Wednesday, July 13, 2011

February 14, 1998 - The Ice Ball Gig @ The Roxy - Ray of Light








In her first club performance in 14 years, Madonna delivered a Valentine we will never forget by premiering 3 new tracks off her highly anticipated album Ray of Light at the Roxy. One didn't even have to be there to feel it for its aftershocks would be felt all around the world. She started with Sky Fits Heaven, went into Shanti/Ashtangi and finished off with a 10 plus minute version of Ray of Light.

Putting things in perspective, for those of us who had been following her career since the beginning, prior to Frozen and this engagement, these were unsure times. This is territory that hadn't been covered before in pop. Would the next album be a Streisand/Celine? We had just come off Something to Remember, Evita and the birth of her first child and she was turning 40. A lot of new fans came into Madonna during this Evita time and loved all that shyt because she was on blast in the media and a magazine cover girl for the last 2 years. In retrospect, all that's fabulous because it was part of the evolution of the greatest star that ever lived but then it was extremely uncertain. You can't see the forest from the trees.

However, as usual, Madonna did not disappoint with Ray of Light. In fact, she shined so brightly and changed so drastically, that the entire music industry would eventually move right along with her. In every genre of music. You could even hear an electronic blip and bubble at the Grand Ole Opry. It was so fantastic that she emerged from the depths of that adult contemporary hell with Ray of Light. We could never have envisioned that sonic or visual transformation. And for that alone, we will forever be grateful. And because Something to Forget was of the past and not the reality hardcore music fans feared, it could then be appreciated and viewed truly as Something to Remember.

Moral of this long winded boring story? Never count Madonna out because she will fuck the living shyt out of your mind, body and soul.



BLAST THIS SHYT!!!

23 comments:

  1. Flawless album and era! Sad that there is no video available from that gig! M has truly changed the pop history in every aspect! MJ was multitalented, yes, Prince is too, yes, but M is the one who really made (and makes) changes from her music to her style and life without any doubt. Every album and every song, from the first album to HC, has it's own different sound. We all can imagine how difficult is this for an artist, especially if we think how difficult is fo ourselves to make changes in our life. M, in every new music experiment, changes not only her sound but her whole life as well! She's such a fucking inspiration!

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  2. Never seen photos from this performance! Thanks for posting

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  3. uM DID SHE WEAR THIS OUTFIT ON OTHER PERFORMANCES?

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  4. I wish "Sky Fits heaven" was a single with an offical video. If it had been anything like the song the video would have been brilliant.

    Long live the Queen.

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  5. Pud you described it perfectly!

    How I love this album. It was so fab when it came out because all those a-holes that bashed her in the mid-nineties had to eat their words.
    She was not only back, but with a vengeance and sounded and looked gorgeous.

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  6. i agree. never count madonna out. how many times she has been declared over and finished and she has come back better than ever!!! and she does it on her own terms.... brilliant

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  7. Pud you are so class!!!!

    I just love it when you write stuff like this - I'm grinning from ear to ear LOL!

    FUCKING BRILLIANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  8. I would die to see a video of that night! Thanks for posting the pictures!

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  9. I was so relieved when this album came out, after several years of Madonna drought, BUT I got really annoyed at all those people who suddenly started liking Madonna, when us, real fans, had been faithful lovers since Day One...

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  10. One of the greatest nights of my life!! The energy was amazing, the crowd was on the fucking edge all night long .... I stood 10 feet from here in complete awe. I will never forget it. Ever.

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  11. My Angel. ROL was brilliant. And a good record too:)

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  12. Ray of Light will always be my favourite album. It represents the biggest metamorphosis of anyone's career! It was so brave, so creative, so astonishing, so " wake the fuck up everyone". In a nutshell she is always there even if you can't see her - a remarkable presence and influence.

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  13. ROL - pure brilliance.

    m, here's an example of how you can do great if you follow your heart and not the dollars/charts/youth.

    no more mediocre dance stuff in 2011/12 i beg of you.

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  14. ROL RULES!
    SHE TOOK THIS MUSICAL RISK and SAID FUCK IT!
    IT WAS A BIG MADONNA REBIRTH IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY
    SO ADVANCED SO BEAUTIFUL! SO WELL WRITTEN AND SUNG.
    GORGEOUS ALBUM, GORGEOUS ELECTRONIC SPIRITUAL MOTHER!
    ONE OF THE BEST MADONNA TIMINGS IN HER MUSIC CAREER.
    HOPE THEY DO AN OFFICIAL RELEASE OF VERONICA ELECTRONICA SOMEDAY!

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  15. Ray of Light is an excellent album aside from the not-so-good title track and the video that accompanied it.

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    1. Wish I d live in NYC at that time. Simply perfect

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  16. I agree with Madonna TV Pud. You absolutely wrote this very well. It was in fact, a very trying time for her. Amazing how you summed it all up. My friend and I went to the Roxy that night - we were front and center when she came onto that stage. Something neither one of us can never forget. The rush of her stardom, the thumping base in Shanti - hearing it for the first time. A darker side of Madonna at the time. My friend and I waited outside the Roxy for her to come out that night. I'll never forget being so close to her on stage and then as her town car pulled away - the distance - I will die with this crystal clear memory. (I have some grainy photos I took from a disposable camera I snuck in that night...I have to pull them out for you Pud...LOL)

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  17. Miss Worldwide i don't find this really annoying because this means that M gained a brand new fan base. This is something good for an artist.

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  18. @x-static: I found it annoying at the time, because I remember most people around me HATING Madonna and suddenly they liked her... It annoyed me that they didn't see her talent before...

    @Tony: you're so funny! I think we have the exact same taste when it comes to Madonna, I always find myself 100% agreeing with you... Yep, I never liked the track Ray of Light, nor its video...

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  19. It's disappointing footage of this performance has never seen the light of day, but hell, at least we have some pics (though not very many).

    Pud, you're dead-on with this latest blog post of yours. I remember being a Madonna fan during the Something to Remember/Evita era (or "Something to Forget" as you call it, LOL) and thinking the exact same thing: well, she's moving into adult contemporary land. To be honest, I was willing to accept it at the time since she had gotten the shit kicked out of her by the media and public during the Sex book era. Bedtime Stories had definitely shown some of that minx-like spirit, but the album was underwhelming in attention and sales in several respects.

    It wasn't so much that she didn't have the capacity to do what she used to do anymore, but it just seemed that no one cared much. She wasn't making an impact, and I think that's probably Madonna's worst fear---not that the material will be rejected, but that people simply won't care.

    But then came Ray of Light. I remember when word reached the media and critics that Madonna was making an "electronica" record, many were regarding it as one of her biggest risk taking decisions, and they were right. Madonna's impact in music had been lacking for several years (at least in a way where it made some kind of musical and cultural impact), and some were quick to dismiss Madonna's "electronica" foray as bound-for-disaster. But boy...were they wrong. She came back, and she came back in a MASSIVE way. Grown up, but still youthful---but more importantly---the music was like nothing she'd done before, gorgeously crafted, and felt incredibly fresh and new. It was a brilliant record and era for her, and Madonna was once again musically relevant.

    She and William Orbit made magic, and the record still sound beautiful after all these years.

    Oh, and this...

    "It was so fantastic that she emerged from the depths of that adult contemporary hell with Ray of Light..."

    LOL. Exactly. ;)

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  20. I never saw pictures from this show... thanks por those, and like others said, you wrote this excellent....

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  21. amazing post, pud, I have been searching for some sort of audio or video from that night since it happened. Wish someone had it somewhere

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