Madonna - Hard Candy

Listening to the newest Madonna album for the 3rd time now, there are thousands of things that want to be said. Of course after so little time with the record, this can only be a first glance...

First of all, yes - Madonna is late to the party with Timbaland as producer. A billion artists have done this before, and it's certainly not innovative anymore. Anyone's doing it. As well as duet-ing with Justin Timberlake. So regarding this, I was exciting about hearing about this collaboration as well as disappointed, because frankly: we all expect Madonna to be innovative and revolutionary, and not to jump on the bandwagon. She did in this case.

Now, away from the blah blah. We all know that the only thing that really matters is the music. And here we have to name the excitement again: Madonna produced by Timbaland! And throw Timberlake and the great Neptunes in the mix as well-- To say that this sounds promising is the understatement of the year. Timbaland is a genius, and Madonna is a genius. So is this album genius?

Maybe not quite, but after two listens now, I think that
- it's fucking good
- it features amazingly great sounds and beats
- the electronica are a lot smarter than on "American Life"
- the lyrics are much better than on "Confessions On A Dancefloor"
- Timbaland's arrangements just rock

I mean, the sound of the first three tracks, 'candy shop', '4 minutes' and 'give it 2 me' alone are a whole new world of cool. These three are certainly favourites, as well as 'incredible' (which I didn't like so much at first listen because of the seemingly predictable melody line, but it totally takes off with the words "...Can't get my head around it" and becomes special), and also 'beat goes on' (great guest appearance by Kanye West - I especially love that he goes right to singing the chorus after his rap, well done). And not to forget the adorable 70ies sounds on 'she's not me'. Pharrell Williams' vocals are awesome as always, by the way. Honorable mention for the amazing synthies at the end of 'dance 2night' (oh, Timbaland, you never fail me). And then the closer, 'voices' - amazing melody lines, great instrumentation, and the arabic violins in the chorus.. awesome.

After these first craven rounds, I think that all of the twelve tracks have something. I don't believe there's a filler on here, because songs that seemed a bit weaker to me ('miles away' for example, or maybe 'spanish lesson') are all worth being on this record.

Yeah, I do think that this album is a grower, as the single was. I do believe that after giving it more spins, I will not only really like this, I will probably fall in love.

Funny how I felt at first listen that, if this record was by someone else than Madonna, I would have been even more excited. I guess this just means that I expect a lot from Madonna. And she has not disappointed me. This is not a musical revolution, not as innovative as "Music" was (featuring breathtaking "French disco"/electronica). But it's a damn great album by the Queen of Pop, and I know that I will spend lots of beautiful hours listening to it. The Goddess has blessed us once again.

"Raw, sticky and sweet"

--Sapnish--