ALBUM REVIEW: Madonna
- Posted on May 19, 2008 3:58 PM
- 2 comments
‘Hard Candy’ Madonna
Review by Adam Walker
“Don’t accept candy from strangers”, the age-old saying goes, well thankfully for us Madonna is no stranger and her candy tastes good.
‘Hard Candy’ is Madonna’s 11th studio album, and she’s showing no signs of slowing down. Her career, spanning an amazing 25 years, is the soundtrack to our lives and Madonna’s success lies in keeping her loyal audience guessing. Each album offers a new look; a new fashion; a new sound and more importantly, a new producer. Yet with an album marking her 50th birthday, she finally decides to play it safe.
This ‘Candy Shop’ has no less than four producers inside it, and that’s without counting Her Majesty herself. Perhaps with a move to make her appear younger and more hip (and for her record label, tapping into a younger audience with a more disposable income) she’s enlisted the heavyweight talents of Timberland, Timberlake, Pharrell and Kanye. But the question is, does it work?
The good news is, on the whole, yes. The album needs more than one listen for it really to shine. Lead single, ‘4 Minutes’, is sweet and perfectly formed pop but it can’t help feeling a tad contrived. Would the song work without Timb and JT? Madonna knows the answer better than anyone, and that’s why their trademark stamp is all over this album. In fact in every other song we have to be reminded we’re listening to a Madonna record as her name is either rapped or hammered from the hip hop quartet.
The trouble with Madonna is her back catalogue harbours too many classics and one cannot help but compare these when listening to new material. But that’s the point. Unlike Mariah, Celine et al, Madonna puts out and always tries something new. Most work, her last album ‘Confessions…’ was one of 2006’s biggest sellers, whilst others (‘American Life’) sank without trace.
Fortunately, ‘Hard Candy’ works. But this is largely down to her choice with collaborators. Famed for finding new talent, Madonna made household names of Mirwais, William Orbit and Stuart Price; so one could accuse her of jumping on the bandwagon with this choice set. Does this mean she’s sold out?
She certainly sounds good but visually, as the promo for ‘4 Minutes’ proves, she struggles to keep up with the kids. Looking a tad awkward grinding next to JT, Madonna can’t help but appear like his groovy aunt trying to stay hip. The same can be said of the salacious album art. Of course, looking as good as she does for someone half a century old, she manages to be forgiving.
Standout tracks are next single, ‘Give It 2 Me’ (a true dancefloor stomper), ‘She’s Not Me’, ‘Beat Goes On’ (the extremely catchy Kanye West duet) and the two excellent Neptunes’ tracks ‘Incredible’ and ‘Spanish Lessons’ (although these are a tad reminiscent of Britney circa 2002).
Where this album falls flat is in the lyrics. But that’s never been Madonna’s forte and for that we forgive her. What’s next for Madge? Who knows, maybe she’ll surprise us all and team up with Michael Buble.
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Comments (2)
geovanni serrano
Ok
Posted on August 15, 2008 2:34 PM
vernon evans
dig....
Posted on August 15, 2008 5:33 PM
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