MADONNA - RAY OF LIGHT 'ERA' MUSIC VIDEOS REACTION

[@clivaramaable]

Her ray of light performance on Oprah is fire you should check it out x

[@WKADESIGNS]

Madonna's "Frozen" is still a masterpiece of a music video! So cool you finally got to see it Benn!

[@bennshouts]

Yesss

[@Pfink]

It's wild to think about the amount of artistry and thought that went into the Nothing Really Matters video as the FIFTH single, a whole year after the album's release. Nowadays albums are dead just a few days after they're released and everything has become so disposable. Also, newer generations might be surprised with the amount of craft that went into those older videos. As simple as Ray of Light may seem, all the sped up footage was shot on film for over 14 days specifically for the video , in a time when time-lapse videos were not even a thing. Madonna lip synced to a slowed down version of the song, so when they sped it up she would be in synch with the original but dancing in an unnaturally frantic way.

[@bennshouts]

INSANE! Ray of Light makes a lot more sense as to why is was so ground breaking now! Thank you!!

[@duke56299]

The video to Ray of light actually won video of the year at the MTV awards.

[@bennshouts]

love!

[@JUSAGUYNKY]

Ummm.. believe you’re wrong. It won an award but it WASN’T VOTYear!!

[@duke56299]

@@JUSAGUYNKY The music video received a total of eight MTV Video Music Awards nominations in 1998, eventually winning five; for Video of the Year, Best Female Video, Best Direction, Best Editing and Best Choreography, becoming her most-winning song at the show.[89] It was the first time that the singer won the Video of the Year award; Madonna said she was grateful for MTV's recognition of the clip.[6

[@leightonhowley4778]

It also won 2 Grammy awards. One is best short music video

[@elttil]

@@JUSAGUYNKY just loud and wrong lmao

[@joshuayeager3686]

Now that I’ve watched the reactions, a few things to point out: Madonna takes inspiration from lots of different things for each video. The “Nothing Really Matters” video is primarily inspired from Memoirs Of A Geisha and 2001: A Space Odyssey, two very different films but it makes for an epic music video. “The Power Of Goodbye” was based on a classic Joan Crawford film called “Humoresques.” Also, since you made comment on how she looked in the video, her makeup for that specific video was done by famed makeup artist, Kevin Aucoin. He did makeup for just about every woman in Hollywood and was Tina Turner and Cher’s regular makeup artist. This was the one time M worked with him as she wanted a classic Hollywood look for the video. “Frozen” featured many traditional hand movements for “peace” “love” “forgiveness” and such as M had been studying Kabala and finding spiritual peace after having her first child. That’s also why she has the henna tattooed on her.

[@bennshouts]

LOVE ALL OF THIS! Thank you! So good to see where all the references come from! Glad to know the makeup was chosen specifically as it was an incredible choice!! 😍😍😍😍

[@joshuayeager3686]

I cracked up when I saw you wearing the jacket because I was thinking you were unaware that your look is perfect for the “Frozen” video.

[@bennshouts]

HAHAHA the fact that it was, MEANT TO BE!!!

[@duke56299]

Same here! Lol

[@keithmercer2031]

The male voice on Drowned World says “You see” and it’s from Why I follow the Tigers

[@bennshouts]

❤️❤️❤️

[@feliperodriguez851]

I am 52 and I love the young generation admiring Madonna, she changed everything about live concerts, her songs mixed, where she has 50 #1 mixed songs .

[@stephen6799]

Oh wow, I can't believe the Oprah appearance was not included. She killed Ray of Light. It was so good.

[@utopia_n4106]

Maybe he's going to react to the full Oprah show, I think

[@bennshouts]

I’m sure it’s coming x

[@colinmackillop]

That’s true actually. Defo worth a watch

[@Greystoke1986]

@@bennshouts That performance was stellar! I love that live version of Ray of Light better than the studio version!! The audience, the band, and Madonna had an experience that’s for certain!

[@alexgiron8148]

The film references in the video of "The Power of Goodbye" are superb. Humoresque (1946) with Joan Crawford inspired the beach scenes while the chess scenes were influenced by "The Thomas Crown Affair" (1968). Such a great video (and song, a banger!) She never looked as beautiful as in this video, mature and beautiful

[@d.n.2527]

What I always loved about the Nothing Really Matters video (well apart from her stunning look) is the insane editing. It’s perfection. And these random scenes where the camera quickly moves to the other side and back again is just so cool.

[@todddepue681]

Ray of Light is technically one of the longest ever music video shoots. Several weeks spent in a number of different cities filming hours and hours of footage to get enough to last the whole song when sped up really fast. She caught some backlash over the Drowned World video, with people comparing it to the paparazzi car chase that resulted in the death of Princess Diana the previous year. But honestly, who better to relate to that scenario than the other "most photographed woman in the world"?

[@bennshouts]

So insane!!! And so true, very fitting when you think about it!

[@leightonhowley4778]

Ray of light won 2 Grammy awards for best short form music video and best dance recording. Iconic 😍

[@noproblemnostress963]

Mmm, pop album of the year?

[@leightonhowley4778]

@noproblemnostress963 Yeah, that's probably true, but I was specifically talking about 'Ray of light' the single

[@kirbygo3569]

I love it when young gays finally learned about the glory and power of our queen, now imagine us living with her legacy as it unfolds alongside our lives. Queen !

[@bennshouts]

cannot even imagine!!!

[@remingtongraves]

“Nothing Really Matters” was inspired by her daughter but the music video was inspired by Madonna’s obsession at the time with a novel called Memoirs of a Geisha. It was adapted into a film shortly after the music video. Also, the entire music video - and this has nothing to do with the novel - is actually meant to be symbolic of the female reproductive system. The Madonna in red is supposed to be the egg, the dancers in white are supposed to be cumcums, the wooden hallways are supposed to be the fallopian tubes, and the Madonna in black, holding the bag of water as if it’s a child, is the mother. Isn’t that so brilliant? Everyone should watch this music video at least once before they die. Also, the dance Madonna and the dancers are doing in the video is a Japanese dance form called “butoh.”

[@bennshouts]

OMG!!! This makes so much sense! Thank you!!!

[@Michael-oy2qz]

Has To Be is on the Ray of light single on Spotify FYI

[@bennshouts]

Ohhhh, thank you!

[@Michael-oy2qz]

@@bennshouts no problem :)

[@duke56299]

The video to nothing really matters was inspired by the book memoirs of a geisha

[@bennshouts]

love!!!

[@XJadriann]

I can't believe I had to see Cher 5 times , lol I love your reviews

[@bennshouts]

LOL

[@myfriendisaac]

16:14 Absolutely! Madonna looks DIVINE in this video 💙😭💯

[@highheartwellness]

Cool seeing your reaction to this era, which arguably has the best batch of videos for a particular era. Each video epic and cinematic in its own way. Frozen is mesmerizing. Visually captivating and interesting choice to use a desert as a location for something called frozen. I remember seeing an interview at the time it came out where Madonna said there were three of her in the video for her three names MLV Ciccone (If you remember, her initials MLVC are on the Like a Prayer cover). The V for Veronica, which she dubbed herself Veronica Electronica due to the album's ambient/electronic vibe. I agree with you on The Power of Goodbye, she looks most stunning there. Her counterpart is Croatian actor Goran Visnjic. They make a beautiful pairing. Love the layers to that song. Beyond a breakup song or a song about death. Could be saying goodbye to a former self. The material girl drowning like a siren in the sea.

[@marcdeacon3021]

Absolut art,madonna still feeding the children 26 years later❤❤❤❤❤

[@colinmackillop]

That made me laugh out loud when you said ‘’I’m actually on theme with her” and touched your coat.

[@bennshouts]

😂😂😂

[@teralmiles]

Has to Be is truly an important song to me. When I was single for 4 years, in my mid 30’s I used to listen to this song every night in bed, through headphones and would pray that one day I would find that magic person that was “waiting for me” He finally arrived and I’m now happily married to my true life soul mate. Believe in the power of Madonna and your dream will come true. ❤

[@bennshouts]

Omg Teral 😭😭😭😭 both heartbreaking and beautiful!!! ❤️

[@teralmiles]

@@bennshouts 💙

[@throwawaytaylor]

Truly... I cannot get over how fucking good she looks in Power of Goodbye. Like what the hell!!!! THOSE EYES!!!

[@bennshouts]

😍😍

[@mathhenri-xy5fh]

Iconic era! Queen Of Pop!

[@axelmelcher6676]

Drowned World was released one year after the tragic death of Princess Diana and is based on her story

[@bennshouts]

😭😭😭

[@hasanitoonlystar6421]

Thank you for the video. I would have loved if you had watched her appearance on Oprah where she sang "Ray of Light" & "Little Star". Absolute banger. Thanks again. It was fun 😊

[@bennshouts]

I’m sure it’s coming x

[@Greystoke1986]

The Power of Good-Bye video is the most luscious video I think I have ever seen. Madonna looks so extraordinarily beautiful. Those eyes and she is just flawless. I'm mesmerized by the visual aspect of this video and the musical elements of the song. It's just perfect. Frozen is the same ditto ditto to everything. Substitute for Love is like a movie of her life. It is so well put together. I love how the song crescendos until my eardrums are about to burst for joy. Nothing Really Matters is just stunning in its artistic conception and oddities. That jerk dancing is so cool. The different scenes are so avant-garde. This song was made to dance to, but the lyrics bring it home in all of these songs that were featured. Excellent reviews, my friend!!

[@DiegoAngarita85]

She had been gunning for a role in a movie called 50 violins so a lot of her live performances of the era has strings. I think the film ended up getting made as Music of the Heart with Meryl Streep.

[@gaijinlife]

Loved the reaction - thanks❤

[@bennshouts]

❤️❤️❤️

[@UESide]

When music videos still ruled pop music. Sad that era is over :(

[@robjacobs6168]

“Ray of Light” on Oprah is possibly her best live vocal performance EVER! A MUST watch!

[@tyo1973]

Great reaction! I was in Japan when this album got released and bought the Japanese version, so I always thought “Has to be” was the last track to close the album. The song got such depth with the sound creating the inner scenery. Sound production is amazing almost like somewhere between Peter Gabriel and Bjork. I just love the album Ray of Light so much since its release, of course with Has to be track as a closure.

[@ivanpatriciovillanueva4500]

I remember waiting for this release in my cable tv company. The anticipation was killing me as I was a big fan back then. I had my vcr ready to record! 😎

[@phillipbruno4443]

I think Drowned World was banned in the UK when released as a single in around August 1998. They said that the video had similarities to what happened to Princess Diana a year earlier. Still, a top 10 single here in the UK. My favourite track on Ray of Light at the time outside of the singles was Power of Goodbye and really wanted it to be a single and glad it was later in the year. All singles released in the UK were top 10s, Frozen a No.1.

[@paulgrande1090]

I have never seen the Spanish show. Thank you for that! She often seems nervous and a bit flat in these tv shows. There are some REHEARSALS of those performances getting a lot of views because she sounds better. The power of goodby for the vma fashion awards is a good example

[@blueeyes4910]

Hello, just in these weeks the rehearsals of Madonna made at MTV and at the Fashion Awards for the awards of the album Ray of Light have been released, where you see Madonna singing better than in the live broadcasts of the shows and you see her funny and human side

[@walterhigo7658]

ABOUT THE SYMBOLISM IN NOTHING REALLY MATTERS VIDEO: Here is what Madonna explained years and years ago during an interview. The song is about becoming a mature person that realizes that living a Self Centered life leads to sadness, and that giving your self, your time and your love to others is what brings true happiness. She used a Japanese theme because she felt inspired by the novel MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA and because in the Japanese culture there are 3 prominent colors with a specific meaning that were perfect to represent 3 important messages in the song. 1) BLACK : Elegance, used by rich people, high society 2) RED : Happiness, passion, love, used for celebrations 3) WHITE : Death, used for mourning The woman in the BLACK kimono represents the Self Centered person who has others take care of HER needs. The plastic bag of water the woman is carrying, represents those material possessions rich people tend to cling to in their pursuit of happiness, without realizing they are actually of very little value. (as valuable as a plastic bag) The woman in RED , represents the person that has come to realize that being detached from the material world is the way to true happiness. She has managed to get rid off of the "plastic bag", so she is now free and able to give to others. The people in WHITE represent modern society. People who are not rich or powerful, (like most of us) but that because of their greed, live in a constant state of mourning and sadness. In Madonna's case, the event that made her realize she was living a Self Centered kind of life, was giving birth to her first child (Lourdes), and being confronted with the responsibility of raising her with good values. This is what I remember from that interview. It may not be 100% accurate but I hope it helps you understand the song and the video a little better.

[@scottsaunders5087]

Best album yes yes yes!

[@JB-pl1iu]

You need to listen to the ROL album demos where she is serving nothing but gorgeous operatic angelic vocals. It's mind blowing to hear her on these tracks knowing how much she grew vocally from her early years. Look up No Substitute For Love. Early ROL demo of what would become Drowned World/Substitute For Love. Gives me chills.

[@marclaumann]

Has to be is definitely one of the best ever - LOVE

[@blueeyes4910]

Hello, given the success of the singles Frozen, Ray of Light and Nothing Really Matters, the official video remixes with deleted scenes were also released

[@unison8512]

Her best everything 🎉 masterpiece

[@JB-pl1iu]

You have no clue the first time I saw Frozen on MTV as a teen how I was BLOWN away. My body exploded. After the Evita/New mommy years, it was such a massive curveball in terms of the look and the sound. It felt like a religious experience.

[@murrayhonahni746]

There is another video from this era. It was used as the backdrop to Paradise (Not For Me) during her Drowned World tour. It wasn’t released as an official video but it is very visual and continues the geisha theme.

[@leaoleao]

Ah and more incredible eras are coming and I can’t wait for your reaction 🚬😎☕️

[@bennshouts]

So keeeeeen!

[@AlienChips]

The song Mer Girl had a little bit of a video clip done for her Drowned World tour! I don’t know if that counts too.

[@leandroferraz3776]

Inspirations for the *Frozen* video: - The Sheltering Sky (1990) a Bernardo Bertolucci's film; - The English Patient (1996) an Anthony Minghella's film; - Martha Graham's work, an American modern dancer and choreographer.

[@lucamiki1]

Still so many things to see.... Music, American Life, Confessions.... have a nice trip!

[@bennshouts]

thank you

[@bexyweewaggys]

There was also a really beautiful unreleased couple of songs that I think may have come from this era. I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong, one of them is "like a flower" and it's an absolutely stunning ballad and the other one is called gone gone gone. Could be worth checking out as I definitely think they would have worked really well on this album

[@charalambos]

She was only 39-40 years old. There’s non celebrities who look young with out any work done at that age.( meaning with not much money for that kinda stuff) ps I love her live performing voice.

[@ImJustinPineda]

Mer girl is literally the definition of the album Ray of light 😭😭😭 her being a mom is the biggest topic on the album

[@rodrigo9345]

I would have added the MTV Shanti Ashanti/Ray of light performance with Lenny Kravitz as well. Back in the day I think we all were consuming music through MTV, so it was huge, but also it’s a performance that shows the other side of things… Yoga, Kabbalah and electronic music you can dance to. She looked INCREDIBLE as well!!

[@irina1296]

Ray of Light is not even in my Top 5 Favorite Madonna albums but I adore its atmosphere and specially visuals - by far her greatest music video era!

[@Octopussy31st]

"I want a visual for the whole album" well, many of the songs wind up on the next tour and it'll change your whole world. I, like you, didn't care for Candy Perfume Girl when I first heard it... but the live version is one of my top 5 favorite Madonna songs, what she did changed my entire perspective of her.

[@Pontolaeng]

Frozen is just a piece of art both musically thanks to William Orbit and visually with the incredible artistry of Chris Cunningham

[@antoniobeardall6520]

She kept only 13 tracks because she was heavy into kabbalah, and 13 is considered a lucky number in that belief. "Has to be" eventually made it onto streaming as part of the Ray of Light remixes.

[@bennshouts]

Love that!

[@blueeyes4910]

The last thing you reacted to in this video is part of a very nice interview made by Miguel Bose who was basically the Ricky Martin of the 80s

[@robertfraser9873]

Hi @bennshouts any more of the Ma-Journey coming soon? ❤❤

[@walterhigo7658]

We are getting closer and closer to the DROWNED WORLD Tour...... 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@yvo84]

Love you Ryan, but how did you not suggest the Ray of Light performance on Oprah?

[@bennshouts]

Haha I’m sure it’s coming x

[@joshuas8258]

Not only my fav Madonna album but my fav pop album of all time. An absolute masterpiece. And Has to Be should have been the final song on the standard album. I do suggest giving the 4 songs you disliked another shot. Your tastes will change over time and there were songs I used to dislike such as Skin I now love

[@hutnerbaekUBS]

The most stunning visuals!!! ❤️ Like you said, how could this be the same woman? Material Girl? Like a Virgin? And now this? What an artist.

[@martink...]

The Voice (I think it is her voice pitched down) in Drowned world is saying ESSAY.

[@softshallow7435]

The song frozen and music video to frozen came out before Ray Of Light album came out.

[@bennshouts]

Insane!

[@grazmsp2473]

Ray Of Light on the Oprah show reaction asap!

[@Franxxxiety]

Would be great if you could react also the the ray of light demo assembly 😊🤩

[@got2bjosh]

I just remembered our summer means it's now winter Down Under. Feels like the Australasian swing (Brisbane, Auckland, Adelaide, & Hobart 250s, United Cup 500, & of course the AO Slam) wasn't long ago. Lol, Ryanair really made you sit through those nervy, tight vocals. The Confessions Tour performance of DW/SfL is a much better performance.

[@bennshouts]

Haha yesss it’s getting COLD! Lmao, all part of the journey 🤪

[@FindingMadonna]

It's funny but I never saw that DW/SFL performance until about a month ago. Back in the day, we didn't get to see a lot of the European performances over here in the U.S. And there was no KZbin! The live vocals during this era weren't great, which is ironic given how great they are on the album. In these two performances in particular she's pushing too hard when she should be singing more softly like she did in the studio. That said, DW/SFL sounds great during the tour, probably because she's much more comfortable and relaxed on tour. As for the videos, Frozen is definitely my favorite, followed by DW/SFL and ROL. I remember the teaser commercial for Frozen on MTV - it was the first time I heard a snippet of the song and I was like WTF Is that?? It was definitely a magical time.

[@HeyAstor]

Swim, Candy Perfume Girl, Shanti Ashanti, Little Star are the songs you knocked out??!

[@bennshouts]

haha yes

[@wagnercorrea_]

Best era!! Frozen is a masterpiece!

[@kristianberg4264]

If you though Drowned World live performance was raw, you really need to react to Ray of Light live on Oprah, one of, if not the best live performances.

[@ZeitloseEinsicht]

Not sure how am I supposed to enjoy a reaction of a cut up video of one if not the greatest music artist in the world, I was gonna subscribe but no. But I appreciate you reacting to Madonna, she was, is and will always be a legend.

[@bennshouts]

Has to be for copyright unfortunately :( Uncuts on patreon xx

[@Goldie4tv]

It is inspired by the book Memoirs of a Geisha. She is dancing toward the and more 'crazy' and stuff are getting crazier because she actually is losing her mind and these People, dancers are just others in the asylum.

[@tibb75]

Just a reminder, the 4 songs he wanted to delete are Candy Perfume Girl, Shanti/Ashtangi, Little Star, and Mer Girl.

[@bennshouts]

And I did ☺️

[@tibb75]

@@bennshouts but you didn't, they're still on the album and it unfortunately speaks to your misunderstanding of the album as a whole being about her journey as a woman and mother... and not just being about a "vibe"

[@bennshouts]

@@tibb75 Well I did, they're no longer on my streaming account. Of course they're not removed from a near 30 year old album lmao, what a ridiculous thing to even think I meant. My 'misunderstanding' as you put it, really is about what I connect with a want to listen to. Hate to break it to you, but I'm not a woman or a mother, so not understanding her journey as both those things are fine with me. I am also fine with connecting to a song just for a vibe, or for something different. Your views on music are yours, just like mine are mine. You 'reminding' every one of the songs I didn't like says more about you than me. I like what I want and will continue to do so. Your inability to accept others distastes shows your misunderstanding of humans in general.

[@silverstitch28]

Nothing really matters uses Butoh Performance art. CANNOT BELEIVE no one picked that up!

[@JUSAGUYNKY]

Please don’t waste your time watching her VMA performance of Shanti/ROL! One of the only performances of M’ I’ve never went to watch again on KZbin!! Haha Her voice just WASN’T there that night!! ROL Oprah is everything though! One of my FAVS

[@bennshouts]

Haha oop!!!

[@JB-pl1iu]

Yeah . I'd like to think she had a cold that night. Lol. Probably the worst vocal performance she's ever had during a TV performance. That or she was just trying to sing ROL in a key too high for her as she sounds great on subsequent tours where she takes it down a few.

[@YugoHayashi]

Great info here: Nothing Really Matters inspires the creation of some creatures and the ambience of the first Silent Hill game! Crazy, Right???

[@JB-pl1iu]

She started to have work done before the Confessions era I fully believe. A slight face lift that looked incredible and natural that was only noticeable to hardcore fans. In 2008 is when she started to get easily visible work done. The fucking Juvederm era which will be obvious at times when she's sporting a puffy just injected face. 🤣 (The height of this being her negatively viral puffy face that appeared at the 2023 Grammys) Fans will wonder for years why she insists on overdoing it when she looks so fucking stunning when she lets the filler subside. Right now we've been in a subsided non puffy face era and she's been looking stunning. Here's hopping she fired the person that injects her face with filler. 🤪 I only go on this tirade because you wondered after seeing her in The Power of Goodbye video.

[@bennshouts]

Nooo, thank you! Loved knowing her history with it all as I know she's always gotten hate for it. I know everyone has their own journey, I just wish more people embraced their looks and didn't change themselves so heavily :(

[@cristoferchanimak]

Oprah performance of Ray of light is THE performance. I’m starting to doubt Ryan because they is that is THE one.

[@bennshouts]

Haha I’m sure it’s coming x

[@cristoferchanimak]

@@bennshouts🤩!!!!!

[@salvadordehyrule7261]

Even though you notice she has the best vocal technique during this era, I don't understand why she sounds so off in most of her performances, even at MTV and the Grammys. I noticed in some of them she had trouble hearing herself, or maybe she didn't consider the noise of the audience during rehearsals.

[@joshuas8258]

I always thought she was focusing too hard on utilizing the new technique she learned during Evita she lost some of her natural confidence during live performances. Some of the rehearsal performances of Power of Goodbye were 10x better than the tv version. I think she gained it all back during Music and beyond. Her best live vocals were 2000-2007. Vocals during reinvention and confessions tours were stunning.

[@oleeeee7807]

Have u listened to the new SOPHIE song with Kim Petras yet? It’s from a project they made before she passed and it’s just been released❤❤❤

[@bennshouts]

Not yet! Will be tho xx

[@wreckord_shop_official]

Could you do a reaction video to my independently animated adult comedy cartoon 'Wreckord Shop'? I think you'd really enjoy it and I'll promote it too. The cartoon is based in England.

[@Devaney4]

React to Rare deluxe - Selena Gomez!

[@lucal9887]

Are you gonna do more Hilary Duff reactions?

[@bennshouts]

Yess, I will do x

[@lucal9887]

@@bennshouts awesome thanks!

[@nikosppetrou2671]

Please react to P!nks The truth about Love album. You don't do enough of my fav 😢🥺

[@JoeTheLion1]

I'm a huge fan but must admit, that power of goodbye performance might be one of her worst vocal deliveries ever. If you watch her rehearsal from earlier in that day, she's spot on. Maybe it was nerves.

[@livinginstereo]

Bjork walked so.... you'd finally realize. Jaisus Fook bro

[@bennshouts]

??

[@frankinoslo]

M also incorporates post-warJapanese Butoh dance in Nothing Really Matters: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butoh

[@bennshouts]

Yesss this is what I’ve seen before! Thank you for the link to learn more!!

[@noproblemnostress963]

The power of goodbye look is also my favorite too. Just flawless

[@bennshouts]

stunning!!!

[@throwawaytaylor]

Flawless!

[@deanodeano8604]

One of her finest ballads , of which she has many! ❤