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Product Description
Review
'I know I can do it better'', boasts Madonna on She's Not Me, a gigantic disco ball of a Chic-esque tune. It's a piercing shot at any young pretenders, past, present and future, who think they've what it takes to take on the Queen of Pop in her fiftieth year, and one that reverberates across her eleventh album.
Laying herself at the mercy of producers savvy enough to churn out hits in their sleep, Madonna has put her reputation on the line for Hard Candy, but it's a calculated risk, and although she could have done it better, it's still a mighty record.
In essence, the album is not the hip hop tribute many had feared, but an urban extension of 2005's Confessions On A Dancefloor. The disco still rules supreme (just listen to the funk-overload of Dance 2Nite) and the dancefloor remains Madonna's sexual playground. Yet, with Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Nate 'Danja' Hills and Pharrell Williams at the helm, the RnB edge is added. Williams' breathy punctuation and tinny percussion spill over from the album's opener Candy Shop and Timbaland's distorted bass beats make for wonderfully messy melodies, particularly on the superb climax, 12 Voices - Madonna's most haunting sound since Frozen.
The argument that this tried and tested production work could be a template for any artist (Madonna only has co-writing credits) is a tad churlish. She adds that inimitable zing of excitement that the likes of Nelly Furtado don't possess and the record is not without its personal moments. Take the genuinely good, genuinely felt Miles Away; an electro missive concerning her relationship with husband Guy Ritichie (''I guess we're at our best when we're miles away''). Besides, many milestones of Madonna's epic career - Holiday, Get Into The Groove, Ray Of Light and Music - are marked throughout.
Undeniably, it's the work with Timbaland and co. that really sells Hard Candy. Madonna and Timberlake's vocal hook on 4 Minutes is worth the download fee alone and the album's penultimate track, Devil Wouldn't Recognise You, is the next best thing after Timberlake's What Goes Around!
Meanwhile, Williams isn't as dependable. Tracks like the awkward Spanish Lesson and the badly paced Incredible, where the frenetic finish isn't worth the four minute wait, represent more fool's gold than the real deal. In contrast, Give It 2 Me, where children's TV meets trance and techno, is a wholesome sugar rush.
Easy to chew, Hard Candy is everything you'd hope for from a Madonna album; excitement, adventure and progress. Something tells me it just might sell! --Tom Young
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Product Description
Cd > Brazilian Music > SambaCD > POPULAR MUSIC > ROCK
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sticky and sweet,
By
This review is from: Hard Candy (Audio CD)
Madonna teams up with timberlake and timberland on this record... it topped the global charts in 2008 and won praise from critics. This is a madonna record which is urban and fun, at the same time it still is madonna. It contains the hits 4 minutes and give it too me. I enjoyed this record and would reccomend it
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Take a chance,
By
This review is from: Hard Candy (Audio CD)
I read the previous reviews on this album & decided to take a chance on it. I was pleased I did as it really is good. I have most of Madonna's albums & was unsure whether to purchase this one as I thought the reviews were quite negative. It took a couple of plays to get use to it but now I love all the tracks. For such a low price it really is worth the risk.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Sour,
By Atli Hafsteinsson (Viborg, Denmark) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Hard Candy (Audio CD)
Madonna was always out to have her say, of that nobody ever had any doubt, like her or not. Madonna has always done her thing. She does not, here, and look at the result. She's making the same mistake Michael Jackson made with Invincible; she doesn't trust her voice. Madonna should age with grace. She should let go of her sex symbol status. She doesn't need it anymore; her last four albums are musically brilliant, making Hard Candy even more a sour mouthful.Where is the heart? Why did M need Timbaland, Kanye West and Justin Timberlake? Surely she knows, after her previous efforts, how to remain relevant. Timbaland, West and Timberlake haven't half the talent that William Orbit and Stuart Price have, or Mirwais Ahmadzaļ and Bloodshy & Avant. Almost every song is overproduced ad nauseam, with hardly any space to breathe not filled by guest vocalists chanting "it's Madonna" or similar generic slurs. Even the album title says nothing. What inspired Madonna to make it? "Miles Away" and "Voices", and the majority of "Incredible" (until it suddenly turns into practically the definition of the preceding paragraph), are the only real heartbeaters on the album. "Miles Away" is wistful and emotional, a crackling listen that was wisely released as a single, and the closing track "Voices" is an atmospheric sonic landscape that really should've been explored more. But then there are awful songs like "Candy Shop" and "Beat Goes On", neither of which has any heart. "4 Minutes" wears off fairly quickly, too. Some songs are good listens but their hollow heart leaves nothing. There are even potentially great tracks that feel so over-produced and hollow (prime example, "Dance 2Night"). Even the excellent "Incredible"; a wonderful, wonderful track, but the final two minutes are near unbearable. They are so shallow, with "get your hands up", lines, guest vocalists yelling "boom" and, most of all, M actually singing "Sex with you is incredible". That's narrowing the effect of the song down a bit much. There is very little trace of Madonna Louise Ciccone here. It's like she's lost her nerve. Hard Candy completely sells out on her audience that she has enthralled for twenty years. Bad move. But hey, M is known for experimentation. She tried something here she hadn't tried. Something she shouldn't have tried either, true, but let's hope that she'll re-invent herself yet again and stay true to her voice. And stay miles away from Timbaland. American Life was raw and hard to get into, but underneath its rough exterior beats such a warm heart. By contrast, Hard Candy is a smooth and shiny, but almost completely hollow, shell. I ask you, which would you prefer? Even her single "Hey You", if not super-produced, feels warmer than the bulk of this album. Don't turn into a Norma Desmond, Madonna. You still have it; use it, please. I'm begging you, as a fan.
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