Ray of Light
Occupation
- Madonna, William Orbit, Marius De Vries, Patrick Leonard
Production
- Madonna, William Orbit, Marius De Vries, Patrick Leonard
Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by Madonna. It was released in March 1998. It is named after the eponymous song contained.
Background
" Ray of Light" was celebrated to its publication by the critics as best ever album by Madonna " Like a Prayer " and has since been regularly counted on the lists of music magazines to the best rock / pop albums. It won among others the two Grammys for best pop album and best dance album 1999 - also the best dance video " Ray of Light".
After Madonna ( " Evita ," "Bedtime Stories", "Something to Remember" ) had been felt in previous years with more quieter albums, this album should mean a complete turnaround in Madonna's career. Her voice had gained by working on the musical " Evita " from strength to strength and in person she had lived through a transformation: it was the first time become with her daughter Lourdes mother and the Kabbalah had turned what they had incorporated into their texts: the were all influenced by her new role as mother ( and Others " Little Star ", " Drowned World / Substitute for Love", " Mer Girl") and the far Eastern and ancient Jewish faith with the themes of death and rebirth ( and Others. " Ray of Light", " Frozen", "Sky Fits Heaven" and sung in Sanskrit " Shanti / Ashtangi "). The Oriental influences, however, were not limited to the texts, but also reflected in the musical accompaniment resist; Examples are the single releases Frozen and Nothing Really Matters.
With the participation of the main producers Patrick Leonard and William Orbit an album of dance, rock and electronica, which also contained two trance / techno pieces ( "Skin", "Sky Fits Heaven "), which were based on the European club scene emerged. The album sold over 20 million copies and the coupled singles were able to successfully place in the charts. The video for " Frozen" in 1998 sparked a new fashion trend of: henna tattoos and Ethno. With the video for the latest single " Nothing Really Matters" Madonna wanted to bring for the then planned film adaptation of " Memoirs of a Geisha " in memory, but the film was then discarded and realized with Zhang Ziyi in 2005. As a final single release was "Skin" provided ( a remix is located on the second compilation of the remixer Victor Calderone ). Instead, with " Beautiful Stranger " (from the second Austin Powers Soundtrack) released a new song. 2001 promoted the song " Ray of Light " as the official jingle for the Windows XP operating system from Microsoft.
" Ray of Light" Madonna established as a serious musician. In 2006, the album was named one of the " Capital Gold 's All- Time Top 500 " in the British charts.
Title list
- " Has to Be" ( Japanese Bonus Track) (Madonna, Orbit, Leonard ) - 5:16