Hi friends, welcome to Peanut Gallery. Every Wednesday here at MusicOlogy, we'll be presenting two classic albums from the same iconic band or artist and asking you... the smart, savvy, blindingly attractive Ology readers... to debate amongst yourselves over which record reigns supreme. Individual songs, concepts, music videos, lyrics, album artwork—everything's on the table here, folks. Give us your best argument in the comments section below. We'll announce the winner at the beginning of next week's Peanut Gallery face-off.
Last Week's Winner:
We pitted Tom Waits' debut album Closing Time up against his mid-'80s classic Rain Dogs in a battle to the... well, not death, but something definitely painful. Our comments section was full… full of all them Brooklyn girls… who voted in an overwhelming majority for Rain Dogs, which ultimately took home 5 votes to Closing Time's 1. Ouch. I would say, "Hey, don't let it get you down, Closing Time," but then again, you're Closing Time and you're going to be boozing it up alone in the corner all night anyway. Cheers, mate.
This Week's Match-Up:
Quick, call the Catholic League! We're getting into the groove by pitting Madonna's Like A Virgin (1984) against Like A Prayer (1989).
Madonna's self-titled debut established both her sound and image, but it was Like A Virgin that perfected them. Produced by Nile Rodgers, the album is a near-perfect collection of smart, sassy dance pop rooted deep in Madonna's first of many reinventions: the dangerously ravenous bride in waiting that famously crawled across the stage at the inaugural VMAs. The singles are indispensable classics… the deeper album cuts are pitch perfect… beat for beat, Madonna never recorded a better (or more fun) pop record—Like A Virgin is an undeniable '80s classic and quite possible her most essential collection of songs… ever.
Classic Songs: "Like A Virgin," "Material Girl," "Angel," "Dress You Up" and "Love Don't Live Here Anymore."
Madonna capped off the decade she helped define with her fourth and arguably most personal album to date. Working again with producers Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray, Madonna pushed her trademark dance pop sound in bigger, bolder directions while branching out into gospel ("Like A Prayer") and late-Beatles psychedelica ("Dear Jessie") and delivering two of her most earnest, accomplished songs to date: "Promise To Try," a heartfelt ode to her late mother, and "Oh Father," a sweeping orchestral condemnation against her father. Song for song, Like A Prayer is perhaps Madonna's most creatively accomplished album and, rightly so, her most critically acclaimed full-length to date.
Classic Songs: "Like A Prayer," "Express Yourself," "Cherish," "Oh Father" and "Promise To Try."
Okay, ladies and gentlemen... it's in your hands now. Hit up the comments section below and let us know which Madonna album deserves to take home the glory; we'll declare a winner this time next week. See you all then!
Debanjan Mitra:
@M, seriously..I was thinkin about this too.Atleast some of the comments clearly portray that some people might be confusing the song with the album.Have u guys all of u really listened to the entire album of LAP & LAV & still think LAP outsmarts LAV in terms of total tracklength?!! :O Would any1 bother explaining plzzz?! Wonder what wud have been the poll trend if the debut album 'Madonna'(which I prefer hands down even to LAV) was pitted against LAV or 'Confessions On A Dancefloor' against 'True Blue' !!!
M :
You guys are confusing the SONGS with the album. I mean, Like A Prayer (song) is WAAAAY better than Like A Virgin (song), it's even my favorite Madonna song, but as an album? No. Like A Virgin is way better. So MY VOTE GOES TO Like A Virgin.
July 30, 2012
Debanjan Mitra:
Wlcm Victoria.With the trend of the poll till now,LAP is goin 2 win surely,but might I remind u people who are voting for LAP that Madonna is essentially a POP star,not a Balladeer,& LAP is more of a kind-of-ballad-nature than the signature pop-thing.Even the title track is not quintessentially pop.It has it's share of gospel music (which I luv so much) & the lyrics are so balladic(I again luv it for being so).'Oh Father' is the most celebrated ballad of her posing a
tough competition even to a mammoth ballad like 'Live To Tell'(True Blue).'Cherish' is a ballad.'Keep It Together' -again balladic.'Express Yourself' is the only released single from the album that's signature pop,but is it comparable to the classic & untiring pop beats of Material Girl,Like A Virgin or Dress You Up? As Victoria rightly remarked,LAV is fully enjoyable throughout the length,LAP kinda gets banally repeatitive with tones of confessions somewhere in the middle.& when it comes to vote an album as the best,I guess it's not only the auditory pleasure that comes into account,but greater than that the cultural impact it had is what's to be paid considerable importance to.LAV gave rise to the trend among girls in millions called 'Madonna Wannabes' & a seperate course in journalism called 'Madonna Studies'.Again, I have nothing against LAP & people voting for it,though I might sound like one,'coz either way Madge wins.But even according to the sales figures & chart positions 'Like A Virgin' is to Madonna what 'Thriller' is to Michael Jackson,& 'Like A Prayer' is to Madonna as 'Bad' is to MJ.Guess what that means?! :) :)
July 29, 2012
Manuel Marcano:
Like A Prayer Might As Well Have Come Out In The 90s. It Has That Sound. Nothing Beats Pure Early 80s Madonna Gold. So Definitely Like A Virgin. Like A Prayer Is A Good Album But Come On The Hype Of When She Just Started Strong Her Look Her Voice Her Style Her Moves. That Was Some Passion Coming Out That Gate. Were Talking Young Fresh Or Mature.
July 28, 2012
victoria sebring:
This is a great discussion! Thanks Denise and Debanjan! A Mod Squad- ok you make a valid point, I do have a vinyl pressing that has extended play, so "Everybody" is not on all releases. (point given) However, I listened to both albums last night when I got home, and honestly SideA of LAP is all I needed and I was over it. (Everybody and Cherish- done) But I could listen to the B side on LAV and still be "into the groove". Either way I love Madge... so it's still a win win ! :)
Denise Haggerty:
I agree with Victoria; Like a Virgin was way more lively. Pure pop genius!
July 25, 2012
A Mod Squad :
Victoria - You used "Everybody" and "Into The Groove" as examples of songs on "Virgin" Everybody is a song from her self titled debut album and Into The Groove is only available in some countries on the "Virgin" album so not typically known to be a track from that album. With that said, Like A Prayer kicks Virgin easily for me. Tracks like Prayer, Express, Oh Father, Spanish Eyes, Keep It Together instantly beat out most tracks on "Virgin" for me. With that said, I also happen to love her duet with Prince, Promise to Try and Till Death do us Part. Angel, Dress You Up and Like a Virgin are my faves from that respective album.
alex :
Like a prayer is her best album! every track is special
July 25, 2012
Debanjan Mitra:
'Like A Virgin' undoubtedly.
Although my most favorite pop song of all time remains the single 'Like A Prayer',it's an anthem to me,I've listened to it countless times & the accompanying music video is my personal best of all the music videos of all the artists(including MJ) that I've seen 2 date,but then you know,just for a single an album can't be chosen(not that I don't like the other singles from the album,but they are not that ICONIC,the word that pops instantly into your mind while speaking of the legend of Madonna).No doubt in LAP Madonna's voice sounded the best to date,but it was definitely LAV that coined the iconically trendsetting style of the diva & gave birth in true sense to the groundshaking phenomena called Madonna & although the self-titled debut album was a hit,but it was LAV that richocheted the pop star to instant & celestially dizzying heights of rarified stardom creating tumultuous repurcussions all over the world among the then society,which only further contributes to the album's unrivaled greatness.
July 25, 2012
Andrew Rocha:
I have to say Like A Prayer. I love Like A Virgin because it marks the beginning of the Madonna we really have grown to love as a society and it cemented Madonna as a rebel whereas Like A Prayer cemented her as the artist, who was taking more of a mature and authentic approach to her music. So Like A Prayer for sure.
July 25, 2012
victoria sebring:
seriously guys? come on! Can you honestly say that Like a Prayer has better tracks than Like a Virgin? I can acknowledge that Like a Prayer is a better SONG than Like a Virgin- but the rest of the album?- There's no comparison!
Greg Kogkalidis:
Like a prayer" offers one of Madonna's best songs ever, the wonderful "Pray for spanish eyes". For this alone, it's a winner but there is also another hidden gem called "Till death do us part", the sublime "Oh Father" which was surprisingly chosen to be a single and the gloriously introspective "Promise to try". While "Like a virgin" has style, "Like a prayer" has substance.
July 25, 2012
Greg Kogkalidis:
Like a prayer" offers one of Madonna's best songs ever, the wonderful "Pray for spanish eyes". For this alone, it's a winner but there is also another hidden gem called "Till death do us part", the sublime "Oh Father" which was surprisingly chosen to be a single and the gloriously introspective "Promise to try". While "Like a virgin" has style, "Like a prayer" has depth.
July 25, 2012
JT Langley:
You guys know Lady Gaga ghostwrote all of these songs, right?
July 25, 2012
Chris Exantus:
Like a Prayer. That music video is among the weirdest thing I've ever seen.
July 25, 2012
victoria sebring:
Oh Madonna - that crazy B#*ch. i have every "early" album on vinyl and listen to them on a regular basis. Interesting choices for this week. I feel that her best two albums are the first two- self titled (83) and like a virgin (84). Every song on the self-titled was a hit, and to immediately follow up with another slammer... is big ups. Madonna slips a little with True Blue (1986), the only real hit on that album was" Papa Don't Preach", but more than makes up for it with Like a Prayer (89). If I had to choose any album it would be the self titled hands down... but for this week, I'd have to say Like a Virgin. "Dress You Up", "Everybody" and "Into The Groove" are just way better songs than "Cherish" and "Express Yourself". Again, when you come off a great album it's hard to keep the momentum, Like a Virgin did this. However, following a so-so album like True Blue, we aren't asking for much ...just a couple hit singles to get our attention back.
Comments (26)