Like A Virgin＜Clear Vinyl＞

※限定盤クリスタル・クリア・アナログ仕様※ポップス界最大のスーパースターの一人、マドンナ。1980年代から現在に至るまで、常にシーンの最前線で圧倒的な完成度を誇る音楽と、有無を言わせぬポップ・アイコンとしてのカリスマ性、そしてその時代の空気をビビッドに反映させたサウンドスケープで、"クイーン・オブ・ポップ"として圧倒的なカリスマ性を放ち続けている。

世界中が、マドンナの魅力にノックアウトされた一枚、それが彼女のセカンド・アルバム『ライク・ア・ヴァージン』。アルバムと、タイトル・トラック「ライク・ア・ヴァージン」の大ヒットで、マドンナは一躍、名実ともに"世界のポップ・クイーン"となった。80年代のセックス・シンボルとも称された、自らを完璧に対象化し、アイコンとしての迫力を見せ付けた彼女の魅力は、男性をとりこにしただけでなく、ティーンエイジャーを主体とした女性達の間にも"ウォナビーズ"(マドンナになりたい女の子達のニックネーム)を大量発生させ、マドンナの存在は"現象"となった。世界中に、空前の"マドンナ旋風"を巻き起こし、ミュージック・シーンの頂点へ彼女を押し上げた、メガ・ヒット・アルバム。80年代の象徴とも言える一枚である。(1984年作品)

スターを夢見る少女がデビューを果たし、世界のトップ・スターへと駆け上がり、やがて時代を超えたスーパー・スターとなったマドンナの"はじまりの物語"を辿る5枚がクリスタル・クリアのアナログLPで復活となる!

Madonna had hits with her first album, even reaching the Top Ten twice with "Borderline" and "Lucky Star," but she didn't become a superstar, an icon, until her second album, Like a Virgin. She saw the opening for this kind of explosion and seized it, bringing in former Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers in as a producer, to help her expand her sound, and then carefully constructed her image as an ironic, ferociously sexy Boy Toy; the Steven Meisel-shot cover, capturing her as a buxom bride with a Boy Toy belt buckle on the front, and dressing after a night of passion, was as key to her reinvention as the music itself. Yet, there's no discounting the best songs on the record, the moments when her grand concepts are married to music that transcends the mere classification of dance-pop. These, of course, are "Material Girl" and "Like a Virgin," the two songs that made her an icon, and the two songs that remain definitive statements. They overshadow the rest of the record, not just because they are a perfect match of theme and sound, but because the rest of the album vacillates wildly in terms of quality. The other two singles, "Angel" and "Dress You Up," are excellent standard-issue dance-pop, and there are other moments that work well ("Over and Over," "Stay," the earnest cover of Rose Royce's "Love Don't Live Here"), but overall, it adds up to less than the sum of its parts -- partially because the singles are so good, but also because on the first album, she stunned with style and a certain joy. Here, the calculation is apparent, and while that's part of Madonna's essence -- even something that makes her fun -- it throws the record's balance off a little too much for it to be consistent, even if it justifiably made her a star. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine