Ray of Light

1	Drowned World/Substitute for Love 5:09
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 Goodbye 4:10
11	To Have and Not to Hold 5:23
12	Little Star 5:18
13	Mer Girl 5:32

Barnes & Noble

RAY OF LIGHT has been hailed as Madonna's foray into electronica. This overlooks her collaboration with Nellee Hooper and Björk on the title track from BEDTIME STORIES, but never mind; it's good hype, and the album is worthy of some level of fuss. Although she first sought Prodigy's Liam Howlett, Madonna ended up collaborating with William Orbit, whose light, intricately detailed, sonic textures are a perfect foil for her new and improved singing (those voice lessons for "Evita" really paid off). Lyrically, Madonna deals with the two biggest changes in her life -- motherhood and her spiritual awakening -- and "Drowned World/Substitute for Love" and "Swim" are two of the prettier songs in her entire repertoire. Although things get a little heavy-handed at times (did we really need a pumped version of the Hindu chant "Om Shanti"?), the album marks a sea change in her presentation, with the anger and defiance of her best work replaced by genuine warmth. Still, Madonna is capable of building on past strengths, and "Nothing Really Matters" captures the anthemic qualities of past hits like "Express Yourself" and "Vogue." For years, Madonna has successfully articulated extreme poses (bitch, vixen, dominatrix). Now she's presenting more moderate positions with the same level of eloquence. Martin Johnson

All Music Guide

Returning to pop after a four-year hiatus, Madonna enlisted respected techno producer William Orbit as her collaborator for Ray of Light, a self-conscious effort to stay abreast of contemporary trends. Unlike other veteran artists who attempted to come to terms with electronica, Madonna was always a dance artist, so it's no real shock to hear her sing over breakbeats, pulsating electronics, and blunted trip-hop beats. Still, it's mildly surprising that it works as well as it does, largely due to Madonna and Orbit's subtle attack. They've reigned in the beats, tamed electronica's eccentricities, and retained her flair for pop melodies, creating the first mainstream pop album that successfully embraces techno. Sonically, it's the most adventurous record she has made, but it's far from inaccessible, since the textures are alluring and the songs have a strong melodic foundation, whether it's the swirling title track, the meditative opener, "Substitute for Love," or the ballad "Frozen." For all of its attributes, there's a certain distance to Ray of Light, born of the carefully constructed productions and Madonna's newly mannered, technically precise singing. It all results in her most mature and restrained album, which is an easy achievement to admire, yet not necessarily an easy one to love. Stephen Thomas Erlewine