I've never known an album to divide fan's opinions so much.....it is a grower, wll most tracks, and great on headphones...

_____


www.dotmusic.com
Madonna - Hard Candy
(Friday May 2, 2008 1:07 PM )
Released on 28/04/08
Label: Warner Brothers

Madonna once sang that she was living in a material world, at a point when even the most astute observers would have given her career two more years at best. They weren't the first or last people she's made fools of. In fact, her cultural impact has been so immense that now we all live in a Madonna world. Pop icons as diverse as the Spice Girls, Camille Paglia, Page Six, Robbie Williams, Heat magazine, Gwen Stefani, "Big Brother" and Courtney Love are all close to unthinkable without her.

Which would be a dubious legacy, were it not for the fact she's released so many life-affirming, radio-dazzling, zeitgeist-riding songs along the way, from "Holiday" to "Hung Up", via "Virgin" and "Vogue". And yet she's never got the credit she deserves. Twenty five years after finding fame, Paul McCartney was covering "Ferry Cross The Mersey" with Stock, Aitken & Waterman and David Bowie was releasing embarrassing concept albums about his marriage to supermodel Iman. Madonna, meanwhile - at the exact same stage in her career - has just released her most discussed, dissected album since "Erotica".

Deservedly so. "Hard Candy" is a gaudy, uneven and thrilling pop record. Detractors will find much to loathe here - the blatant commercial lunge for the US hip hop market, the tedious innuendos, the awful rap Kanye West is allowed to deliver in "Beat Goes On" for no apparent reason other than the fact he's Kanye West - but for those who love the way Madonna gets her sticky fingerprints all over every musical style she touches, there is much to savour.

Many have commented on how obvious Madonna's choice of producers is on "Hard Candy", but far too little has been written about how she has made them raise their game. When was the last time Pharrell Williams delivered a slice of disco as Chic sleek as "She's Not Me", let alone seen it invested with the drama and unpredictability Madonna brings here? Has Timbaland ever seen his trademark fat, ominous beats taken to such dark, ambiguous, emotional places as Madonna does on the wonderful "Voices"? And while Pharrell might be able to turn out slight but sprightly guitar strums like "Spanish Lessons" in his sleep, it takes Madonna to make them as playful and melodically sweet as this.

Are there flaws? Well, let's count the ways. The lame, tame single entendres of the otherwise brilliant "Candy Shop". The grotesque lyrical self indulgences of "Dance 2night". The outdated, messy "Incredible". But who cares when they're matched against the hypnotic "Heartbeat" or the titanic "Four Minutes". Songs as good as this - and the obviously fruitful collaboration between Madonna and Williams - are what makes "Candy Shop" her best record since "Ray Of Light". We live in a Madonna world. And as long as she keeps releasing albums as vivid, relevant, distinctive and modern as this, we will for a some time yet.

by Jaime Gill

Sheesh.

http://prince.org/msg/8/268931

I agree with this.Madonna really got these guys to deliver the goods.She's got a fun,exciting album.Pharrell,in particular,came up with some amazing songs."Madonna worked me to death,but you know what? I'm glad she pushed me.This is some of my best work",he says.

As for Timbaland,his production on "Miles Away" is fantastic.That's my favorite song on the album.

this is a perfect example of something that should go in the madonna sticky thread at the top of this forum:

http://prince.org/msg/8/268931