| Summary: R&B? Nah, It's MUCH better than that!!! |
0 of 3 thought this review was well written
"Can't you see/When I dance I feel free..."
Don't worry Madonna, it's pretty obvious from this conglomeration of sweet (yet hard) candy that music sets you free... and to all the listeners too!
"Hard Candy" (possibly one of Madonna's most ambitious work yet) consists of mainly two subdivisions: the truly R&B half, sided with the hot, dance, and sexy side--or as I like to put it, the hard and sweet halves.
"4 Minutes," the top-five single from "Candy" is one of the hard and loud tracks. A marching band aesthetic makes it an addictive track--it is dynamic and energetic song that is perfect to help the album produce it's sales, yet it does not represent as a whole. See, along with this hot track, there's "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" quite easily one of Madonna's most soulful and yes, even beautiful, songs. It's not quite a ballad, yet it's not quite a power track--it's wonderful though! Justin Timberlake's collaboration can only explain how similar "Devil" sounds to "Cry Me A River..." but in the end, "Devil" comes out much better than "River."
"Candy Shop" (not a 50 Cent cover!!!) is a cool track that opens the album. At first listen it sounds like trash; it is bare and weak, with only a couple of exceptions. Yet once you give it a second listen it starts to grow on you, and soon gets stuck in your head for a few days and wish you would have never heard it again. Aah, she's done it again! Who knew that a 50-year-old lady could sound this sexy? (Oh, by the way, it is almost exactly the same as the demo leaked last year, except for a heavier bassline and some SLIGHT changes in the vocals--all in all, it remains the same.) Adding to the list of "hard" songs is "She's Not Me," a delghtful and hilarious track about her man betraying her--"She's not me/She doesn't have my name/She'll never have what I have/It won't be the same..." Bonus: in the intro it contains some "Holiday"-like synths in the background--wonderful! It is "like "Holiday" with an R&B groove!" "Incredible" the song following "She's Not Me," is a wonderful song about how beautiful life is and how everything feels incredible when they are together. It's sweet and tender, and though it runs a tad long, it's umm.... incredible!
The second half (or the sweet side) is quite danceable and fun--and guess what? There are no exceptions. The first dance track on "Candy," "Give It 2 Me" is one helluva dance track. "Give it 2 me/Yeah!" she yells, over wonderful synths and beeps and clicks... ah! I immediately got up and started doing some ridiculous dance moves I never knew existed... yeah! That's what this song will do to you so... BEWARE!!!
"Heartbeat" a song that will forever stay in everyone's heartbeat, starts off with nothing more than 4 heartbeats. When all the msuic comes together, one can't help but think it sounds like "Lucky Star"--you know that ringing thing in the beginning. But no worries here, it is MUCH more danceable than "Star"--and that's saying a lot! "You know I feel it in my heartbeat/Don't you know/Can't you see/When I dance I feel free!" Following "Heartbeat" is "Miles Away," a beautiful track about love at a very long distance... 6,000 exactly. It starts off with an acoustic guitar that sounds a little like "Love Profusion" mixed with "Don't Tell Me" and soon enough the beeps start and the song gets oh so much better! "I hear it in your voice/We're miles away.... I guess we're at our best/When we're miles away" followed by a few melancholic "so faw away"s that have the power to break even the hardest hearts.
"Spanish Lesson" is a rendition to her Latino fans, giving spanish lessons to her "student," and yet giving him more! Sure, this track reminds everyone of "La Isla Bonita" one of Madge's most famous singles, but it's much more modernized, with an amazing intro that has a touch of "flamenco" with a little Madonna sprinkled on top. (Unfortunately, the translations are sometimes too literal--but no one needs to know that....)
"Beat Goes On" and "Dance 2Night." Oh the titles say it all. "Beat Goes On" is a call out for everyone to get up and dance, to do your thing, to not sit there like a "silly girl," "if you wait too long it'll be too late." It is COMPLETELY different from the demo that leaked about eight months ago, it contains much more music (and though less melody) it has a bonus appearance by Kanye West, who of course, only makes the track even hotter. "Dance 2Night" yet another collaboration between Timberlake and Madge, will most definitely become one of her best known tracks if released as a single. It calls out to her partner, to dance tonight, to take a chance tonight, to hold hands tonight. It's sweet, and it even has a killer chorus! Not much that can beat this track, lemme tell ya!
Except "Voices." The haunting track about ghosts from the past, about voices in your head. Gosh, there aren't enough words to describe this song. It has an amazing beat that reminds one of "Thief Of Hearts" but is nowhere near as superficial. It is lyrical, haunting, and yes, I must admit, addictive. Imagine listening to this alone, and then, as the end approaches, a haunting bell ends the song, leaving you to interpret what in the world was that song about. So give it a try--analyze it. I'll leave you that as "homework."
DOWNLOAD:
-Give It 2 Me
-Miles Away
-Dance 2Night
-Devil Wouldn't Recognize You
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Nice, I still wanna shag this old bird even if she is all post-production these days.
I have most of her albums and enjoy them, might check this out.
Digging: Front Line Assembly - Tactical Neural Implant
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I know this topic has been beaten to death on message boards everywhere, but it needs to be stated again just how horrifying and disgusting that album artwork is.
Digging: Hadouken! - Music For An Accelerated Culture
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^haha QFT.
I really doubt that this a 4.5, but then again, I'm not a fan of this kind of music. So if you are a pop fan, it may be.
Digging: Mors Principium Est - Liberation = Termination
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
This album is really really good..... it's the best workout/dance album of the year!!! and yes, I do agree that the cover is HORRIFIC!!!! I don't know exactly why anyone would choose this as a cover, but hey, it's madonna.
Digging: Madonna - Hard Candy | | |
Quote:
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it's the best workout/dance album of the year!!!
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Good luck finding anyone here who works out.
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I work out.
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I work out as well, but not to madonna.
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dude. We still have 7 Months to go before the end of the year...
...What I'm getting at is there will be far more workout albums that have yet to be released. Think of all the great workout artists that are mastering their albums as we speak. lol.
The cover is great, if your a fan of old worn out cooches, and loud backgrounds. I stopped listening to Madonna after the Cowboy album. Then American life came out and I despised the few songs I heard, then I gave "confessions" a chance. There were good parts of the album, but "I Love New York" some of the worst lyrics I've ever heard. "Workout Music" or not.
http://www.triquadra-guild.com/Music/NewYork.mp3
don't believe me? copy and paste that link and listen to the amazingness of the lyrics.
"I don't like cities. But I like New York
Other places make me feel like a dork "
The truly frightening thing is that that's not even close to being the most retarded line of the song. So you can understand my reluctance to listen to HardCandy, because it seems like Confessions On A Dancefloor pt. 2, and I want no part of that. However I may eventually listen to this.
....EDIT: I see you have 5 Madonna albums with 5 stars, and 2 Shakira albums with 5 stars. That's all fine and dandy, but Confessions gets a 5 from you..... And every Bjork album gets a 2 or less? 2 AC/DC albums at 1? Holy crap! you must be seriously into "working out" in that case!
This Message Edited On 04.24.08
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
yeah! i actually am!!!! and i'm hispanic........ that's why i really like Shakira. And I don't ONLY rate CDs by lyrics, but as a whole...... and I do like some AC/DC cd's cuz i didn't just rate 2. And I don't like Bjork sorry. She's I don't know..... too weird for me, I don't know how to put it.
And though I agree that I Love New York isn't great lyrically, musically it is wonderful and creative. And it's my opinion, you don't have to make fun of it... 
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Remember, if this is a 5, you are supposed to convince us of it, and supposed to tell us why it's a five. You made exactly 5 attempts at describing the music, which mainly used the words "Synth, Beeps, Clicks" Ok. Beeps I can understand, we all know what a beep sounds like, clicks and synths are way too general for the average reader to understand. It's not like you have to tell us the exact notes and give musical terms, but try and work on sensory details. And remember, you're describing the entire album, not giving us the gist of it. And if you took what I said personally.... I can only imagine how you'd take some of the other criticisms.
Still, keep reviewing shit. You're growing the site little by little. The more you write, the more you will recognize your own faults, so that others don't have to keep pointing them out. We can't make you become a great reviewer, you can, we can only give tips on what not to do. Like I said in your Buble review, be more objective with ratings and reviews. Look at the albums you rated, make sure you still feel the same way about them. Everyone changes their ratings. I know it comes off as "You're wrong and we're write and you're not a good reviewer", but it's because if you write a good review, you'll actually turn users onto music they've never heard before, and that's a beautiful thing. But if you keep submitting subjective, unconvincing, stream of consciousness reviews without editing them, users will see it as a fanboy confirming their suspicion that the album sucks, And that's no good...[/sonic]
Sorry if I come off as preachy, but you did say you want tips and advice, and that's the nicest way I can put it.
EDIT: I could take some of my own advice and edit these comments, jesus christ! am I commenting on a review or writing a novel?
This Message Edited On 04.24.08
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Terrible album cover. I wonder when she will die.
Digging: Forever the Sickest Kids - Television On, Party Off
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theres only one good workout CD, we know this.
http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=22215
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
ok then, thanks anyway!!!!
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The only track I dislike is "Spanish Lesson".
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This review sounds like it was written by a Warner Brothers marketing team member. You've editorialized way too much (the sexy 50 year old comment and the part where you "had to get up and start dancing" are both examples of this).
Keep in mind that some Wikipedia articles actually use Sputnikmusic reviews as viable sources for criticism, so you should keep your writing as formal and as objective as possible. What does that mean? Avoid phrasing like "lemme tell ya!" and informal contractions like "helluva". You should also avoid referencing yourself in an article unless absolutely necessary.
In addition, watch out for confusing verbiage. "The truly R&B half, sided with the hot, dance, and sexy side--or as I like to put it, the hard and sweet halves," is confusing because you're attempting to contrast two parts of the album, yet you've worded your argument as if there were four different parts: the "R&B half", the "hot" part, the "dance" part, and the "sexy side".
Please keep in mind that you're representing an entire website when you write these articles. They should look and sound professional to uphold the integrity of Sputnikmusic. Thank you for your time.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Ok, as a Madonna fan, I was more than worried about how this would turn out. "4 Minutes" seemed a rather weak single, and instead of being innovative, Madonna seemed to be jumping on the bandwagon of hip-hop/R&B. Fortunately, the album turned out far better than I expected. More dance-oriented, and basically incredible overall. Madonna's best since Ray of Light. No ****.
Digging: Bjork - Vespertine | | |
It's official. This review made its way on to wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_Candy_%28Madonna_album%29
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It'll get removed soon. Technically Wikipedia don't accept reviews from this site unless they're by staff.
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Ok.
Off-topic: I like your avatar. ^^
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Madonna could do better. I don't know what happened to her. She's following trends nowadays, and she's gone down to creating a Justin cover. Britney's "Blackout" shouts 2012, while this shouts 2005. The only stand-out track is "Give It 2 Me."
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