Like a prayer

Like a prayer
Studio album by Madonna
Publication (s)	March 21, 1989 (USA)
Label (s)	Sire / Warner Brothers Records
Format (s)	LP, MC, CD
Genre (s)	Pop / dance
Title (number)	11
running time	50:57 min.
occupation	Madonna, Patrick Leonard, Stephen Bray, Prince
production	Madonna, Patrick Leonard, Stephen Bray, Prince
Studio (s)	Johnny Burbank Recording, Saturn Sound, Ocean Way Recording, Paisley Park
chronology You Can Dance (1987) Like a prayer I'm Breathless (1990)
Single releases February 27, 1989 Like a prayer May 9, 1989 Express yourself August 1, 1989 Cherish October 24, 1989 Oh father December 10, 1989 Dear Jessie January 30, 1990 Keep It Together

Like a Prayer is Madonna's fourth studio album . It was published in March 1989. It is named after the title it contains .

background

In 1989 Madonna was considered the most successful international singer and the new album Like a Prayer was supposed to prove her musical talent. This up to then most personal album presented very strongly biographical texts for the first time and for the first time dared to do experimental things (including the duet with Prince Love Song ) outside the mainstream. This time the production by Madonna, Patrick Leonard and Stephen Bray was more oriented towards rock, soul and funk, based on catchy melodies.

The title song Like a Prayer was written in 1988 when Madonna appeared in the play Speed ​​the Plow on Broadway and was looking for the first time distance from her life as a superstar. Overall, the main themes of this album are rather serious and gloomy: separation, death and hope. Madonna had gone through a war of divorce with Sean Penn at this point (the song Till Death Do Us Part is about it) and her family was not enthusiastic about her life as a scandalous pop star ( Keep It Together ). Other songs dealt with their past ( Oh Father ) or their desire for children ( Dear Jessie , named after Leonard's daughter).

The release of the pre- single Like a Prayer turned into one of the biggest scandals of her career: In the music video by Mary Lambert , Madonna observes a young woman being killed and an African American (played by Leon Robinson ) hurrying to help, mistakenly taken by the police for the perpetrator is held. She escapes from the real perpetrators in a church, shows stigmata on her hands in a dream , kisses a black saint (also Leon Robinson) and frees the African American from prison with her testimony. In the video she is dancing on a field of burning crosses. While the burning crosses in the USA led to the removal and boycott of the video, European countries were “shocked” because of the “blasphemous scenes”. As a result, the main sponsor Pepsi canceled the commercial with Madonna and announced its involvement as a sponsor of their planned world tour (Madonna was allowed to keep the $ 5 million fee). Madonna: “Back then, my tour sponsor Pepsi Cola caused the most problems. They were afraid because of the erotic allusions. But they paid, ran away and that was it. ”The video was only broadcast at night on MTV in Germany . Both singles and albums became one of their greatest successes, also because of this rather involuntary advertising by condemnation by parents' associations and church representatives.

The later film director David Fincher shot the sensational videos for Express Yourself and Oh Father and the photographer Herb Ritts shot one of his first videos with Cherish . The singles entered the charts worldwide and sold nine million times.

Like a Prayer (dedicated to her mother, who died of cancer) sold over 15 million copies and is considered Madonna's most successful album alongside Ray of Light . Both received consistently good reviews and are also favorites with the fans. The Rolling Stone called the album as one of the "best pop and rock albums of all time" and the title song was voted all time become one of the best 500 songs and 2006 as one of the "Capital Gold's all-time Top 500" won the British charts .

Like a Prayer is not only one of Madonna's most successful albums, it also established her as a serious musician and songwriter.

Track list

1. Like a Prayer (Leonard, Madonna) - 5:39
2. Express Yourself (Bray, Madonna) - 4:37
3. Love Song (Madonna, Prince) - 4:52
4. Till Death Do Us Part (Leonard, Madonna) - 5:16
5. Promise to Try (Leonard, Madonna) - 3:36
6. Cherish (Leonard, Madonna) - 5:03
7. Dear Jessie (Leonard, Madonna) - 4:20
8. Oh Father (Leonard, Madonna) - 4:57
9. Keep It Together (Bray, Madonna) - 5:03
10. Pray for Spanish Eyes (Leonard, Madonna) - 5:15
11. Act of Contrition (Madonna) - 2:19

Outtakes & demo tracks

• First is a kiss
• Love attack
• Supernatural (Madonna, Patrick Leonard), released as B-side to the single Cherish. A later remix version appeared on the 1992 Red Hot and Dance AIDS Benefit album.

Chart placements

album

Charts	Top ranking	Weeks
Chart placements
Germany (GfK)	1 (35 weeks)	35
Austria (Ö3)	1 (29 weeks)	29
Switzerland (IFPI)	1 (26 weeks)	26th
United Kingdom (OCC)	1 (73 weeks)	73
United States (Billboard)	1 (77 weeks)	77

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
1989	Like a Prayer Like a Prayer	DE2 (26 weeks) DE	AT2 (6 months) AT	CH1 (17 weeks) CH	UK1 (13 weeks) UK	US1 (16 weeks) US	First published: Mar 3, 1989 Sales: + 2,678,000; Video: Mary Lambert
	Express Yourself Like a Prayer	DE3 (18 weeks) DE	AT5 (3 months) AT	CH1 (15 weeks) CH	UK5 (10 weeks) UK	US2 (16 weeks) US	First published: May 9, 1989 Sales: + 765,000; Video: David Fincher
	Cherish Like a Prayer	DE16 (17 weeks) DE	AT16 (3 months) AT	CH10 (10 weeks) CH	UK3 (8 weeks) UK	US2 (15 weeks) US	First published: Aug 1, 1989 Sales: + 35,000; Video: Herb Ritts
	Oh Father Like a Prayer	-	-	-	UK16 (10 weeks) UK	US20 (13 weeks) US	First published: October 24, 1989 Sales: + 200,000; Video: David Fincher
	Dear Jessie Like a Prayer	DE19 (7 weeks) DE	AT21 (½ month) AT	CH16 (3 weeks) CH	UK5 (9 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 10, 1989 Sales: + 200,000; Video: Animation City
1990	Keep It Together Like a Prayer	-	-	-	-	US8 (13 weeks) US	First published: Jan 30, 1990 Sales: + 640,000; Video: live performance

Individual evidence

1. ↑ mad-eyes.net
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US