Like a Prayer (album) one album in his or her career whose critical and commercial success becomes the artist's magic moment; for Madonna [...] "Like a Prayer" was. [Madonna] pushed onwards as an artist, using her creative wit to communicate on another level, musically." Kenneth G. Bielen, author of "The Lyrics of Civility: Biblical Images and Popular Music Lyrics in American Culture", wrote that with the album Madonna began to be seen as a serious artist; "Five years earlier, she was a dance-pop 'Boy-Toy'. With "Like a Prayer", she proved she was an artist who could think with more than her body". Thomas Harrison
Like a Prayer (song) to ecstatic effect, the whole thing takes you there again and again". Sal Cinquemani from "Slant Magazine" was impressed with the production of the song, complimenting its "church-like" reverence and the religious sentiments. In the United States, "Like a Prayer" debuted at number 38 on the "Billboard" Hot 100, and reached the top of the chart on the issue dated April 22, 1989. It was number one for three weeks, before being replaced by Bon Jovi's "I'll Be There for You". The track topped the Dance Club Songs chart, while reaching number three on the Adult Contemporary chart and number