Like a Prayer (album) April 27, 1990, and "Blond Ambition World Tour Live", taped in Nice, France, on August 5, 1990. "Like a Prayer" received critical acclaim. Stephen Thomas Erlewine, from AllMusic, said in retrospect that it was Madonna's "most explicit attempt at a major artistic statement", and that though she is trying to be "serious" Madonna delivers a range of well-written pop songs, making the album her "best and most consistent". In "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide", Barry Walters wrote that with its more substantial songs that "covered topics such as spousal abuse and familial neglect", "Like a Prayer" "effectively upped Madonna's
Livin' on a Prayer second-hardest hit state after New York, suffering hundreds of casualties among both WTC workers and first responders – the band performed an acoustic version of this song for New York. Bon Jovi performed a similar version as part of the special "". In 2006, online voters rated "Livin' on a Prayer" No. 1 on VH1's list of The 100 Greatest Songs of the '80s. More recently, in New Zealand, "Livin' on a Prayer" was No. 1 on the C4 music channel's show "U Choose 40", on the 80's Icons list. It was also No. 1 on the "Sing-a-long Classics List".