First there's Madonna's new album, "Like A Prayer," which is due to be released in stores nationwide on Tuesday. And if her many fans are expecting another helping of chirpy dance music, the title alone should give them a clue. The days of "Like A Virgin" are long gone, and "Like A Prayer" presents a sadder but wiser and more mature artist, in her most introspective mood yet.

Then there's the matter of the controversial video for the title track and first single. Directed by Mary Lambert, who brought us the teasing boy-toy Madonna of "Like A Virgin," it features the singer in a latter-day passion play that happily mixes sex and religion and surrounds Madonna with some suitably provocative imagery: there's a black Christ-figure, stigmata on Madonna's palms and, of course, some sexy lingerie.

If that's not enough exposure, Madonna's also flooding the airwaves with her debut TV commercial for Pepsi, which uses different footage than the video, but two minutes of the same song, "Like A Prayer," to publicize the soft drink and the album.