Twenty-five years ago this week — June 30, 1986, to be precise — Madonna issued her third studio set, True Blue.

Arguably Madonna’s purest pop album (with an iconic cover image by the late Herb Ritts), True Blue charted five consecutive Billboard top 5 hits: “Live To Tell” (#1, one week), “Papa Don’t Preach” (#1, two weeks), “True Blue” (#3, three weeks), “Open Your Heart” (#1, one week), and “La Isla Bonita” (#4, one week). Each single was thematically different from the other — ballad, social controversy, girl-group, dance-pop, Latin — a remarkable testament to her artistic versatility and confidence. The album’s run of smash singles (supported by some memorable videos) was all made the more amazing because True Blue comprised just nine tracks total.

“Live To Tell,” co-written by Patrick Leonard, remains my favorite Madonna ballad, showcasing a maturity of voice, subject matter, and image that helped to silence critics who’d previously chirped the star was all style, no substance, dimissing her as a no-talent tart.

Released in March 1986, “Live To Tell” wasn’t just the first single from True Blue, preceding the album’s release. Madonna’s lower-register melodrama also served as the theme to At Close Range, which starred her then-husband, actor Sean Penn (whom she called “the coolest guy in the universe” in the album’s liner notes).

The film’s been forgotten in the intervening years, but “Live To Tell,” like much of True Blue, lives on.

Purchase Madonna – True Blue via iTunes.

In March, Paper Bag Records paid tribute to True Blue by having its artists like Young Galaxy, We Say Party, and others cover the album’s songs. The largely successful undertaking is worth the free download.