Did anyone else pick up “Hard Candy” by Madonna?  It came out yesterday, Tuesday.  I’m kind of digging it.  “Give It 2 Me” and “Beat Goes On” are pretty cool.  “She’s Not Me” is good, but I think it’ll make a better remix.  Of course “4 Minutes” is good.  I like the way Timbaland mixes.  I’ve heard some people say they are tired of his sound, but I love it!

Hey Razz-bel-

Check out the podcasty goodness on the main page! I’m anxious to see what the sales numbers are for this. I really like it. I think it will be a crowd-pleaser.

CHANCE

Yep.  Picked it up yesterday at Target.  This album better outsell Mariah’s E=MC squared…lol

Anyhow…

Here’s my comment from the main page:

”Chuck:

‘Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You’ is my favorite track on the album as well.

It’s very much a song that gives the feeling of someone emerging in a different sort of life, not necessarily having to be a good or horrible one, but definitely with new eyes.—Seeing the world through new eyes.  It reminds me of something that would be played in that scene in Buffy (think it was in Season 6), where she’s resurrected by Willow and having to claw her way out of the coffin, and emerges all bewildered by her surroundings because it’s so harsh compared to where she came from.  Okay, I’ll stop rambling about this one now. hehe

Anyhow, I HATE ‘Candy Shop’ and especially ‘Spanish Lesson.’ Agreed.  WHO’S idea was it to put ‘Spanish Lesson’ on there???  The only good thing about ‘Candy Shop’ and the whole theme of the album, is that I can regard it as a nod to Christina Aguilera.  (Yeah, that’s what I wanna believe…hehe) Plus the fur stole in the one picture!  It’s very ‘Ain’t No Other Man’.  You know, how X-Tina flings hers off just after the opening note and all…lol Now she just needs to release her next album soon so she can ‘challenge’ Madonna like a Cyndi Lauper…lol (’M’ does have that championship belt after all)

To me, ‘She’s Not Me’ is the roller skating song of the album.  :D

‘Miles Away’, ‘Beat Goes On’ (even though I usually hate Kanye West!), and ‘Incredible’ were pretty good as well.

That’s all for now.  ”

On another note.  These lyrics on 4 Minutes:

If you want it
Ya already got it
If you thought it
It better be what you want

Sound like this to me

If you want it
Ya already got it
If you farted
It better be what you want

My other half is getting it tonight.. I can’t say I’m looking forward to it.
I used to absolutely adore Madonna right through the first album to Like a Prayer..
Then she put out Vogue..
Ugh.
I haven’t gone off anyone faster or more completely before or since. Nothing she’s done since then has been able to suck me back in.. I miss the old bleach blond Madonna of the True Blue days

But no doubt I’ll be suffering the album in the car for a while so I suppose Ill have another opinion to add later one way or another :D

Havoc - 30 April 2008 06:14 AM

I miss the old bleach blond Madonna of the True Blue days

*sigh*  I hear ya on that.  Miss the days of the fire-engine red lipstick ala the Who’s That Girl movie… running down the street…cougar hehe

Havoc - 30 April 2008 06:14 AM

But no doubt I’ll be suffering the album in the car for a while so I suppose Ill have another opinion to add later one way or another :D

bwhaha!  Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on ‘Spanish Lesson’, which I consider to be a form of torture.

Anyhow, I think this album will do well, but not as good as the last one.

I’m posting this on my blog later today with a review of the new Robyn album (which is EXCELLENT) by the way):

For her most recent studio album, Madonna has shifted her musical focus once again, and the results are decidedly mixed.  Enlisting the help of producers Timbaland and the Neptunes, Madonna has opted for a hip-hop disco style that sometimes delivers fantastic results and sometimes delivers a mess.  Like Madonna sings on the opening title track, the effort is definitely sticky and sweet, but not always in the best ways.

Madonna has always chosen her producers wisely, and they have always worked with her well, never overwhelming her but complimenting her.  Hard Candy is the first Madonna album in a very long time where she seems beholden to the producers.  Madonna seems less like the Queen of Pop and more like just a singer on many of the tracks here, and her persona seems a little lost in the hip-hop arrangements.  With lyrics about seeing her “booty get down”, Madonna seems more like she’s co-opting the hip-hop sound for a lark and doesn’t truly have her heart in the music.  She’s appealing to what those kids listen to today instead of doing what she really wants, and sometimes the lyrics sound strange coming from the mouth of a woman about to turn 50.

That’s not to say that the album isn’t enjoyable.  Timbaland and the Neptunes have given Madonna a truly disco album in the 1978 sense.  “She’s Not Me” is like a lost Donna Summer classic with some early-Prince flourishes.  “Give It To Me” is a Studio 54 banger.  Many of the R&B;-heavy tracks also fare well, certainly much better than her previous “urban” effort Bedtime Stories.  Skittering, desperate beats and video-game synths make “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” and “Incredible” two more highlights of the album.  “4 Minutes” still rocks, as well.

Still, there is more than a few missteps.  “Dance 2night” is an instantly forgettable party-filler.  “Spanish Lesson” is a downright embarrassing mess of noise and B-side silliness.  “Voices” is a fine song that’s marred by atrocious red-line production on the low-end.  “Hard Candy” is mildly enjoyable, but it’s about two minutes too long and not nearly as clever or sexy as is thinks it is.

Even in those cases, the album is a coherent, enjoyable listen as a whole, even if it lacks the personality of American Life, the whimsy of Confessions on a Dance Floor, or the brilliance of Ray of Light.  Mid-life crises should all be this entertaining.  6 out of 10.

Allen - 30 April 2008 08:00 PM

I’m getting it tomorrow.  I’m a fan of her from the first album.  Like a Prayer is my all time fave album and everything else just hits and misses from there.  American Life really lost me.  I’m wanting to skip the Spanish Lesson song without even hearing it, lots of bad press here and elsewhere.

The vocal production on “Spanish Lesson” is excellent.  I can imagine a great club mix of the song being made using just the chorus vocal.  However, the lyrics to the verses are beyond stupid.

“Spanish Lesson” is a weird song, but like all of her songs, I’ll hear it, and memorize it… but it doesn’t mean it’ll be my favorite!  And it’s not easy to say that.  I love the beats, but The lyrics seemed like they need to be reworked a bit more.  I know she gets these crazy impulses to record songs like “Going Bananas.” And I guess because I know the literal translations and to me it sounds like something silly I’d hear on a kids show.  I do like when she does “If you do your homework…”  It’s a love\hate thing.

Sales.  I just read this and am disappointed that Mariah’s album will probably sell more copies:

Madonna’s new album, Hard Candy, went on sale on Tuesday and it is expected to move between 275,000 and 300,000 copies its first week domestically, which should easily be enough to claim the No. 1 spot on the charts.

But it falls well short of Mariah Carey’s latest debut, E=MC2. It looks like Carey will post the highest sales week of the year at 463,000 copies. That’s 54% better than Madonna’s album. The question is: Does Madonna really care?

Tallstar - 01 May 2008 04:56 AM

Sales.  I just read this and am disappointed that Mariah’s album will probably sell more copies:

She knows a song that’ll get on your nerves :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHVeTCJ6bAI

Havoc - 01 May 2008 05:45 AM

Tallstar - 01 May 2008 04:56 AM

Sales.  I just read this and am disappointed that Mariah’s album will probably sell more copies:

She knows a song that’ll get on your nerves :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHVeTCJ6bAI

Ha!  That was great!

But ken lee tulibu dibu douchoo?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQt-h753jHI

Johnny M - 01 May 2008 06:20 AM

Ha!  That was great!

But ken lee tulibu dibu douchoo?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQt-h753jHI

You mean to tell me those aren’t the REAL lyrics to that song?  bwhaha!

Ken Lee…rotfl

Havoc - 01 May 2008 05:45 AM

She knows a song that’ll get on your nerves :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHVeTCJ6bAI

Those movements and glances are almost spot-on. 

Johnny M - 01 May 2008 06:20 AM

Ha!  That was great!

But ken lee tulibu dibu douchoo?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQt-h753jHI

The funny thing was, it took till the actual song came on for me to work out what the hell that was.. It was like a light going on (and then being switched off again very quickly)

the doctor - 01 May 2008 03:13 PM

Was too funny!who the heck were them hosts? never liked mariah carey,i saw her on american idol singin/speakin some new tune that went on and on and on!she comes off as a bumbling idiot at times! madonna should stick to dance music cuz thats where she is thebest! i personally dont like these records that mix all these producers and artists. at 50 or so madonna should be happy at her career no matter if she outsells mariah or not.i cant see mariah at 50 still workin,she will be in arkahm asylum!

The “Ken Lee” video was taken from the most recent season of Bulgaria’s version of Music Idol (what we call American Idol).  The same singer didn’t make it to the next round, but she was invited back for a guest spot to sing the same song with (mostly) better English.

Also, Madonna is in line to get her seventh #1 album in next week’s Billboard chart.  That means the only female singer in history with more #1 albums is Barbara Streisand with 8.  Mariah and Janet Jackson both have 6.  Madonna also has five #2 albums to her name, something of a record in and of itself.

I’m more of a fan of Madonna’s ballads like Oh Father (my all time favorite Madonna song), This Used to Be My Playground, Take a Bow and Rain.  I miss them.  I’m tired of her current phase of music.  The only dance song I really can think of right now that I love is Vogue.  I also like Like a Prayer but don’t know how to classify it, lol.

gnewton34 - 04 May 2008 12:46 AM

I also like Like a Prayer but don’t know how to classify it, lol.

I would classify it as “spiritual” or “Christian rock.”

CHANCE