Madonna – Ray Of Light

Can confirm... This US promo pressing sounds phenomenal. Fantastic amount of high-end clarity along with deep bass. Doubt any release or pressing can match or surpass this.

Astonishingly good album, ‘To Have And Not To Hold’ and ‘Frozen’ have to be 2 of the greatest songs written. Thanks due to ‘RMlegshaver’ for pointing out that Willem Makkee was involved with this 2003 vinyl pressing, he also did work for ‘Speaker’s Corner Records’.

What the heck is "To have and not to have". Lewis Caroll supposed to know that.)

Both my copies of this pressing have bad cover art that is over saturated and harsh. I got two copies of the clear vinyl from Record Store Day, and the covers are beautiful. The 2015 pressing also looks much more like the Cd Art when I saw it in the store.

Anyone else with multiple pressings notice this is over saturated color wise and kinda muddyish? I’m just talking about the front cover. Every other pressing the front cover looks clean and pretty.

Buen sonido soy de Chile y en mi pais tiene un precio muy economico 30 dolares , unas de las mejores creaciones de Madonna

The German Madonna - Ray Of Light (081227943356) pressing I think is one of the best next to the original Europe pressing Madonna - Ray Of Light. This is a close 3rd.

The artwork on this is absolutely horrible though.

Tengo la copia Argentina buen sonido, pero tiene algunos pops trataré de comprar la copia alemana tal vez este mejor .Este es un álbum muy bueno uno de los mejores de madonna

listened to this for the first time high on a tram ride home at 11pm ~ epic

I was never a Madonna fan truthfully. Here and there I heard her music and it was never something I bothered to take seriously given the style. A few songs before Ray of Light I enjoyed like La Isla Bonita and Like a Prayer. Her first album had an appeal too, but I never bought it. Back in 1998, I saw Ray of Light title song on TV and was surprised by how much I liked it given it was Madonna of all people. My usual tastes were into prog rock, electronics and meditative, new age music. Today, I am a huge fan of Bollywood composer AR Rahman's film scores and songs given his eclectic genius.

Coming back to Ray of Light, I heard the title song in a store a couple of weeks ago and reminded me of how much I enjoyed it back in 1998. For some reason, which I now regret, I never bought the full album back then. God, what a huge mistake.

I go on YouTube and hear the whole album 21 years later and I am floored. I keep listening again and again and the love for the music keeps growing and growing. It is one of the most beautifully produced and musically satisfying pop albums I have ever heard. No fillers here for me. Every track is rich in sound and melody with the genius of electronic producer William Orbit making all the difference in the world for me. The sound designs that he and Madonna created are simply out of the world and do not sound outdated today in 2019. An album way ahead of its time back in 1998, these songs have literally captured me. My favorites are tracks 9-13, the final 5 of Frozen, Power of Goodbye, To Have not To Hold, Little Star and Mer Girl. Incredible soul, melody, flow and sound production.

The lyrics are very personal, thoughtful and eloquent throughout, sharing a deep understanding of Madonna's personal transformation and new maturity after her daughter was born. There is so much she wants to say in this album and boy does she ever. The music amplifies her messages so powerfully. A couple of tracks like Candy Perfume Girl and Skin have the usual sultry lyrics, but even with those, the music is phenomenal. Guitar work throughout is very crafty and edgy with the electronics. Rhythm tracks are bold and very creatively put together creating a lot of dance friendly tracks in addition to the melody and soul. This album really scores high in all areas of sound, composition, arrangements, melody, rhythm and lyrics. Hardly any weaknesses. To me, it is a masterpiece. This is a must for audiophiles and a must to hear on good headphones. Simply brilliant.

What makes this album even more special are the Indian, Middle Eastern influences throughout the tracks, especially in songs Swim, Skin, Shanti, Frozen, To Have Not To Hold. Being from India and big into the Indian music scene, this album hit home in such a beautiful way that was not obvious or too upfront. The meditative elements of Orbit's electronic programming gives such a beautiful Eastern flavor as well.

Ray of Light is now an all time favorite and I never would have thought Madonna of all artists would be part of my all time favorites.

Such an epic and beautiful album is very rare these days especially. I am going to savor this one for life. Thank you Madonna! Thank you William Orbit! Thank you to the entire team of Ray of Light. I am infinitely grateful.

Be careful people, there are bootlegs of this particular pressing floating around. No I’m not crazy. Ive had multiple copies of this over the years, selling and rebuying it in my 20s. Bought a “sealed” copy from actual Germany and you can tell its fake upon listening.