Keyword: Revamping the first album with a modern urban twist!

Ladies & Gentlemen...I present to you....HARD CANDY:



Cover of the single "4 Minutes:




Official Press release:

HARD CANDY' DELICIOUS NEW MADONNA ALBUM SCHEDULED TO BE RELEASED ON WARNER BROS. RECORDS APRIL 29th

28 February 2008, Burbank, California

Madonna's 11th studio album for Warner Bros. Records "Hard Candy" is scheduled to have a global release on April 28th and a US release on April 29th, it was confirmed by her label.

"Hard Candy" - the follow up to Madonna's "Confessions On A Dance Floor" which debuted at No. 1 in 30 countries and sold over 8 million copies - has been described as a brilliant up-tempo collection of 12 songs in which Madonna remains ensconced in club mode but this time adds an urban hip hop beat in collaboration with musical partners Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes and Nate "Danja" Hills.

The debut single, the pulsating "4 Minutes" will be released at the end of March.

"The title is a juxtaposition of tough and sweetness... kind of like I'm gonna kick your ass but it's going to make you feel good. And of course, I love candy" laughed the material girl.

Madonna, a multi-Grammy-award-winning singer, songwriter, producer, cultural icon, world renowned stage performer, video visionary, children's book author, director and documentary film maker has sold 200 million albums in the course of her unprecedented two decade plus career and is slated to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10th.

From madonna.com.

The album will have a normal and a special edition. More info about this and other formats as time goes by...so slowly!

The single "4 Minutes" will hit the airwaves March 17th,

The new single will be remixed by:

Bob Sinclair
JunkieXL
Tracy Young
Peter Rauhofer

Pics from the video:







The Tracklist is the following:



Plus a bonus track in the japanese edition called "Ring my bell".

Probable Info and production credits for each track:

"Candy Store"
written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Producers: Madonna and Pharrell Williams

"4 Minutes"
written by Madonna,Justin Timberlake,Timothy Mosely and Nate "Danja" Hills
Producers: Madonna,Timbaland and Danja

"Give It To Me"
written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Producers: Madonna and Pharrell Williams

"Heartbeat"
written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Producers: Madonna and Pharell Williams

"Miles Away"
written by Madonna,Justin Timberlake,Timothy Mosely and Nate "Danja" Hills
Producers: Madonna,Timbaland and Danja

"She's Not Me"
written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Producers: Madonna and Pharrell Williams

"Incredible"
written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Producers: Madonna and Pharrell Williams

"Beat Goes On" (featuring Kanye West)
written by Madonna,Pharrell Williams,Kanye West
Producers: Madonna and Pharrell Williams

"Dance Tonight"
written by Madonna,Nate "Danja" Hills,Timothy Mosely and Justin Timberlake
Producers: Madonna,Timbaland,Danja

"Spanish Lesson"
written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Producers: Madonna and Pharrell Williams

"Devil"
written by Madonna
Producers: Madonna,Timbaland and Danja

"Voices"
written by Madonna
Producers: Madonna,Timbaland,Danja

"Ring My Bell" (Bonus track on Japanese edition)
written by Madonna and Pharrell Williams
Producers: Madonna and Pharrell Williams
And now from a brief track by track description:

Candy Store: Yes, the same Madonna/Pharrell production that suddenly leaked on the net last Summer, and did even got spins on the radio around the world since then. Candy Store is probably the song even the fans who usually remain spoiler-free when a new Madonna record comes out heard about. "You'll have an hard time telling if the first one is any different from the version you already heard" - an insider source told us about the song. The only thing that changed somehow was the song's name - as fans have always been calling it "Candy Shop".

4 Minutes: Of the lot of songs produced by Timbaland and Justin Timbelake that M-Tribe reported about shortly after they had their final mixing in Hit Studios Miami in November, 4 Minutes is possibly the one with a stronger "classic" Timbaland vibe. The song has an instantly catchy vibe, with percussion layers and hypnotic synthetized pads. While in other tracks of the album Justin can be heard on backing vocals, 4 Minutes is actually a duet as in this song's verse Madonna and Justin basically sing one line each or better answer one to another on a back and forth basis.

Give It 2 Me: A song produced by Pharrell Williams, a very catchy uptempo track that reminds of early Madonna tracks such as "Love on the run". Fans who were worried that this album would be too hip-hop were happy to learn that it's very 80's in its structure and it's pure Madonna. The "Give It 2 Me" phrase has nothing to do with a supposed "sexual content" as rumoured on a few Madonna forums, but it's said in the sense of "I'll handle the situation for you". Pharrell's also singing backing vocals on part of the second verse and Madonna reprises a couple of lyrics from "The Beat Goes On". The break is very strange, the song basically stops suddenly while Madonna says "Don't Stop It" the male voice says "to the left, to the right". This song is currently considered as the second single release.

Heartbeat: The album's 4th track, is the first moment of quiet after a three track sequence of dance stompers. Not exactly slow but rather paced down, the song is another production by Pharrell, who can be heard on the track with whispers and brief interstitials, while Madonna sings the lead voice in the verse and the backing vocals as well in the chorus. The "see my booty get down" part is already set to be a hook.

Miles Away: Another Timbaland/Timberlake production, that some consider the best of the whole bunch. A hit written all over it and classic Madonna. Full of acoustic guitars, beautiful uptempo, the song structure may recall "Love Profusion" but it's much better. A bit of sadness in the lyrics, talking about a relationship that is at its best when the two lovers are thousands miles apart.

She's Not Me: A unique song, possibly the best of the album, certainly Madonna at her best. "Better to listen to it rather to talk about it. You could even say it's two songs in one, and you'll figure out why when the record hits the stores", we've been told. The song has different sound from the rest of the album and it's the one most similar to the style of Mirwais even if it's produced by Pharrell

Incredible. A recent addiction to the final album tracklisting, Incredible is a rather different song - the longest in the album, running over six minutes. Starts as a bare-naked track and reportedly goes on between a series of breaks ending up being quite dense and somehow loud and noisy.

Beat Goes On: Somehow the second track from the Pharrell recording sessions that leaked on the net on Summer 2007 did not make the album cut as the "new" Beat Goes On is a completely different song, and sounds nothing like the version some of you might have heard. It is much faster, a classic dance track and one of the strongest takes on the record, and it does even feature a special guest. While Madonna was putting the finishing touches to her new albumat RecordPlant studios in Los Angeles, Kanye West was working on the new Michael Jackson record. Pharrell invited Kanye in the room and Madonna came up with an idea for Kanye to rap on one of her songs on the spot... and thanks to this Beat Goes On got a very catchy rap insert courtesy of "Mr. West" towards the end.

Dance Tonight: A song that sounds like the funkiest song of the lot. You could say it's a dance track from the beginning to the end - there's dance in the title, dance in the theme, dance in the lyrics, and dance in the instrumentation. It has a captivating late 70's - early 80's disco sound - fingered bass, clàps, triangle - recalling songs that made the history of dance as we know it and groups like Kool & The Gang, Skyy, Delegation, even a bit of the early Michael Jackson and huge references to the signature sound of Narada Michael Walden and to the origins of disco-rappping.

Spanish Lesson: Many years after recording "Who's That Girl" and the full Spanish versions of her hits "You'll See" (Veras) and "What it feels like for a girl" (Lo que Siente La Mujer), Madonna is digging back her love for Latin culture as she will be singing again phrases in Spanish in one of her new songs. In this track the Queen Of Pop is going to give Spanish lessons, explaining the English meaning of Spanish phrases such as "te quiero" (I Love you), "callate" (shut up), "besame" (kiss me), and many more. Spanish guitars are of course also present in the song, produced by Pharrel with a nice urban feel.

Devil: Also known by fans only as "Even the devil wouldn't recognise you" this amazing ballad will instantly remind you of Justin's "Cry Me A River" but also of Madonna's "Power of Good-bye" also including a short piano interlude between verses and will instanly hook you up. "Oh, and remember to have your umbrellas ready", we've also been told.

Voices: Produced by Timbaland and Timberlake, and featuring a strings pad that goes along the entire song making the verse and the awesome chorus flow seamlessly. Simply, the perfect song to end the album. Or maybe not...


First magazine cover of this era...by S. Klein. Boxing theme for this Madonna Era!!!

"Dazed & Confused"




Check this thread 4 all Madonna info...Long live the queen!

Thanks 2 the orgers who are contributing to this thread!
[Edited 3/14/08 11:44am]
[Edited 3/14/08 11:45am]
[Edited 3/24/08 10:36am]

Kanye? Okay, but Justin fucking Timberlake!!!

Why is it that Madonna can select credible dance music producers but is incapable when it comes to rap & R&B?

Pharoch Monche, MF DOOM, the RZA, Ghostface Killa, Ceelo, Outkast ... why didn't she offer a great sum of money to these guys?

I guess they're not 'pop' enough. But niether is Mirwais and she had hits with him.

SoulAlive said:

This pic is wrong on every level.

Candy Shop
The Beat Goes On
4 Minutes To Save The World
Dance Tonight
Across The Sky
Even The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You
Miles Away
She's Not Me
Feel It In My Heartbeat
Give It To Me
La,La

plus two other unknown songs.

SoulAlive said:

Funny,I wonder whatever happened to all those song titles we heard about last summer?

Sleep Deprivation
Turn It Up
Going Down
Little Thang featuring Justin Timberlake
Tight Fit
Black
Off The Hook with Timbaland
Eleven Minutes
Do I Care?
Freelancer.34
U N Me
Starlight
Hit It Hard
Got This Down Right



I was actually looking forward to hearing "Sleep Deprivation",which has been described as "a favorite by both Madonna,the producers and the label.Very likely to become a single.Apparently,it's revolutiionary and fierce".

Or "Black",which has been described as "the rumored track called "Wizzle".It's organic,crazy and will rumble your words"

Or what about the news that "Candy Shop" probably won't be on the record,along with "Hit It Hard" and "Do I Care".Apparently,Madonna is "over them".

This is gonna be her worst album ever... by far!

Cheek said:

Be nice.They're trying to save the world

SoulAlive said:

With such a pose?

On Youtube,fans are still arguing about whether or not this is really the track "Give It To Me"....

http://www.youtube.com/wa...re=related


I ain't sayin' nothin'

Cheek said:

it's FAKE,silly!

SoulAlive said:

I know! Just playin'.

However. Madonna's only trying to save her own career... Lame.

Cheek said:

Oh shut up and dance!

SoulAlive said:

The lyrics is so amateurish. Bob Dylan is laughing.

SoulAlive said:

They looked too interesting! All the titles I see now do not look all that great...Not looking all that forward to it.

thanks 4 the lovely moderator who made this a sticky (I know it was u sosgenini! )

I cannot believe she's titling a track Give It To Me immediately after Timbaland had such a huge hit with a song of the same name.

SoulAlive said:

what the fuck is this shit?

VoicesCarry said:

Whilst recording with Timbaland! That's the craziest part.

Cinnie said:

Fordidden love - Bedtime Stories

Fordidden love - Confessions on a dancefloor

MikeMatronik said:

There's quite a difference there. Still lazy, but a big difference.

VoicesCarry said:

u r defending hagdonna???

MikeMatronik said:

Do you mean Mandonga?

SoulAlive said:

That looks so wrong right there.
[Edited 1/25/08 9:17am]

SoulAlive said:

Justin Timberlake looks so creepy in this picture. I am sorry, but what do females see in this person?

VoicesCarry said:

Madonna, the whore?

MikeMatronik said:

No, Mandonga, the man-beast with distended orifices.

Well this is purely an aimed at radio "play me in america" attempt. But im sure with her HOF appearance the media will ride it like they did with Prince and Musicology "deemed his comeback" though it was more the medias comeback to him. Its funny how the "divas" who were leaders at one point are now just really "following".

gawd, what a crappy fan art.