From Amazon.com
HARD CANDY LACKS FLAVOR
Album Rating: (1 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: Hard Candy
INSIPID. The dictionary description is as follows: 1. without distinctive, interesting, or stimulating qualities. 2. without sufficient taste to be pleasing, as food or drink. flat, dull, uninteresting. 2. tasteless, bland, vapid. This is so far removed in terms of flavor, substance and interest from her earlier albums with songs like Holiday and Lucky Star that it comes off as churned out, run of the mill pop swill. Harsh, I know, but I've always been a fan, and I find this a mealy disappointment. At this point, I think she should focus on acting. I think she's a terrific actress! Like Cher, who I like MUCH BETTER as an actress than singer (never really liked her singing). This has not always been my feeling about Madonna, but I guess I can now say that "I'm a big fan ... of her earlier work." Turn to acting, Madonna, as it would appear that there are no more Lucky Stars left in your repertoire. Hard Candy offers nothing tasty!
Signed, Disappointed, But Still Hopeful.
Great item
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: Great presentation on this vinyl Madonna, really a collectible item. 100% recomendable. Amazon thank you very much to get ahead of schedule.
Album for cavities (literally)
Album Rating: (1 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: Madonna made 'Hard Candy' - it is nothing but a cheap lollipop. And she don't care really... She was bored and had to make an album. She's been there, done that - so many times. Only those were better times. I wonder what comes next... 'Gummy Bears'?
How Sweet The Sound
Album Rating: (5 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: I just purchased this cd and I absolutely love it! My favorite songs on this cd are Candy Shop, Miles Away and of course 4 Minutes. This is a great album to add to your collection.
Reviewed by Kardia Williams
Don't Be Deceived By the Candy Shell. . .
Album Rating: (4 of 5 stars)
Review Comments: At first glance, Hard Candy seems a bit contrived--a pop icon in her fifties trying to win over a younger audience by enlisting big names like Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell. Most of the negative reviews I've read about this album mostly focus on this particular aspect of the album, criticizing Madonna's choice to work with big names rather than unknowns like she has on previous albums (Music and Ray of Light). However, pop stars working with big names is nothing new, even for Madonna. The question is, "is the music good?"
The tone gets set early with "Candy Shop," which recalls the sound of her first album, both in terms of production and lyrical content. Madonna sounds sexier than she has in years and Pharrell brings the song to life with a vibrant, uncluttered production that puts her voice front and center.
"4 Minutes" is clearly meant to be the "Madonna's back!" 1st single, with it's ominous horns trumpeting her arrival. Madonna has been known to bring out the best in her producers, and this song is proof of that. "4 Minutes" is a blast of pure energy that we haven't heard from Timbaland in awhile. Justin Timberlake and Madonna have great chemistry; they share the song without trying to overpower the other. At times the bass threatens to drown out the singing, but it's a stylistic choice that works in this case. Lyrically, it's a bit of a throwaway, but a fun song regardless.
Madonna fans that were turned off by "4 Minutes" due to it's commercial viability will probably say "all is forgiven!" after hearing "Give it 2 Me." Usually by track three Madonna takes her listeners to dance heaven and this is a great slice of it. Rollingstone magazine pointed out that the creative friction between Madonna and Pharrell worked for this album, and I believe that friction is most evident here, as the song blends Madonna's dance sensibility and Pharrell's hip-hop point of view to great effect. One of the album's best moments!
"Heartbeat" is the most retro moment of the album. It sounds like a song that she wrote for her first album, brought to life by modern production. On the surface it sounds like a fun throwaway song about feeling alive on the dancefloor, but there's a world-weariness that sneaks into the song, especially when she sings "it may feel old to you but to me it feels new." You sense that Madonna is thinking about her own relevance, a feeling brewing just under the surface of this simple song, thus elevating it's artistic complexity.
The real meat and potatoes of this album comes in the following trio of songs, "Miles Away," "She's Not Me," and "Incredible." Madonna's divorce has been no secret in the press, and although she hasn't gone public about what went wrong, these songs seem the most inspired by it.
"Miles Away" is another brilliant blend of acoustic pop akin to "Don't Tell Me." However, "Miles Away" hits much harder than it's predecessor. It's a song about how the man in her life seems more comfortable with their relationship when they're separated from one another ("you always have the biggest heart/when we're 6,000 miles apart"). It's a bit of cutting truth that we've come to expect from Madonna, with a beautifully atmospheric production to boot.
"She's Not Me" is actually a fun song, and she could be talking about her man cheating on her or her competition in the pop world (ie. Britney Spears). Sonically, the song has a fun disco vibe over a throbbing bassline. It's not clear as to whom she is talking about, but sandwiched between "Miles Away" and "Incredible" the song gains more gravitas as a deft pop song about infidelity.
"Incredible" is the album's showstopper: it's a grandiose slab of pop that builds and builds into pop experimentation and lyrically goes from sad and fragile to fierce and determined. In it, she sings about how wonderful and exciting relationships are at the beginning and her desire to bring her relationship back into that territory. At first she doesn't know what to do ("can't get my head around it/I need to think about it") and by the end of the song (an unchained bit of dance euphoria reminiscent of the dance breaks in the "Erotica" album) she's proclaiming "I don't want this to end/ I'm missing my best friend". . ."sex with you is incredible!" By the end of the song you hope that those crazy kids work it out after the drama of the two songs that preceded it.
After "Incredible," the album loosens up for a few songs. "Beat Goes On" brings Madonna back to familiar lyrical territory--life is short, live it--in the same vein as "Jump" off her last album. The tinkling bells sound in the song gives it a "Lucky Star" 2008/Sex and the City soundtrack kind of vibe and is a strong contender for being a single. Kanye West doesn't add too much to the song, though he doesn't sound out of place either, which is a kind of victory in and of itself. One of the albums strongest tracks!
"Dance 2Night" is by far the loosest song on the album. It's as though Justin and Madonna went into the studio and freestyled while the producer did his thing. Definitely not the most memorable song on the album, but it's nice to hear a more relaxed moment on such a tightly-composed album. Fun and forgettable!
"Spanish Lesson" is the worst thing Madonna has done in a long time, with its "I'm Madonna doing my Spanish shtick" repertoire that she has done more effectively in the past. A glaring misstep on this otherwise great album.
"Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" is an intriguing ballad that again seems to reference Madonna's divorce. Lyrically, it's stunning: "The steps that edge along the ledge/It's much higher than it seems/That I've been on that ledge before/
You can't hide yourself from me." Madonna sells it with a restrained vocal that matches the moodiness of the production. However, the production has a couple of problems that distract from the song's beauty. First, it's very similar to "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake, and second, Timbaland had a very heavy hand on this song and it can sound a bit overproduced (particularly the rubbery/bubbly sound effect buried in the song). These are minor quibbles though, as this song is still a strong ballad.
"Voices" ends this multifaceted album, and it takes no prisoners. Thunderous and ominous, this song is a clear indictment of the male protagonist referenced in the other songs: "so you claim madness like it's convenient/you do it so often that you start to believe it/you have demons so no one can blame you/but who is the master and who is the slave?" Madonna is in full diva mode, as she lacerates with sarcasm in a way we haven't heard since "Waiting" from the "Erotica" album. Timbaland is still a bit heavy-handed on the bass, but it works here. A great ending to a deceptively powerful album.
All in all, Madonna delivers the goods yet again, going from fun and poppy to whistful and sarcastic often within the same song. Almost 30 years into her career, Madonna hasn't lost her edge or talent. Don't be fooled by her choice of producers or the sauciness of the album cover, this is an album that, like its predecessors, is a fantastic balance of fun and depth. Here's looking forward to the next album!
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1 Candy Shop
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