The queen of pop is steaming up the radio again with her club friendly new disc, Hard Candy. Madonna straddles the line between hip-hop and techno with euro-synths, driving beats courtesy of the Neptunes and Timbaland, a smattering of smutty lyrics and the occasional 70s-funk/disco bass lines.
Even if you ignore the monster lead single, "4 Minutes" which you definitely should not, there are plenty of booty-shakers on here, "Give It 2 Me" pulses like every gay club, "She's Not Me" features biting lyrics taking on all pretenders to Madges throne while upping the roller-disco ante with funktified bass that "Beat Goes On" picks up (with a half-hearted Kanye West cameo) and "Heartbeat" explains what the deal is: "You'll find me on the floor/working up a sweat/that's what music's for."
Let's not ignore the slow cuts, though. "Miles Away" brings to mind the unjustly ignored "Love Profusion" from American Life and "Devil Wouldn't Recognize" is Timbaland at his post-"Cry Me A River" best: creepy pianos, rain sound effects, abstract BGVs and a downbeat to die for. Some might criticize Tim for doing another "Cry Me A River" but it is one of the best pop songs of this decade, so why not?
But if even if the beats are on point, it's the lyrics that don't always work. "Candy Shop" could have had candy/sex double entendre that made us forget the 50 Cent track of the same name, but the dirtiest we get is "my sugar is raw" Don't even get me started on "Spanish Lessons" and "Dance 2Night" those lyrics are best forgotten, at least the beat on "Dance" makes up for it, "Spanish" could have been left off the album.
But, is this a classic Madonna album? No. It's a great club album, and if any cut-rate dance floor diva had made it I would be floored, but Madonna has done much better in the past. But as is, I'm just pleased. It's fresh, modern and funky, I can't hate.
No comments:
Post a Comment