Editing Like a Virgin (album) (section)

== Artwork and release ==
[[File:MadonnaLikeAVirginWeddingDress.jpg|thumb|upright|left|The wedding dress worn by Madonna on the album's cover, featuring the "Boy Toy" belt buckle.]]
''Like a Virgin'' takes its name after the eponymous song.<ref name="OUTLAV" /> Madonna herself found the phrase "ironic and provocative [...] how can you be ''like'' a virgin? I liked the play on words".<ref name=RSInterview>{{cite magazine |last1=Scaggs |first1=Austin |title=Madonna looks back: The ''Rolling Stone'' interview |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/madonna-looks-back-the-rolling-stone-interview-20091029?page=3 |magazine=Rolling Stone |access-date=April 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414201313/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/madonna-looks-back-the-rolling-stone-interview-20091029?page=3 |archive-date=April 14, 2014 |date=October 20, 2009 }}{{subscription required}}</ref><ref name="SecondBest">{{cite web |last1=Hunt |first1=El |title=Don't go for second best, baby: All Madonna's albums, ranked |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/madonna-albums-ranked-like-a-prayer-ray-of-light-music-erotica-b1109541.html |work=[[Evening Standard]] |access-date=April 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231017081115/https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/madonna-albums-ranked-like-a-prayer-ray-of-light-music-erotica-b1109541.html |archive-date=October 17, 2023 |date=October 12, 2023}}</ref> Author Graham Thompson felt that the title makes a "provocative link" between the singer's [[Madonna (name)|own religious name]]—[[The Madonna|Madonna]] as the [[Catholic]] title for [[Jesus]]' mother [[Mary of Nazareth|Mary]]—and the [[Christianity|Christian]] concept of the [[virgin birth of Jesus|virgin birth]].<ref name="graham">{{harvnb|Thompson|2007|p=130}}</ref> The artwork for ''Like a Virgin'' was shot by [[Steven Meisel]] at a suite in the [[St. Regis New York]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Gross |first1=Michael |title=Madonna's magician |magazine=[[New York (magazine)|New York]] |date=October 12, 1992 |volume=25 |issue=40 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oOQCAAAAMBAJ&q=Madonna+like+a+virgin+cover |access-date=April 11, 2024 |issn=0028-7369}}</ref> The [[Sepia (color)|sepia]]-tinted cover shows the singer lying on a satin bed, decked out in a [[wedding dress]], with a tight-fitting [[bustier]], [[evening glove|full-length gloves]], and a [[belt buckle]] that reads "Boy Toy"; she stares directly at the camera with heavy make-up and messy hair.<ref name="graham"/><ref name="retLav" />

Stylist and designer [[Maripol]] described the singer's look as that of a "bride of Satan".<ref name="retLav" /> [[Matthew Rettenmund]], author of ''Encyclopedia Madonnica'', wrote: "[The cover] effectively communicates the conflicted views of what a wedding dress ''should'' represent (virginity), and what [...] it ''does'' represent (sexual knowingness).<ref name="retLav" /> Thompson added that the artwork shows the singer, "not just as an object of desire, but also as a desiring female subject".<ref name="graham"/> Colombian music journalist Manolo Bellon pointed out that in the cover, Madonna plays a character for the first time: She portrays a "virgin who doesn't want to be [one]".<ref>{{harvnb|Bellon|2011|p=361}}</ref> The singer herself referred to the photograph as a "statement of independence, if you wanna be a virgin, you are welcome. But if you wanna be a whore, it's your fucking right to be so".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Gabbara |first1=Princess |title=Songbook: How Madonna became the queen of Pop & reinvention, from her 'Boy Toy' era to the Celebration tour |url=https://www.grammy.com/news/madonna-albums-songs-celebration-tour-queen-of-pop-legacy-40th-anniversary |publisher=[[The Recording Academy]] |access-date=June 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230801154718/https://www.grammy.com/news/madonna-albums-songs-celebration-tour-queen-of-pop-legacy-40th-anniversary |archive-date=August 1, 2023 |date=July 27, 2023}}</ref> From ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'', Joe Lynch named it Madonna's second best album cover.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lynch |first1=Joe |title=Every Madonna album cover, ranked |url=https://www.billboard.com/photos/madonna-album-covers-ranked-1235642607/12-true-blue-madonna-cover-1986-billboard-1240/ |magazine=Billboard |access-date=April 11, 2024 |date=April 12, 2024}}</ref>

Even though it was completed by the end of April, the release of ''Like a Virgin'' was held back, due to the success of "Borderline" and the continuing sales of Madonna's first album, which at that point exceeded one million copies in the United States.<ref name="rikky15">{{harvnb|Rooksby|2004|pp=15–17}}</ref><ref name="Papermag">{{cite web |last1=Sandberg |first1=Patrik |title=Madonna is the wildest party favor |url=https://www.papermag.com/madonna-cover |work=[[Paper (magazine)|Paper]] |access-date=April 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106201521/https://www.papermag.com/madonna-cover#rebelltitem1 |archive-date=November 6, 2023 |date=August 18, 2022}}</ref> Rodgers himself recalled: "We finished [''Like a Virgin''], but ''Madonna'' (the album) was still the focus [...] then 'Borderline' hit out of the clear blue sky. We didn't expect that".<ref name="Papermag" /> On June 30, 1984, Brian Chin from ''Billboard'' announced that the album would be released the following month.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Chin |first1=Brian |title=Talent: Dance Trax |magazine=Billboard |date=June 30, 1984 |volume=96 |issue=26 |page=40 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1984/BB-1984-06-30.pdf#page=40 |access-date=April 11, 2024 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref> On October 6, the release date was reported to be the 29th of that month.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=October hot album releases |magazine=Billboard |date=October 6, 1984 |volume=96 |issue=40 |page=4 |url=https://www.worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/80s/1984/BB-1984-10-06.pdf#page=4 |access-date=April 11, 2024 |issn=0006-2510}}</ref> ''Like a Virgin'' was officially released on November 12, 1984.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Like a Virgin'' album turns 35 |url=https://www.madonna.com/news/title/like-a-virgin-album-turns-35 |publisher=Icon: Official Madonna website |access-date=April 10, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220022642/https://www.madonna.com/news/title/like-a-virgin-album-turns-35 |archive-date=December 20, 2019 |date=November 12, 2019}}</ref> In August 1985, it was re-issued outside of North America with additional track "Into the Groove", which at the time had sold over a million copies and reached number one in the UK.<ref name="rikky15" /><ref name="DigITG" /> On May 22, 2001, Warner Bros. released a [[remaster]]ed edition of ''Like a Virgin'' with additional remixes of the title track and "Material Girl", but without "Into the Groove".<ref name=reissues2001>{{cite magazine |last1=Paoletta |first1=Michael |title=Reviews & Previews: Vital Reissues |magazine=Billboard |date=August 18, 2001 |volume=33 |issue=113 |page=17 |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/00s/2001/BB-2001-08-18.pdf#page=17 |access-date=May 19, 2023 |issn=0006-2510 }}</ref><ref name="liner2001">{{cite AV media notes |title=Like a Virgin (Remastered Edition)|others=Madonna |year=2001|type=CD |publisher=Sire Records. Warner Bros. |id= 9362-47901-2 }}</ref> It was reissued on clear vinyl on November 8, 2019.<ref name=world2>{{cite web |last1=Lavin |first1=Will |title=Madonna's first four albums to be reissued on stunning crystal clear vinyl |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/madonnas-first-four-albums-to-be-reissued-on-crystal-clear-vinyl-2551051 |work=[[NME]] |access-date=April 13, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190926174934/https://www.nme.com/news/music/madonnas-first-four-albums-to-be-reissued-on-crystal-clear-vinyl-2551051 |archive-date=September 26, 2019 |date=September 24, 2019}}</ref>