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Hard Candy | 
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| Artist: Madonna
Label: WEA/Reprise
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $7.85
You Save: $11.13 (59%)
New (62) Used (9) from $7.85
Rating:  421 reviews
Sales Rank: 37
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 093624988496
UPC: 093624988496
EAN: 0093624988496
ASIN: B0015D3Z4O
Release Date: April 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: BRAND NEW, FACTORY SEALED, FIRST CLASS SHIPPING
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| Tracks:
| | Candy Shop | | | 4 Minutes | | | Give It 2 Me | | | Heartbeat | | | Miles Away | | | She s Not Me | | | Incredible | | | Beat Goes On | | | Dance 2night | | | Spanish Lesson | | | Devil Wouldn't Recognize You | | | Voices |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Special Collector's Edition/CD + Amary Box + Booklet. This special edition of Hard Candy comes in a DVD-sized hinged box with the full album PLUS two bonus tracks. Tracy Young's House and Rebirth remixes of the first single "4 Minutes." Also included in the case is a 16-page full colour booklet with pictures of Madonna and a bag of "Starlite" mint candies. 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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 416 more reviews...
Full of flavor, though a bit bittersweet May 1, 2008
i didn't ask (Washington, DC)
162 out of 211 found this review helpful
SUMMARY: Madonna's final album for Warner Brothers is by no means her best, but it's a fitting swan song for the artist who anchored the label for the past quarter-century. A lot of the reviews for this album are missing the mark, either overzealous in its defense, or obtusely critical in the hope of shining the spotlight on another artist. 'Hard Candy' is a mixed bag of true gems and questionable choices, but it's quintessentially Madonna.
WHY YOU'LL LOVE IT: When Madonna hits the mark, no one does it better, and even her detractors would be hard-pressed to name another artist of her caliber. Despite what others have said, no two Madonna albums are the same, which is why she has remained one of the most relevant artists in the past twenty-five years. While a few of the songs here are reminiscent of earlier works (in a good way), they're also very much current and a part of her ever-evolving musicality. 'Hard Candy' is thus at once an homage and a contemporary statement. There's no shortage of danceable material here, and few artists are willing to take the chances in which Madonna revels.
WHY YOU WON'T: Several of the tracks are overproduced, and Madonna's vocals are all but lost in their delivery. Noticeably absent is the vocal maturation she has consistently displayed since Evita. Her voice is high and thin - as it was in the early days, and which is unfortunately drawing comparisons to Britney Spears (who really is nothing more but a poorly-conceived clone) - but she mostly makes it work for these tracks. 'Candy Shop' is truly an abysmal song, despite its irony, and was a poor choice to open the album. The less said about '4 Minutes', the better, but don't make the mistake of judging the entire CD by its lead single - the whole of 'Hard Candy' has a distinctly different flavor than this disposable track.
BOTTOM LINE: Madonna is not interested in repeating herself, so fans who are expecting 'Confessions II' will be vastly disappointed. Many are proclaiming that Madonna is simply reproducing the recent efforts of the bevy of pop songstresses (Mariah, Britney, Christina, Nelly, Gwen, etc.) currently populating the landscape. Not true. She was here long before them and, in the cases of many of them, will be here long after they fade away; it is they who owe a debt to her. Those who understand Madonna, however, and who get her sense of humor, her irony, her deliberateness, and who know enough to look beneath the deceptively simple lyrics, will be pleased to add this to their collection. Standout tracks include 'Heartbeat' (which should be the next single), 'Miles Away', 'She's Not Me', and 'Devil Wouldn't Recognize You'.
 Flat and flavorless, Hard Candy evaporates while you're listening to it... May 3, 2008
G. Mitchell (Los Angeles, CA United States)
148 out of 257 found this review helpful
Let's be blunt: this is the worst CD of Madonna's decades-long career - and trust me, I thought AMERICAN LIFE was the dregs, too. Flat, flavorless, boring, uninspiring, and shallow, this is the best krap money can buy. She hired a gauntlet of high-priced "hot" producers and hoped if they supplied "urban contemporary" beats, she'd just phone it in over the top from London. The typically cynical, played-out formula adds a little bit GWEN, a pinch of JUSTIN, and a whole lot of lazy, tired Timbaland/Pharrell beats - toss in a whiff of self-absorption and utter pretention, and you'll get a dose of HARD CANDY. That's just what she did - a desperate, cash-in, sell-out ploy to set up her next global tour/merchandising juggernaut. As you try in vain to listen to each track, you find yourself pressing FAST FORWARD as they each evaporate before your ears until you're left with nothing...except the receipt from buying this CD. Worse than embarrassing, wholly irrelevant and straight-up plain ol' BAD.
 Candy you can relish May 2, 2008
Amanda Richards (Georgetown, Guyana)
51 out of 110 found this review helpful
Normally we're told not to accept candy from strangers, but in this case Madonna, Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West are certainly not strangers to even the youngest music fan.
Following up 2005's "Confessions on a Dance Floor", the ageless icon proves that she's still got what it takes with a sweet pop/dance album infused with hip hop flavor. Bursting with possible singles, the album was launched with a sure fire hit in "4 Minutes", a collaboration with Justin Timberlake and Timbaland, with a red hot video to go with it.
Other must-listen tracks are "Candy Shop" (dance); "Give It 2 Me" (pop/dance); "Miles Away" (mid-tempo - reminiscent of the "Ray of Light" album); "She's Not Me" (pop/R&B); "Beat Goes On" (R&B); "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" (a ballad with a beat); "Voices" (mid-tempo and vintage Madonna)
The nice thing about this album is that it mixes up the flavors, each song bringing something different to the listening experience. You definitely can't say that these tracks all sound the same, and that's a definite selling point for my shopping list.
It may be hot enough to melt in your hand, but this Hard Candy is going to be around the charts for a long time.
Amanda Richards, May 2, 2008
Madonna Sells Out May 18, 2008
The Pete (Illinois)
42 out of 64 found this review helpful
Saying Madonna has 'sold out' is a bit ironic since she's spent 25 years cannily positioning herself in the ever-changing musical landscape. Yet despite that marketing savvy, Madonna would have faded away long ago but for her habit of consistently taking chances in content and sound.
For a pop star, Madonna has taken huge risks over her career. From brazenly embracing the pop slut image on Like A Virgin to the moral commentary of 'Papa Don't Preach' to the confessional content of Like a Prayer to the overt sexuality of Erotica to the techno/spirituality of Ray of Light to the darker sound and statements of American Life, Madonna has always challenged what pop can be and say. No matter what window dressing she's wrapped in, Madonna always came through in her music.
This is why Hard Candy is such a complete failure. You won't find Madonna making any statements - or saying anything much really - on Hard Candy, and she certainly doesn't push the envelop in sound or content. In fact, if you've bought anything the producers on Hard Candy have made in the last year, you have already heard this CD. But don't blame them; they regurgitated their 'sound' exactly as they were paid to do. Bottom line: Hard Candy could have come from any brainless pop tart with the cash to pay the prostitutes (ahem, sorry, producers) who work on this CD.
There's little point in discussing individual songs, since they all have the same generic sound. The title track has a wicked bump to it, but the lame lyrics render it strictly PG in terms of actual heat generated. 'Give It 2 Me' is admittedly a solid, and very catchy, dance song. However, 'Dance 2night' - with its pop groove and message of self-empowerment - is the only song that sounds like Madonna actually showed up. And this is ultimately the reason Hard Candy is vapid, dead between the ears, and frankly dull: for the first time in her career Madonna doesn't bring anything to the table.
Hard Candy's lack of personality and the way it blends into the miasma of the current music scene forces me to theorize about why it was made at all. It sounds like a marketing move by Madonna to fill the void left by Britney Spears being out of commission. Just a guess, but I honestly can't imagine any other reason the most compelling pop artist in history would tarnish her catalog with this embarrassing, unmitigated failure.
Review of Madonna's "Hard Candy" April 29, 2008
Antoine D. Reid (Durham, NC United States)
40 out of 67 found this review helpful
"Hard Candy" is not "Confessions on a Dance Floor" but it's just as good and appealing. Madonna strikes out again to conquer the dance floor with songs that have a more urban flavor to them but remains true to her pop roots. I'd say many of the songs keep with a disco/throw-back sound without the sound effects and overly-processed voices from her past few albums of the 2000s. Best yet, Madonna really does shine in this effort by offering a sampling of songs that are upbeat, fun, containing hidden gems and surprises that'll satisfy most listeners.
While I felt `4 Minutes' was a weak song (though catchy and entertaining) and featured Justin Timberlake more than it did her, the other songs on "Hard Candy" are far better and classic Madonna. The best songs are those produced by Pharrell and The Neptunes who really offer her a fresh sound with great dance beats. `Heartbeat' is a must listen with the great Madonna message of embracing dance as a way of salvation and ignoring the hang ups that come with age. It also contains a great breakdown section, something that's new for Madonna and adds a new edge to her songs produced by this group. `Give it 2 Me' is very pop and in-your-face, anthem-like with Madonna proclaiming she can't be stopped. `Miles Away' offers the album a great pop ballad, perhaps her best ballad since the "American Life" track `Love Profusion'.
The other tracks are fun and keep from being filler tracks. The only track that I'm not entirely sold on is `Spanish Lesson' though it contains a great breakdown with Madonna taking on the school-master persona and demanding we the listeners do our homework and she'll give us more work. The album begins to step away from the dance theme with the last two tracks, offering an odd but still entertaining serious view of Madonna. I thought `Voices' was a near epic song and good choice to close out this chapter of her career, with Madonna asking who really is in control and ending with church bells rather than the clicking clocks that run throughout "Confessions on a Dancefloor" and this album.
In all, this was definitely a pleasant surprise. If you're afraid this is Madonna mid-life crisis attempt to compete with big artist of right now, don't. Though she works with some big names in Hip-Hop, this is just as pop as "Confessions" and fun and dance-like, with Madonna being less preachy and simply giving us more to dance to than to think about. Some of the Timbaland/Justin Timberlake tracks do seem a bit tame and lacking the fun, light spirit Pharrell and The Neptunes injected into her songs, but in all, it's good. "Hard Candy" offers a little something for everyone, just as the lead song suggests. This is one cd you'll want to add to your collection and thus far one of the best to come out in 2008 thus far.
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