Like a Prayer by Madonna

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Elton John

An eclectic, defining snapshot of Elton John at the height of his powers.

Having rocketed from the lavish orchestrations of “Your Song” and “Levon” to the barroom romps “Honky Cat” and “Crocodile Rock” in less than three years, Elton John saw fit to make a Big Statement tying together all his musical impulses. The double LP Goodbye Yellow Brick Road cemented not only his nearly wayward eclecticism, but also his audience’s willingness to follow any path he took. The result was his critical and commercial peak—an album whose tracklist looks, at first blush, like a greatest-hits anthology.

The album’s opening sequence is more or less a sketch of Elton John’s early career and imperial phase, blending these far-reaching musical swings with Bernie Taupin’s increasingly cinematic and high-concept lyrics. The quintessential FM-rock-era sprawl of “Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding” segues into the sentimental and ubiquitous Marilyn Monroe tribute “Candle in the Wind” and bursts into full-on Eltonic pomp with “Bennie and the Jets.” Many cuts (the elegiac title song, “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting”) became standards, while others deserve more notice than they got—likely because of Road’s sheer bulk of worthy material.

Like a Prayer

Madonna

The intimate work of a pop sensation emerging from tabloid hell fully reborn.

From the gospel ecstasy of its chart-topping title track—and its controversial accompanying video, which mixed religion, racism, and interracial desire as only Madonna could—Like a Prayer is the work of a pop sensation who’s made it through tabloid hell and has come out of the experience reborn as a true-blue artist. And while there’s only an occasional reference to her then-recent split with husband Sean Penn—most notably on the dizzying synth-pop bop “Till Death Do Us Part”—the album finds Madonna making the personal stuff about her and not her ex.

That means digging into her family trauma on “Promise to Try,” a heartfelt reflection on her mother’s death, and “Oh Father,” which takes a tough yet tender look at her daddy issues. Then there’s the massive “Express Yourself”—anthemic, affirming, and undeniably powerful, the song is nothing short of Madonna’s “Respect” and the perfect manifesto of her inescapable cultural dominance.

Apple Music 100 Best Albums

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Like a Prayer