Like a Prayer (album) ante as a serious artist". Annie Zaleski, from the entertainment website "The A.V. Club", praised the album for "being bold enough to delve into her parental issues", and called it "Madonna's first truly substantial record, the dividing line between her chirpy club-kid days and the mature sounds and themes that increasingly marked her '90s work". In "Rolling Stone", reviewer J. D. Considine wrote that Madonna's fame up to that point had been built more on "image than artistry", but that with "Like a Prayer" Madonna was asking, successfully, to be taken seriously; "Daring in its lyrics, ambitious in its sonics,
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