Madonna's Hard Candy Review

Take Madonna out of the Hard Candy album and it's pretty easy to tell who produced the songs. Timbaland, Kanye West, Pharell Williams, and Danja all had their fingers on the switchboard when Madonna added her voice to the tracks. Is she just copying the diluge of recent singers doing the same like Nelly Furtado, Britney Spears, and Gwen Stefani? Madonna's Hard Candy brings more hip-pop than previous albums, but you can still hear the singer from the 80's and 90's.

Pharell Williams and Madonna team up for "Candy Shop", a peppy tune with old time sexual innuendo. The cliche lines like "My sugar is sweet, sticky and raw" might make you cringe, but the lyrics are catchy, like most of Gwen Stefani's stuff. Hey, if Madonna wants to be my "one-stop candy shop", then I'll let her.

Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Timbaland. It's the Tri-Force of music. "4 Minutes" is the first single from the track and has Timbalands signature beats and Justin's signature cameo. The song is a sexy collaboration between the three and is a nice anthem dedicated to save the world through dance. One special note: check out the video if you can. There is a neat part where Justin and Madonna strip each other down to the bones...

"Give it to Me" is a good song, but doesn't showcase her traditional style of singing. If you listen closely, the song kind of reminds me of early Sting: a bouncy beat with elongated singing. Madonna's lower octave singing may annoy some, but she combines that with her higher pitched voice, which balances out.

Do you like Madonna's early dance music? Then you will like "Heartbeat". She loves dancing and she feels it in her heartbeat and she likes it when she's the only one. Besides, I do want to "see her booty get down". The lyrics are stronger than most of the album and the beat is classic, so a decent track overall.

"Miles Away" is by far the strongest song on the album. It starts with a smooth guitar, then rolls into a beat that immediately bops your head. While the song is basically about a long-distance relationship, the lyrics are simple and catchy and the music flows nicely.

Want to head back to the disco? Play "She's Not Me". Jazz guitar, strings, funky disco claps, and a subtle Moog inhabit this song. Whether this is a song about a new lover or about people imitating Madonna musically, this song will make you move. Oh, and you'll probably like the whistle.

Probably one of the bad songs on the album. And by bad, I mean when compared to the rest of the songs, it's below standard, but still catchy. After a few listens, "Incredible" might grow on you. It's a quick and light beat with not enough music, but Madonna's voice carries the song. The best part of the song is the hard rock breakdown in the middle.

It's too bad the beat goes on for this song. "Beat Goes On" sounds like a Kylie Minogue reject. "Get down, beep beep, gotta get up out of your seat". Generic dance lyrics with generic dance music. There's not much else to say about this song. While it flows, it flows on and on...like it's beat.

With Justin Timberlake again, Madonna pops out another sweet dance track. They should just get a room and get it done because they chemistry between them is sexy and just like a dance song duet should be. Some cliche rhymes and lyrics, but they are fleeting.

The title of the song says it all. You will get a Spanish Lesson, courtesy of Madonna. It's a fast song and the bottom line is that Madonna just wants to fall in love and she's going to use Spanish to do. Or so she hopes. One downside to this song is that there is too much going on during the chorus. More drums, more echoing, more horns than is needed. Maybe Madonna should go to "La Isla Bonita" to fall in love.

"Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" is the only ballad on the album and it blows the other songs away. It's a trip-hop treat that verges on reggae and is lyrically the best song. If you liked Justin Timberlake's What Goes Around (Comes Around) then this song is an automatic A+ for you. Great piano breaks in front of a thunderstorm and a smooth beat makes for a great song.

People thought Madonna was done with all the S&M stuff. "Voices" proves that wrong. This song has all the references that her album Erotica had. "Who is the master and who is the slave" recalls all that sexual tension she had on her previous album. Not a strong song, but worth a listen or two.

Madonna's Hard Candy is a sugary treat full of carbohydrates and calories. There are only two songs that should have arguably been removed from the album because of weak lyrics and production quality, but getting past that will net you an experience of Madonna that is yet again new. She only has four minutes to save the world, let's give it to her.