Which album is better?

Like A Prayer but they are so different, I struggle to see why they are being compared other than to start another stan war.

Like a Prayer has never been one of my favourite M albums. I haven't really connected with it outside of the title track, Promise to Try, Till Death Do Us Part and Keep it Together.

 

folklore is the crown jewel in Taylor's discography so I'll give it to her.

McAlbum or real music?

You Folklore voters know that the votes are public, no? Just saying. 

what similarities do either of these albums share? 

title track alone >>> taylor discography

The one with Promise To Try on it

idkkkk, one has invisible string, but the other has oh father

 

Like a Prayer >>>>>>>>>>>other one 

Folklore is immaculate and immortal. Like a Prayer produced an iconic single out of it. 

 

Hard to compare but I'd say folklore because of Cardigan and Exile alone. 

Folklore.

 

Like a Prayer had iconic singles but the rest of the album...... 

 

 

The way Taylor would be dragged to hell and back if she released this.

 

 

21 minutes ago, l3disko said:

Folklore.

 

Like a Prayer had iconic singles but the rest of the album...... 

 

 

The way Taylor would be dragged to hell and back if she released this.

 

 

The way that the childlike innocence of Dear Jessie fades into Oh Father is genius. It serves the album. Random side note, Rosie O' stated that this is actually one of her favorite M songs.

Edited September 1, 2025Sep 1 by Maverick84

well LAP was the closest that pop music ever got to art so that 

AOTY winning one 

Folklore, sweetie 

1 hour ago, Maverick84 said:

The way that the childlike innocence of Dear Jessie fades into Oh Father is genius. It serves the album. Random side note, Rosie O' stated that this is actually one of her favorite M songs.

 

Exactly.  The transition is gut wrenching.  From childlike innocence transitioning to a song about Madonna as a child losing her innocence.  It's tragic and perfect. 

 

Oh Father is a masterpiece. 

 

 

And I mean aside from Like a Prayer, and Oh Father the album gave us...

 

 

 

 

This is a random comparison.  Folklore is slightly better but Like a Prayer is one of the 5 best "pure" pop records.  

though Like a Prayer has a more diverse sound palette, it suffers in its… non-cohesiveness. I think Madonna moreso mastered the album format in Erotica and Bedtime Stories  that said, Cherish, Dear Jessie, the title track, and Oh Father are some of her all timer masterpiece songs 

 

overall though, Folklore >>>>

2 hours ago, l3disko said:

Folklore.

 

Like a Prayer had iconic singles but the rest of the album...... 

 

 

The way Taylor would be dragged to hell and back if she released this.

 

 

this is one of Madonna's best ever songs, it's stunning  i'd love to hear Taylor do something like this! at the same time, I've always loved It's Nice to Have a Friend (easy top 5 for me on Lover) so perhaps I have unconventional tastes 

Like A Prayer paved the way and is a great album, and was at the time showed extensive growth. Folklore is a stronger album though. 
 

I feel like Red vs Like A Prayer makes a bit more sense; both strong but imperfect, but indicative of future growth.

 

Likewise, Folklore (or Evermore) vs. Ray of Light might make more sense too, with those being their respective strongest albums. 

I love love love both but Like a Prayer is very ambitious in terms of its scope, there are so many different genres and types of songs from quiet ballads ("Promise to Try") to Beatles-esque alternative pop ("Dear Jessie"), gospel-infused pop ("Like a Prayer"), ballads with orchestral arrangements ("Oh Father"), minimalist funk/synth-pop ("Love Song" with Prince), R&B-infused dance-pop ("Keep It Together"), to straight-up experimental ("Act of Contrition"). It pushed the envelope for pop music. And lyrically it's really very very very good, probably M's best in that regard.

 

Folklore is amazing for the storytelling and consistent quality and really showing that Taylor could do a whole album of quieter and more introspective songs just as effectively as big pop songs. I will always remember being delighted to see it announced and then listening to it that evening in my bed late at night during COVID and being amazed at each song. But I do think if she has something to compete with LAP in her discography it's actually 'Red' which has a lot of different sounds in it as well.