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Is Like a Prayer the greatest pop song?

Poor GRIMES said:
That’s a really reductionist review of a song that embedded Carribbean patois into its ethos and elevated it into the mainstream. Dancehall single handedly came back last year because of what Rihanna accomplished in 2016 with Work, in an era where EDM and mumble rap were dominating the airwaves.

Also, if you want to play that game, then you’d also realize that Bad Romance has repetitous songwriting as well with the “oooh oooh oooh oohs” of its primary hook. Work, and similar outings from women of color, are degrated by people and viewed as “not artistic” because of piercing, targeted misogynoir. There is absolutely nothing that distinguished any of Gaga’s music from anything else in the pop girl sphere, even in her prime The Fame era.
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I didn't even know who sang the song, I just know that you heard that hook every time you jumped channels. I'm not trying to cut down Rihanna, I just don't like the song. The beat is catchy, but repeating the same word like that in such a short time is such a pet peeve of mine. It annoys me. Ooh ooh oh's can annoy me as well, but I tend to hear them as a sound rather than a word, and that reduces how much it bugs me.

And yeah, Gaga's work may not be lyrical art either, but I mostly listen to Pop for sounds that I can enjoy with my brain off, so to speak. Gaga's hooks were catchy without the same amount of repeating the same word, or at least from what I hear in my background listening.

I don't deny that some people don't like/dismiss Work because of misogynoir... But I didn't expect this response to me saying I didn't like a song's main hook.

I don't even listen to much Pop, just songs I know that are considered classics and whatever is repeating on the radio
 
I'll not go that far but it's my favorite Madonna song.

Some obvious Prince songs being mentioned in here but man, I also really love 7. I don't know if I just live under a rock but that song seems greatly over-looked to me.
 
EvilKatarn said:
I don't want to make a new thread about it but I just want to state that Fear of the Dark is the best Iron Maiden song.
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Ehhhhhhhhhh..... I love "Fear of the Dark" so much, it is such a great anthem and amazing live. But I don't know if I can definitively say it is even the best song on the Fear of the Dark album, let alone their best song. The album doesn't have many great songs on it, so "Fear of the Dark" being so strong automatically makes it jump to the head of the pack for most people when ranking the songs from that album. I'd say "Afraid to Shoot Strangers" is a spectacular live song when they perform it and could be just as big of an anthem if they performed it more often though. It may not get an entire crowd jumping in unison to the beat like "Fear..." does but the guitarwork and soloing is just as catchy as "Fear..." I prefer the bass guitar in "Afraid..." so much more as well.

I don't know if I can even pick a *best* song from them though. Once upon a time when I hadn't delved completely into their catalog I would have said "Ghost of the Navigator" or something else from Brave New World. "Aces High" seems like a safe vote but I really wanna say "Infinite Dreams."




Can't agree with OP either. It's a good pop song I guess but the greatest? I feel like "Into the Groove" is a better 'pop' song than "Like a Prayer," which just seems... boring to me. Never been a fan of "Like a Prayer."
 
Stiler said:
It's certainly one of the top ones.

For me personally I always liked Duran Duran's "Ordinary World," it's just a timeless song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDLiVwpv89s

and Toad and the Wet Sprocket's "All I Want."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVYYpNaSs2Y
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I don't agree that Ordinary World is the best but I could see that song aging really well. Still sounds great, I could see that being a nostalgic jam in 2080 like we listen to Fallout 3 songs and love it
 
This thread is oddly familiar.

So I'll post my thoughts from before.

Randolph Freelander said:
It's not even a top 10 Madonna song.
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Randolph Freelander said:
I'm not calling it terrible, just there are a number of her songs I would place in front of it. She has cranked out a lot of great pop songs, so it's not a slight on her.

Edit: I celebrate her entire catalog, but if I had to list some songs I like better than that one, in no particular order, I'd go with Vogue, Express Yourself, Into The Groove, Open Your Heart, Borderline, Dress You Up, La Isla Bonita, Who's That Girl, Crazy For You, Cherish... that's 10 so I'll stop.
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Randolph Freelander said:
^

And I can't believe I failed to get Angel and Papa Don't Preach in there, though I obviously limited myself to 10...
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Randolph Freelander said:
I will not be silenced!
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Like a prayer is a great pop song, defenitely in my top 5.
Billie Jean is the most timeless and legendary pop song (but smooth criminal is better)
Genesis and Prince also have excellent pop songs.
 
Mr. Brightside, by The Killers, if you ask me. At least it's catchier, "poppier" and better suited for karaoke than Like a Prayer.
 
I quite like Madonna's discography, and I fully understand the votes for Like a Prayer.

However, my vote would go to Vogue as her most iconic (and best). That song is just dance/house/pop perfection. It's silky smooth, it's warm, it's catchy, it's empowering, and compared to Like a Prayer, I prefer Madonna's voice a lot more on that track. Less fragile, but still with the sexy crack in her voice when belting "get up on the dance floor". Just awesome.
 
TheSkullPrince said:
Michael Jackson's Bad is the best pop song ever.
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It's not even MJ's best song, not even in his top 20 imo. It was wack from day one.
 
After some clear minded thinking, I've reconsidered. Before, I said it was Stacy's Mom, by Fountains of Wayne. What I meant to say is that it's either:

September, by Earth, Wind, & Fire, or
Best of My Love, by The Emotions...
 
Borderline is Madonna's best song.

Live to Tell and Crazy For You are her best slow jams.

Who's That Girl is pretty fire.

I don't know if any of these are the greatest pop song.
 
Fox318 said:
Easy Lover is better the greatest pop song of all time.
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Can't Stop Loving You, tho.

And people are gonna hate me but Uptown Funk is my fuckin jam, though I was lucky enough to catch it mostly off of top 20 radio. I'm down with most of Bruno Mars' singles

Semi-Charmed Kinda Life, Closing Time, One Week, Two Princes for your 90's alt rock crowd.
 
I don't know enough about it to comment but I remember reading an article (in a mainstream but non-music-specialist publication) where Born to Run by Springsteen was named as the best pop song ever (if I'm remembering properly).
 
I hate what I'm about to say, but in terms of shear influence you can make a strong argument that Believe by Cher is one of, if not the, greatest pop songs ever made. It gave birth to the modern use of autotune and was a huge commercial success.
 
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