Category : MooSic

ALBUM REVIEW : MADONNA - HARD CANDY (2008)

Album Review_Madonna - Hard Candy

This has been one of the most awaited album in 2008, after her great work accomplished in Confessions On A Dance Floor, and considering Madonna is taking a huge shift in her music career to work with people like Timbaland, Justin Timberlake and Pharrell. I had to admit the 'first impression' of this album was not so good for me. While there are many Timbaland-Timberlake-Pharrell injections in the music, Madonna ensures that we still hear her usual tunes in them as well, and the combination was rather awkward. I told myself, let's give it a few more rounds, and I did, to make sure I give this album a fair and thorough review.

Verdict? The album was decent to listen on an overall scale. The album opened with a rather weak song Candy Shop. I wished she would have used 4 Minutes instead. 4 Minutes remains as the strongest track in the album. I am in favor of tracks like Give It 2 Me, Heartbeat and Dance 2night. Give It 2 Me will give fans of her previous dance music a comfort although this album has gone R&B/Hip-Hop. What Pharrell did by adding the R&B feel to Heartbeat was simply beautiful. In Dance 2night, we definitely feel the mood we get in Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds, I like it.

Album Review_Madonna - Hard Candy2

One thing I did notice in this album is the bolder use of brige in some songs. While it worked very well in giving us a pleasant twist in the song in Heartbeat, the bridge in Incredible and She's Not Me just practically killed the songs halfway. Incredible is actually quite a great song, but I did not fancy Madonna singing it. When you do not change or progress in your singing style, which is what Madonna maintained for so many years, you do run a risk of not being able to adapt to drastic changes in your music especially when you try really currrent tunes like Timbaland-Timberlake-Pharrell. I felt that's what happened to Incredible, and to a slight extent the whole album on an overall scale.

And as the album moves towards the end, we get a few fillers (which I find myself skipping them when listening to the whole album) like Spanish Lessons, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You and Voices.

Overall I give Maddie respect for being bold enough to try something radical in her music career, and Hard Candy is a decent effort. We need to give it to her, while her vocals has never progressed and lyrics have never been her strength, she constantly compensate that with her trend-setting images and venturing into exciting, catchy tunes like Papa Don't Preach, Vogue & Music. And who's to argue that she is still one of few female artists that managed to last until today.

Some factors which may deter some from liking this album:-

• The album cover for a start, I don't get it at all LOL
• After her few disappointing albums in the past, fans finally got a great come-back album with Confessions On A Dance Floor. While Hard Candy is OK, it definitely fall way behind COAD
• Maddie's singing style has never progressed, it may take her more than just one album to shift the paradigm that she cannot do R&B/Hip-Hop
• Although the album is very listeneable as a whole, only 4 Minutes really stand out as a strong single

Meanwhile, Madonna has got every reason to celebrate, as she has scored her 7th No.1 album at the Billboard 200 with Hard Candy. This breaks the tie with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson as Maddie now is the sole owner of the No.2 spot for having the most number one albums for a female artist, just behind Barbra Streisand. Kudos!

Rating : C