Time 2 start a new M-dolla thread. The previous one is almost 31 pages.





[previous thread in series: http://prince.org/msg/8/2...=275929404 -sos]

MATRONIK'S REVIEW:


M-dolla + Pharrell = GREAT ALBUM


1- CANDY SHOP

This track leaked months ago. It's the most un-madonna track of the set. Also, it's the textbook of the Neptunes Rhythm/Beat propaganda.

While it may seem sub-par and even vulgar, the quirkness and camp lyrics are...sweet. It's addictive.

4/5

2 - 4 MINUTES

The weakest link of the album. It has proven to be a catchy track, but it's truly the sign that the Timbaland Hit Factory is slowly dying. The similarities with another Timbaland production called "Elevator" are very close. What saves this song from being utter shit is the chorus. No one makes a catchy chorus like M-dolla.

Also Justin's vox really blend with M.

2/5

3 - GIVE IT 2 ME

A perfect pop song. And why is it so?

1. Perfect chorus
2. Simple production
3. Anyone can sing to this

The interlude is so fun.

5/5

4 - Heartbeat

The synth work on this song is very experimental for a Neptunes production. It seems that Pharrell really wanted to impress Madonna. And once again simplicity equals pop perfection.

The retro vibe is welcomed and pharrell's back vox feel so good on the context of the song. It seems M-dolla and Skater P (Pharrell's alter-ego) are truly friends!

5/5

5 - Miles Away

A true madonna song and I dare to say: A MASTERPIECE. Madonna has always been a master at melancolic ballads (Live to tell, To Have and not hold). One can smell the sadness created by the distance between lovers.

Strangely, this song reminds me of Duran Duran's Falling Down. Both songs are personifications of boths artists soundscape. I think JT has truly learned to emulate his favourite artist.

And man, this song is going to rock live. I can see everyone singalong to this on the M-Dolla World Tour.

5/5

6 - She's Not Me

My favourite song of the album. It's pure Prince funk. We all know that Pharrell is a Prince fanatic. And Wendy on the funky guitar. WOW! The funkiest Madonna song ever (sorry Keep it together!).

I love the fact that it seems to be a 12'' mix. The 3 part structure is pure bliss. The Madonna and Pharrell marriage works so nicely. He's a true fan!

A MASTERPIECE! An anthem!

Imagine this being coupled with Thief of Hearts on a live context!

"WENDY!!!"

5/5

7 - Incredible

I'm having a hard time knowing if I love it or I truly hate it. It's very catchy, but it seems so...fragmented. I think the less is more approach in the production and the lenght of it is what makes this uncertain territory for me.

3/5

8 - Beat Goes On

I LOVE THIS ONE. This version is vastly superior to the leaked demo. It's pure dance. Madonna redoes disco into the hip-hop universe. The Kanye featuring is great.

Nothing to declare...Let's dance!

5/5

9 - Dance 2night

The Bass on it is a killer. Great song. Madonna's phrasing is different. Some new ground here. JT really work well with her. I don't think that is single material, but it's a great album track. It has that chill-out quality that can make this an enduring track on many fans M-Top40.

Also, it's the perfection that the hot-mess that 4 Minutes is not!

5/5

10 - Spanish Lesson

I love this one. I'm sucky for silly and camp madonna song. (I love Jimmy Jimmy...)

It's fun, catchy and above all, pathetic.

It's the "I'm Going Bananas" on the 00's.

Reminds me of a screw ball comedy!

4/5

11 - Devil Wouldn't Recognize You

The best song in terms of lyrics. Shame the Timbaland production seems so dated.
It has that vibe Love Profusion had.

I wanted to love this more, but I can't. The template of this was used on JT's Cry me a river. This song should have bee done in a Cabaret-esque theme.

3/5

12 - Voices

The last song on a Madonna album is always a bittersweet moment. Maybe because they are always very anti-climatic and are a moment of self observation. While Mer Girl didn't suffer from the weakness of all of the last songs of any madonna, Voices, like the other, is weak.

Also the mixing is horrid. Dire! The beats are too upfront.

2/5

OVERALL!

I think this is a great album. I think one cannot say it better than any previous madonna album (like it has happened with janet...we all crave for another The Velvet Rope).

All of Madonna's albums portrait Madonna's frame of mind. This one shows us a peacefull, joyous madonna, the so called M-Dolla persona, a experienced woman, who knows how to deal with the mundane troubles and truly uses the mechanism of "fun" to escape the dreadfull panorama of daily life

While Madonna wanted to embrace America's current pop scenario (what we here call with love "shit-hop"), she both failed but triumphed.

The failure was in Timbaland's production. Timbaland is dying. He's this era SAW. Like them, the hit factory became a repetion of a multitude of sound clones, And so on and on and on.

The triumph was in the hands of Pharrell. After being refused by MJ and Prince, Pharrell ended up doing a hell of a work with Madonna. While mixing his own production with Madonna's discipline, they've evolved the Madonna sound of the first album to the present day. I sense that these 2 really had fun doing the album.

Also note that she was give co-production. The Neptunes never give production credits to anyone (not even Mariah...heheh)

I give this album a 4/5...

[Edited 4/29/08 14:55pm]

Lourdes' fiercness:



Re-invention:



Taken from that fat gay dude's blog!

Lola should re-wax that fem.moustache!
[Edited 4/27/08 16:27pm]

Thanks 2 the kind moderator who made this a sticky!

Matronik said:

You're welcome

Her album is going to be streaming on Myspace soon. For now we have some interesting choices from the "now" and "then".

http://www.myspace.com/madonna


1. 4 Minutes - Bob Sinclar Space Funk Remix
2. 4 Minutes To Save Da World
3. Music
4. Hey You
5. Secret
6. Papa Don't Preach

Still don't like this album.

Moonbeam said:

Give it time to grow on you... relax into the new era.

I'm trying not to preview all the tracks, but it is almost impossible. I heard "The Beat Goes On" playing on KTU.com (if they didn't play so much lame newer stuff, it would be a cool dance pop station) and I was not impressed at all (the earlier version I heard was better). Now "Candy Shop", which is pretty much just like the leak, was playing on the Sirius dance station....I fucking love it! Not sure if it will be a single, but it will probably be a fan favorite and on the tour. Lots of fun.

I'm really liking the album on first listen. I think "Ring My Bell" should've replaced "Spanish Lesson" without a doubt.

Let's see:

Best tracks: Dance 2night, Miles Away, Voices, Devil wouldn't recognize you
Brainless (yet fun) pop: 4 minutes, Give it to me, Incredible, Beat goes on,Candy Shop
Boring/disposable tracks: Spanish lesson, Heartbeat, She's not me

Now I've listened the album 5 times and I still think is her worst album, not only because filler is here and there, but also because the album has some of the WORST lyrics of M career, and that's saying something. I know it's a dance-pop record, but c'mon, Confessions was a dance/neo-disco album too and still it had some interesting/decent lyrics. Even Britney has better lyrics...

This album is full of tracks like Pretender, I know it or Stay but with a modern touch, that's how I feel In other words: it's a lesser album...

Heartbeat is one of the gayest M songs ever (that synth intro is just awful ) and Spanish lesson is dull, dull, just dull His latin-pop attempts are getting old, very old
Give it to me and Incredible are embarrasing tracks, but somehow they're catchy and fun; nevetheless, they are sticky, brainless songs, not even Britney has written songs like these
4 minutes and Candy shop have nothing to do against other M singles/classics, but I gotta admit that they are catchy and have single potential, so I'm sure at least 4 minutes will appear in future compilations and it will be a live classic, for better or worse...
Finally, my favourite tracks are Dance 2night (the best dance-pop track of the album), Miles away (a very fine song ) and Voices & Devil wouldn't recognize you, easily the two best/most respectable songs of the entire album.

I think the album has more flaws than any other Madonna album, even Erotica sounds miles better, even with all its cold beats and repetitive/dated synths.

I learned to love Confessions when I realize that it was a comeback of sorts, a return to the sound of the first album, and I thought that it was ok, but at the same time I was upset because Madonna was just thinking about making hits again but not maverick music like Music or American Life...but with Hard Candy my worst nightmares have come true: c'mon, Madonna is 50 years old...why is she doing this kind of pop music at this point of her career? Hard candy is a disposable and calculated collection of guilty pleasures (Miles away, Voices and Devil are the exception)...She reinvented herself as an interesting adult-contemporary/electronic act with albums like Ray of light, Music and Americam Life, but now all that natural evolution is gone and we have a mature lady who thinks she has returned to the early 80's...what are you doing with your career Madonna? Not even Bowie in the mid-80's was as corny as you are now...

[Edited 4/27/08 18:43pm]

AlexdeParis said:

Where can I hear this? What's it from?

Moonbeam said:

It's the Japan bonus track (available from the iTunes Store if you preorder). It's in the vein of the rest of the album, but you should probably hear it for yourself. I certainly don't think it stands out, but it should've never been scrapped with "Spanish Lesson" still making the cut.

I was more impressed by the little snippets of the songs. I don't like it so much hearing it in full.

rushing07 said:

Ok. Voices - plain, plain song with a piss poor instrumentalization.
The chorus is stolen from a song I can't recall right now...anybody?

VinnyM27 said:

stick..stick....stick....sticky and sweet (DANCE!)
my sugar is raw
sticky and sweet
my sugar is raw
sticky and sweet
my sugar is raw
sticky and sweet

I love "Candy Shop".I can't wait to play this one really LOUD in my car.It boasts the most infectious beat on the album.It's Madonna's favorite song on the album.Probably won't become a single,but Warners should definitely send some remixes to clubs.I could see this being a club hit this summer.

Chart Update

***Madonna scores second week at Number One in the U.K."4 Minutes" has held onto the top spot of the UK singles chart,seeing off competition from Sam Sparro and Estelle.

***"4 Minutes" is Number One in Australia,Madonna's 11th #1 single in Australia.

Tour Update: French press says Madonna will launch her Hard Candy World Tour in Nice

A few French newspapers this morning reports that Madonna will probably start her new world tour in Nice,where she performed with the Blond Ambition tour and the Who's That Girl tour.At least 54,000 are expected in the Charles Ehrmann Stadium for Madonna.Then she will perform at London Wembley Stadium on September 11 and 13,and then at Paris Stade de France on September 20.

According to these newspapers,the Hard Candy Tour will be announced on May 6th or 7th and then tickets will go on sale around May 15th.

[b]Tour Update Part 2: Donna and Niki back on promo gig

Rehearsals continue for the promo tour.Several of the Confessions tour dancers will be on this tour,and so will backup singers Donna Delory and Niki Richards.

This is the setlist for the Roseland gig in New York:

Candy Shop
Miles Away (with Madonna playing guitar)
Music (Fedde Le Grand Mix)
Give It To Me
4 Minutes (with Justin Timberlake appearing on the screens)
Hung Up (Rock Mix)

I think my single favorite moment on this album is her singing... "Here comes.... my hand.... take it..... you can...." on "The Beat Goes On"


I don't know why, but I almost have an orgasm every single time.

rushing07 said:

there's a part in Voices that reminds me of Supernatural. in fact, there's a line in there (can't think of it at the moment) that I always continue in my head with "They already think I'm crazy..."

Madonna's 'Hard Candy' is dandy
Monday April 28,2008
The New York Daily News


Imagine this: A new Madonna album comprised entirely of brisk,hard dance anthems,all boldy updating the blissful hits of her club-driven youth.

Now imagine that none of those songs (save the advance single) has anything to do with world politics,spiritual growth,starving African children or any lingering mother issues.Instead they present a wall-to-wall call to the dance floor,fired by ecstatic,innovative,and propulsive beats,paired to tunes that will make you swoon.

That's what Madonna's last album-2005's 'Confessions On A Dancefloor'-promised to be,but hardly was.We still had Kabbalah references,finger-wagging "issue" songs and lots of cuts that weren't nearly as danceable or catchy as advertised.

Anyone disappointed by that album should take a lick of 'Hard Candy',out tomorrow.It's everything 'Confessions' professed to be-and more: a disc that gorges on catchy choruses,nagging beats and insouciant vocals.It may be the best album of Madonna's career.Certainly it's the most consistent (not counting "greatest hits" cheats).

Plenty of people will carp that Madonna had to haul in some of the heaviest hitters she has ever collaborated with to pull this off-including Justin Timberlake,Timbaland and Pharrell.'Hard Candy' represents only the third time in Madonna's long career when she has relied on top,proven talent as conspirators,rather than bringing in newbies she can nurture and/or control.The last time she did this was her ultimate career low,in 1994,following the hideously reviewed "Sex" book.She bounced back with 'Bedtime Stories',produced by can't-miss guys like Babyface.

It's hard to say why Madonna felt she needed to bring in such headline-making help this time,unless it has to do with facing the Big Five-Oh-she hits it August 16.Or the fact that 'Hard Candy' marks the end of her contract with the only label she has ever known (Warner Bros.).Either way,Madonna has given the company the richest possible parting gift.

Where to begin?

The first single-the smash "4 Minutes"-is probably the least engrossing track on the CD.It's the only one that goes for the political,rather than the personal,though it does so in such a vague way,you can barely tell.Of course,it's as much a Timberlake song as a Madonna turn but that's the only track where the star attraction threatens to piggyback on another person's turf.

That was the worry for 'Hard Candy'.Fans feared it would find Madonna vampirically sucking the blood of the latest urban gods to gain back her youth.But the point turns out to be moot.In fact,Pharrell and Timbaland have never sounded this frothy,and that clearly comes from Madonna's talent for zip.

Take "Heartbeat".Madonna co-wrote the cut with Pharrell,and although it benefits greatly from the hook of his trademark orgasmic moans,Maddy's vocal has an R&B sheen that cinches it.

"Candy Shop" kicks off the CD and sets its exuberant tone.It's got tribal/urban beats,cunning lyrical innuendos,and a chorus with the R&B-jazz twist of a Kool and the Gang hit from the 70s.

In "Miles Away",Madonna recycles a neat trick from the past: She uses abrupt guitar strums as an acoustic contrast to the synthetic clack of the beat.Vocally,she hasn't sounded as ravishing as she does here since 'Evita'.

"Incredible" has real bubble gum snap."Beat Goes On" makes sure it does.

I could go on raving about the tracks,but I won't.I want to go back and listen to them. (Jim Farber)

AMG review. www.allmusic.com


2 stars - ouch!


All through her career, it has been impossible to divorce Madonna's music from her image, as they feed off each other to the point where it's hard to tell which came first, the concept or the songs. Glancing at the aggressively ugly cover to Hard Candy - its blistering pinks and assaultive leather suggesting a cheap bottom barrel porno - it's hard not to wish that this is the one time Madge broke from tradition, offering music that wasn't quite as garish as her graphics. That is not the case. Hard Candy is all brutal hard edges and blaring primary colors, a relentlessly mercenary collection of cold beats and chilly innuendo. Sex has always been a driving force for Madonna, but she's never been as ruthlessly pornographic as she is here, not even when she cut Erotica as a companion to her softcore coffeetable book Sex back in 1992. For all of its carnality Erotica was coy, belonging to the classic burlesque teasing tradition, but Hard Candy is utterly modern, a steely sex album for the age of Cialisis. This new millennium is also an era where Top 40 has pretty much ceased to exist and a pop artist as sharp as Madonna knows this, so she has abandoned the idea of a big crossover hit - the kind that Erotica courted with such gorgeous, shimmering adult contemporary ballads as "Rain" and "Bad Girl" - and pitches Hard Candy directly toward her core audience of club-conscious, fashion-forward trend-setters.

This is a smart play, as this is the audience that's always consisted of Madonna loyalists, and it's also is a savvy way to negotiate the explosion of niches in 2008, but there problems in her execution. Madonna relies on the Neptunes and the pair of Timbaland and Justin Timberlake for most of her modern makeover - a good idea in theory as they are some of the biggest hitmakers of the decade, but the productions they've constructed here sound a couple years old at best and at worst feel like they're dressing Madonna in Nelly Furtado's promiscuous hand-me-downs. Sometimes this can result in reasonably appealing grooves - "Candy Shop" captures Pharrell Williams' flair for slim, sleek grooves, "Dance 2night" conjures Timberlake's Off the Wall obsession nicely and the icy heartbreak of "Miles Away" is a worthy successor to "What Goes Around Comes Around" - but this also points out the album's main flaw: the track comes before the song. Madonna's greatness has always hinged on how she channeled dance trends into pop songs, placing equal emphasis on sound and melody, which provided a neat way to sneak underground club trends into the mainstream. Here, she cedes melodic hooks to rhythmic hooks - witness the clanging, cluttered "4 Minutes" where she's drowned out by Timbaland's farting four-note synth - which might not have been so bad if the tracks were fresher and if the whole enterprise didn't feel quite so joylessly mechanical. Madonna doesn't even sound desperate to sit atop of current trends; rather, she's following them because she's expected to do so. There's a palpable sense of disinterest here, as if she just handed the reigns over to Pharrell and TimbaLake, trusting them to polish up this piece of stale candy. Maybe she's not into the music, maybe she's just running out this last album for Warner before she moves onto the greener pastures of Live Nation — either way, Hard Candy is as a rare thing: a lifeless Madonna album.

AlexdeParis said:

I think "Ring My Bell" is okay...nothing special.I'll probably love it a month from now but so far,it hasn't moved me.It sounds more hip-hop than all of the other songs.I do like the spoken part at the beginning:

If you wanna talk to me,that's exactly what you're gonna have to do....talk to me



At least 22 songs were recorded for this album.I'm sure one day we'll have information about the rejected tracks,and possibly some leaks.So far,we know about three songs that didn't make the album:

"Ring My Bell"
"La La" (a Timbaland-produced song that he was very enthusiastic about)
"Across The Sky" (another Timbaland production)
[Edited 4/28/08 1:18am]

AMG said:

Umm... I agree with the last part, but "she's never been so ruthlessly pornographic as she is here".... what?



I can't disagree with anything here, except to say that I've grown to love the album anyway. It's fun, it's upbeat, it doesn't bother to take itself too seriously (Confessions, American Life). It is just like its namesake, "hard candy"... it's fine while it's in your mouth, but it can be really annoying and unsatisfying in the long run. You know it's going to rot your teeth if not break them outright, but hey, it's something to suck on until you can get a real meal.

AlexdeParis said:

oh god, no! i actually like Spanish Lesson. it's crap, of course, but it's fun crap that knows it's crap and a joke.

Ring My Bell is just crap and thinks it isn't.

Madonna Song of the Day: "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You"


This song is becoming a favorite of mine.It sounds so mysterious and haunting...I LOVE IT!! I know she's gonna do something special with this song on the tour.I could see it being part of a slower,spiritual segment of the show.

Who else loves this song?

CONFIRMED TOURDATES!

London---September 11 and 13
Paris---September 25
Amsterdam---September 29

It's not just a rumor anymore.A Warner exec has confirmed these early dates.

SoulAlive said:

I'm glad to hear we're getting confirmations...but I'm not so sure about choosing 9/11 to start the tour?! I wonder what drove that decision?

I know I'm leaving Japan in September but I'm not sure where I'll be going! Hope I'll end up living near one of the cities on the tour!

Matronik said:

Is it actually the same pair of glasses?! That would be too funny if it was!

CandaceS said:

Oddly enough,Janet is starting her tour on September 11,as well.I hope they both reconsider.They might get a little criticism for that.

You move around alot,huh? I hope you don't miss out on the tour.

CandaceS said:

I wouldn't assume so. I wonder if Madonna kept all her ancient clothes; as a kid how fun would that be to play in?