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List Price: $18.98 | | Label: WEA/Reprise
Salesrank: 1819
Released: April 29, 2008 |
| Our Price: $5.99 |
| Used Price: $3.50 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Hard Candy Track Listing:
1. Candy Shop
2. 4 Minutes
3. Give It 2 Me
4. Heartbeat
5. Miles Away
6. She s Not Me
7. Incredible
8. Beat Goes On
9. Dance 2night
10. Spanish Lesson
11. Devil Wouldn't Recognize You
12. Voices
Editorial Review:
Japanese pressing of Madonna's 2008 full-length album includes one bonus track, 'Ring My Bell'. Hard Candy is a brilliant uptempo collection that adds a hip-hop beat to the cultural icon's club sensibilities, thanks to collaborations with Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Pharrell Williams, and Nate "Danja" Hills. Hard Candy punctuates the first 25 years of the album career of the most successful female artist in history with a musical exclamation point. 12 tracks..
Hard Candy Reviews:
Don't Be Deceived By the Candy Shell. . . 
2009-10-09 - At first glance, Hard Candy seems a bit contrived--a pop icon in her fifties trying to win over a younger audience by enlisting big names like Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell. Most of the negative reviews I've read about this album mostly focus on this particular aspect of the album, criticizing Madonna's choice to work with big names rather than unknowns like she has on previous albums (Music and Ray of Light). However, pop stars working with big names is nothing new, even for Madonna. The question is, "is the music good?"
The tone gets set early with "Candy Shop," which recalls the sound of her first album, both in terms of production and lyrical content. Madonna sounds sexier than she has in years and Pharrell brings the song to life with a vibrant, uncluttered production that puts her voice front and center.
"4 Minutes" is clearly meant to be the "Madonna's back!" 1st single, with it's ominous horns trumpeting her arrival. Madonna has been known to bring out the best in her producers, and this song is proof of that. "4 Minutes" is a blast of pure energy that we haven't heard from Timbaland in awhile. Justin Timberlake and Madonna have great chemistry; they share the song without trying to overpower the other. At times the bass threatens to drown out the singing, but it's a stylistic choice that works in this case. Lyrically, it's a bit of a throwaway, but a fun song regardless.
Madonna fans that were turned off by "4 Minutes" due to it's commercial viability will probably say "all is forgiven!" after hearing "Give it 2 Me." Usually by track three Madonna takes her listeners to dance heaven and this is a great slice of it. Rollingstone magazine pointed out that the creative friction between Madonna and Pharrell worked for this album, and I believe that friction is most evident here, as the song blends Madonna's dance sensibility and Pharrell's hip-hop point of view to great effect. One of the album's best moments!
"Heartbeat" is the most retro moment of the album. It sounds like a song that she wrote for her first album, brought to life by modern production. On the surface it sounds like a fun throwaway song about feeling alive on the dancefloor, but there's a world-weariness that sneaks into the song, especially when she sings "it may feel old to you but to me it feels new." You sense that Madonna is thinking about her own relevance, a feeling brewing just under the surface of this simple song, thus elevating it's artistic complexity.
The real meat and potatoes of this album comes in the following trio of songs, "Miles Away," "She's Not Me," and "Incredible." Madonna's divorce has been no secret in the press, and although she hasn't gone public about what went wrong, these songs seem the most inspired by it.
"Miles Away" is another brilliant blend of acoustic pop akin to "Don't Tell Me." However, "Miles Away" hits much harder than it's predecessor. It's a song about how the man in her life seems more comfortable with their relationship when they're separated from one another ("you always have the biggest heart/when we're 6,000 miles apart"). It's a bit of cutting truth that we've come to expect from Madonna, with a beautifully atmospheric production to boot.
"She's Not Me" is actually a fun song, and she could be talking about her man cheating on her or her competition in the pop world (ie. Britney Spears). Sonically, the song has a fun disco vibe over a throbbing bassline. It's not clear as to whom she is talking about, but sandwiched between "Miles Away" and "Incredible" the song gains more gravitas as a deft pop song about infidelity.
"Incredible" is the album's showstopper: it's a grandiose slab of pop that builds and builds into pop experimentation and lyrically goes from sad and fragile to fierce and determined. In it, she sings about how wonderful and exciting relationships are at the beginning and her desire to bring her relationship back into that territory. At first she doesn't know what to do ("can't get my head around it/I need to think about it") and by the end of the song (an unchained bit of dance euphoria reminiscent of the dance breaks in the "Erotica" album) she's proclaiming "I don't want this to end/ I'm missing my best friend". . ."sex with you is incredible!" By the end of the song you hope that those crazy kids work it out after the drama of the two songs that preceded it.
After "Incredible," the album loosens up for a few songs. "Beat Goes On" brings Madonna back to familiar lyrical territory--life is short, live it--in the same vein as "Jump" off her last album. The tinkling bells sound in the song gives it a "Lucky Star" 2008/Sex and the City soundtrack kind of vibe and is a strong contender for being a single. Kanye West doesn't add too much to the song, though he doesn't sound out of place either, which is a kind of victory in and of itself. One of the albums strongest tracks!
"Dance 2Night" is by far the loosest song on the album. It's as though Justin and Madonna went into the studio and freestyled while the producer did his thing. Definitely not the most memorable song on the album, but it's nice to hear a more relaxed moment on such a tightly-composed album. Fun and forgettable!
"Spanish Lesson" is the worst thing Madonna has done in a long time, with its "I'm Madonna doing my Spanish shtick" repertoire that she has done more effectively in the past. A glaring misstep on this otherwise great album.
"Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" is an intriguing ballad that again seems to reference Madonna's divorce. Lyrically, it's stunning: "The steps that edge along the ledge/It's much higher than it seems/That I've been on that ledge before/
You can't hide yourself from me." Madonna sells it with a restrained vocal that matches the moodiness of the production. However, the production has a couple of problems that distract from the song's beauty. First, it's very similar to "Cry Me a River" by Justin Timberlake, and second, Timbaland had a very heavy hand on this song and it can sound a bit overproduced (particularly the rubbery/bubbly sound effect buried in the song). These are minor quibbles though, as this song is still a strong ballad.
"Voices" ends this multifaceted album, and it takes no prisoners. Thunderous and ominous, this song is a clear indictment of the male protagonist referenced in the other songs: "so you claim madness like it's convenient/you do it so often that you start to believe it/you have demons so no one can blame you/but who is the master and who is the slave?" Madonna is in full diva mode, as she lacerates with sarcasm in a way we haven't heard since "Waiting" from the "Erotica" album. Timbaland is still a bit heavy-handed on the bass, but it works here. A great ending to a deceptively powerful album.
All in all, Madonna delivers the goods yet again, going from fun and poppy to whistful and sarcastic often within the same song. Almost 30 years into her career, Madonna hasn't lost her edge or talent. Don't be fooled by her choice of producers or the sauciness of the album cover, this is an album that, like its predecessors, is a fantastic balance of fun and depth. Here's looking forward to the next album!
It's something for tthe masses, so stop hating. 
2009-10-07 - I'm sorry, but there are some serious haters posting on here... especially the hardcore madonna fans rating her album a 1 star. Nerve! Madonna's not your personal songstress, so don't expect her to produce music that only you like. These are quality tracks, and I enjoy them. These tracks aren't over produced, they're well produced. Problem is many of them are well produced for the club and dance scene, so if you're not there, you wouldn't get it. And her voice lacking maturity- wrong. There's nothing wrong with her remembering the days of her youth with a couple vocals. When you've done it all, sometimes you want to try something again- in a different way! Hello. I think Madonna did an amazing job, because just about every song makes you not only want to sing along, but feel like you can sing along. Britney and all them other chicks are great, but try singing along... first try figuring out what they're saying... wait, get them to stop stuttering... "womanizer, you're a womanizer, womanizer..." Okay, I get it. But let Madonna show that she can go into the studio and simply have fun just tossing down a few vocals. At some point in your career, an artist doesn't have to work hard at being creative. So at least respect what she's doing both as an artist and a business woman, and a person for crying out loud. Sit back, enjoy the album, and know that there's something for everyone, though everything on it might not work for everyone. That's just how albums go. Be glad she has the versatility to produce something that you may not like, but with a different taste may... that's how you bring people together. Put in a Madonna album, and watch them all rock out to different tracks. :-)
Madonna Riding High Still...
2009-09-26 - Its true Madonna never fails. I am never disappointed after I listen to a Madonna album. I just finished listening to this one and all I can say is WOW!! Shes 50 years old and still has her voice. And the songs are jumping. The song Give it to me got me dancing. The song after it reminded me of her stuff from the 80s. A mix of Pop, Electronica and Hip hop on this one. Madonna is truly the Queen of Pop.
It Deserves 5 Stars For the Material. 4 Stars cuz it came from Madonna.
2009-09-04 - The album is actually rather good, But C'mon Madonna! You can do so much better than this.
"Hard Candy" is overall a Dance/Electronic album with hip-hop sensibilities.
I love all the songs minus the weirdo "Spanish Lesson" which i can only listen too a couple times before i'ts on skip mode all over again.
I'm hoping and praying for another "Confessions on the Dancefloor" or "Ray of Light" but for right now, this album is actually pretty catchy material.
My Favorite Songs are
Devil Wouldn't Recognize You- I LOVE THE LYRICS and the Tempo of the ballad, i just wish Justin Timberlake's influance wasn't so obvious.
Give It 2 Me- classic Madonna dance track- i love it.
Great album, but we know she can achieve Monumental material , "Hard Candy" is just too generic. It's the type of stuff we expect from the Pop Princess, not the Queen of Pop. so i give it 4 stars.
Madonna is a psychopath. 
2009-09-01 - What a bad music! How can anyone appreciate this trash? Just notice that every single attitude coming from this woman, is with the clear intention of appearing. She has no talent, just uses scandal to achieve her goal. She has all the symptoms of a psychopath. All women with psychopathy are promiscuous. They don't have freewill, they are slaves of their disease! And Madonna is clearly one of them.
