Madonna returns to the dance floor

Amelia Raether
May 15, 2008
Filed under Music Reviews, Reviews

Stuffed with stifling techno beats and repetitive tones, Madonna’s latest album, Hard Candy, is a mediocre attempt to reform Madonna and depict her as 50 going on 20.

Let’s face it. Despite Madonna’s eager attempts to stretch out her pop-diva status, she simply doesn’t have the youthfulness to pull it off anymore. One look at her album cover proves this point; it shows the singer in a tight, black leather leotard and a thick gold belt encrusted with a giant M, seductively positioned and placed in front of a giant pink lollipop–not exactly something you’d expect from a 49-year-old singer with two kids.

But this album does provide some entertaining and dance-worthy tracks. Collaborating with Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrel Williams, and Kanye West, this album is a combination of her traditional pop dance with new hip hop and R&B influences.

The album opens with “Candy Shop,” an annoying, bouncy song filled with high falsetto phrases, serving as a perfect introduction to this repetitive, unoriginal disc. However, her song “Miles Away,” with an easygoing and Spanish-sounding rhythm, is a spot of light in a hopeless album, and is a return to Madonna’s traditional dance-inspiring music.

Likewise, her song “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You” is another gem in an overall poor music collaboration. Starting with light xylophone notes and turning into a piano and percussion heavy tune, it is a nice change from the electronic sounds of the rest of the album.

Her collaboration with Justin Timberlake is apparent in many of her songs, notably “Dance 2night,” with Timberlake’s trademark grunts, wooden percussion knocks, and unchanging background beats.

Hard Candy ends with three different remix songs: two versions of her iTunes hit “4 Minutes” and a Paul Oakenfold edit of “Give It 2 Me.”

The album also features her current hit single “4 Minutes” with Justin Timberlake, and her second single, “Give It 2 Me,” will be released in the near future.

Hard Candy brings Madonna to ten Number One albums in the United Kingdom, topped only by the Beatles and Elvis Presley.