Like A Prayer
by Madonna

Like A Prayer by Madonna
Year: 1989
Release date: 1989-03-21
Overall rank: 816th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 550 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1989 (12th)
Award Top albums of the 1980s (125th)
Award Top 1,000 albums of all time (816th)

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Madonna bestography

Like A Prayer is ranked 2nd best out of 28 albums by Madonna on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Madonna is Ray Of Light which is ranked number 635 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 2,710.

Madonna album bestography « Higher ranked (635th)
Ray Of Light
This album (816th)
Like A Prayer
Lower ranked (1,259th) »
Madonna

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Nov
30
Tue
Like A Material Girl - Madonna Tribute & Heart Of Blonde - Blondie Tri
Ace of Spades, Sacramento, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Apr
18
Sat
Madonna X - The Iconic Collection
The Showroom at Wheeling Island, Wheeling, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 
Apr
24
Fri
Chamber Night at the Coach House Feat. Blonde Ambition - a Tribute to Madonna
The Coach House, San Juan Capistrano, United States. United States
Tickets from Ticketmaster Get tickets
 

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Like A Prayer rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 816th | 1980s rank: 125th | 1989 rank: 12th

Like A Prayer collection

Like A Prayer ratings

Average Rating: 
72/100 (from 550 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 550 ratings for this album.

Sort Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
70/100
 
01/16/2026 10:52 Pluto11  Ratings distribution  12,07072/100
 
60/100
 
01/13/2026 16:48 iann97  Ratings distribution  1,97574/100
 
25/100
 
01/11/2026 16:43 Proto  Ratings distribution  4,10833/100
 
80/100
 
01/10/2026 04:46 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  7,79570/100
 
80/100
 
12/31/2025 02:40 imacgill  Ratings distribution  2,64179/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album has a Bayesian average rating of 72.3/100, a mean average of 71.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 72.3/100. The standard deviation for this album is 21.0.

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Like A Prayer comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 32 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
45/100
From 07/07/2025 22:08 | #309962
Title track is an absolute classic, there are also plenty of other good tracks like Til Death Do Us Part but with a few like Act of Contrition and Love Song that bring the standard down.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 02/16/2025 09:18 | #307621
Best Madonna album.. My ´first CD actually from 1989
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 05/11/2024 06:26 | #303471
The hits off this album are good, and Express Yourself is the best track. However the rest is not so great, and even boring. Tracks 3 & 11 especially, I would not miss, and it would raise the average.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/05/2023 22:23 | #296662
Admittedly, I'm not as into this as her first three albums, but it's still an interesting evolution.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 05/03/2022 01:08 | #284894
Express Yourself is criminally underrated, and its strong rhythm and confident melody are what I find more appealing than those of Like a Prayer.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 01/03/2021 17:39 | #263770
I can't get past wondering how much stronger this might have been if Madonna had been able to commit to the Prince influence throughout.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
55/100
From 11/25/2020 15:28 | #261385
There is not much here besides the first track., which of course is her biggest song by far. Overall, 55/100.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (1 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
100/100
From 10/23/2019 19:23 | #244053
Amazing album that redefined pop at the time!
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 05/27/2019 22:18 | #236805
this is her best album from beginning to end you can hear her maturity throughout the album and the Prince song which has been noted in the other comments is fantastic and Madonna co writing the whole album you can tell she had control over the whole thing
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 01/24/2019 08:27 | #230377
The first track is a classic, the second a good song, the rest is not up to much.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
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Best Albums of 1989
1. Doolittle by Pixies
2. Disintegration by The Cure
3. The Stone Roses by The Stone Roses
4. Paul's Boutique by Beastie Boys
5. 3 Feet High And Rising by De La Soul
6. On Fire by Galaxie 500
7. Bleach by Nirvana
8. Pretty Hate Machine by Nine Inch Nails
9. Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty
10. New York by Lou Reed
11. Technique by New Order
12. Like A Prayer by Madonna
13. The Real Thing by Faith No More
14. The Sensual World by Kate Bush
15. Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson
16. Floating Into The Night by Julee Cruise
17. 13 Songs by Fugazi
18. Hats by The Blue Nile
19. Oh Mercy by Bob Dylan
20. Wrong by NoMeansNo
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