RAY OF LIGHT - 1998

Drowned World/Substitute For Love - "I traded fame for love/ Without a second thought/ It all became a silly game/ Some things cannot be bought/... And now I find/ I've changed my mind" opens Madonna's first new album in almost four years. Her focus has shifted again and now is dealing with the loneliness and isolation associated with fame. A weeping, rolling ballad, Drowned World features Madonna's Evita enhanced vocals and even though she knows things can't be changed, the longing in her voice shows that even the queen of hype wants to be left alone. This mesmirizing track was the third release in the UK (debuted at #10 and then fell out of the top forty after three weeks), and was scheduled to be the fourth release in the US, but Nothing Really Matters filled that slot, so who knows whats happening there. A video, directed by Walter Stern is a story of a Madonna-like celebrity being hounded by the press and public and finding solace in her daughter. Beautifully shot with subtly disturbing special effects, the Drowned World video features a heartbreaking moment where Madonna slows down to smile at a child and her mother and immediately has a camera shoved in her face.

Swim - Recorded on the day Madonna discovered the news of her friend Versage's death, Swim has raw vocals that beg people to look at what the world has become and to try and change it. An honest, sincere plea for change in difficult times with a killer guitar. "Swim to the ocean floor/ So that we can begin again/ Wash away all our sins/ Crash to the other shore"

Nothing Really Matters - A song directly inspired by the birth of her daughter, Lourdes, Nothing Really Matters is a mid-tempo dance track reminicent of

Shanti/Ashtangi - Not many superstars will put out a yoga chant set to music, but once again Madonna defies expectations in this exquisitely beautiful track of peace and spirituality that is like nothing else I've ever heard. Apparently her pronunciation of the lyrics is a little of, but they'd improved enough by the MTV video music awards that she was highly praised for it.

Frozen - RAY OF LIGHT's first single debuted at #1 in the UK (it peaked at #2 in the US) and is an extraordinary track about a cold lover. Frozen 's lush orchestrations and simple vocals hit a poignant note, especially in the lines "Love is a bird/She needs to fly/Let all the hurt inside of you die" . Quite simply, one of Madonna's most stunningly striking songs. The video features a black-wigged Madonna in the desert. There's no discernable narrative, but the images of Madonna's transformations into a flock of crows and a dog are breathtaking, as is a spiritual dance between three Madonnas. MTV video music award winner for Best Visual Effects.