ambitious in its sonics, this is far and away the most self-consciously serious album she's made. There are no punches pulled, anywhere; Madonna is brutally frank about the dissolution of her marriage ("Till Death Do Us Part"), her ambivalence toward her father ("Oh Father") and even her feelings of loss about her mother ("Promise to Try"). Yet as intensely personal as these songs are, the underlying themes are universal enough to move almost any listener. Likewise, the music, though clearly a step beyond the pop confections that earned the singer her place on the charts, remains as accessible as ever.

Don't expect to be won over instantly, though, for Like a Prayer is more interested in exorcising demons than entertaining fans. The album is in large part about growing up and dealing with such ghosts from the past as parents, religion and the promises of love. At times, the album can be heartbreaking in its honesty – read through the lyrics to "Till Death Do Us Part," and you'll feel guilty for ever having glanced at a tabloid with a Madonna & Sean Wedding Shocker headline.

This is serious stuff, and nowhere is that more apparent than on the title tune. Opening with a sudden blast of stun-gun guitar, "Like a Prayer" seems at first like a struggle between the sacred and the profane as Madonna's voice is alternately driven by a jangling, bass-heavy funk riff and framed by an angelic aura of backing voices. Madonna stokes the spiritual fires with a potent, high-gloss groove that eventually surrenders to gospel abandon.

The tracks that Madonna coproduced with Patrick Leonard – which include "Like a Prayer" – are stunning in their breadth and achievement. "Cherish," which manages a nod to the Association song of the same title, makes savvy retro-rock references, and "Dear Jessie" boasts kaleidoscopic Sgt. Pepper-isms. When Stephen Bray replaces Leonard as coproducer, even an unabashed groove tune like "Express Yourself" seems smart and sassy, right down to Madonna's soul-style testimony on the intro: "Come on, girls, do you believe in love?"

Believing in love doesn't seem as easy for Madonna as it once did, though. "Till Death Do Us Part" takes its wedding-vow title almost mockingly, as the singer contemplates all the ways her marriage seems to be killing her. "The bruises, they will fade away/You hit so hard with the things you say," goes one