Inspired by Madonna's love for Penn, to whom she dedicated it, True Blue is a dance-pop album that features influences of Motown sound, girl groups, and Latin pop.

True Blue is credited as the album that established Madonna's position as the biggest female artist of the 1980s, rivaling male musicians like Michael Jackson and Prince.

[7] They met at a barbecue in his house, where he showed her a song he'd created in his studio called "Love Makes the World Go Round", which Madonna sang at the Philadelphia Live Aid benefit concert on July 13, 1985.

[13][14] Pleased with the results of "Live to Tell", she chose to keep Leonard on the project, and also enlisted former boyfriend Stephen Bray, with whom she had worked on her second album Like a Virgin (1984), and felt could help her create "up-tempo songs with a classic Top 40 sensibility".

[13][28] Curtis Hudson and Lisa Stevens-Crowder, the authors of Madonna's 1983 hit "Holiday", wrote a song called "Spotlight" for the album, that was recorded but ultimately not included.

[35] Opener "Papa Don't Preach" is a dance post-disco track, with lyrics that see a daughter telling her father she is pregnant and refuses to have an abortion or give up the baby for adoption, despite her friends' advice.

[2] The verse-and-chorus composition is reminiscent of that of The Dixie Cups' "Chapel of Love" (1964), with backup singers Siedah Garrett and Edie Lehman accompanying Madonna's convincing "girly" vocals like a choir.

[27][43] Lyrically, it talks about a "humble observer, captured by the rhythm of an imagined island" named San Pedro, with mentions of "tropical breeze" and "nature wild and free".

Heiden explained in an interview with Aperture magazine that the record company thought it would be "cool" to use a shrink wrap on American releases, so that when the public took it off, they'd be left with the photograph of Madonna.

[58][57] Collaborating with Marlene Stewart on the wardrobe, she expanded the idea of "bringing her popular video characters to life onstage", recreating scenes from "True Blue", "Papa Don't Preach" and "La Isla Bonita".

[58][60][61] The tour's performance of "Papa Don't Preach" marked her first conflict with the Vatican, as she dedicated it to Pope John Paul II, who urged Italian fans to boycott the concerts in the country.

[67][68] The music video, directed by James Foley, shows the singer in a more demure, toned down appearance, inspired by actresses such as Grace Kelly, intercut with clips from At Close Range.

[76] Its main storyline has Madonna trying to tell her father, about her pregnancy; these scenes are juxtaposed with shots of her dancing and singing in a small, darkened studio, and spending a romantic evening with her boyfriend.

Women's organizations and others in the family planning field criticized Madonna for encouraging teenage pregnancy, while groups opposed to abortion saw the song as having a positive anti-abortion message.

[105][106] AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine said it was "one of the great dance-pop albums", that showcases Madonna's skills as a "songwriter, record-maker, provocateur, and entertainer through its wide reach, accomplishment, and sheer sense of fun".

[25] The New York Times' Stephen Holden noted that, despite lacking the "gleaming ultra-sleek aural surfaces" of Like a Virgin, True Blue's made up of "shrewdly crafted teen-age and pre-teen-age ditties that reveal Madonna's unfailing commercial instincts", and find her singing with "a lot more heart".

[33] This opinion was shared by Rolling Stone, where Davitt Sigerson referred to True Blue as a "sturdy, dependable, lovable" album, and singled out the singer's voice for sounding "better than ever".

[71] Robert Hilburn from the Los Angeles Times, pointed out that the "most obvious growth" was Madonna's voice, which is "so finely tailored that she actually extends the punch and appeal of the production touches".

[108] PopMatters' Peter Piatkowski also applauded the singer's more mature vocals, and deemed the record "brilliant, one that speaks to its time but also celebrates the disparate cultures that influence [Madonna's] sound at the moment".

[112] Lucy O'Brien pointed out that, whereas her debut and Like a Virgin were a "sound in development", True Blue sees Madonna "nail[ing] her signature style - rhythmic, dramatic, danceable, and distinctively melodic".

[113] The review ended on a somewhat critical note: True Blue is "classic pop [...] an entertaining album's worth of catchy, danceable tunes", despite "not much content beneath the candy-coating", concluded Nager.

[72] To Karen Cooke from Australian newspaper The Age, even though it includes a couple of "tedious" tracks, "this record is full of songs to make you tap the steering wheel [and] dance in the loungeroom".

[115] In less favorable reviews, John Quayle from the Observer–Reporter dismissed the record as "warmed over Go-Gos material", but applauded the singles for being "strong enough to convince even her worst critics that Madonna does have talent - and lots of it".

[110] For Don McLeese from the Chicago Sun-Times, although it represents a "valiant -and necessary- attempt on Madonna's part to expand her artistic range, True Blue just isn't as much fun" as her previous records.

[117] Finally, Larry Kilman, writing for American newspaper The Evening News, compared it negatively to the work of girl groups such as the Ronettes and the Shangri-Las, dismissing it as "mindless, inspid [and] air-headed", adding that, "[its] slick production and arrangements disguise much of the tininess of [Madonna's] voice [...] But that's as good as [True Blue] gets".

[130][131] In Brazil, True Blue sold 205,000 copies during its first-two weeks, and reached the chart's first spot;[132][133] with sales of 680,000 units, it was one of the best-selling albums in 1987, and received a gold cerification by the Associação Brasileira dos Produtores de Discos (ABPD).

[146][147] True Blue also topped the albums chart in France and received a diamond certification by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of one million copies.

[162][52] In a similar note, Sal Cinquemani said that with True Blue, Madonna joined the ranks of Jackson and Prince and made the transition from "pop tart to consummate artist".

[28] Slant Magazine considered True Blue one of the best albums from the 1980s; Jonathan Keefe wrote that it marked the point where, "it became readily apparent that Madonna was more than just a flash-in-the-pan pop star.

[52] From music portal Albumism, Justin Chadwick conlcuded that, "[True Blue] solidified [Madonna's] blonde ambition, cemented her worldwide superstardom, and, once and for all, extinguished any remaining doubts about her potential career longevity".