Timecapsule: 25 years of ''Like a Virgin'' release

Madonna had hits with her first album, even reaching the Top Ten twice with "Borderline" and "Lucky Star," but she didn't become a superstar, an icon, until her second album, ''Like a Virgin''. The album was released on November 12, 1984.

''Like a Virgin'' launched Madonna into unearthly super-stardom and defined a generation with hits like "Material Girl" and the now-classic title track.

Nile Rodgers was chosen by Madonna as the producer of the album which was built on the sound and image that Madonna had created in her debut album, which was very much disco and pop-oriented, and then carefully constructed her image as an ironic, ferociously sexy Boy Toy - the Steven Meisel-shot cover, capturing her as a buxom bride with a Boy Toy belt buckle on the front, and dressing after a night of passion, was as key to her reinvention as the music itself.

Yet, there's no discounting the best songs on the record, the moments when her grand concepts are married to music that transcends the mere classification of dance-pop. These, of course, are "Material Girl" and "Like a Virgin," the two songs that made her an icon, and the two songs that remain definitive statements. They overshadow the rest of the record, not just because they are a perfect match of theme and sound, but because the rest of the album vacillates wildly in terms of quality. The other two singles, "Angel" and "Dress You Up'', are excellent standard-issue dance-pop, and there are other moments that work well ("Over and Over" and "Stay'') but overall, it adds up to less than the sum of its parts — partially because the singles are so good, but also because on the first album, she stunned with style and a certain joy.

The album's title track was her first number one hit song. Madonna debuted the song at the first annual MTV Video Music Awards and that became one of the most defining moments of music TV's history. The album's second single, ''Material Girl'', earned Madonna the nickname of "material girl" from the media. The song ''Into the Groove'' was included in the 1985 film ''Desperately Seeking Susan'' and due to its success - it hit #1 in various countries, becoming her first number one in the UK - was included in the re-release of the album (August 5, 1985).

The version of "Stay" that appears on the album borrows its lyrics from two early Madonna demo tracks titled "Stay" and "Don't You Know". An early version of "Stay" appeared on the demo cassette that landed Madonna her record deal with Sire/Warner in 1982. The mid-tempo ballad "Shoo-Bee-Doo" and a soulful cover of Rose Royce's "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" proved Madonna could churn out more than just novelty hits, while the sugary "Angel" and the irresistible "Dress You Up" contributed to the singer's record-breaking list of consecutive Top 5 hits (16 in all).

''Like a Virgin'' has been certified Diamond for selling more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone, and has sold over 21 million copies worldwide (the album is on No.53 of the list of the best selling albums of all time). The album produced five singles (all five made to Top 5 in US and UK): ''Like a Virgin'', ''Material Girl'', ''Angel'', ''Into the Groove'' and ''Dress You Up''.

Source: Wikipedia, All music and Rolling Stone