Hard Candy is no treat

With the success of her last album, Confessions on a Dancefloor, Madonna has followed up with more dance music. Only this time, she has dropped the electronica, technopop, synthesized grooves, and poignant lyrics that she has become known for and replaced them with cacophonic beats and simple, ludicrous words that carry no significance to pop music or the events of this time.

I was anticipating the release of this album until I found out that it was going to be hip-hop based. I've never cared for the work of Madonna's collaborators from this album (Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Kanye West, or Pharrell Williams). I listened to the 30-second demos of each song online and only the last song, "Voices," sounded okay for me. The 1st single "4 minutes" does absolutely nothing for me. The music for that song is catchy, but the words are senseless and absurd. After listening to the album in it's entirety, I am still disappointed with it. Madonna can certainly do much better.

Madonna has said that she worked on this album in intervals. Listening to this album leaves me asking "What's the point?" Most likely, the purposes behind this album are Madonna's last stand at being sexy before she turns 50 this summer and self-promotion. Judging from the cover with Madonna in a tight bodysuit and big boxer belt and legs wide open, she is still interested in selling her sexuality. She certainly still has the body and youthful appearance to wear tight clothing and pose seductively, but as a mother of 3, she should ease up on the sexuality. Madonna has tried hip hop/R&B before with her Bedtime Stories album. That attempt was successful and beautiful largely due to the pensive lyrics of "Secret," "Survival," and "Inside of me."

"Candy Shop" opens the album with steady drum beats and a feeble attempt to be sexy. Lyrics like "My sugar is raw" does not sound appropriate for Madonna. Artistically, "Give it 2 me" is easily the best and most enjoyable song on this album. However, it's certainly not impeccable. The tedious and redundant repitition of "Get stupid" could have and should have been omitted. "Miles away" with it's acoustic opening and thoughtful lyrics is noteworthy. "She's not me" would have sounded better without Pharrell's horrible singing. "Spanish lesson" is the dumbest song on this album. A child could probably have written a better song. The acoustic sound was a major relief from all of the horrendous hip hop. "Voices" is the only song that makes the most of Madonna's much improved richer vocals following Evita.

To sum, this album does nothing for Madonna as a singer or musician. It's the WORST album of her career and would be best forgotten. I predict that it will have mass appeal and but it will be soon forgotten among the superfluous array of hip hop out there today. Banal is the word that best describes Hard Candy. Unlike past albums by Madonna, there isn't a single song here that I love. The majority of the songs are vacuous and uninspiring. Much of the album consists of filler songs. The words often sound less pleasing when sung. It's such a shame that it took so long for Madonna to develop such an awful album. Furthermore, it's a chagrin that critics ridiculed American Life and Erotica, but praise Hard Candy. I would recommend passing on Hard Candy. C-