2008 Woodie Awards
New Vibrations
Issue date: 5/1/08
ARTIST
Madonna
ALBUM
Hard Candy
LABEL
WEA/Reprise
RELEASED
April 29, 2008
It was whispered by shifty-eyed men in dark corners that Madonna, maybe, has had some artificial help in maintaining her "look." She turns 50 this year, so she must be feeling a bit dated. So, going into Hard Candy, her eleventh studio album, I expected a desperate attempt to stay relevant in a youth market.
I mean, look at that album cover on the right there. What is she doing? I invite the reader to also check out the back cover of the album, which seems a tad suggestive in its posturing.
By now, everyone who listens to the radio at all has heard the first single off the album, "4 Minutes." This is the ultimate example of a track engineered for the number one spot. Justin Timberlake is featured, and even pop-production king Timbaland gets in his "frikka frikky." Already the song has become a top 10 Billboard single - her 37th, beating out Elvis's record of 36.
Apart from that, what else does the album have to offer? It might seem like the point in her career where she would be clutching at the last bits of her stardom, but Madonna has produced quite a few dance floor-ready songs on Hard Candy. And, OK, it's not the most artistically fulfilling album ever, but it's not supposed to be.
The opener "Candy Shop" features some pretty funky bongo action (no, really), along with a catchy little chorus. Madonna has no qualms about the not-so-subtle lyric "My sugar is raw/ Sticky and sweet." Of course, Madonna has never been one for subtlety.
If we were looking for an R&B revolution, something that was rumored to happen on this album for Madonna, any possibility is erased after these first two tracks. "Give It 2 Me" plants us firmly back into Euro-dance pop music. It's a fine song, with some promise that might come through better via some DJ's remix.
Just when you thought "Give It 2 Me" had given you enough synth, "Heartbreak" proves you wrong. Along with the fluttery '80s brass, which I can deal with, we get an odd little dialogue between Madonna and Pharrell Williams, where he instructs her to go a "little lower baby," and Madonna complies by lowering her voice, below the point at which it sounds natural. Instead, she sounds a bit like a woman trying to imitate a man's voice - distracting, to say the least.
Madonna
ALBUM
Hard Candy
LABEL
WEA/Reprise
RELEASED
April 29, 2008
It was whispered by shifty-eyed men in dark corners that Madonna, maybe, has had some artificial help in maintaining her "look." She turns 50 this year, so she must be feeling a bit dated. So, going into Hard Candy, her eleventh studio album, I expected a desperate attempt to stay relevant in a youth market.
I mean, look at that album cover on the right there. What is she doing? I invite the reader to also check out the back cover of the album, which seems a tad suggestive in its posturing.
By now, everyone who listens to the radio at all has heard the first single off the album, "4 Minutes." This is the ultimate example of a track engineered for the number one spot. Justin Timberlake is featured, and even pop-production king Timbaland gets in his "frikka frikky." Already the song has become a top 10 Billboard single - her 37th, beating out Elvis's record of 36.
Apart from that, what else does the album have to offer? It might seem like the point in her career where she would be clutching at the last bits of her stardom, but Madonna has produced quite a few dance floor-ready songs on Hard Candy. And, OK, it's not the most artistically fulfilling album ever, but it's not supposed to be.
The opener "Candy Shop" features some pretty funky bongo action (no, really), along with a catchy little chorus. Madonna has no qualms about the not-so-subtle lyric "My sugar is raw/ Sticky and sweet." Of course, Madonna has never been one for subtlety.
If we were looking for an R&B revolution, something that was rumored to happen on this album for Madonna, any possibility is erased after these first two tracks. "Give It 2 Me" plants us firmly back into Euro-dance pop music. It's a fine song, with some promise that might come through better via some DJ's remix.
Just when you thought "Give It 2 Me" had given you enough synth, "Heartbreak" proves you wrong. Along with the fluttery '80s brass, which I can deal with, we get an odd little dialogue between Madonna and Pharrell Williams, where he instructs her to go a "little lower baby," and Madonna complies by lowering her voice, below the point at which it sounds natural. Instead, she sounds a bit like a woman trying to imitate a man's voice - distracting, to say the least.
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