Madonna - Live To Tell (Sire)

A somnambulant ballad which contains all the dreariness of a wet weekend in Stockton with Jennifer Rush. Written by Her Elusiveness for her husband's new movie 'At Close Range', it's clearly a piece of background scene-setting. As a single it does to the ears what snooker does for the blind. (Mike Gardner, Record Mirror, April 19, 1986)

Madonna's first new single for a while is a bit of a surprise. After the immediacy of goodies like "Into The Groove", this is a remarkably subdued affair, with Mads crooning away mournfully over a dreamy, smoochy toon. A few listens is all it takes to take root in the brain, and it'll be Top Five before you can say 'Fleet Street Hacks'. And good luck to her - anyone who's that hated by the gutter press must have something going for them. 4/5 (Karen Swayne, No 1, April 19, 1986)

Skipetty skip. Like a virgin, HEY! touched....What's this? The ugly duckling's turned into a swan (er, metaphorically speaking, you understand). We've sunk two octaves, dropped the pinky and perky stuff, and moved in to give Lionel Richie a run for his money in the hankies-out-soppy-time corner. Not an area I care to linger in generally, but this is simple and melodic, soft and achingly sad, and I like it. (Sorrel Downer, Smash Hits, April 9, 1986)