She's nothing like a virgin!! (Like A Virgin - Madonna)

Member Name: josh_debbarman

Product:	Like A Virgin - Madonna
Date:	09/05/02 (185 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: addictive & full of 'hooks', the album that made Madonna a megastar, Lots of 80s mega-hits: important culturally

Disadvantages: patchy song quality, Commerical-sounding fluff in places

Delayed for almost a year by the success of Madonna's debut album (as both were ready almost at the same time!), this her second album, was the first really big one and showed that this girl was not a one-hit wonder. The album was re-released in 1985 with the addition of 'Into The Groove' and remastered in 2001 with improved sound and extended remixes of 'Material Girl' and 'Like A Virgin', but minus 'Into The Groove.

Material Girl is a vintage Madonna hit and drew comparisons with Cyndi Lauper because of the shrill voice used. The theme is materialism, but it is decidedly tongue-in-cheek (actually mocking materialism), a fact that many people actually missed. The video is based on a scene by Marilyn Monroe in her film 'Gentlemen Prefer Blondes' (where she sang 'Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend'), and watching it helps to see the true meaning behind the theme. One of the most famous of Madonna's songs, it coined a nickname she is still known by today, though it is known that she dislikes this. This is a song that superbly captures the spirit of the time, relationships being presented in a capitalist manner in terms of commodities and possessions. It was inspired by some lyrics from an early Police song and also refers to The Miracles' 1960 Tamla hit 'Shop Around'. The music is signature Madonna, with synth figures all over it and a strong backbeat. A robotic male voice repeats the hook of the song, which features Madonna singing in a strangely robotic manner.

Angel is a nice little song, starting out with a laugh and an echo panned left and right. The song is built on a three chord ascending hook which serves for the verse and the chorus. Madonna is deeply in love here and insists that he is an angel. Lyrically and musically there is nothing much of great interest in this piece of pop bubblegum.

Famous and infamous in equal measure, Like A Virgin was frowned on, condem
ned, ridiculed, but it was extremely successful. It may have dated, but for many people, this is the song they first think of when they hear Madonna's name. I know this song first made me aware of Madonna's name, and I was only four years old! This has become one of the most distinctive songs ever written. Actually, this is a really clever song, the intro has two hooks in it, a Four-Tops-influenced three-note bass motif and chordal stabs taken from Chuck Berry. On top of this unholy stew, Madonna puts a little-girl-lost voice, leaving the audience totally defenceless. Madonna's deliberate lyrical ambiguity and innuendo do nothing to save the audience from the clutches of this ruthless song (far from it!). She may be 'like' a virgin, but is she one? Is she saying she doesn't want to be a virgin anymore?? Apparently, the message was more simple than that: from the horse's mouth, we learn that the song is about something that makes her feel brand new and fresh...er yeah, that helped a lot! For the real virgins this song could help then anticipate the 'event' or maybe hold off a little longer, for more experienced girls could use this song to feel how going with a new guy could make them feel like it was the first time all over again; and the boys could fantasise about a girl whose previous sexual history would be annihilated as soon as they got their paws on her (couple this with some live performance where she rolled around on the stage in a lacey wedding dress with the cameramen being naughty with their choice of camera angles in relation to the said dress, and you can see the lads just didn't stand a chance!). See? It's damned clever in a subliminal subversive way! Maybe this was why it provoked such a fuss when it was released. Madonna and songwriter Billy Steinberg look very innocent when they say this wasn't the aim, but the hooks even got producer Nile Rogers who wasn't too keen on the song at first but quickly
got ensnared (it stayed in his head for four whole days!) and even apologised to Madonna for doubting the song! This baby has more hooks than a fishing-tackle factory. If a seasoned pro like Rogers succumbed, what chance did the poor public have?!

Over and Over is possibly the first song Madonna ever had a hand in writing (it may have originated in 1979 when she was being to play the guitar by then-boyfriend Dan Gilroy) has a super little beat and really gets you into the song. It's about overcoming disappointments and trying again to succeed (more weight to my theory about its origin, as the time period in question was not easy for Madonna). Engaging rather than classy, it has an endearing innocence about it ("it doesn't matter who you are, it's what you do that takes you far"), yet there is a hint of rebellion ("I'm not afraid to say I hear a different beat, oh, when I go out in the street, yeah"). The production is sparse, with drums, synths and Rogers on a silk-chorused guitar. Unfortunately, the song repeats itself 'over and over' once too many times and interest may get lost as quickly as it was established in the first place.

Love Don't Live Here Anymore was not commercially successful, but I can't for the live of me think why - just listen to Madonna's voice and tell me this is not a great song. Sung previously by Rose Royce (in 1978), Madonna's version is far more powerful and emotional - sounding very different to the shrill disco diva voice - giving insights to the talent that Madonna would show later on. It was her very first attempt at an increase in sophistication, and was certainly a brave one - with Madonna trying different vocal tricks used by soul singers, not being entirely successful with all of them, but generally handling them well. She managed to pull a lot more tone and power out of her voice for this song, sounding in places like a higher-pitched Alison Moyet, t
hough maybe (if one is being hyper-critical) lacking in the deeper resonance. The song deals with abandonment by a lover, quite familiar territory for popular music. Music-wise, the song is carried by acoustic guitar and synth strings, with drums coming in later. It was given a new lease of life on this album - nearly twelve years after it was originally recorded - where it was released with a new video and a remixed, slinkier tune. Personally I prefer the original, but it's still a good song.

Not part of the original 'Like A Virgin' album, Into The Groove was added when the album was re-released a year later following the success of the film 'Desperately Seeking Susan', from where the song originated. It is superb; a dancefloor classic that is pop at its best. Drum and synth bass lines burst straight in, and after a spoken line, Madonna is into the first chorus. Her voice is double-tracked and given a typically trebly quality, and the synth line that counterpoints the tune really adds something. The bridge "live out your fantasy here with me" has a delicious harmony in which Madonna adds a lower register voice to the main one. At its simplest level, this song is encouraging people to get up and dance, however like the title track there is a subtle sexual undertone manifested in the form of a lyrical hook for shy girls to get and do their thing "at night I lock the doors so no-one else can see". Apparently the song was inspired by a gorgeous Puerto Rican boy sitting across from Madonna in a fourth-floor walk-up on Avenue B in New York whom she wanted to ask out on a date. With this kind of song, it matters not whether you get the boy/girl as you hover uncertain on the edge of the dancefloor - you just feel great either way. This is the song that finally and irrevocably hooked me to Madonna, as she encourages the listener to dance with her. She says "...boy, you gotta prove your love to me..." - I'm stil
l dancing all these years on.

In Dress You Up Madonna tells a man how cool they say he is, but that she can offer him true love. The music is typical drum-machine chord verse and a single note stuttering guitar line by Nile Rogers. The bridge has a rock guitar solo towards the end, the drums getting thinned out to give a breath of 'sweaty' air before the dancing recommences! But it's the lyrics that make the song - Madonna compares high fashion with love and sex as the catwalk collides with the bedroom. A very effective hook, Madonna is wonderfully earnest when she says "gonna dress you up my love". A very nice number.

Shoo-bee-doo is, however, one of the weakest song on the album. It is a little too-sugery, a little too I-love-you and a little too old-fashioned, drawing inspiration heavily from doo-wop and Sixties girl groups like The Shirelles, The Crystals, or The Ronettes. Madonna sings the intro over a piano and strings, before drums, bass, wooden blocks and triangle carry the verses. The guitar-supported chorus is lyrically very much the weakest Madonna has ever sung (though the singing is capable), a pity as the verses are not too bad, dealing with relationship problems. A saxophone break by Lenny Pickett provides some much-needed interest. Though the vocals on the song are good, especially the "come to me baby, pretty darling don't say maybe" before the song fades, the song misses the target and is somewhat disposable.

Pretender starts off with a chorus and then moving the verse. Lyric-wise, Madonna says her lover isn't what he seems to be, but she can't help loving him - a tale of seduction moving too quickly for the woman to be in control, yet Madonna insists "I know all about your kind", perhaps indicating how helpless such love is. An unusual staccato rhythm sounds almost oriental (or am I imagining that?). However, musically-speaking, that is the only thing of interest i
n this rather uninspiring song.

In Stay, Madonna beseeches her lover not to leave her. A fast triple rhythm with synths sees Madonna's voice being double-tracked, with the chorus having a three-chord sequence. There is some scat-singing at the end of the song which adds some interest. The song is a cross between two songs from her pre-fame days ('Stay' and 'Don't You Know?' - see my review of the Pre-madonna album). This is a nice but not a very memorable song. However it is a nice way to end the album, as you somehow feel she wants you to stay her fan.

Prior to this album, while Madonna had made her mark all over the world and while people were talking about her, she had yet to have a worldwide #1 single. But the release of 'Like A Virgin' became the hit that made Madonna a megastar. Suddenly Cyndi Lauper had been pushed into the background, and Madonna became the premiere lady of pop music and, in the process, sealed her reputation as an attention-grabbing pop tart. While 'Like A Virgin' received great reviews all over the world, the subject matter made sure Madonna hogged all the headlines as well. Not only was she an interesting musical phenomenon, she was suddenly one of the biggest media darlings in the world. The song was rather good, but the subject matter was far more interesting and it showed that, as noted in her debut album, Madonna was only too pleased to talk about sex. No woman had done this in such a public medium as a hit single. 'Like A Virgin' remains the mainpiece of this seminal album. While critics adored Madonna and gave the album a thumbs up, it remains a very patchy album. The other world-dominating signature-tune hit off the album 'Material Girl' seems very misplaced in a sea of bouncey, superficial pop. The exciting new sound introduced on the debut album has been swept to the background to make way for more radio-friendly love songs such as 'Angel', 'D
ress You Up' and 'Over And Over'. Though these tracks are extremely delicious and later spawned the term 'bubblegum', we also have to contend with the cheesy inanity of 'Shoo Bee Doo' and 'Pretender', which, though pretty reasonable songs for less exciting artists, give the album a big stamp of mediocrity. This was highlighted by the addition a year later of the dancefloor monster that was 'Into The Groove' - however it also pulls the album up by its bra-straps somewhat. It's a pity that while Madonna's voice had undoubtedly improved and got stronger since her debut album, she 'sold out' to mainstream pop - however it was probably for the best commercially and helped establish her as a major star.

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