Ray of Light

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Her first post-motherhood album, Ray of Light's front cover depicted a refreshed, natural-looking Madonna.

Ray of Light is the seventh studio album by American pop-dance singer Madonna, released by Maverick Records in 1998. The album won three Grammy Awards in 1999.

1 About
2 Trivia
3 Shop
4 Reviews
5 External Links

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About

Ray of Light, released on March 3, 1998, in the United States, was Madonna's first album to be released after the birth of her first child, Lourdes, in 1996. In May 1997, the new mom began working on her seventh studio album when she met with Babyface, with whom she had previously collaborated for her previous album, 1994's Bedtime Stories. Madonna quickly realized that the album was not moving in the direction that she wanted, however, and abandoned the pair's work. She then turned to musician Rick Nowels and previous collaborator Patrick Leonard, with whom she had produced such notable songs as "Live to Tell", "Who's That Girl", "Like a Prayer", and "I'll Remember", but still found that the two men's production ideas did not meet her ultimate vision. Madonna then took the songs written with Nowels and Leonard to British electronica musician William Orbit, who provided her with the "trancy, ambient quality" she had been looking for.

Upon its release, critics generally heralded Ray of Light, often describing it as "the Like a Prayer of the '90s". Her most personal album since Like a Prayer, Ray of Light lyrically addresses Madonna's feelings towards motherhood ("Little Star"), fame ("Drowned World/Substitute for Love"), and spirituality ("Shanti/Ashtangi"), as well as her loneliness and need to be loved intimately ("Skin", "To Have and Not to Hold").

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Tracks

Track	Title	Duration
1	"Drowned World/Substitute for Love"	5:08
2	"Swim"	5:00
3	"Ray of Light"	5:21
4	"Candy Perfume Girl"	4:34
5	"Skin"	6:22
6	"Nothing Really Matters"	4:27
7	"Sky Fits Heaven"	4:48
8	"Shanti/Ashtangi"	4:29
9	"Frozen"	6:12
10	"The Power of Good-Bye"	4:10
11	"To Have and Not to Hold"	5:23
12	"Little Star"	5:18
13	"Mer Girl"	5:32
14	"Has to Be"¹	5:16

¹"Has to Be" is a bonus track on the Japanese release of the album

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Awards & Certifications

In 1999, Ray of Light won three Grammy awards for Best Dance Recording, Best Pop Album, and Best Recording Package, and had been nominated for Album of the Year. The record's title track also won the award for Best Short Form Music Video.
In 2003, Rolling Stone ranked Ray of Light #363 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

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Chart Toppers

Year	Song	US	UK	EUR	CAN	JAP	AUS
1998	"Frozen"	#2	#1	#2	#2	#1	#5
1998	"Ray of Light"	#5	#2	#9	#7	#5	#6
1998	"Drowned World (Substitute for Love)"¹	-	#10	#22	#18	-	#16
1998	"The Power of Good-Bye"	#11	#6	#2	#6	-	#33
1999	"Nothing Really Matters"	#93	#7	#16	#6	#25	#15

¹ "Drowned World (Substitute for Love)" was only released in Europe and Asia

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Credits

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Personnel

Madonna — lead and backing vocals
Craig Armstrong — string arrangements
Pablo Cook — flute
Donna DeLory — backing vocals
Marius De Vries — keyboards
Fergus Gerrand — drums, percussion
Niki Haris — backing vocals
Patrick Leonard — string arrangements
Marc Moreau — guitar
William Orbit — sound effects
Steve Sidelnyk — drum programming

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Production

Producers — Madonna, Marius De Vries, Patrick Leonard, William Orbit
Conductor — Suzie Katayama
Engineers — Mark Endert, Jon Ingoldsby, Patrick McCarthy, Dave Reitzas, Matt Silva
Mastering — Ted Jensen
Programmers — Mike Bradford, Marius De Vries

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