after Madonna collectables.[8] Perhaps partially due to the publicity created by the controversy, the single soared to number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the USA. The album debuted at number eleven, and within three weeks was number one, where it would stay for over a month. The singles "Express Yourself" and "Cherish" both reached number two. "Oh Father" was her least successful single since 1984, peaking at number twenty. "Keep It Together" reached number eight, and "Dear Jessie" became a hit single in Europe, with an animated video. At the 1989 MTV Video Music Awards, Madonna performed a high-energy version of "Express Yourself" as a preview for her upcoming world tour, and received the MTV Viewers' Choice award for the "Like A Prayer" video. She performed "Like A Prayer," "Express Yourself," "Cherish," "Oh Father" and "Keep It Together" in her 1990 tour. According to a list released by Time magazine on November 13, 2006, Like a Prayer is one of the 100 greatest albums of all time. In 2003, Rolling Stones magazine named it the 237th greatest album of all time. Apart from that the album is featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. [9] [edit] Track listing
Additional notes
[edit] Singles
[edit] Certifications, peaks and sales
[edit] Album credits[edit] Personnel
[edit] Production
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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