363 - Madonna - Ray of Light

One of the keys to Madonna's success through the years is her love of dance clubs and her ability to get the hottest DJs to work with her on producing songs. Let's face it, if you take vocals-only tracks from some of her earlier albums and Ray of Light you'll notice the evolution of her vocal articulation, but there isn't all that much different between her old melodies and song structures and what you'll hear on this album. The "new" sound isn't her, it is the sound brought in by her new producers.

What makes the critics happy, though, is that this album shows an increased level of lyrical maturity. It was only two albums before this that Madonna was diving the depths of sexual exploration with Erotica. There is a certain amount of (calculated?) redemption by Madonna with her newly found spiritual path and how that affected what lyrics she wrote.

But enough with analyzing Madonna's musical strategy, what about the music? As one might expect with her musical support staff, there is a great vitality to the electronica beats. These are tracks that spur the experimentation or quirkiness of even Bjork's recordings and, yet, don't come across as mainstream (at the time). Does that make this a groundbreaking album? No. Probably more of a case of critical and public approval of how Madonna was able to, yet again, reinvent herself in a way that seemed genuine and welcome to her fans.

It's an okay album, but I don't really see it as deserving to be this high on the list.

Songs I knew I liked: "Ray of Light"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "Drowned World/Substitute for Love," "Skin," and "Ashanti/Ashtangi"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "Frozen" (which I never liked), "Candy Perfume Girl," and "To Have and Not to Hold"

362 - The Doors - L.A. Woman

This is a very bluesy side of The Doors and a fitting swan song for the band. The band sounds very tight, even though Jim can often sound like he's barely there. Jim's delivery changes from song to song. There are times where it sounds like he stepped up to the mic after a night of drinking; he's at that state of drunkeness where the body and voice are emotionally fatigued and on the verge of unconsciousness. For these songs, that works very well. But there are just as many songs on here where Jim is alert and wild...a beast, not a bum.

While I list only a few songs in the "like" categories below, that is a poor measurement of how much I enjoyed the album (okay, I really enjoyed the first half and just liked much of the second half). The distribution of the strong songs help to recover from those that don't seem to quite hit the mark. It's not a great album, but it is a very good and interesting one.

Songs I knew I liked: "Love Her Madly," "L.A. Woman," and "Riders on the Storm"

Songs I didn't know but now like: "The Changeling"

Songs I can go the rest of my life without hearing again: "L'america"