Good Madonna import!

For those who bought part one, this part two UK import is also a must, and it's even better. The Sasha Twilo Mix is a pure delight, though I agree it's a bit too long, but who cares when the overall quality of the mix is perfect. I would describe it as a techno-trance anthem mix. It's very neath, and rather simple, but nontheless excellent and creative (sounds like an Oakenfold remix a little). The Sasha Strip Down Mix is a shorter version of the Sasha Ultra Violet Mix (found on part 1), a fan favorite trip-hop mix which I'm not fond of, but since this version is shorter I appreciate it a little more. Track 3 is the Calderone Drum Mix, which is basically a "tribalistic" dub of the Calderone Club Mix found on part one. A very repetitive dub where your hear Madonna say "ray of light" here and there (like beginning of the original club mix) but nothing more. I do like the beat (catchy), but this is all we get and we wait for someting else to happen.
The Orbit Ultra Violet Mix is my other favorite. Surprisingly, it sounds a lot like the songs "Amazing" or "Beautiful Stranger". Surprise #2, near the end we hear Madonna sing "i feel i just got home" in opera style! At first we kinda wonder if she really did this, but I think the answer is yes. After all she did manage to pull "Don't cry for me Argentina" few years ago... Finally, the cover of the single is so cool and unique! Part one had the same picture but without this mirror effect.

Great

There is an exploration of the existential in Madonna's work now that shows a definitive maturity. I think that the ability that sets Madonna apart the most is not simply being someone who manipulates media well but in truth two things: One, she's not a big fan of TV or indulging in the media, beign a puppet to it in watching it. Two, Marianne Williamson talks about that people who become legends do so because they tap into the concept of what the human consciousness is available to, needing to develop and that rings within all of us. It is that work that interests the rest of us.

Madonna is the ray of light in my life!

In May 1998, Madonna released the amazing single Ray Of Light from the even more amazing album of the same name. The song peaked at No.2 in the UK, and spent 9 weeks on the chart, before later re-entering the charts in July at No.75 for one week. It was the eighth single that Madonna had released that went in at No.2, and just missed the No.1 slot. What a bummer! Had all these eight songs that peaked at No.2 been No.1's, Madonna would have amassed a total of 16 UK No.1 singles (21 if you take in consideration now that American Pie and Music were both UK No.1's, and that Beautiful Stranger, American Life and Hollywood all missed out on the top spot where they settled for No.2 position).

Ray Of Light opens slowly and melodically with a wonderful beat, before the song breaks out after 22 seconds and everything gets extremely fast and funked up. Madonna then sings her first verse, "Zephyr in the sky at night I wonder. Do my tears of mourning sink beneath the sun? She's got herself a universe gone quickly. For the call of thunder. Threatens everyone." It's a short verse and Madonna's vocals are rather mid-tempo, before she wails out the explosive chorus, "And I feel. Like I just got home. And I feel. And I feel. Like I just got home. And I feel." A short and simplistic chorus, followed up by the second verse where the beat rises again, "Faster than the speeding light she's flying. Trying to remember where it all began. She's got herself a little piece of heaven. Waiting for the time when Earth shall be as one." Madonna then sings the chorus once more, before the beat reaches outrageous heights of speed and insanity. Madonna then sings "Quicker than a ray of light" three times, and the beat explodes once more as keyboards and synthesisers dance their way all over the arrangement. The song then dies down to the melodic tempo that first introduced the song and Madonna sings the first verse once more. The song stays down and quiet, but it can't contain itself, and it bounces back up and explodes once again. The heavy bass, the electrifying beat, the stunning vocals. The sound. The noise. It's amazing. Madonna then sings "And I feel!" before the beat rises once more, and Madonna sings "Quicker than a ray of light then gone for someone else will be there through the endless years-s-s-s-s...." Madonna sings the 'years' bit for ages, and it does carry on for almost years! Madonna then sings, "She's got herself a universe!" before screaming "And I feel!" three times before screeching "And I feeeeel!" The beat rises and dips, and rises back up and smashes its way through your speakers in all its guitar glory before dying down quietly before escaping into the distance.

The video to Ray Of Light is absolutely perfect - it's definitely one of Madonna's best ever videos, and it fits the tone of the song so well. We see a sun rising in the morning to begin with, then the beat speeds up and we set on a daily journey to see what people do in their everyday life. People brushing their teeth, eating cake, making sun-faced patterns on the floor, people catching planes, driving cars and doing tons of other stuff. Madonna is in the centre of all this. She's wearing a denim outfit, and her hair is beautiful. She's radiant and eccentric - a disco diva for the new millennium, which is the total opposite to what she was in the Frozen video - a dark and moody witch! The video to Ray Of Light took some 10 weeks to make, as tons of footage had to be filmed to all be sped up into 5 minutes of dance/pop bliss. The hard work paid off, however, when just the video alone picked up 6 MTV Video Music Awards in summer 1998. All in all, both a fantastic song and a fantastic video.