Madonna

In 1989 Madonna was still very much on top of her game, for the fifth straight year. Like A Prayer went to No. 1 in the charts, thanks to the title cut, "Cherish" and "Express Yourself," one of her very best songs. Years later, "Express Yourself" seems to point to the house direction she took in Erotica.

Ever since Madonna's bellybutton first undulated its way into mass consciousness, her fame
has been more a matter of image than artistry. Never mind whether there was any depth or
resonance behind it; for many of her fans, the image alone – Madonna as wily, wanton boy
toy, gleefully manipulating the material world – was resonant enough. For others, it was
just an act, a coolly calculated pop ploy designed to sell records. With Like a Pr... More >

Three times I've mistaken her polymorphic promo and gross ambition for standard-issue lowest-common-denominator pandering, and three times her audience has disabused me in the months and years that followed. But though I swear I won't get fooled again, it's hard to hear an icon in the privacy of your own home, especially if you don't believe in her, and I won't sink that low or fly that high--I can't. So say the kiddie psychedelia is ick, the side-closers are over when they're over, and everything else sports some little touch to remember it by, Prince or musique concrète or broken quote from the Association. The cocksucker's prayer is anybody's classic, but coming from, I don't know, Suzanne Vega, the declaration of filial independence and the recommendation of romantic independence would be uncharacteristically catchy cliches. Coming from an icon they're challenging, thrilling--and they'll get more thrilling. (Grade - B+)