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Madonna's
metamorphosis complete
Ray
of Light reviewed
By
JANE STEVENSON
Toronto Sun
RAY
OF LIGHT
Madonna
(Maverick/Warner CDW 46847)
The queen of
re-invention has done it again on her latest album, due in stores
Tuesday, and emerges as a more sophisticated-sounding and mature artist
in the process.
Working with highly respected British ambient dance producer-remixer
William Orbit (Massive Attack) and longtime collaborator Patrick
Leonard, Madonna has successfully updated her pop sound -- like rockers
U2 and David Bowie before her -- to sometimes thrilling effect.
Like on the lush first single, Frozen, which begins with gorgeous
strings before intricate keyboard programming kicks in along with a
striking wailing refrain provided by Madonna: "If I could melt your
heart, We'd never be apart."
Also notable is the album-opening ballad, Drowned World (Substitute For
Love), whose mesmerizing ambient sounds eventually take shape in a
mid-tempo rhythm and such surprises as an acoustic guitar bridge.
The content of the song is also significant, as Madonna reflects on the
price of pop superstardom.
"I traded fame for love, without a second thought," she begins
before admitting: "I traveled around the world, looking for a home,
I found myself in so many crowded rooms, feeling so alone, Had so many
lovers who settled for the thrill of basking in my spotlight."
It's as if becoming a mother to daughter Lourdes has opened Madonna up
to more introspection and honesty than heard on previous albums. (Ray Of
Light is Madonna's first collection of new songs since 1994's Bedtime
Stories.)
On Nothing Really Matters, a classic Madonna dance song, she seems to be
singing directly about the Lourdes effect: "I'll never be the same
because of you, Nothing really matters, Love is all we need, Everything
I give you, All comes back to me."
There's also the somewhat mushy Little Star, which is more lullaby than
song: "God gave a present to me, made of flesh and bones, My life,
my soul, you make my spirit whole, never forget who you are, little
star."
The third song in this personal trilogy is Mer Girl, in which Madonna
seems to be reconciling the death of her mother through the birth of her
daughter.
"I ran and I ran, I'm looking there still and I smelt her burning
flesh, her rotting bones, her decay, I ran and I ran, I'm still running
today," she sings.
In the album's press notes, Madonna claims to have been going through a
spiritual and emotional metamorphosis while recording Ray Of Light,
studying the Kabbalah, "a Jewish mystical interpretation of the Old
Testament" in addition to Hinduism and yoga.
Witness the track called Shanti-Ashtangi, which was adapted from Yoga
text.
Better tracks, however, are the electric-guitar-and-ocean-waves-laced
Swim; SkyFits Heaven, a fast-tempo, trippy dance number; the
Latin-tinged ballad To Have And Not To Hold; and the title track which
sees Madonna performing Kate Bush-like vocals over techno-dance rhythms.
Madonna fans will love this collection. Skeptics may finally be
converted.
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