12th November - Madonna's Like a Virgin

Artist – Album: Madonna – Like a Virgin

Released: 12^th November 1984

Sounds Like: She made it through the wilderness…

Tonight I’m taking my girlfriend to see The National play to a sold out 02 Apollo in Manchester, in what is pretty much guaranteed to be (i.e. people who went yesterday said it was) a fantastic performance from one of my favourite bands. ‘Bloodbuzz Ohio’, ‘Mr. November’, ‘Secret Meeting’, ‘Fake Empire’: they’re all amazing songs and I am HUGELY excited.

Round about now you’d expect to see a neat little segue into my Madonna review… but… well… there isn’t one. I’ve given it a lot of thought, and I can confirm that there just isn’t a link. The National and Madonna are like chalk and cheesy-pop. Similarities between ‘Material Girl’ and ‘Mistaken for Strangers’ begin and end with the fact that they both start with the letter “M”. But that’s not to say that there isn’t merit in Madonna.

Like a Virgin was the album that made Madonna a pop icon; the most successful female recording artist in history. For all that it was perceived as a carefully calculated work manufactured to make a superstar (she called it Like a Virgin and she wore a dishevelled wedding dress on her bridal bed on the cover – this girl wasn’t messing about), the songs within are just too good to dismiss. ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ is a sumptuous cover of the Rose Royce soul ballad and ‘Dress You Up’ is sexy and nimble with Prince-like lyrics. ‘ ‘Angel’ and ‘Over and Over’ are grade A pop songs, but even they are easily surpassed by the two monster hits ‘Material Girl’ and ‘Like a Virgin’, songs that Madge has struggled to best throughout her 30 year career. With Nile Rodgers drafting in as the producer, the album effectively has the Kitemark that guarantees quality.

It is brilliant pop; pop that only Michael Jackson could compete with that decade and arguably since. All that being said, I’d still rather go to see The National.

Albumaday... rating: 7/10

1.       Material Girl – 4:00

2.       Angel – 3:56

3.       Like a Virgin – 3:38

4.       Over and Over – 4:12

5.       Love Don’t Live Here Anymore – 4:47

6.       Dress You Up – 4:01

7.       Shoo-Bee-Doo – 5:16

8.       Pretender – 4:30

9.       Stay – 4:07

Listen to ‘Material Girl’: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNSUOFgj97M

Also released on the 12^th November:

1996: Lil’ Kim – Hard Core

Also released on the 12^th November:

1996: Less Than Jake – Losing Streak

Also released on the 12^th November:

2002: Missy Elliott – Under Construction