The album's photographs were shot by Steven Meisel. Madonna wanted the album title and the cover image to make a provocative link between her own religious name Madonna, as the Roman Catholic title for Jesus' mother Mary, and the Christian concept of the virgin birth. While not a substantial musical departure from Madonna's first album, she felt that the material from "Like a Virgin" was stronger. After its release, "Like a Virgin" received mixed reviews from music critics, but was a commercial success. It became Madonna's first number one album on the "Billboard" 200 and set the record as the first female album in history to sell over five million copies in the United States. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) later certified it diamond for shipment of ten million units. It also reached number one in Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom, and remains one of the best-selling albums of all time with sales of over 21 million copies worldwide.