Best Tracks:
Give it 2 Me
Heartbeat
Miles Away
Incredible
Beat Goes On
Someone wrote that Hard Candy is the non-stop dance record that Confessions on a Dance Floor promised to be, but wasn’t. Word.
I loved Confessions, but it wasn’t a non-stop dance album, not in the way Britney’s Blackout was and certainly not to the degree that Hard Candy is.We were all so worried that Madonna would succumb to the hip-hop arm bending of those men., but it was Madonna who won those arm wrestling matches. Hard Candy is an authentic Madonna creation with some lite street cred tossed in to give it balls.. There are two throw-away tracks: Candy Shop and Spanish Lessons. Both are lyrically silly, one in English and the other in Spanish. Candy Shop however, does open the album and sort of invites us in, "come on into my store, I've got candy galore," and so, what the hell... I'll give it a pass.
On first listen, I’ll confess to disliking Four Minutes. But didn't we all, and what was that about anyway? Love it. HC’s third track is its best. Give it 2 Me takes everything I liked about new progressive music from the early eighties, infuses it with driving electro-trance rhythms, and then amps it up with a solid techno kick. As soon as I heard this one, I knew we were going to be just fine. Heartbeat continues with that electronic vibe I love so much. Still not sure how I feel about that refrain that has Madge rapping, “see my booty get down” over and over. It only lasts a few seconds, but I could really live without that part. Miles Away, She’s Not Me, and Incredible are each arguably the most autobiographical songs on HC. All three present stellar vocal performances by Madonna and in many ways are classic Madonna . Her signature selfconfidence drips off the edges of She’s Not Me, underscoring the singular reality that is Madonna: SHE'S FABULOUS! Incredible is simply that: Incredible. It starts off bubble-gummy and then morphs into a groovy little club tune that you gotta love the very first time you hear it. It's got single release written all over it.
Madonna catches a lot of shit for regurgitating her own lyrics from album to album and perhaps legitimately so. I have never, ever seen her finesse this tendency with the skill and success that is found on Beat Goes On. Madge deftly layers in lyrics from Deeper and Deeper—an all-time favorite of mine—gives a shout out to Donna Summers' Bad Girls, and then pulls into the background as Kanye West (and I can’t believe I am admitting this in public) rips out a kick ass solo to finish it off. This is an example of a song that when originally leaked was just plain garbage. This reworked version is one of the album's best.
Dance2Night continues HC’s tradition of beat-driven dance music (love the subtle nods to Starlight, btw) and is a back-to-basics 70s disco anthem with Madonna’s famously simple and marginally-inspirational lyrics: “You don’t have to be beautiful, to be understood.” A friend referred to it as filler; I give it more credit than that. It’s fun. The last two tracks, Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You and Voices, are beautiful ballads. Not exactly ballads really, but richly lyrical, somewhat haunting, and gorgeous send offs: "Who is the master and who is the slave?”
Fine. I’ll be the slave.
8 comments:
Great! Thanks for letting me use this!
WOW! Unlike in politics, I can say that I agree with you on this review, M-Filer. ;-) Now that I've listened to HC quite in-depth, I find myself addicted. I have to say though, that while I get what you're trying to do with the picture (I think), it kinda creeps me out...*WINK*
A most excellent review indeed.
I went to my local watering hole last night where I sing karaoke on MOndays, and the CD was playing non-stop on their excellent sound system and it sounded fierce! YEEHA!
Like I commented earlier, I am most impressed with "She's Not Me", for it starts out so ordinary in a way, and turns into something really audio-rich and interesting, and if I'm not mistaken it has an almost Donna Summerish sound to it don't it? She did this with Future Lovers as well.
And now "Heartbeat" is growing on me, since they played it about four times last night. LOL!
It's amazing, that Madonna releasing new music is not just a typical thing, but it almost takes on a mythical quality of its own: AN EVENT.
My CD arrived yesterday and I have been playing it since. It is
very enjoyable, upbeat and perhaps one of her most consistent CD's in
awhile. However, my biggest criticism is the lyrics. Some songs do have a
bubblegum bouncy feel, naturally light weight lyrics fit well to these
beats. Lyrics like, "Sex with you is incredible", lets hope this is
about Guy, seem extra lame to me. Perhaps she was distarcted while
writing these lyrics, maybe she was on the phone with her accountant? or busy
disciplining Lola and Rocco? Unfortunately, you never have to listen
to her songs more than once to get her meaning. All good lyrics (in my
opinion) deserve repeated listening, there's symbolism and double
entondras. In Candy Shop, which is the closest she gets to this, (clearly
about sex) she explains that her tweeny is sticky and sweet (...at least a
little thought went into that). Once again with lyrics like, "sex with
you is incredible", what could we possibly have to look forward to on
her next CD??... "Guy, I like it when you insert yourself into my
sticky sweet candy shop, don't make me stop, cause I'm worth it and oh
yeah, I'm spiritual too." Thank goodness the album is so well produced and
the beats are great , it makes up for the lyrics.
She is a living legend. She always knows to hook up with the
latest and greatest producers. Perhaps next time, she could benefit with
some help with her lyric writing, to keep things fresh.
EDGIE
A nice review, well done.
Did you hear Madonna announced her world tour?
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