History Music / RayOfLight

It is notably only her 2nd non-soundtrack album up until ''{{Music/Confessions On A Dance Floor}}'' that didn't contain a #1 hit. "Frozen" stalled at #2 behind K-Ci and Jojo's "I'll Remember".

It is notably only her 2nd non-soundtrack album up until ''{{Music/ConfessionsOnADanceFloor}}'' that didn't contain a #1 hit. "Frozen" stalled at #2 behind K-Ci and Jojo's "I'll Remember".

[[caption-width-right:350:''[[AnthropomorphicPersonification Love is a bird, she needs to fly...]]''

"Frozen" was [[BannedInChina banned in Belgium]] from 2005 until 2014, because it was supposedly {{Plagiarism}} from a song by Salvatore Acquaviva, but this sentence was eventually overturned.

* CameraAbuse: Madonna breaks the camera with her head in the video for "Ray Of Light" near the end.

'''''Ray of Light''''' was Music/{{Madonna}}'s comeback album, released in 1998 under overwhelmingly positive reviews. Her seventh studio album was hailed as a more mature NewSoundAlbum and spawned hits such as ''Ray of Light'' and ''Frozen''. It was also the first record where she references Kabbala mysticism.

** "Drowned World" was inspired by Creator/JGBallard's novel ''Literature/TheDrownedWorld''. It contains a sample of "Why I Follow The Tigers" by the San Sebastian Strings. The music video features Madonna running from paparazzi, in a controversial reference to the death of Princess Diana.

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ray_of_light_8564.jpg]]

'''''Ray of Light''''' was Music/{{Madonna}}'s comeback album, released in 1998 under overwhelming positive reviews. Her seventh studio album was hailed as a more mature NewSoundAlbum and spawned hits such as ''Ray Of Light'' and ''Frozen''. It was also the first record where she references Kabbala mysticism. Along with ''Music/LikeAPrayer'' it's often seen as one of her best albums. It was listed at nr. #367 in Magazine/RollingStone's [[Music/RollingStone500GreatestAlbumsOfAllTime Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time]].

!!!Tracklist

# "Ray Of Light"

# "The Power Of Goodbye"
# "To Have And Not To Hold"

# "Has To Be" (Japanese CD release)

* SuperSpeed:

'''''Ray of Light''''' was Music/{{Madonna}}'s comeback album, released in 1998 under overwhelming positive reviews. Her seventh studio album was hailed as a more mature NewSoundAlbum and spawned hits such as ''Ray Of Light'' and ''Frozen''. It was also the first record where she references Kabbala mysticism. Along with ''Music/LikeAPrayer'' it's often seen as one of her best albums.

"Frozen" was [[BannedInChina banned in Belgium]] from 2005 until 2014, because it was supposedly plagiarism from a song by Salvatore Acquaviva, but eventually overturned.

* ButNowIMustGo: "The Power Of Good-Bye", with its first line, "Your heart is not open, so I must go."

* FishPeople: "Mer Girl".

--> ''"quicker than a ray of light"''.

* UnscaledMerfolk: "Mer Girl".

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: "Sky Fits Heaven" and "Little Star" reference her then new born daughter Lourdes. "Mer Girl" is about her mother's death.

* ButNowIMustGo: "The Power Of Good-Bye".

* FaceOnTheAlbumCover: Madonna in close-up.

'''Ray Of Light''' was Music/{{Madonna}}'s comeback album, released in 1998 under overwhelming positive reviews. Her seventh studio album was hailed as a more mature NewSoundAlbum and spawned hits such as ''Ray Of Light'' and ''Frozen''. It was also the first record where she references Kabbala mysticism. Along with ''Music/LikeAPrayer'' it's often seen as one of her best albums.

''Frozen'' was [[BannedInChina banned in Belgium]] from 2005 until 2014, because it was supposedly plagiarism from a song by Salvatore Acquaviva, but eventually overturned.

* {{Undercrank}}: "Ray Of Light", features mostly sped-up film of everyday life.

''Ray Of Light'' was Music/{{Madonna}}'s comeback album, released in 1998 under overwhelming positive reviews. Her seventh studio album was hailed as a more mature NewSoundAlbum and spawned hits such as ''Ray Of Light'' and ''Frozen''. It was also the first record where she references Kabbala mysticism. Along with ''Music/LikeAPrayer'' it's often seen as one of her best albums.
!!!Track listing

* AlbumTitleDrop: ''Quicker than a ray of light''
* BannedInChina: ''Frozen'' was banned in Belgium from 2005 until 2014, because it was supposedly plagiarism from a song by Salvatore Acquaviva, but eventually overturned.
* BareYourMidriff: Madonna in the music video of ''Ray Of Light''.
* BilingualBonus: ''Shanti/Ashtangi'' has lines in Sanskrit.
* ButNowIMustGo: ''The Power Of Good-Bye''.

* CarefulWithThatAxe: Madonna's high pitched scream in ''Ray Of Light''.
* DeathSong: ''"Mer Girl"''. It's an extremely creepy track with sinister minimal instrumentation and equally sinister lyrics. It was said that there was an eerie silence after Madonna recorded the vocals for the song.

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: ''Substitute For Love'', in which the protagonist looks for a deeper meaning: ''Now I find I've changed my mind/ This is my religion''. ''Has To Be'' (a song that appears as a B-side to the ''"Ray Of Light"'' single and on the Japanese release of the album) deals with similar themes.
* FailuresOnIce: ''Frozen'', about a lover she's disappointed in, but nevertheless wants to ''"melt his heart"''.
* FishPeople: ''Mer Girl''.
* FlippingTheTable: Madonna and a boyfriend play a chess in the music video of ''The Power Of Goodbye'' and she flips the table with the chess board over near the end.
* TheGreatFlood: ''Drowned World'', ''Swim'', ''Mer Girl''.
* GriefSong: ''Mer Girl'', ''The Power Of Good-Bye''.
* HarmlessFreezing: ''Frozen'', though not as harmless as one would think. It deals with a lover not open to other people.

* OneWomanSong: ''Candy Perfume Girl'', ''Mer Girl''.
* PowerFloats: Madonna levitates in the music video of ''Frozen''.
* ThePowerOfLove: ''Skin'', ''Nothing Really Matters''.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot: ''Sky Fits Heaven'' and ''Little Star'' reference her then new born daughter Lourdes. ''Mer Girl'' is about her mother's death.
* {{Shapeshifting}}: Madonna shapeshifts into black dogs and ravens in the music video for ''Frozen'', directed by Creator/ChrisCunningham.

** The music video of ''Ray Of Light'' was inspired by the fast forward editing of ''Film/{{Koyaanisqatsi}}''.
** ''Shanti/Ashtangi'' has lyrical references lifted from the ''Literature/{{Shankaracharya}}", taken from the Yoga Taravali.
** ''Sky Fits Heaven'' has lyrical references to the poem ''What Fits?'' by Creator/MaxBlagg.
** The music video of ''Nothing Really Matters'' was inspired by the novel ''Literature/MemoirsOfAGeisha''.
** ''The Power Of Goodbye'' contains a sample of ''"I Want to Become"'' by Love Kills.
** ''Mer Girl'' contains an interpolation and elements from ''"Space"'' performed by Gábor Szabó.
** ''Drowned World'' was inspired by Creator/JGBallard's novel ''Literature/TheDrownedWorld''. It contains a sample of ''Why I Follow The Tigers'' by the San Sebastian Strings. The music video features Madonna running from paparazzi, in a controversial reference to the death of Princess Diana.
** WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy: Peter Griffin parodies the music video of ''Ray Of Light'' in the episode ''New Kidney In Town'', after drinking some Red Bull.
* SpecialGuest: Kroatian actor Goran Višnjić, best known as Luka in ''Series/{{ER}}'' has a cameo in the music video of ''The Power Of Goodbye''.
* StockSoundEffects: Telephone sounds in ''Mer Girl''.
* SuperSpeed: ''"quicker than a ray of light"''.
* SurrealMusicVideo: ''Frozen'', ''Nothing Really Matters''.
* TitleTrack
* {{Undercrank}}: ''Ray Of Light'', features mostly sped-up film of everyday life.
* UnscaledMerfolk: ''Mer Girl''.
* WordSaladLyrics: ''Candy Perfume Girl''.

* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: ''Substitute For Love'', in which the protagonist looks for a deeper meaning: ''Now I find I've changed my mind/ This is my religion''. ''Has To Be'' deals with similar themes.

''Ray Of Light'' was Music/{{Madonna}}'s comeback album, released in 1997 under overwhelming positive reviews. Her seventh studio album was hailed as a more mature NewSoundAlbum and spawned hits such as ''Ray Of Light'' and ''Frozen''. It was also the first record where she references Kabbala mysticism. Along with ''Music/LikeAPrayer'' it's often seen as one of her best albums.

* UnscaledMerfolk: ''Mer Girl''.

* SpecialGuest: Kroatian actor Goran Višnjić, best known as Luka in ''Series/ER'' has a cameo in the music video of ''The Power Of Goodbye''.