ARTIST: Madonna
TITLE: Hard Candy (snippets)
WEB DEBUT: April 15, 2008
ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: It’s hard to tell whether or not Madonna’s contract-killing album with Warner will be as satisfying a dance-pop record as Blackout (which, Britney personal drama aside, is the best example of the genre in a while), but the bits and pieces of choruses strung together in the name of whetting appetites isn’t exactly inspiring. Listen for yourself while you still can, and see if you agree with me that the only tracks that’ll sound good coming out of your personal summertime radio are the last one and the one right after “Candy Shop” that uses the dirty “James Brown Is Dead”-style keyboards:
Madonna - Hard Candy snippets [YouTube via ONTD]


I can’t, I just can’t Maura. I’m listening to ‘Junior Senior’ and listening to Madonna would make it strictly ‘Senior.’ And well….. I love you, truly, but just one taste of that hard candy made me sick. It’s tasteless and sugar-free. Or sugar-heavy…. either way. NAY!
I agree with the consensus that she should be allowed to do some more dark, musing stuff, less pop, more… uh darkwave, i dunno.
There’s really something about both her voice and Janet’s voice that sounds terrible over of-the-moment 2008 production, I just can’t stand anything from either of these records.
Yes…that “Give It To Me” one is good…But the best news about a new Madge album is that I can finally afford to see her in concert if she tours…
I think Kylie’s X is a lot better than Blackout (except “Toy Soldier” and “Freakshow” and “Piece of Me”, but then Blackout has a lot of duds on it). So is Roisin Murphy’s Overpowered, and of course the Robyn album is better, and then Sophie Ellis-Bextor… point being, Blackout, while good, is not so much the pinnacle of contemporary dance-pop.
To stay on topic, though, it seems to me based on those clips that Hard Candy is not exactly going to reach even the far-from-dizzying heights of the low points on Blackout.
Meh… Is Madge a member of AARP yet?
Why hasn’t Madge discovered Goldfrapp yet? This current thing has “will be unrepresented on upcoming greatest-hits package” all over it.
@nonce: Where were you when Confessions on a Dance Floor came out and the British tabloids started calling her “Oldfrapp”?
I suspect public reaction will be very similar to Janet’s last record.
A perfectly decent pop record from a camp that hasn’t really produced relevant music since 2001, but does anybody even care anymore??
Meh.. the Timbaland production sound is getting stale at this point.
@fudgester: That’s because “4 Minutes” sounds exactly like a mash-up between “Holiday” and Timberland’s “Give It To Me.”
What impresses me about those clips is that Madonna has actuallyy managed to show zero musical progression in 25 years. Seriously, some of those could sit alongside Holiday and Borderline.
Anything that Idolator hates, Rolling Stone‘ll slap four stars on it: [www.rollingstone.com]
Why: Madonna’s an “icon;” therefore everything she does is classic. Take it as you will.
@fudgester: That’s an insult to “Holiday” and “Borderline.”
@kisskisskiss: that was a stroke of English genius that was…
Is it Sour Lemon? I’ll bet a fiver on it.
i think its gonna be hot as hell - can’t wait for the whole thing - @kisskisskiss - i remember oldfrapp lolol