Binding: Audio CD
Brand: MADONNA
EAN: 0093624988496
Label: WEA/Reprise
Manufacturer: WEA/Reprise
MPN: 093624988496
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: WEA/Reprise
Release Date: 2008-04-29
Studio: WEA/Reprise

Japanese pressing of Madonna's 2008 full-length album includes one bonus track, 'Ring My Bell'. Hard Candy is a brilliant uptempo collection that adds a hip-hop beat to the cultural icon's club sensibilities, thanks to collaborations with Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, and Nate "Danja" Hills. Hard Candy punctuates the first 25 years of the album career of the most successful female artist in history with a musical exclamation point. 12 tracks..

Customer Rating:
Summary: How did we get from Ray of Light to this?
Comment: I was a big fan of Ray of Light, American Life, Music, Confessions..., etc. I was very excited to see Madonna coming out with a new album and figured she would continue with the more mature sound/less outrageous attitude she embraced starting with Ray of Light....I was mistaken.

I understand Madonna became famous thanks to her sexuality-injected early songs (Like a Virgin, etc) but was hoping that was all behind her. Aside from the dumbed-down, unappealing lyrics and unappetizing 50+ year old in-your-face sexual Madonna, Timbaland is an overplayed hack and doesn't have half the talent of William Orbit or Mirwais...overall I am very dissatisfied with this album & it will stay on the shelf.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Fair and unbalanced
Comment: There's one thing you can count on with Madonna - there's new music always coming down the pipeline, and every CD is different. This one isn't going to be one for the ages.

Overall, it's a decent album. It's not anything revolutionary or an attempt to kick the industry in the behind, like "Confessions..." and "Ray of Light" were. But it's different from the last, in style and tempo, so she's holding true to form.

"4 Minutes" didn't seem to get as much top 40 fanfare as I thought and that might have been a sign that the entire album isn't going to be well received. "Give it to me" is the follow-up which hasn't had much, if any, airplay.

The album starts strong with a goodie in "Candyshop" which is followed by "4 minutes" which is still decent after 200 listens. The first half of tracks are all very good. It should have stopped at an EP. The second half I would consider "filler songs" and just don't seem to be really good.

Overall, I guess it's average. Some good, some bad. Every Madonna listener has already bought it and is going to the next concert tour. You just have to decide whether you can live with half an album or wait until the next one.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: 4 minutes is the highlight
Comment: I really like the song "4 Minutes" but the rest of the songs are only so so. I was disappointed in this one. I normally like Madonna's work. She and Justin Timberlake save the entire album with 4 Minutes, though. I'd recommend buying the single song and not wasting the money on the rest.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: SMELLS LIKE CANDY
Comment: this item is really good. especially the candy coloured vinyl. for any fan of madonna this is a must have. at first i hesitated to order it because of the silliness of the cover. All my other vinyls have quite dark and strong covers like the black parade is dead or pretty odd but this is somethign else. this is the Lp record you are gonna put on and loose yourself.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Worst album since Erotica
Comment: She definitely sold out on this one. All of the songs sound like someone else's work, except for some of the repetitive lyrics she seems to sing over and over in her songs from album to album. The songs she sings with Justin Timberlake sound just like the songs he would put on his own album. They don't sound like Madonna at all. She is trying to use the hottest names in today's music to increase her fan base with the younger crowds in America. I think she should just forget about that because no matter what she does, she is still 50 years old and many of the younger crowds are interested in younger artists. And let's face it, folks. Madonna CANNOT get away with R&B. It just isn't her style and doesn't work for her at all. I cringe everytime I hear the lyric "See my booty get down like...." Yikes! It just sounds so forced and unnatural. If have to talk myself out of gritting my teeth everytime she says this, it is simply not worth the pain.

At first I thought some of the songs were a bit catchy, and they are somewhat, but I found myself rating the songs by those that annoyed me least rather than those that I liked the most. I got bored of this album in about two weeks and haven't pulled it out since. I think she must have put this album together in about two days because it sounds like something she just threw together to make sure no one forgot about her. At least on Erotica there were a couple of good songs mixed in with the bad ones that make me pull it out every once in awhile. I can't say the same about this album.

Madonna: you are not trying to compete with Mariah Carey, so why lower yourself to her standards? We expect more out of you. Please don't disappoint us again. My office, 5 minutes. If it's 6, keep walkin'.

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