ehuffnsd said:

rushing07 said:

I know what you mean I can't get that song outta my head!!

Arjanwrites.com blogger Marc Andrews was invited to an exclusive listening session at Warner Music in Sydney on Friday to hear Madonna's entire new album "Hard Candy".He wrote up a review of the entertainer's much anticipated new album exclusively for Arjanwrites.com....

Invariably expectations for a new Madonna album are always high.More often than not they've been judiciously met and quite often surpassed (2003's American Life notwithstanding).1989's still radiant 'Like A Prayer' finally won over the rock media and nearly a decade later 'Ray Of Light' grabbed back a legion of lapsed Madonna admirers,caught up in the intervening downward spiral of Sex,musicals and bad movies.

Now a decade on from that Grammy-winning triumph and Madonna is due another pop-time-capsule-of-an-album.With 2005's glossy disco-esque "Confessions On A Dancefloor" she cannily plundered the best of the '70s to arrive at something whose unrelenting shimmery beats and dazzling euro-dance hoooks rivaled her first two early 80s albums "Madonna" and "Like A Virgin".It sold well all around the world,with the exception of her birth-home,the US of A.

That's why her new album "Hard Candy",released later this month,is so very clearly targeted at righting that regretful wrong and putting Madonna back on top of the pop charts and radio formats from Hollywood to Houston and all stops in between.

In Madonna's now 25-year,Hall of Fame-awarded,recording career,the album that "Hard Candy" most resembles in context is 1994's "Bedtime Stories".That was Madonna's sticky valentine to the hot black producers of the time after 1992's icy-house brewed "Erotica" left her high,and well,dry.This time around though,there's no trace of Babyface (producer of Bedtime's 1995 US #1 "Take A Bow") or Dallas Austin (Bedtime's underrated lead single "Secret"),but in their place Pharrell Williams,Timbaland and posse.

Strangely,album opener "Candy Shop" (almost identical to the version that leaked online last year) is one of the album's weaker tracks and doesn't bode well for the rest of the 12-track set.Still,any song with Madonna making smutty double entendres out of lyrics as knowingly silly as "I got Turkish delights" can't be taken too seriously.

On track two the big guns (or should that be "gums"?) are wheeled out.While "4 Minutes" is a virtual join-the-dots exercise in how to make an American hit,circa 2008,it's undoubtedly a grower.With so many busy elements (those blaring horns,the cutesy banter trading with guest star Justin Timberlake-relegated to a "featuring" role in the credits-and Timbaland hovering close by) "4 Minutes" succeeds on a number of levels.It's not Madonna's greatest single ever,and one that will no doubt age very dis-gracefully,but it's the best track to right US chart wrongs.Want proof? This week "4 Minutes" soared to #3,handing Madonna the honor of now being the artist with the most top ten hits in the US-edging past Elvis Presley.Tick-tock,tick-tock indeed!

Thankfully,the record's tasty triple selection of tracks 3-5 are all prime examples of what Madonna does best-memorable pop with great choruses that'll ricochet globally for months to come.If you're looking for singles #2,#3 and #4,here's your one-stop Candy Shop.

"Give It To Me" is Confession's "Get Together" cleverly remodeled in the winning electro-funk style of her classic 1983 breakthrough single "Holiday".Pharrell Williams must have been itching for years to upgrade that particular Madonna standard and may well have just managed too.We're guessing it's a sure shot heir to "4 Minutes".

That's followed by "Heartbeat",the most "traditional" Madonna song here.Not only is it another ode to getting down-"when I dance I feel free"-in the finest Into The Groove tradition,but boasts a chorus as sweet as,well,candy.Fans have been waiting decades for Madonna to utter a line as club-friendly as ITG's "only when I'm dancing can I feel this free" and Heartbeat's "see my booty get down" is a fitting,albeit,bootylicious successor.

Finishing off the delicious trifecta is "Miles Away"-sweet urban pop with an undercurrent of melancholy and unmistakable echoes of Nelly Furtado's "Say It Right".It's a poignant tale of being far from the one you love and hints at what might be going on in Madonna's private life.For someone who's long crafted her musical art from personal experiences,"Hard Candy" is almost devoid of that usual frankness and "Miles Away" might be the only crack in the facade we're allowed to view this time around.Or perhaps she left that all for the punchy cover shot?!

Next up is "She's Not Me"-a snippy,bitchy,catchy disco groover that appears to be the Queen of Pop taking direct aim at her competition.Yet with so much early promise it's tragically let down with an unfortunately bombastic middle section.From then on it just gets messy as spooky,swirling noises throb relentlessly throughout,giving the impression that Pharrell fell asleep on the mixing board while the track was still running.

That's the biggest complaint for the rest of the album-so many of the songs have great potential,yet end too raw and unfinished.From the middle onwards "Hard Candy" is definitely more miss than hit.It's a bit like sticking your hand blindly into the candy jar and coming up with trick after trick when you keep hoping for a treat.

Of "Incredible",the less said,the better.Suffice to say it in no way lives up to its name."Sex with you is incredible" is one of the few remarkable lines uttered during this quite unremarkable track.

"Beat Goes On" is significantly different to the version that also leaked last year.It's yet another tribute to dancing,with more of an early 80s vibe,and at first seems like the perfect blend of old school Madonna with new school grooves.After a curt Kanye West rap in which he mentions "doing F",whatever that may be,things once again dissolve into a meandering mess.The chorus is brazenly forgotten about,spoiling what could have easily been another Madonna classic.On and on it does indeed go.

"Hard Candy" is redeemed at this point by "Dance 2Night"-with the Timbaland/Timberlake duo close by once more.Harking back to mid-80s Janet Jackson with its jaunty freestyle R&B approach,it sports a brain-hugging chorus that could easily have been stolen from some boy-band archive.Hmmm,now who could be responsible for that?

Track ten,"Spanish Lesson",is mercifully short.Guess what? There are more references to the dance floor,a Spanish guitar tossed in,alongside some plodding beats,and it's all over so quickly it barely rates a mention.Ho hum.

The closest thing to a ballad on the album is "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" where Justin once again makes his presence felt double-tracking Madonna.With echoes of JT's own "Cry Me A River",it proves to be yet again a decent pop song left wanting under the weight of the "everything including the kitchen sink" production approach.

Finally,"Hard Candy" comes to a haunting end with "Voices".Cue Justin uttering the opening line: "who is the master,who is the slave?".Well that certainly gives us plenty to ponder! Over a moody,mid-tempo beat,"Voices" comes on like a veritable act of contrition for what has essentially been a collection of confessions on an urban dancefloor.

Overall "Hard Candy" is patchy,but blessed with a handful of great singles (which is what you'd expect from any Madonna album) that sticks close to the winning formula of keeping the most recognizable voice in pop uncluttered and out front.It's when she is tossed boxing gloves first into the mix,along with all manner of production pots and pans (a case of too many cooks,perhaps?) that "Hard Candy" goes a tad sour.

Expectations-wise,file "Hard Candy" alongside 2000's inconsistent "Music" album-which suffered coming post-Ray Of Light and delivering a truly killer lead single that promised too much.Likewise,beyond the handful of obvious singles,things start to get somewhat sticky on "Hard Candy".

As it is,it's a sweet enough treat with just enough for longtime Madonna fans to cherish or,ahem,get their teeth into.And for those who suspected Madonna was well past her use-by-date in her 50th year,it's mostly a timely reminder that she's still got alot more than just "4 Minutes" to save the world's charts with.



[Edited 4/7/08 4:33am]

Hey,I didn't know that there are three different versions of the album! This might be old news,but I just found out that 'Hard Candy' will be released on vinyl too!


Hard Candy will be released as a CD album,Special Edition CD,and a cool Deluxe Edition Vinyl set.

The "regular" CD album has a suggested retail price of $18.98,the Special Edition retails at $36.98 and the Deluxe Edtion retails at $36.98.

The most exciting package seems to the Deluxe Edition.It comes as a deluxe vinyl package featuring three regular-weight vinyl discs-one black,one "candy colored" swirled,from Rainbo in a three-pocket Stoughton jacket.If you don't have a turntable,don't worry.....the set comes with a BONUS AUDIO CD OF THE ALBUM!

It also includes the two bonus remixes that are found on the Special Edition set.


If we count the Japanese edition (with the bonus track),that's FOUR different versions of this album.


I'm placing my orders right now!
[Edited 4/7/08 5:00am]

Isel said:

No,you're not gonna get away that easily How dare you try to skate away from what you said.You wanna debate,let's debate.



I love how people claim they don't like Madonna,yet they seem to know so much about her and everything she does.They can even quote lyrics from her non-singles,lol.You may not like Madonna,but you do seem to enjoy discussing her,which is fine.Let's continue discussing her.




"anti-Jackson movement"? I have nothing against Janet.I was actually a fan of hers in the 80s.I bought 'Rhythm Nation' the day it was released.I'm not "against" her at all.If you'll notice,I don't criticize her very much.I don't think her career is over.I just think she needs to do something new.You have come up with your own theory about why her music isn't selling well anymore,and that's fine.Believe what you want.More power to you.I have my own theory,though.I think people are just tired of what she has to offer.That's why I said (on another thread) that she should do a rock album or an interesting film role,or maybe go on Broadway for awhile.That's not the usual mean-spirited,venomous criticism that we usually see around here (some of the Madonna bashing is far worse than what I said about Janet).It's just an honest opinion.




you say "there's nothing to discuss" and yet,I see you on another thrread,continuing this same "tired" discussion

I just saw the 4 Minutes video and I got to tell you, it sucked. I think it's one of her worst videos. The video actually made me hate the song even more. The song is catchy but not in a good way. I didn't even get the what the point of the video was except that clock in the background. The only thing I'll give props to is that Madonna looks great for nearly 50. She's keeping it going and she deseves praise for that. I look forward to hearing what the rest of this CD sounds like. Hopefully better than 4 Minutes.

Rhondab said:

At least you actually got a laugh out of if. I was sitting here doing the WTF hang-jaw look.

I swear I really don't have any thing against Madonna trying to be hip and all but, she (like Janet) needs to put some clothes on for a minute or two. If I see this chick's bare old assed inner thighs gapped open in a leotard, hot pants, or any type of underwear in one more video or picture I think I may be sick. She's slim and trim but in an old lady Joan Collins/Jane Fonda square body type of way.

Ifsixwuz9 said:

For real! She looked ridiculous. She still can move but damn, that was not a good look at all.

TheResistor said:

She is one artist that can truly say the haters make her stronger

purplecam said:

Madonna's always had a Manish body.

Rhondab said:

If you want a really good laugh go to 4.39 of this video. There you'll see Madonna hanging with the kids and showing them how to strut their funky stuff.

ehuffnsd said:

That's true but she don't have to look tacky with that beige bathing suit/leotard thing on here. Yikes!

SoulAlive said:[quote]

Isel said:

I went to a JANET thread to discuss Janet and used MADONNA as a comparison, so what? I thought that's what I was so suppose to do since my comments weren't "welcomed" here. And FYI, I didn't start the discussion over there: it was already going-on, so that's how I even got involved in it. Apparently, at least a couple of people had a similar observation if not the same.

Geez.. I came back to this thread HOPING my other post had been deleted by the person who quoted it because my interest is NOT Madonna except as how she might relate to Janet. I shouldn't have posted in this thread in the first place, period, hence I deleted my comments except about Justin because I had legitimate question about him. I looked in this thread only to see exactly how Madonna used Timbaland and Justin.

As I have said, I don't usually frequent artist's thread whom I don't enjoy. I made a mistake posting here yesterday. What more can I say? However, I see you still frequent Janet's threads, so what up with that? IF you think she's "tired" then why are you interested in commenting at all?

Ironically, people told me that I sure spent a lot of time defending Janet yesterday, but it sure seems like a lot of Madonna fans spend the same time defending her, posting comments about a deleted discussion. Mind you, I don't care one way or the other how you or anybody else spends his/her time. But it's just frustrating when you write that I'm trying to do what exactly I don't know with my comments about Madonna in another thread about Janet? And nobody can compare Janet and Madonna because you and a few others are "tired" of it?

Well,that's too bad because it's not going to happen. It's going to go on and on! But at least I tried to extend a courtesy to Madonna's fans by deleting my original post in this thread. I only continued the discussion as a response to YOUR response to a post I deleted.

I don't even know why YOU chose to continue the conversation in the first place if you are so "tired" of the "debate" since it had already ended in THIS thread with my deleting my post. But since you did, I did.

edited to delete any offensive statements!
[Edited 4/7/08 16:11pm]

DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON THE MADONNA SURVIVAL THREADS!

i'm looking forward to hearing the last song, "voices"
everything i read about it this far make me think that
it will be my fav song on the album.

after watching the hung up video, i'm even more disappointed with everything from this coming era. what a fun video, and what a great song! now here she comes with this hot mess she's serving up and all i want is confessions part 2, lol!

sassybritches said:

I remember when Madonna and I first started working together on Erotica. We were listening in my home studio to one of the first songs and I turned to her and said "It's great, but it's no Vogue." She told me that not every song could be Vogue - not every cut could emerge as the top-selling record of all time. She was right, but I pressed my case anyway: "I guess I'm always trying to out-top myself," I told her, "the next thing should be bigger than the last." Madonna just turned and looked me straight in the eye. It had been a long time since I'd been star-struck by her, but she was glowing differently now. "Shep," she began, "no matter how fierce something is, you can't ever do the same thing twice." She sat down to record the final vocals on Erotica and looked out onto the terrace and into the New York City night. "Ever," she repeated
http://www.madonna-online...iaries.htm

HARD CANDY--SONGS' RUNNING TIMES

"Candy Shop" 4:15
"4 Minutes" featuring Justin Timberlake 4:04
"Give It To Me" 4:47
"Heartbeat" 4:03
"Miles Away" 4:48
"She's Not Me" 6:04
"Incredible" 6:19
"Beat Goes On" featuring Kanye West 4:26
"Dance 2Night" 5:03
"Spanish Lesson" 3:37
"Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" 5:08
"Voices" 3:39

Hard Candy review from the UK

A guy named Dean Piper attended the Hard Candy listening party om April 7.Here is his report....

The album is easily as good as Confessions...if not better.It's a dancefloor album from start to finish.At times I'd say there's a bit too much going on with some of the tracks but it's a fun album that I reckon could exceed the last album in global success.I had one little listen but here's my initial thoughts on the album...

***Candy Shop---"Come on into my store,I got candy galore",Madge purrs.It's a little less frantic than "4 Minutes" but a good single if it were to be released---definitely catchy.

***4 Minutes---A killer tune that we already know and love

***Give It To Me---She just filmed the video for this track,the second single.It starts off with an Abba twinge and it's almost circus-y.It gets techno and rave style towards the end and there's some enjoyable heavy mechanical voice work toward the end.It's a definite radio hit.

***Heartbeat---Starts off with the sound of a beating heart.This track sticks in your head.It feels like an ace track from the Bedtime Stories era.

***Miles Away---An acoustic guitar starts at the beginning.It's very Madonna and possibly a little Ray Of Light-ish.

***She's Not Me---This song feels very personal--is she yelling and screeching at hubby Guy's ex Tania Strecker (who Madonna pushed out the way to get to Guy) when she squeals: "she's not me and she never will be!".There's anger in this song and it's great.

***Incredible---A very happy record.Has a furious ending ending that goes on and on.It's fairly dark and gets very NERD-ish towards the end.

***Beat Goes On---Disco number,very fun.It's electro with a hip-hop edge and has a great orchestral bit.One of my favorite tracks.

***Dance 2Night---It feels like the "Forbidden Love" track of this album.It's smooth and sexier than most tracks on the album.Dancy towards the end and feels like proper old school Madonna.

***Spanish Lesson---The gypsy guitar is out and proud.I wanted to walk around the room,click my fingers and slam my feet on the floor.

***Devil Wouldn't Recognize You---I really wanted to listen to this one again...big time! Stand out track for me.

***Voices---"Who is the master and who is the slave?" Madge asks.It's dramatic with strings and slightly more laid back and chilled.A good end to a fab new album.

i appreaciated the critic's article above (not the one right above my post) simply because it's well written. he doesn't praise the album just because it's madonna. he seems to be realistic and although I don't know the album I'm sure the new album will have - as usual - 3 or 4 excellent songs, some mediocre songs (or songs that fans can appreciate) and 1 or 2 really bad ones.
almost every album is like that, and I think it's okay. This is better than releasing an album only every 10 years...

SoulAlive said:

now, see, these track-by-track reviews are encouraging. they give me hope and get me a little bit excited. but they all like Candy Shop and 4 Minutes a lot, so .... i dunno. wtf?

The Times (UK) review of Hard Candy

Madonna/Hard Candy

As finishing touches were applied to the East London premiere of Madonna's latest album,academics specializing in adoption at Liverpool University announced what they call the Madonna Effect-a phenomenon "in which parents in Africa surrender their children for adoption thinking they will enjoy a better life".

Whatever context is applied to it,you felt like adding that The Madonna effect-sure to accumulate now that she has set her sights on adopting in India-isn't restricted to adoption.There's a Madonna effect for almost everything she does.In the past week alone,the Swiss jewelers Chopard have been besieged with requests for replicas of the expensive knuckleduster rings exhibited on the sleeve of Hard Candy.

All of which is worth dwelling on,because how will the Madonna Effect play out when Hard Candy is released? It's tempting to even theorize that Madonna has made it so that there won't be much of an effect.

Seeming eager to relieve herself from the pressure of being imitated at every turn,Madonna's 11th studio album finds her deploying a coterie of producers-Timbaland,Danja,Pharrell Williams-who have,in varying combinations,already done the same thing with Nelly Furtado,Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani.Naturally,this being Madonna,she has already filed the riposte before you made the criticism.On "She's Not Me",she makes the point that however any other woman attempts to match her,they don't have the advantage of being Madonna.So what's the song like? Well,it's like roughly two thirds of Hard Candy-a sequenced avalanche of beats in the sonic centre ground that,in the olden days,used to be occupied by tunes.

Far from being a problem,that's how some of the most exciting pop music is assembled these days.Madonna's instinct for a killer tune has pushed producers such as Stuart Price,Mirwais and William Orbit to career peaks.Given time here,"Incredible" and the Kanye West-assisted "Beat Goes On" will scrub up alongside some of her best-especially the latter's nods to Detroit techno at its poppermost.

Justin Timberlake cameos on the new single "4 Minutes" and three other songs,including the immediately excellent "Miles Away"-a collision of acoustic downstrokes and feverishly jaunty rhythm that verges on reggae.

When the songs work,it doesn't much matter that Madonna is blazing a fourth-hand trail.After 25 years of reinvention,we can surely cut her some slack in that department.But on "Dance 2Night","She's Not Me","Give It 2 Me",what surprises is how deferential Madonna is to her collaborators.Even the album's showstopping ballad "The Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" succombs to a default mode of vast beats.

By this late stage,you rather feel like you're in your fifth hour at the Ambassador's famous party.Great,but is there anything else on offer other than Ferrero sodding Rochers?

Only on the final song "Voices" does Madonna remember that her stock-in-trade is to assimilate the sound of a well-known producer and turn it into something else.Here,the sort of poignant,unresolved chords you might sooner hear on an early Serge Gainsbourg record accord with a more personal lyric,before a grandiloquent finale of bells and pipe organ sends us on our way.

Hard Candy is no disaster,but a little more of that wouldn't have gone amiss.


Pete Paphides,The Times

graecophilos said:

Yeah,I like that review too.The writer was very honest and gave legitimate reasons for disliking certain songs.My rule of thumb when I buy any album these days is...I expect it to have at least 4 songs that I really like.I don't expect to like every song on it.I think the 80s was the last time when artists made albums that were excellent all the way through (Prince's '1999'....Michael's 'Thriller'...etc).Nowadays,if I buy an album with at least four good songs on it,I'm satisfied.And with this album,I know I already like "Candy Shop" and "Miles Away".I'm not in love with "4 Minutes",but I can appreciate it for what it is.Give me at least four great songs,and I won't complain.

[Edited 4/8/08 3:08am]

Raze said:

yeah,these track-by-track reports are fun.

apparently,one of the live performances will be streamed live on MSN...

More reviews...Capital Radio:

This afternoon we went to a brilliantly decorated room in East London to hear the new Madonna album while sipping champagne & eating jelly beans. Sounds good huh? Well it was! Anyone fearing a full on urban attack - don't worry. 'Hard Candy' is full of long disco pop songs - it just has some heavy beats! Here's our track by track rundown:

1. Candy Shop: Here we go! Madonna wants to be our '1-stop candy shop - your lollipop'. Yum! This is produced by The Neptunes and is filled with bleeps and swirls. It ends with a 'sticky but sweet' rap by Pharrell.

2. Four Minutes To Save The World: You all know this one!

3. Give It To me: Not a Furtado/Timbo cover but a Pharrell track that's going to be the 2nd single. Let us tell you now - it's mindblowingly amazing. There's cowbells, twinkles and a funny vocoder you might have heard on 'Music'. Think old school pop Madonna but fired up at 300 mph. There's a funky break near the end where Madonna shouts 'don't stop!', the music stops and a male voice sings 'left to the right'

4. Heartbeat: 'Probably the 3rd single', Heartbeat has a synthy 80s sounding intro. Madge tells us that 'when I dance I feel free!'. There's something about the melody when she sings 'you know I feel it in my Heartbeat' that's really cute!.

5. Miles Away: This starts deceptively with guitar that reminds us of 'Don't Tell Me'. Is it going to be a ballad? Course not silly! 5 seconds in and here comes a pounding bassline. 'I just woke up from a fuzzy dream, you won't believe the things I've seen.' This is the first song that doesn't hold our attention all the way but it's got a dreamy ending.

6. She's Not Me: It starts with 4 claps and then all hell breaks loose. This is the tale of a jilted lover and has about 7 different elements. It sounds kind of like a sequel to 'Deeper and Deeper' with the passion, the fastness and the twirls. Totally hypnotic - it's a Timberlake/land production but it could come straight from the disco house of Nile Rodgers. Oh and it would mix into Anita Ward's 'Ring My Bell' perfectly. Also it's REALLY LONG.

7. Incredible: The slowest track so far, but it's full of strange noises. It's kind of what 'Cherish' might sound like if it was looped and scratched up by a DJ. A sweet solo piano maintains the sweetness under the nasty dirty bass that's everywhere else, but that bass is totally needed to stop it being smaltzy. It ends with a drum breakdown, that we're sure wil be replaced with a beatboxer on tour, and lots of sexy 'OOH's.

8. Beat Goes On: Featuring Mr Kanye West, this is a full on party disco song. 'On and on, the beat goes - you don't have the luxury of time - say what's on your mind'. It has a 'BEEP BEEP' bit that totally reminds us of Donna Summer "Bad Girl" (youtube it - it's awesome!). Then there's some dreamy sounding chords and up pops Kanye for a rap with some 'Like A Prayer' HEY!s going on underneath him.

9. Dance 2night: Not a Paul McCartney cover! This is a bit downbeat sounding, but it's still not a ballad. It's just a bit dark. Wise ol' Madonna tells us all that 'You don't have to be beautiful to be understood. You don't have to be rich & famous to be good'.

10. Spanish Lessons: She's always loved throwing a bit of Sp anish into her songs and now here's a full on Spanish assault! Think matador trumpets and bullfighting. Plus learn her language and you might get lucky - "You're so loco & you drive me crazy. If you do your homework maybe I will give it up"

11. Devil Wouldn't Recognize You: The 2nd best song on the album, this is 'Cry Me A River' 5 years later, and sung by Madonna. It's got a gorgeous sad, synth opener which is suddenly compounded by hynotizing bleeps. Queen Madge sings 'Over and over you're pushing me onto the floor and I keep coming back for more'. It's still not a ballad though. Hooray!

12. Voices: And we're at the end. Boo hoo. It's a creepy sounding ending though and it's almost as if a song off 'Erotica' has been brought up to date with lyrics like 'Who is the master, who is the slave' and 'Are you walking the dog or is that dog walking you'.



-----

So there we have it. Course when we listen to it all again we'll probably completely change our mind about our favourite tracks!

As massive Madonna fans we're very happy that she hasn't gone off the rails as feared. It's simply a Madonna pop album for 2008 which starts out having a full on party and ends in that dark corner Ms Ciccone knows so well.

Are you excited?

MADONNA SONG OF THE DAY: GIVE IT TO ME (the second single)

If it's against the law,arrest me
If you can handle it,undress me




Can't wait to hear this song in HQ

[Edited 4/8/08 3:08am]
[/quote]

Yeah,I like that review too.The writer was very honest and gave legitimate reasons for disliking certain songs.My rule of thumb when I buy any album these days is...I expect it to have at least 4 songs that I really like.I don't expect to like every song on it.I think the 80s was the last time when artists made albums that were excellent all the way through (Prince's '1999'....Michael's 'Thriller'...etc).Nowadays,if I buy an album with at least four good songs on it,I'm satisfied.And with this album,I know I already like "Candy Shop" and "Miles Away".I'm not in love with "4 Minutes",but I can appreciate it for what it is.Give me at least four great songs,and I won't complain.

[Edited 4/8/08 3:08am]
[/quote]

i was reffering to M's albums only, because I think (nearly) EVERY album of her has some FANTASTIC singles. In 2005, when I first listened to the COADF album i immidieatly said: This albums has 4 of her strongest pop songs (the four singles). It was ooo obvious which ones will become singles.

But I like that. She knows it's stupid to wait 10 years for inspiration (like MJ or George Michael do...). Especially MJ albums tries so hard to beat Thriller instead of just releasing new music regulary. so the pressure would not be that strong...

ANYWAY, this is a Madonna thread! So far i got the impression that Spanish Lessons must be the weakest track. The idea doesn't sound intersting or innovative as well... it's a bit like "La, La" where she repeats coffe names...