1. Drowned World / Substitute For Love
2. Swim
3. Ray Of Light
4. Candy Perfume Girl
5. Skin
6. Nothing Really Matters
7. Sky Fits Heaven
8. Shanti / Ashtangi
9. Frozen
10. Power Of Good-Bye, The
11. To Have And Not To Hold
12. Little Star
13. Mer Girl
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com essential recording
Never underestimate Madonna's power of persuasion: By nearly all critical accounts,
Ray of Light, Madonna's first album of new material since 1994's Bedtime
Stories, and her first since motherhood, is her richest, most accomplished
record yet. While Ray of Light is being tagged as Madonna's big leap into
electronica, it's important to note two things: First, her music has always had
close ties to dance culture, and, second, her collaborator William Orbit is no
Chemical Brother. Though it has all the latest blips, bleeps, and crackles electronica
has to offer, Ray of Light is still largely an adult album, completely
within Madonna's realm. Still, Orbit's tasteful sonic constructions provide Madonna
with her most adventurous, hippest musical backdrop ever. What's more, the arrangements
and production are understated enough to highlight an even bigger development:
Fresh from singing lessons on the Evita set, Madonna's vocal range, depth,
and clarity have never been stronger. But larger pipes don't necessarily make
for deeper, truer music. Never a master lyricist, Madonna's words have worked
best when they've practically been slogans ("Vogue," "Express Yourself"). This
time she goes for more emotional depth, and even tries her hand at ethno-techno-mysticism
("Shanti/Ashtangi"). She largely stumbles, however. The tone conveyed on songs
like "Nothing Really Matters" is a self-centered pat on the back that belies her
claim to a newfound altruism. It's enough to make you wonder, now that Madonna's
given up being our material girl, if maybe she's set her sights on becoming the
center of our spiritual world too. --Roni Sarig
