SoulAlive said:

JoeTyler said:

back in the day, American Life disappointed the hell out of me because she just followed the pattern of the lesser tracks of Music (specially I Deserve It, Nobody's Perfect), but using a cheap electroclash sound, completely erasing the fresh pop/rock/pseudo-country sound of Music. Bad bad sequel, bad singles, bad image, bad lyrics, bad vibe, bad timing

I like the seriousness of 'American Life' but the music is just not exciting enough to hold my interest for very long.On many songs,the melodies are barely there ("Hollywood" for example) and the beats are too slow.On any Madonna album,you expect alot of hard beats,bells and whistles.This album didn't have very much of that.

I'm gonna raise a few eyebrows with my next comment Hard Candy is the album that Madonna should have released in 2003.Think about it: in 2002,Pharrell and Timbaland were at their creative peak.Imagine if Madonna had gone into the studio with them in 2002 and came out with a kickass album in 2003....a jam-packed album instead of the bleak 'American Life'.I like 'Hard Candy' alot but it's an album that we could have gotten earlier.

It could have worked but obviously, many songs that appeared in Hard Candy didn't exist at all in 2003 !! (specially the Timberlake collaborations)

but I do agree that a dance/pop/modern R&B album, with a Timbaland/Pharell production, could have been huge in 2004; for example

1.Hard Candy

2.Hollywood

3.Give It to Me

4.Nobody Knows Me

5.Love Profussion

6.She's Not Me

7.Incredible

8.Miles Away

9.Beat Goes On

10.Superpop

11.Devil Wouldn't Recognize You

12.Die Another Day (new mix)

13.Triggering Your Senses

and then Confessions released in late 2007 (with a harder production), and Celebration in 2009...

[Edited 2/24/11 9:20am]

A lot of Hard Candy reminded me of Justin's work just before it, but it was still a good album, fun, carefree and unserious.

Miles Away should have been a single, the album is not bad but then Again I like Justin so LOL.

babybugz said:

Miles Away should have been a single, the album is not bad but then Again I like Justin so LOL.

Business wise, it was smart for Madonna to release the Justin duet. But I think "Miles Away" (yeah I listened to it and liked it) would've been a better follow-up. Did she had a follow-up to "4 Minutes" by the way in the US?

Timmy84 said:

babybugz said:

Miles Away should have been a single, the album is not bad but then Again I like Justin so LOL.

Business wise, it was smart for Madonna to release the Justin duet. But I think "Miles Away" (yeah I listened to it and liked it) would've been a better follow-up. Did she had a follow-up to "4 Minutes" by the way in the US?

I'm a big Hard Candy fan (it's probably my 5th favorite). As far I'm concerned, the obvious follow-up single to "4 Minutes" was clearly "Beat Goes On." Why have Kanye on a song if you aren't going to exploit it by making it a single? It's also one of the album's best songs; I'm still kind of mystified they didn't release it.

BTW, "Give It 2 Me" was the 2nd single and "Miles Away" was 3rd.

[Edited 2/24/11 19:33pm]

Moonbeam said:

SoulAlive said:

"To Have And Not To Hold" is heavenly Such a beautiful song.

Do do agree with the single choices from ROL? If it were up to me,I would have chosen these singles,in this order:

Frozen

Ray Of Light

Sky Fits Heaven

To Have And Not To Hold

Drowned World/Substitute For Love

At one point,"Skin" was seriously being planned as a single.I think some remixes were even made.

"Skin" is my favorite song on the album, but I'm not sure if it would make sense as a single. My choices are pretty close to what actually happened:

Frozen

Ray of Light

The Power of Goodbye

Drowned World/Substitute for Love

Sky Fits Heaven

That's about what I would've done as well. I definitely think "To Have and Not to Hold" is single-worthy, but not at the expense of "The Power of Good-Bye."

Moonbeam said:

babybugz said:

Is Hard Candy that bad? I like it I need to listen to more Madonna. I haven’t really dug deep into her albums I just like songs here and there.

It's absolutely horrible. Totally phoned in and trying to cash in on Timbaland/Timberlake.

I like Hard Candy.

Some great songs.

'Miles Away', 'Devil Wouldn"t Recognize,' 'She's Not Me' are standouts for me.

SUPRMAN said:

Moonbeam said:

It's absolutely horrible. Totally phoned in and trying to cash in on Timbaland/Timberlake.

I like Hard Candy.

Some great songs.

'Miles Away', 'Devil Wouldn"t Recognize,' 'She's Not Me' are standouts for me.

My favorite! "She's not me and she never will be!"

My Top Ten Madonna songs (Limited fan so I can do this.)

1. Vogue

2. Open Your Heart

3. Borderline

4. Into The Groove

5. Like A Prayer

6. High Flying, Adored

7. Rain

8. Justify My Love

9. Nothing Fails

10. Take A Bow

JoeTyler said:

SoulAlive said:

I like the seriousness of 'American Life' but the music is just not exciting enough to hold my interest for very long.On many songs,the melodies are barely there ("Hollywood" for example) and the beats are too slow.On any Madonna album,you expect alot of hard beats,bells and whistles.This album didn't have very much of that.

I'm gonna raise a few eyebrows with my next comment Hard Candy is the album that Madonna should have released in 2003.Think about it: in 2002,Pharrell and Timbaland were at their creative peak.Imagine if Madonna had gone into the studio with them in 2002 and came out with a kickass album in 2003....a jam-packed album instead of the bleak 'American Life'.I like 'Hard Candy' alot but it's an album that we could have gotten earlier.

It could have worked but obviously, many songs that appeared in Hard Candy didn't exist at all in 2003 !! (specially the Timberlake collaborations)

but I do agree that a dance/pop/modern R&B album, with a Timbaland/Pharell production, could have been huge in 2004; for example

1.Hard Candy

2.Hollywood

3.Give It to Me

4.Nobody Knows Me

5.Love Profussion

6.She's Not Me

7.Incredible

8.Miles Away

9.Beat Goes On

10.Superpop

11.Devil Wouldn't Recognize You

12.Die Another Day (new mix)

13.Triggering Your Senses

and then Confessions released in late 2007 (with a harder production), and Celebration in 2009...

Oh of course,I know that 'Hard Candy' would have had different songs if it had been created in 2002 I just think that the Timbaland and Neptunes sound was so much more edgy/creative in 2002.If Madonna had worked with them back then,the results might have been really interesting.Remember,Madonna worked with Missy in 2003 on the "American Life" remix....this indicates that she probably wanted to go that route anyway.

babybugz said:

Miles Away should have been a single, the album is not bad but then Again I like Justin so LOL.

Actually,it was a single.However,there was virtually no promotion.Madonna was leaving Warners so they didn't do alot of promotion for Hard Candy.Under different circumstances,songs like "Miles Away" and "Beat Goes On" would have gotten the attention and promotion they deserved.

Timmy84 said:

babybugz said:

Miles Away should have been a single, the album is not bad but then Again I like Justin so LOL.

Business wise, it was smart for Madonna to release the Justin duet. But I think "Miles Away" (yeah I listened to it and liked it) would've been a better follow-up. Did she had a follow-up to "4 Minutes" by the way in the US?

I agree,"4 Minutes" was a smart first single choice.That track had "Top 10" written all over it and in fact,it became her most successful American single since "Vogue".She released "Give It 2 Me" as a second single,which was a foolish choice.I like the song alot,but almost everyone agrees that "Beat Goes On" should have been the second single.Why do a catchy,radio-friendly song with Kanye West on it if you're not gonna take advantage and release it as a single?! LOL

"Miles Away" was released as a third single but with a lack of promotion,it didn't do very well.Hard Candy is the most commercial album Madonna has ever done.4 or 5 singles should have been released."She's Not Me" would have been an excellent single,imo.

AlexdeParis said:

I'm a big Hard Candy fan (it's probably my 5th favorite). As far I'm concerned, the obvious follow-up single to "4 Minutes" was clearly "Beat Goes On." Why have Kanye on a song if you aren't going to exploit it by making it a single? It's also one of the album's best songs; I'm still kind of mystified they didn't release it.

lol...I made a similiar comment on my earlier post

but yeah,"Beat Goes On" should have been a single.From what I understand,Madonna is the one who insisted that "Give It 2 Me" become the second single.She fell in love with the track.This is one case where the label should have stepped in and overruled her,lol.

AlexdeParis said:

Moonbeam said:

"Skin" is my favorite song on the album, but I'm not sure if it would make sense as a single. My choices are pretty close to what actually happened:

Frozen

Ray of Light

The Power of Goodbye

Drowned World/Substitute for Love

Sky Fits Heaven

That's about what I would've done as well. I definitely think "To Have and Not to Hold" is single-worthy, but not at the expense of "The Power of Good-Bye."

"The Power Of Goodbye" is a good song,but if given a choice,I would choose "To Have And Not To Hold" as a single

SUPRMAN said:

I like Hard Candy.

Some great songs.

'Miles Away', 'Devil Wouldn"t Recognize You,' 'She's Not Me' are standouts for me.

I pretty much like Hard Candy all the way through.The only two songs I don't like are "Spanish Lesson" and "Voices".Replace those two songs with the outtakes "Animal" and "Across The Sky" and you have a classic Madonna album.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not overly critical of Madonna at all. All of her albums get at least 3 stars from me other than Hard Candy. It really was an anomaly for me to dislike a Madonna album. I'm sure I'll like her next album a lot more!

Her noughties albums are hit and miss affairs i think. American Life was too much of a continuation of the sound she and Mirwais established on Music to feel like a progression forward. In spite of having several excellent album tracks on there, the singles were lacklustre and (along with the dark Drowned World tour) quickly destroyed the momentum she'd built with Ray of Light & Music, which were both fresh and rejuvinating era's.

Confessions did its job, it was a solid album with good single material, and provided an excellent basis for the tour that followed. She pushed the album hard, and (apart from the videos) really worked the album like her career depended on it. Ultimately it wont be considered one of her greatest albums, but it will always be looked back at fondly, and perfectly of its time.

Hard Candy was an odd album - for her to shun the success of Confessions so rapidly - that it took me a while to get my head around it, however there is a lot of rewarding stuff there, and again it was a great touring album. The Timbaland material is irrelevant - particularly given the best song from their sessions, 'Animal' was left off the album. He brought beats to songs that she'd already written (Miles Away, Devil, Voices), and they weren't as inventive as we were all hoping. I liked having male backing vocals on her songs (although Justin steals 4 minutes away from her!), but part of me was wishing she'd brought in some great female backing singers to give all of the material some ooomph.

The Pharrell material however was a revelation - some really nice inventive stuff - particularly songs like Incredible & She's Not Me. Beat Goes On was a single that should have happened, and would have had it been a decade earlier.

Id love to see her produce more stuff with Pharrell as you can tell they had a synergy that worked in the studio.

CrozzaUK said:

Her noughties albums are hit and miss affairs i think. American Life was too much of a continuation of the sound she and Mirwais established on Music to feel like a progression forward. In spite of having several excellent album tracks on there, the singles were lacklustre and (along with the dark Drowned World tour) quickly destroyed the momentum she'd built with Ray of Light & Music, which were both fresh and rejuvinating era's.

Confessions did its job, it was a solid album with good single material, and provided an excellent basis for the tour that followed. She pushed the album hard, and (apart from the videos) really worked the album like her career depended on it. Ultimately it wont be considered one of her greatest albums, but it will always be looked back at fondly, and perfectly of its time.

Hard Candy was an odd album - for her to shun the success of Confessions so rapidly - that it took me a while to get my head around it, however there is a lot of rewarding stuff there, and again it was a great touring album. The Timbaland material is irrelevant - particularly given the best song from their sessions, 'Animal' was left off the album. He brought beats to songs that she'd already written (Miles Away, Devil, Voices), and they weren't as inventive as we were all hoping. I liked having male backing vocals on her songs (although Justin steals 4 minutes away from her!), but part of me was wishing she'd brought in some great female backing singers to give all of the material some ooomph.

The Pharrell material however was a revelation - some really nice inventive stuff - particularly songs like Incredible & She's Not Me. Beat Goes On was a single that should have happened, and would have had it been a decade earlier.

Id love to see her produce more stuff with Pharrell as you can tell they had a synergy that worked in the studio.

I agree with you,Pharrell did a spectacular job.You can tell that he really "studied" her 80s music.He came up with tracks that capture the fun and the energy of her finest 80s singles."Beat Goes On" sounds like the Madonna of 1987,while "Give It 2 Me" could have came from the 'Like A Virgin' album.I would love for her to work with Pharrell again.

It's funny,though....I think Pharrell did a superb job,but my favorite song on the album is still "Miles Away",which is a Timbaland production

SoulAlive said:

Timmy84 said:

Business wise, it was smart for Madonna to release the Justin duet. But I think "Miles Away" (yeah I listened to it and liked it) would've been a better follow-up. Did she had a follow-up to "4 Minutes" by the way in the US?

I agree,"4 Minutes" was a smart first single choice.That track had "Top 10" written all over it and in fact,it became her most successful American single since "Vogue".She released "Give It 2 Me" as a second single,which was a foolish choice.I like the song alot,but almost everyone agrees that "Beat Goes On" should have been the second single.Why do a catchy,radio-friendly song with Kanye West on it if you're not gonna take advantage and release it as a single?! LOL

"Miles Away" was released as a third single but with a lack of promotion,it didn't do very well.Hard Candy is the most commercial album Madonna has ever done.4 or 5 singles should have been released."She's Not Me" would have been an excellent single,imo.

Yeah "The Beat Goes On", I thought they were STRAIGHT UP gonna release it. But we know why they didn't.

Moonbeam said:

Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm not overly critical of Madonna at all. All of her albums get at least 3 stars from me other than Hard Candy. It really was an anomaly for me to dislike a Madonna album. I'm sure I'll like her next album a lot more!

Same here. I like all of her other albums, but I really disliked Hard Candy. I just think it was kind of an anomaly because she was going through a divorce at the time and leaving Warners. I think the next album will be much better. There are some fans who basically hate everything except her 80's hits, but I've never been one of those.

In five years time, Hard Candy will not even be mentioned.

"we only got 4 minutes to save the world!"

Timmy84 said:

SoulAlive said:

I agree,"4 Minutes" was a smart first single choice.That track had "Top 10" written all over it and in fact,it became her most successful American single since "Vogue".She released "Give It 2 Me" as a second single,which was a foolish choice.I like the song alot,but almost everyone agrees that "Beat Goes On" should have been the second single.Why do a catchy,radio-friendly song with Kanye West on it if you're not gonna take advantage and release it as a single?! LOL

"Miles Away" was released as a third single but with a lack of promotion,it didn't do very well.Hard Candy is the most commercial album Madonna has ever done.4 or 5 singles should have been released."She's Not Me" would have been an excellent single,imo.

Yeah "The Beat Goes On", I thought they were STRAIGHT UP gonna release it. But we know why they didn't.

SUPRMAN said:

My Top Ten Madonna songs (Limited fan so I can do this.)

1. Vogue

2. Open Your Heart

3. Borderline

4. Into The Groove

5. Like A Prayer

6. High Flying, Adored

7. Rain

8. Justify My Love

9. Nothing Fails

10. Take A Bow

I did a top 50 in honor of her 50th birthday a while back. My top 25:

1. The Power of Good-Bye

2. Sorry

3. Into the Groove

4. Live to Tell

5. Bad Girl

6. Secret

7. Borderline

8. Who's That Girl

9. Ray of Light

10. Take a Bow

11. Frozen

12. Oh Father

13. Drowned World/Substitute for Love

14. Hung Up

15. Deeper and Deeper

16. Vogue

17. Nobody's Perfect

18. Cherish

19. Music

20. To Have and Not to Hold

21. Like a Prayer

22. Lucky Star

23. La Isla Bonita

24. Causing a Commotion

25. Swim

AlexdeParis said:

SUPRMAN said:

My Top Ten Madonna songs (Limited fan so I can do this.)

1. Vogue

2. Open Your Heart

3. Borderline

4. Into The Groove

5. Like A Prayer

6. High Flying, Adored

7. Rain

8. Justify My Love

9. Nothing Fails

10. Take A Bow

I did a top 50 in honor of her 50th birthday a while back. My top 25:

1. The Power of Good-Bye

2. Sorry

3. Into the Groove

4. Live to Tell

5. Bad Girl

6. Secret

7. Borderline

8. Who's That Girl

9. Ray of Light

10. Take a Bow

11. Frozen

12. Oh Father

13. Drowned World/Substitute for Love

14. Hung Up

15. Deeper and Deeper

16. Vogue

17. Nobody's Perfect

18. Cherish

19. Music

20. To Have and Not to Hold

21. Like a Prayer

22. Lucky Star

23. La Isla Bonita

24. Causing a Commotion

25. Swim

'Nothing Fails' replaced 'Oh Father' and I would put 'Ray of Light,' 'Frozen,' then

'Drowned World/Substitute for Love.'

'Like A Prayer' couldn't crack your Top Twenty huh?

Admittedly 'High Flying, Adored' is an unusual one, but I don't think it was easy for her and I think she succeeded

OK

I just listened to High Flying, Adored and it's mostly Antonio Banderas.

That wouldn't be the song to award for the film either.

'You Must Love Me' is too pop to be challenging.

So I definitely have to rethink that one.

I'd do this I think . . . .

1. Vogue

2. Open Your Heart

3. Borderline

4. Into The Groove

5. Like A Prayer

6. Rain

7. Justify My Love

8. Nothing Fails

9. Take A Bow

10. Oh, Father

AlexdeParis said:

SUPRMAN said:

My Top Ten Madonna songs (Limited fan so I can do this.)

1. Vogue

2. Open Your Heart

3. Borderline

4. Into The Groove

5. Like A Prayer

6. High Flying, Adored

7. Rain

8. Justify My Love

9. Nothing Fails

10. Take A Bow

I did a top 50 in honor of her 50th birthday a while back. My top 25:

1. The Power of Good-Bye

2. Sorry

3. Into the Groove

4. Live to Tell

5. Bad Girl

6. Secret

7. Borderline

8. Who's That Girl

9. Ray of Light

10. Take a Bow

11. Frozen

12. Oh Father

13. Drowned World/Substitute for Love

14. Hung Up

15. Deeper and Deeper

16. Vogue

17. Nobody's Perfect

18. Cherish

19. Music

20. To Have and Not to Hold

21. Like a Prayer

22. Lucky Star

23. La Isla Bonita

24. Causing a Commotion

25. Swim

ok LOVE it

swim next to causing a commotion

how could the same artist do those two tracks????

that's the brilliance of M.

me wanna try!

1. Rain

2. Burning Up

3. Deeper & Deeper

4. Secret

5. Like A Prayer

6. Into the Groove

7. Impressive Instant

8. Get Together

9. Inside of Me

10. Waiting

11. Keep it Together

12. Physical Attraction

13. Everybody

14. Hollywood

15. Jump

16. Where Life Begins

17. Fever

18. Love Tried to Welcome Me

19. Dress You Up

20. Erotic - You Thrill Me

21. Justify My Love

22. Revolver

23. Erotica

24. Bye Bye Baby

25. Whys it So Hard

....or something like that?

how dare you guys leave "Miles Away" off your lists!

SoulAlive said:

how dare you guys leave "Miles Away" off your lists!

you're the only one who loves it boo (on here)

badujunkie said:

SoulAlive said:

how dare you guys leave "Miles Away" off your lists!

you're the only one who loves it boo (on here)

You know I can't resist a list.

1. Burning Up

2. Oh Father

3. Ray of Light

4. Gambler

5. Bad Girl

6. Skin

7. Dear Jessie

8. I'll Remember

9. Sky Fits Heaven

10. Crazy for You

11. The Power of Goodbye

12. Lucky Star

13. Cherish

14. Like It or Not

15. Promise to Try

16. Secret

17. Mother and Father

18. Substitute for Love

19. 'Til Death Do Us Part

20. Everybody

21. Impressive Instant

22. Erotica

23. Why's It So Hard

24. Beautiful Stranger

25. Open Your Heart

26. Live to Tell

27. Nothing Fails

28. Spanish Eyes

29. Causin' a Commotion

30. Hanky Panky

31. Bedtime Story

32. Physical Attraction

33. Youl'll See

34. Into the Groove

35. Hung Up

36. Hollywood

37. Forbidden Love (1994)

38. Time Stood Still

39. MER Girl

40. Over and Over

41. Dress You Up

42. Paradise (Not for Me)

43. This Used to Be My Playground

44. Secret Garden

45. Rain

46. Jump

47. Material Girl

48. Angel

49. Sanctuary

50. The Look of Love