“Ray of Light” was an album that seemed to change things, from music to fashion to pursuits of enlightenment and religious understanding. And it didn’t sacrifice the joys of life in the process.

In 1998, there was a lot of music out that I just didn’t care about. Britney Spears, Sugar Ray and boy bands — it just didn’t resonate with me.

Out of the blue came something I didn’t expect: An important, career-defining work from Madonna.

As a teen male, my Madonna fandom was more rooted in her looks and her antics than in her music. I liked a handful of songs a lot, but I dismissed her as a dancer who got lucky with the right songs at the right time.

I’m pleased to say that I outgrew that outlook long ago.

But in 1998, I generally saw Madonna as a person who made headlines for who she was dating or what she was (or wasn’t) wearing.

So I was totally unprepared for the brilliance that was “Ray of Light.”

Read full blog by Chris Shields for SCTimes HERE