Ray of Light - Legacy

Legacy

Ray of Light is recognized as one of the greatest albums of all time and has been featured on many critic lists due to its impact on popular music. Rolling Stone magazine placed the album at number 28 on the list of "100 Best Albums of the Nineties" and number 363 on the list of "500 Greatest Albums of All Time." In 2001, a quarter of a million music fans on VH1 voted Ray of Light as the tenth of "100 Best Albums of All Time." The album is also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Mojo magazine also listed Ray of Light at number 29 on "100 Modern Classics: The Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime". In addition to its critical reviews, Ray of Light earned many awards and nominations. In 1999, Ray of Light received a total of six Grammy Award nominations and won four of them. The album won "Best Pop Vocal Album" and "Best Recording Package", and was nominated for "Album of the Year." In addition, the album's title track won "Best Dance Recording" and "Best Short Form Music Video," and was nominated for "Record of the Year."

Ray of Light has been credited for bringing electronic music into mainstream pop radar. As Allmusic editor Liana Jonas wrote, the record has "brought mainstream attention to electronica music, which ascended from its underground status to wild popularity in the early 21st century." Thomas Harrison, author of Music of the 1990s, wrote that the production style of Ray of Light was "idiomatic of new trends in electronic music with significant use of digital sampling and use of an electronic synthesizer." According to author J. Randy Taraborrelli, "Techno and electronica had, for years, been the music played at so-called raves, hugely popular, illegal underground parties taking place in abandoned warehouse and deserted areas on the outskirts of town all around the world. This is where young music lovers, on alcohol and popular rave drug Ecstasy, were zoning out on the beat of such ethereal, synthesized sounds." Madonna felt that the music was a "hot sound" and decided to bring it into mass popularity, saying "It's definitely area that's gone untapped. And I need to be on it." According to Taraborrelli, the album has been hailed as bold and refreshing in contemporary music of the late 1990s, which was dominated by boybands and teenage artists such as Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera. Larry Flick from Billboard said that the album "not only provided the chameleon-like artist with her first universally applauded critical success, it has also proved that she remains a vital vigure amongst woefully fickle young audiences." Madonna herself considered Ray of Light her most favorite album.