Like a Virgin (album)
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox album Like a Virgin is the second studio album by American singer Madonna, released on November 12, 1984, by Sire Records. Following the success of her 1983 eponymous debut album, Madonna was eager to start working on its follow-up. She selected Nile Rodgers to produce the album due to his work on Let's Dance (1983) by David Bowie, which she was a fan of. To ensure it be exactly as she envisaged it, Madonna chose all the songs for the album: she penned five of her own, four of which were co-written with former boyfriend and collaborator Stephen Bray, and four were written by other artists. Recording sessions took place at Power Station studio in New York City. Rodgers enlisted the help of his former Chic bandmates Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson.
Upon release Like a Virgin received mixed reviews from music critics: Rodgers's production received praise, but Madonna's vocals were criticized. It became Madonna's first number one album on the Billboard 200, as well as the first female album to sell over five million copies in the United States. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) later certified it diamond for shipment of ten million units. Overseas, it reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom. With sales of over 21 million copies worldwide, Like a Virgin remains one of the best-selling albums of all time. In the United States, four singles were released from the album ―all reached the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, with the title track becoming Madonna's first number one, and "Material Girl" reaching number two.
The album was promoted on Madonna's first concert tour, the Virgin Tour of 1985, which only visited cities in North America. Like a Virgin has been noted as the album that made Madonna a superstar, as well as the one that proved she was not a one-hit wonder. On top of that, the younger female population began emulating the singer's fashion style. In 2023, Like a Virgin was selected for preservation in the United States' National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress due to it being considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".
Background
[edit]Following the release of her 1983 self-titled debut album, and hit singles like "Holiday", "Lucky Star" and "Borderline", Madonna became, according to author Craig Rosen, "one of the most exciting new artists of the 1980s".<ref name="rosen" /> Despite this, the singer wasn't entirely pleased with how her first album had turned out, and was eager to start working on its follow-up.<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof">Template:Cite web</ref> Of her upcoming second album, she told British magazine NME: "The production won't be so slick, because where Reggie [Lucas] and Mtume come from is a whole different school. I want a sound that's mine", and even hinted at working with a British producer.<ref name="Easlea3">Template:Harvnb</ref> To ensure the album be exactly as she envisioned it, Madonna requested her label Sire Records that she be allowed to produce herself, a request that was immediately denied.<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof" />
Angry with the label, the singer would publicly vent during interviews, and refer to her bosses as a "hierarchy of old men [...] a chauvinistic environment to be working in because I'm treated like this sexy little girl".<ref name="tara2">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="ClassicPopMakingof"/> The executives at Sire decided to allow Madonna to work with any producer of her choice.<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof" /> She picked Nile Rodgers, co-founder of American disco band Chic, and main producer of David Bowie's Let's Dance (1983), one of her favorite albums of the time.<ref name="Bego1">Template:Harvnb</ref> Rodgers had previously met Madonna after attending one of her gigs at a New York City nightclub, and was impressed with her stage presence; "I kept thinking to myself, 'Damn, is she a star', but she wasn't at that time. I always wanted to work with her and this seemed like the perfect opportunity".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> However, when the time came he initially hesitated, as he had been warned by several people that Madonna was a "totally self-centered bitch" and a "pain in the ass to work with".<ref name="Bego1"/> When the two actually met, Rodgers quickly changed his mind and said the singer was great and a "true professional".<ref name="Bego1"/> Madonna, by her part, "couldn't believe that the record company actually gave me the money so that I could work with [Rodgers]".<ref name="rosen" />
Development
[edit]Template:Quote box Madonna wanted Like a Virgin to be "stronger" than her debut, hence she chose all the songs herself.<ref name="Bego1" /> She had been penning songs and creating demos with former boyfriend and collaborator Stephen Bray since early 1984.<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof" /> When Madonna first met with Rodgers, she allegedly told him, "if you don't love these songs we can't work together", to which the producer responded: "I don't love them now, but I will when I've finished working on them!".<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof" /> Around the time they began working on the album, Billy Steinberg and Tom Kelly were pitching songs to artists. Steinberg had begun a new relationship and came up with the lyrics to "Like a Virgin". He brought the track to Kelly, who created the music and, together, recorded a demo tape.<ref name="StereogumLAV" /> Kelly then met with Warner Bros. A&R executive Michael Ostin and had him listen to the demo; Ostin, who was set to meet Madonna the next day, thought the song was "perfect" for her.<ref name="StereogumLAV" /><ref name="bronson">Template:Harvnb</ref> Madonna "loved" the song right away, but Rodgers wasn't convinced. He felt it was "really queer", and that the line like a virgin wasn't a "terrific" hook, nor an "all-time catch phrase".<ref name="StereogumLAV" /><ref name="bronson" /> Four days later, Rodgers realized that the song was still stuck in his head; "[It] grew on me. I really started to like it. [...] [I] handed [my] apology [to Madonna] and said, 'you know... if it's so catchy, it must be something. So let's do it".<ref name="rosen" /> Written by Peter Brown and Robert Rans for another Warner Bros. singer, "Material Girl" was also presented to Madonna by Ostin.<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof" />
Ostin also suggested that the singer covered Rose Royce's "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" (1978). He was driving into work and heard the song on the radio; "I called [Nile and Madonna], they were in the studio. I said, 'I have an idea. You know the old Rose Royce record, 'Love Don't Live Here Anymore'? Why don't you try and record a version of it?".<ref name="zanes">Template:Harvnb</ref> Both Rodgers and Madonna were reluctant, but ultimately decided that a ballad could be a good move to bring "diversity" to the album.<ref name="zanes"/> The final song to be created for Like a Virgin was "Dress You Up". Rodgers had previously asked songwriters Andrea LaRusso and Peggy Stanziale to write a song for Madonna in the style of Chic but, due to other projects, the composition took time.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="rikky2" /> When the lyrics of the song were submitted, Rodgers turned them down as he felt there was no time to compose a melody and record it for the album; however, Madonna liked them and persuaded the producer to include the track.<ref name="rikky2" />
"Into the Groove" was written and produced by Madonna and former Bray, and recorded at Sigma Sound Studios .<ref name="LAVliner85" /><ref name="morton">Template:Harvnb</ref> Inspired by the dance floor and a Puerto Rican boy the singer was attracted to, it was used on the Susan Seidelman-directed film Desperately Seeking Susan, which Madonna starred.<ref name=cress>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="DigITG" /> The song was originally written for Cheyne, the fifteen-year old protégée of Mark Kamins, the man who discovered Madonna's debut single "Everybody" (1982) and took her to Sire Records. Madonna then decided to record the track herself and use it on Desperately Seeking Susan, much to Kamins' dismay.<ref name="Los402">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="morton" />
Recording
[edit]Recording sessions took place at New York's Power Station studios in April 1984.<ref name="LAVliner" /><ref name="Recording1">Template:Cite web</ref> Rodgers envisioned a "simpler set-up" and, after hearing Madonna's demos, came to the conclusion they were too similar to what she had done on her debut: Heavily sequenced and synthesizer-led.<ref name="Easlea1">Template:Harvnb</ref> He decided that the singer needed a "more streetwise sound", and to record with a live band. Rodgers subsequently assembled a rhythm section consisting of himself on guitar, Chic colleagues Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson on bass and drums, respectively.<ref name="Soundonsound">Template:Cite web</ref> Sessions took place in the afternoon, as Rodgers would attend late-night parties and wasn't used to work in the morning.<ref name="rosen">Template:Harvnb</ref> It was Jason Corsaro, the album's audio engineer, who persuaded the producer to use digital recording, a new technique he believed was going to be the "future" of recording.<ref name="Soundonsound" /> He brought in a Sony 3324 24-track digital tape recorder and a Sony F1 two-track, which were used for the mixing.<ref name="Soundonsound" />
Madonna's vocals were recorded at the studio's small, wooden, high-ceilinged piano room at the back. Corsaro would place gobos around her while using the top capsule of a stereo AKG C24 tube microphone, with a Schoeps microphone preamplifier and a Pultec equalizer.<ref name="Soundonsound" /> "That was part of the Power Station way" ―recalled Corsaro― "nothing was subtle and everything had a particular sound".<ref name="Soundonsound" /> Once the tracks met with everybody's approval, Robert Sabino added the keyboard parts; he did this by playing a Sequential Circuits Prophet-5, as well as some Rhodes and acoustic piano. Rodgers also played the Synclavier on this part.<ref name="Soundonsound" /> Corsaro remembered that the final songs "adhered very closely" to the Bray-produced demos, which were "quite simple in structure. All we did was get better musicians".<ref name="Soundonsound" /> Madonna, although not required, was present every minute of the recording and mixing processes; Corsaro commented: "Nile was there most of the time, but she was there all of the time. She never left".<ref name="Soundonsound" /> After hearing the album, Madonna's then manager Freddy DeMann pressured her to "put a little more bass on it", and make it sound like Michael Jackson's Thriller (1982). All the singer did was write the words "Bass Up" on the record's box without altering a thing.<ref name="Papermag" />
Composition
[edit]Alexis Petridis from The Guardian described Like a Virgin as a "cocktail of post-disco dance music, with a dash of hip-hop and a surprisingly large shot of choppy, angular new wave rock".<ref name="GuardianRanked" /> Nicole Horning, author of Pop Music: Chart-Toppers Throughout History, categorized it as a dance-pop album in a style of new wave, which melded disco, rock, sixties pop, and synthesizer, or synth-based, electronic music.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Noted as an "80s teen-pop" take on Marilyn Monroe's "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend", opener "Material Girl" is a synth-pop song with disco and new wave elements.<ref name="HoldenNYT" /><ref name=singlesEW>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="AVRankingThomas">Template:Cite web</ref> A tongue-in-cheek satire on the superficiality and materialism of the 1980s, Madonna sings in a shrill voice about how she won't accept men who cannot provide her with wealth and luxuries, because we are living in a material world.<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof" /><ref name="rikky15" /><ref name="claude1">Template:Harvnb</ref> Throughout the song, a robotic male voice repeats the hook living in a material world.<ref name="rikky15" /> The second track, "Angel", begins with the sound of twinkling synths and giggles.<ref name="LAVRankedTracks" /> It is an "ode to heavenly love" with a new wave overtone, built on an ascending hook consisting of a three chord sequence, which serves for the verse and refrain.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="rikky15" /> One of the lyrics is taken from Public Image Ltd's "Death Disco" (1979), while Rodgers provides pizzicato guitars.<ref name="StylusLAV">Template:Cite web</ref>
The title track, "Like a Virgin", is a "mildly titillating" dance-rock song, in which the singer talks about how true love can make a girl feel shiny and new.<ref name="HoldenNYT" /> The bass-line on the introduction is a reworking of the Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" (1965).<ref name="rikky15" /> Madonna sings in a "little girl lost" voice the opening line I made it through the wilderness/Somehow, I made it through/Didn't know how lost I was until I found you.<ref name="StereogumLAV">Template:Cite web</ref> The drums, played by Tony Thompson, give the track "far more whallop than a drum machine ever could", according to Rikky Rooksby, author of The Complete Guide to the Music of Madonna.<ref name="rikky15" /> The lyrics to the fourth track, "Over and Over", talk about determination and picking oneself up from disappointments;<ref name="rikky15" /> I get up again, over and over, Madonna sings in the refrain.<ref name="LAVRankedTracks" /> Instrumentation and production are sparse, featuring only a "silky" guitar.<ref name="rikky15" />
"Love Don't Live Here Anymore" is the only ballad on the album, as well as the most soulful.<ref name="LAVRankedTracks" /> The song echoes back to Philadelphia soul, and features acoustic guitar and synth strings on the first half.<ref name="HoldenNYT" /><ref name="rikky15" /> Lyrically, it is about a woman being abandoned and "emptied of love".<ref name="tawa">Template:Harvnb</ref> Madonna sings in a "tearful, angsty" tone as the track "builds and the strings undulate, belting that last anymore until she's literally panting for breath".<ref name="Slantrank" /> Included only on the 1985 international re-issue of Like a Virgin, Madonna's voice in "Into the Groove" is doubletracked.<ref name="rikky2"/> The track has a "bumping" synth-bass line, while the lyrics celebrate "dancefloor escapism", and juxtapose music, dance, sex and love.<ref name=singlesEW /><ref name="DigITG" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Dress You Up" is a "drum machine-driven" dance song with a nu-disco beat, consisting of a two-chord verse.<ref name="AVRankingThomas" /><ref name="rikky2">Template:Harvnb</ref> It features a guitar solo on its bridge, while Madonna sings about clothes she would like to drape over her lover, so that she can cover him with "velvet kisses", and caress his body with her hands.<ref name="AVRankingThomas" /><ref name="rikky2"/>
The seventh track, "Shoo-Bee-Doo", begins as a stripped-down piano ballad, before turning into a "deceptively bouncy ditty".<ref name="LAVRankedTracks" /> The song reminiscences doo-wop and girl groups like the Shirelles and the Ronettes, while the lyrics deal with relationship problems, and Madonna trying to get through to her confused lover.<ref name="rikky2"/><ref name="LAVRankedTracks" /> Starting with the refrain followed by an opening verse, the eighth track "Pretender" is a synth-pop song about seduction and the insecurity felt by Madonna as she "[lets] things happen too fast" with a man who "isn't what he seems".<ref name="rikky2"/><ref name="LAVRankedTracks" /> Like a Virgin closes with "Stay", a song that features a fast triple rhythm with synths.<ref name="rikky2"/> The hook consists of the phrase stay, darling being repeated over and over.<ref name="LAVRankedTracks" /> Also present is the noise of someone slapping a microphone and a spoken sequence towards the end.<ref name="rikky2"/>
Artwork and release
[edit]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>Template:Cite magazineTemplate:Subscription required</ref><ref name="SecondBest">Template:Cite web</ref> Author Graham Thompson felt that the title makes a "provocative link" between the singer's own religious name—Madonna as the Catholic title for Jesus' mother Mary—and the Christian concept of the virgin birth.<ref name="graham">Template:Harvnb</ref> The artwork for Like a Virgin was shot by Steven Meisel at a suite in the St. Regis New York.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The sepia-tinted cover shows the singer lying on a satin bed, decked out in a wedding dress, with a tight-fitting bustier, 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>Template:Harvnb</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>Template:Cite web</ref> From Billboard, Joe Lynch named it Madonna's second best album cover.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</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">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Papermag">Template:Cite web</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>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On October 6, the release date was reported to be the 29th of that month.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Like a Virgin was officially released on November 12, 1984.<ref>Template:Cite web</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 remastered edition of Like a Virgin with additional remixes of the title track and "Material Girl", but without "Into the Groove".<ref name=reissues2001>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="liner2001">Template:Cite AV media notes</ref> It was reissued on clear vinyl on November 8, 2019.<ref name=world2>Template:Cite web</ref>
Promotion
[edit]Live performances and tour
[edit]On May 16, 1984, after recording was complete, Madonna sang "Like a Virgin" and "Dress You Up" at a party offered by artist Keith Haring at New York's Paradise Garage.<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof" /> Four months later, on September 14, Madonna opened the inaugural MTV Video Music Awards ceremony with a performance of "Like a Virgin". She emerged from a 17-foot wedding cake donning the same wedding dress from the album cover.<ref name="MTVQueen">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="BB1984">Template:Cite magazine</ref> During the number, she slithered and writhed across the floor, with her dress going up and her underpants showing. The singer explained that this was not intentional, as one of her shoes had come off at the beginning and she simply had tried to reach for it; "I thought, 'Well, I'll just pretend I meant to do this', and I dove on the floor and I rolled around", she later recalled.<ref name="BB1984"/> MTV's Jessie Peterson opined that the performance put Madonna "on the map as Queen of Pop Music", and established the VMAs as "the place where water-cooler moments happen".<ref name="MTVQueen"/> It was named one of the best performances in the show's history by Slant Magazine and Billboard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On December 13, Madonna sang "Like a Virgin" on British television program Top of the Pops, decked out in a pink wig and golden metallic jacket.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> It was named the second best performance on the show's history.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Like a Virgin was further promoted on the Virgin Tour, Madonna's first concert tour, which visited cities in the US and Canada from April to June 1985.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name=Advocate2>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The tour received mixed critical reviews but was a commercial success, with Billboard reporting a gross of $3.3 million ($Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation-year dollarsTemplate:Inflation-fn);<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> all 17,672 tickets for the concert at New York City's Radio City Music Hall sold out in a record-breaking 34 minutes.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One of the Detroit concerts was filmed and release in VHS as Madonna Live: The Virgin Tour.<ref>Template:Cite video</ref>
Singles
[edit]In the United States, title track "Like a Virgin" was released as lead single on October 31, 1984.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In most European countries, it was issued on November 11.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Upon release, it received generally positive reviews from critics, who singled out Madonna's vocals and deemed it her first signature song.<ref name=Slantrank>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name="Radiodebut&review">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Additionally, it became her first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100.<ref name="Madonna40Biggest">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The accompanying music video was directed by Mary Lambert, and shows the singer sailing down the canals of Venice in a gondola, and roaming around a castle in a white wedding dress.<ref name="LATMary">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Kallen">Template:Harvnb</ref>
Second single "Material Girl" was first released in the US on November 30, whereas in Europe it was published on February 18, 1985.<ref>Citations regarding the release date of the "Material Girl" single:
- Template:Cite web
- Template:Cite web
- Template:Cite web</ref> AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it's one of the songs that made Madonna an icon, along with "Like a Virgin".<ref name="AllMusicLAV">Template:Cite web</ref> Commercially, it was successful, reaching the Hot 100's second spot, and the third spot of the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="Madonna40Biggest"/><ref name="UK" /> The music video, also directed by Lambert, is a homage to Marilyn Monroe's performance of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.<ref name="SlantVideos">Template:Cite web</ref>
"Angel" was released as the third single on April 10, 1985.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It received generally mixed reviews from critics, with some calling it a "classic" and others deeming it sub-par compared to the singer's previous works.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Angel" became Madonna's fifth consecutive top-five single on the Hot 100.<ref name="Madonna40Biggest"/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Into the Groove" was released in the UK on July 15.<ref name="DigITG">Template:Cite web</ref> It wasn't given a release in the US, instead it was issued as B-side to the 12-inch maxi-single of "Angel", thus was ineligible to enter the Billboard Hot 100.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> "Angel"/"Into the Groove" reached the first spot of the Dance Club Songs chart.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Billboard readers voted "Into the Groove" the best dance single from the 1980s decade.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Final single "Dress You Up" was released on July 24, 1985.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Critics reacted positively towards the track, referring to it as irresistible.<ref name="SlantLAV">Template:Cite web</ref> Despite positive feedback, "Dress You Up" was added to the Parents Music Resource Center's "Filthy Fifteen" list due to perceived sexual innuendo in its lyrics.<ref name="RS15">Template:Cite magazine</ref> It fared well commercially, reaching the fifth spot on both the Hot 100 and the UK Singles Chart.<ref name="Madonna40Biggest"/><ref name="UK" /> A promotional two-sided 7-inch single of "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "Over and Over" was released in Japan in March 1986.<ref>Template:Cite AV media notes</ref>
Video compilation
[edit]A VHS video compilation titled Madonna was made available in December 1984; it included the videos for "Borderline", "Burning Up", "Like a Virgin", and an extended mix of "Lucky Star".<ref name="BBVideo">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The release topped BillboardTemplate:'s Music Videocassette chart from April 13 to November 9, 1985, and was the year's best selling music videocassette.<ref name="MusicVideoCassette">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref name=TopVideo>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Additionally, Madonna was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for shipments of 100,000 units, and was recognized as the "Best Selling Video Cassette Merchandised as Music Video" by the National Association of Recording Merchandisers.<ref name="riaavideo" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to The Saturday Evening Post, the video has sold over one million copies.<ref name=tsep-1kk>Template:Cite web</ref> To promote the release, a party was held on Chicago's Cabaret Metro on February 9, 1985. Dubbed "The Virgin Party", it drew a crowd of around 1,200 people; attendees were encouraged to wear white, and for $5 admission fees, were able to view the Madonna videocassette and the "Material Girl" music video. The event was organized as a drive to promote music videos, which at that point did not have a large market.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
Critical reception
[edit]Template:Music ratings Reviews of Like a Virgin were mixed upon release.<ref name="ClassicPopMakingof" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> From Billboard, Brian Chine called it a "fine" second album, even though Madonna "does no searching whatsoever in her singing [...] [She] hits her notes straight on, and with a pretty enough melody".<ref name="ChinReview">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Also from Billboard, Michael Paoletta praised Rodgers' "sleek but snewy rhythm arrangements".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> From The New York Times, Stephen Holden was pleased with the "handsomely produced" record and the singer's voice, which he felt echoed the "rock-and-roll girl-group tradition that preceded the Beatles", but while these "worshipfully extolled their boyfriends' cars, haircuts and rebel poses, Madonna's point of view is decidedly more self-interested". "The words 'shiny and new' describe not only the way the love-smitten singer feels in the title song but the sound of the album", concluded Holden.<ref name="HoldenNYT">Template:Cite webTemplate:Subscription required</ref> Debby Miller from Rolling Stone opined that, "[d]espite [Madonna's] little-girl voice, there's an undercurrent of ambition that makes her more than the latest Betty Boop [...] Her light voice bobs over the heavy rhythm and synth tracks like a kid on a carnival ride".<ref name="RSReviewLAV">Template:Cite magazineTemplate:Subscription required</ref> Author J. Randy Taraborrelli applauded Madonna's voice for being "reflectively sharper" than on her debut, and felt Like a Virgin reflected her as a "more versatile and artistic performer".<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> From streaming service Tidal, John Murph described the album as "far warmer, fuller and more soulful than the often cold and tinny synth sounds that typified a lot of underground dance music" of the time.<ref name="Tidal">Template:Cite web</ref>
The album was described as "smart, funny, sexy and irresistible" by Q magazine, while for The NationalTemplate:'s Saeed Saeed, it is a "ruthlessly focused collection of pop songs [...] featuring at least three pop classics".<ref name="Qmag">Template:Cite magazine</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Alexis Petridis referred to Like a Virgin as "provocative, fun, [and] witty [...] [It's also] the last album on which Madonna sounded like a product of the environment that birthed her".<ref name="GuardianRanked">Template:Cite web</ref> It was deemed a "masterpiece" by Joseph Earp from Australian website Junkee.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> WhatCulture's Reece Shrewsbury felt the songs on Like a Virgin are stronger than those on Madonna.<ref name="WhatCulture">Template:Cite web</ref> To Matthew Rettenmund, "[Like a Virgin] is not Madonna's strongest album, but its nine tracks feature [her] at her least self-conscious and most cleverly effervescent".<ref name="retLav">Template:Harvnb</ref> Daryl Easlea praised Rodgers' production, but felt the album "tapers off, veering towards filler" on its second half.<ref name="Easlea2">Template:Harvnb</ref> Despite being home to some of the "catchiest, not to mention most iconic tracks in pop music", Like a Virgin is made up of "mostly fillers", according to the staff of Instinct magazine.<ref name="Instinct">Template:Cite web</ref>
Pete Bishop from The Pittsburgh Press wrote that in Like a Virgin, Madonna "sort of hum-de-dums her way through [...] a lot of simple love lyrics over a lot of lightweight, pop-style fun-rock [...] sometimes sounding like a one-woman Pointer Sisters and sometimes like Cyndi Lauper with her nose pinched shut". Despite naming it "pleasant enough", Bishop concluded that its main "weakness" is that, "you could put these [songs] behind any decent-voiced singer. Like a Virgin does not establish Madonna as anything special".<ref name="Pittsburgh">Template:Cite news</ref> Taraborrelli added that, when compared to Madonna's subsequent records, Like a Virgin "does come across as a bit repetitious and immature".<ref name=Tara2018>Template:Harvnb</ref> Both Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine and Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt it is not as "innovative" as Madonna's first record, with the former adding: "[On the first album], she stunned with style and a certain joy. Here, the calculation is apparent, and while that's part of [her] essence - even something that makes her fun - it throws [Like a Virgin]'s balance off a little too much for it to be consistent".<ref name="SlantLAV" /><ref name="AllMusicLAV" /> This sentiment was echoed by Sam Damshenas and Daniel Megarry from Gay Times, who wrote that, like Madonna, Like a Virgin lacks the innovation of the singer's posterior works.<ref name=GayTimes>Template:Cite web</ref> The staff of The Advocate concluded that, "this could have been the best EP of the '80s, with generation-defining songs [...] Instead it was a nine-song album with five great singles and four tracks that unbelievably escaped the cutting room floor".<ref name="Advocate">Template:Cite web</ref> In the same vein, Erlewine added that the singles "overshadow" the rest of the album, which "vacillates wildly in terms of quality".<ref name="AllMusicLAV" /> To Michael Paoletta from Billboard, Like a Virgin hasn't aged as well as the singer's other works from the 1980s decade.<ref name="reissues2001" /> People magazine dismissed the record as a "tolerable bit of fluff" with "primitive" lyrics.<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref>
Commercial performance
[edit]In the United States, Like a Virgin debuted at number 70 on the Billboard 200 on December 1, 1984.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The following week, it climbed to number ten.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The album reached the chart's first spot on February 9, 1985, where it spent three weeks.<ref name="BB200" /> Madonna became the third female artist in the 1980s decade ―after Barbra Streisand and Kim Carnes― to score both a number one album and single, as the title track had reached the Hot 100's top spot two weeks prior.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Fourteen weeks after its release, Like a Virgin had sold over 3.5 million copies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> By July 1985, it had become the first album by a female to sell over five million copies in the United States.<ref name="WhatCulture" /><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> The record came in at the third spot on the Billboard 200 year-end chart for 1985.<ref name="BBYearEnd1985" /> It was eventually certified ten times platinum (diamond) by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for shipment of ten million copies.<ref name="riaa" /> After the advent of the Nielsen SoundScan era in 1991, the album sold a further 574,000 copies as of August 2010.<ref name="Nielsen">Template:Cite web</ref> Another 882,000 units were sold at the BMG Music Club, which are not counted by the Nielsen SoundScan.<ref name="BMG">Template:Cite web</ref> Along with True Blue (1986) and The Immaculate Collection (1990), Like a Virgin is one of Madonna's best-selling albums in the United States.<ref name="riaa" />
In Canada, Like a Virgin debuted on the 78th spot of the RPM Albums Chart on November 10, 1984;<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> it climbed up the chart and eventually reached the third spot on February 16, 1985.<ref name="RPM" /> The album was present for a total of 74 weeks on the chart, and was certified diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA), for shipment of one million copies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="cria" /> Like a Virgin reached the fifth position of RPMTemplate:'s 1985 year-end chart.<ref name="RPMYearEnd85"/> 750,000 copies were sold in Latin America as of June 1986.<ref name="LATAM" />
In the United Kingdom, Like a Virgin debuted at number 74 on the UK Albums Chart, on November 24, 1984. However, it fluctuated on the chart for the next eight months and it wasn't until September that it finally reached the chart's top.<ref name="UK" /> The album was certified three times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and has sold over a million copies there.<ref name="bpi" /><ref name="UKSellers" /> In France, the album debuted and peaked at number five on the French Albums Chart on October 6, 1985, staying there for eight weeks.<ref name="fra"/> Like a Virgin was certified two times platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of 600,000 copies.<ref name="snep" /> Like a Virgin reached number the first place on European countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, and Italy.<ref name="germany" /><ref name="netherlands" /><ref name="spain" /><ref name="Italy" /> Like a Virgin became Madonna's first number one album on the European Top 100 Albums, reaching the summit on November 18, 1985, and remaining there for two weeks.<ref name="EuropeanTop100" /> Over 2 million copies were sold across Europe by the end of 1985.<ref name="Europesales" />
In Australia, the album debuted and peaked at the second position of the Kent Music Report albums chart, and was certified seven times platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 490,000 copies.<ref name="Australia" /><ref name="aria" /> Like a Virgin remained at the top of the New Zealand Albums Chart for three consecutive weeks, and was certified five times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of New Zealand (RIANZ) for the shipping of 75,000 copies.<ref name=NZ /><ref name="rianz" /> With over 21 million copies sold worldwide, Like a Virgin is one of the best-selling albums of all time.<ref name="LAVWoldWide" />
Legacy
[edit]Like a Virgin has been referred to as the album that made Madonna a superstar. Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "Madonna had hits with her first album [...] but she didn't become an icon, until Like a Virgin".<ref name="AllMusicLAV" /> Similarly, Sam Damshenas and Daniel Megarry referred to the album as the one that cemented the singer as a "force to be reckoned with in the world of pop".<ref name="GayTimes" /> This opinion was shared by John Murph, who added that Like a Virgin allowed Madonna to "create an archetype of pop stardom that the likes of Gwen Stefani, P!nk and Lady Gaga have followed".<ref name="Tidal" /> To Daniel Garrán from Spanish radio station Los 40, "[Like a Virgin] proved [Madonna] was not a one-hit wonder but a versatile artist capable of cementing her place in the music world [...] pop culture gave in to her charms".<ref name="Los40">Template:Cite web</ref>
Stephen Holden wrote: "No phenomenon illustrates more pointedly how pop music history seems to run in cycles than the overnight success of Madonna. The month before Christmas [...] Teen-agers were lining up in stores to purchase [Like a Virgin] the way their parents had lined up to buy Beatles records in the late 60's".<ref name="HoldenNYT" /> With the album, the singer was able to take charge of her career, according to the staff of Rhino Entertainment.<ref name="Rhino">Template:Cite web</ref> Chris Smith, author of 101 Albums That Changed Popular Music, where Like a Virgin was included, added that it helped Madonna "steal the spotlight towards herself. [Asserting] her sexuality as only male rock stars had done before, moving well beyond the limited confines of being a pop artist, to becoming a focal point for nationwide discussions of power relationships in the areas of sex, race, gender, religion, and other divisive social topics".<ref name="smith">Template:Harvnb</ref> For The GuardianTemplate:'s Caroline Sullivan, Madonna became the "biggest thing to hit pop" since "a woman in control of her sex life and career was such a new idea".<ref name="GuardianLegacy">Template:Cite web</ref>
According to Santiago Fouz-Hernandez, one of the authors of Madonna's Drowned Worlds, following the album's release and Virgin tour, young girls everywhere started emulating Madonna's style.<ref name=Fouz-Hernandez1>Template:Harvnb</ref> The singer herself recalled that women would show up to the concerts with "flap skirts on and tights cut off below their knees and lace gloves and rosaries and bows in their hair and big hoop earrings. I was like, 'This is insane!'"<ref name=RSInterview /> Madonna look-alike contests were held in shopping malls across the United States; artist Andy Warhol served as judge at one in New York City.<ref name="Rhino" /> Nathan Smith from Out magazine wrote that young women idolized the "transformative transgressions of Madonna, a star who wanted to be in control of sexual identity and dictate the terms of her own erotic encounters".<ref name="OUTLAV"/> Smith ultimately concluded that, "[Like a Virgin] stands today as a polemic for the reborn woman of the 1980s: empowered, sexually demonstrative, financially independent, and drawing on old antiquated traditions to move ahead in the world".<ref name="OUTLAV"/> Sal Cinquemani placed the record among the "most definitive pop artifacts from the indulgent Reagan Era".<ref name="SlantLAV" />
Like a Virgin is considered one of the best albums of 1984 and of the 1980s decade.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, NPR named Like a Virgin one of the greatest albums ever made by a woman, with Alison Fensterstock writing: "All that came with [the album], made it clear that there would never be a pop music landscape without the impact and influence of Madonna again".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Consequence of Sound considered Like a Virgin the second best sophomore album of all time, with Michael Roffman saying it "carved out the throne, the crown, and the title that would be Madonna's forever: The Queen of Pop".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Chuck Arnold, writing for Billboard, concluded that, "Madonna has definitely made better albums than Like a Virgin — among them, Like a Prayer [and] Ray of Light — but her second LP changed the course of pop history".<ref name="LAVRankedTracks">Template:Cite magazine</ref> According to Taraborrelli, "every important artist has at least one album in his or her career whose critical and commercial success becomes the artist's magic moment; for Madonna, Like a Virgin was just such a defining moment".<ref>Template:Harvnb</ref> Finally, in 2023, Like a Virgin was selected for preservation in the United States' National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress due to it being considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Track listing
[edit]All tracks produced by Nile Rodgers, except where noted. Template:Track listing Template:Track listing
Personnel
[edit]Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.<ref name="LAVliner" /><ref name="liner2001" /><ref name="LAVliner85" />
- Sire Records – record label, U.S. copyright owner Template:Small
- Warner Bros. Records – U.S. marketing and distributor Template:Small record label, copyright owner Template:Small
- WEA International – international distributor, international copyright owner Template:Small
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Musicians
[edit]- Madonna – lead vocals Template:Small, background vocals Template:Small
- Nile Rodgers – Roland Juno-60 Template:Small, Synclavier II Template:Small, guitars Template:Small, acoustic guitar Template:Small, electric guitar Template:Small, string arrangements and conductor Template:Small
- Nathaniel S. Hardy Jr. – keyboards Template:Small
- Robert Sabino – synthesizers Template:Small, bass synthesizer Template:Small, acoustic piano Template:Small, Fender Rhodes electric piano
- Bernard Edwards – bass Template:Small
- Tony Thompson – drums Template:Small
- Jimmy Bralower – LinnDrum and Simmons drum machine programming Template:Small
- Lenny Pickett – saxophone solo Template:Small
- Karen Milne – string contractor Template:Small
- Kermit Moore – string contractor Template:Small
- Curtis King – background vocals Template:Small
- Frank Simms – background vocals Template:Small
- George Simms – background vocals Template:Small
- Brenda King – background vocals Template:Small
Production
[edit]- Madonna – producer Template:Small
- Stephen Bray – producer Template:Small
- Nile Rodgers – producer Template:Small
- Jason Corsaro – recording engineer Template:Small, audio mixing Template:Small
- Rob "Ace" Eaton – second engineer Template:Small
- Gus Skinas – digital editing
- Eric Mohler – digital editing assistant
- Malcolm Pollack – assistant engineer
- Bob Ludwig – audio mastering at Masterdisk (New York City, New York)
- Budd Tunick – production manager
- Weisner-DeMann Entertainment – management
Design
[edit]- Jeri McManus – art direction, design
- Jeffrey Kent Ayeroff – art direction, design
- Steven Meisel – photography
- Maripol – stylist
Charts
[edit]Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2
Weekly charts
[edit]Chart (1984–1986) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA)<ref name="Australia">Template:Cite book</ref> | 2 |
Brazilian Albums (Nopem/ABPD)<ref name="Brazil">Template:Cite journal</ref> | 2 |
European Albums (Eurotipsheet)<ref name="EuropeanTop100">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 8 |
French Albums (SNEP)<ref name="fra">Template:Cite web</ref> | 5 |
Icelandic Albums (Tónlist)<ref name="Iceland">Template:Cite web</ref> | 1 |
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)<ref name="Italy">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref name="oricon">Template:Cite book</ref> | 2 |
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)<ref name="spain">Template:Cite book</ref> | 1 |
UK Dance Albums (Music Week)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 1 |
US Top 100 Albums (Cash Box)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 3 |
Chart (2006–2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
Croatian International Albums (HDU)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 6 |
Monthly charts
[edit]Chart (2019) | Peak position |
---|---|
Croatian International Albums (HDU)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 9 |
Year-end charts
[edit]Chart (1984) | Position |
---|---|
US Top 100 Albums (Cash Box)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 53 |
Chart (1985) | Position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name="Australia" /> | 3 |
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 11 |
Canadian Albums (RPM)<ref name="RPMYearEnd85">Template:Cite web</ref> | 6 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 2 |
European Albums (Eurotipsheet)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 3 |
French Albums (SNEP)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 8 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 4 |
Italian Albums (Musica e dischi)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 7 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 8 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)<ref name="NZYearEnd1985">Template:Cite web</ref> | 2 |
Norwegian Summer Period (VG-lista)<ref name="Norway1985">Template:Cite web</ref> | 18 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)<ref name="spain" /> | 16 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 8 |
UK Albums (OCC)<ref name="UKhits">Template:Cite book</ref> | 3 |
US Billboard 200<ref name="BBYearEnd1985">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 3 |
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 30 |
US Top 100 Albums (Cash Box)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 2 |
Chart (1986) | Position |
---|---|
Brazil (Nopem)<ref name="Nopem1965-1999">Template:Cite web</ref> | 5 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 11 |
European Albums (Eurotipsheet)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 11 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)<ref name="spain" /> | 16 |
UK Albums (OCC)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 28 |
US Billboard 200<ref name="BByeardend86">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 52 |
Decade-end charts
[edit]Chart (1980–1989) | Position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)<ref name="Australia" /> | 18 |
Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref name="oricon" /> | 33 |
All-time chart
[edit]Chart (1958–2018) | Position |
---|---|
US Billboard 200 (Women)<ref>Template:Cite magazineTemplate:Subscription required</ref> | 65 |
Certifications and sales
[edit]Template:Col-begin Template:Col-2 Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Summary Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom Template:Col-2 Template:Certification Table Top Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Summary Template:Certification Table Entry Template:Certification Table Bottom Template:Col-end
See also
[edit]- List of best-selling albums
- List of best-selling albums by women
- List of best-selling albums in Brazil
- List of best-selling albums in Italy
- List of best-selling albums in the United States
- List of best-selling albums of the 1980s in the United Kingdom
- List of albums which have spent the most weeks on the UK Albums Chart
- List of Australian chart achievements and milestones
- List of diamond-certified albums in Canada
- List of European number-one hits of 1985
- List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 1980s
- List of number-one albums of 1985 (U.S.)
- List of number-one hits of 1985 (Germany)
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]Bibliography
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External links
[edit]Template:Madonna Template:Authority control Template:Good article
- Pages with non-numeric formatnum arguments
- Pages with broken file links
- 1984 albums
- Albums produced by Nile Rodgers
- Albums produced by Stephen Bray
- Albums produced by Madonna
- Madonna albums
- Sire Records albums
- Warner Records albums
- Dance-rock albums
- United States National Recording Registry recordings
- United States National Recording Registry albums