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| Hard Candy | 
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| Artist: Madonna
Label: WEA/Reprise
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy Used: $4.99
You Save: $13.99 (74%)
New (69) Used (37) from $4.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  477 reviews
Sales Rank: 209
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: Complete with original disc(s), case, and manual. In stock and ships right now! Case has some minor damage.
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| Customer Reviews:
Come Into Her Store, She's Got Candy Galore April 29, 2008
24 out of 31 found this review helpful
"When the lights go down and there's no one left I can go on and on and on" chants Madonna three tracks into her new LP "Hard Candy," and with the Queen of Pop staring down her 7th stateside chart-topping album such a claim is more than justified. The living definition of pop music chameleon, she indeed offers a delicious array of confections precision-tooled to hit a listener's sweet tooth. There is some padding, and no obvious follow-up single exists for mega-hit "4 Minutes," but this does the album no disservice. Madonna manages to acknowledge her past and keep things contemporary all the while avoiding pretense or retreads, making for a wholly interesting recording.
Collaborating with the likes of Timbaland and Justin Timberlake has caused some to question whether Madonna is taking the easiest possible route to continued pop success, but the most obvious - and fortunate - thing about "Hard Candy" is that it is wall-to-wall Madonna both in songwriting and atmosphere. Rather than grafting herself on to their winning production values she ingeniusly uses them to amplify her material. The result is an album plum full of dancefloor-ready anthems and a smattering of low-key ballads that manage to be mainstream yet cutting edge.
Sizzling club thumpers like the suave "Dance 2night" and ultra-addictive "Give It 2 Me," for example, recall the awesome, frenetic energy of 2005's "Confessions On a Dancefloor" but would still sound at home on Top 40 radio. Elsewhere, the bittersweet "Miles Away" has one of the most poignant, endearing hooks of any ballad in Madonna's lengthy catalogue.
Opening the floodgates of engrossing, colorful melodies is "Incredible" with its incessant, yearning energy. "Beat Goes On" featuring Kanye West packs similar zest, and "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" percolates with raw sexual energy, icy snyths and a frothy, guitar-laden melody.
The sexy, slinky "Heartbeat" with its mercurial melody and awesome vocals is destined for radio waves, and "She's Not Me," despite being over-long and not quite finding its hook, contains one of Madonna's most intriguingly self-referential lines. Comparing another woman to "the flavor of the month," she makes her declaration:
"She's not me/She doesn't have my name/She'll never have what I have/It won't be the same."
Indeed, pop stars come and go by the dozen, but through it all there is only one Madonna.
Through two and a half decades' worth of trends, fads and fashions Madonna has rarely lost her footing and always come back roaring, and "Hard Candy" reveals her inner lioness in a way that is not only totally late 2000's but totally listenable. She re-defined musical boundaries not only for women but pop artists in general for many reasons, and artistic stagnation is not one of them. This is definitely a "Candy Shop" worth many return visits.
 Something Went Wrong! April 30, 2008
23 out of 48 found this review helpful
I first became a Madonna fan back in 1982 with her hit "Everybody", an from that time I watched her rise to stardom. Nothing but hits flying in such as "Like A Virgin,Holiday,La Isla Bonita,Like A Prayer,Vogue,Frozen,and so many more.I purchased all the albums and loved how she just kept getting better and better. That all stopped when she released the 2000 album "Music". I found myself only liking one song of the album, titled "Don't Tell Me". Since that time, nothing she has released as been a liking to my ears. I tried so hard to listen to "Music","American Life",& "Confession On A Dance Floor". I just could not get myself to like them. In late 2007, I heard she was releasing a new album, I still get worked up when she about to release it. Like always, I rushed out to the music store the day of release and purchased the album. I am really disappointed in this album, there is nothing really to offer here. It sounds like alot like Britney Spears throwaway songs. The only decent track here is "Give It 2 Me", but it's not a jaw dropping song. I am sure the album will sell well, just as everything else she releases.The first single "4 minutes",is not all that great, it sounds like it came from Justin Timberlake's album. The album does have an r&b taste to it, but Madonna did that awhile back in 1994 with "Bedtime Stories", which Babyface produced and that album came out fantastic. Still to this day my favorite Madonna album remains "True Blue", not following far behind is "Like A Prayer","Ray Of Light","Immaculate Collection","Erotica",and "Bedtime Stories". Hopefully she will get back to her roots one day. I would really like to see Madonna do another album "Ray Of Light" but I still love her and hope she can get back to great music again soon. Her last decent track in my opinion is 2000's "Don't Tell Me". I wish Madonna would team up again with "Stephen Bray", he wrote alot of great songs for Madonna. I'd still recommend this to any Madonna fan!
Is this a bad rendition of Gwen? May 3, 2008
23 out of 42 found this review helpful
I've been a die hard fan of Madonna since DAY ONE. Unfortunately, this CD is worst than Gwen's second album, on a really bad day. Superficial, shallow and BUBBLE GUM. Speaking of Candy. The lyrics are so bad, I think her daughter wrote them for her... or maybe she should have.
sticky and sweet... under your shoe, where it doesn't belong May 5, 2008
21 out of 32 found this review helpful
Chalk me up as another longtime Madonna fan that isn't impressed with her latest offering. Some of these songs sound truly cheap, the kind of stuff you hear after last call at the club, when everyone's tired and drunk. I mean really, why is everyone so jazzed about tracks like The Beat Goes On?
The opener, Candy Shop, isn't half bad, but unfortunately things mostly go downhill after that. 4 Minutes, well that's just Madonna having a MTV TRL moment. All over the place, there's examples where her production team dropped the ball. Take Heartbeat, which starts off promisingly but goes nowhere.
The only two tracks I really enjoy are Miles Away and Voices. Miles Away is Madonna, not her busted-down ghetto sister M-Dolla. I swear she sounds like Susan Ottavio from Book of Love, at the beginning of the song. Voices, on the other hand, is a haunting, wistful dirge that is spoiled by distorted voice. This one is crying out for a goth/synth makeover. Why not ring that funereal bell more than once at the end?
My God, to think that the last time she tried this, we got Bedtime Stories, my vote for her best album ever. That set of producers and collaborators did justice to the Queen of Pop. With Hard Candy, I think this boxer, ahem, music star should be stripped of her title!!!
 you can dance April 29, 2008
19 out of 23 found this review helpful
HARD CANDY TRACKS
1) CANDY SHOP - 4:15 (produced by: Madonna & Pharrell Williams)
This song reminds me of Madonna's hugely successful single "Hung Up." But in "Candy Shop" Madonna uses the sounds of synths and electronic equipment, her lyrics are both strong and funny. As usual Madonna is often using innuendo as she sings "Don't pretend you're not hungry, there's plenty to eat..."
2) 4 MINUTES - 4:04 (produced by: Madonna, Timothy Mosley, Nate Hills & Justin Timberlake)
(featuring Justin Timberlake)
This is one of my very favorite songs on the CD for all the same reasons why the entire world loves it. 4 Minutes is fast and beautiful and breathtaking. Madonna's theme de jour on this track is love and s-e-x! This song totally sounds futuristic; I wouldn't be surprised if my grandbabies listened to this song.
3) GIVE IT 2 ME - 4:47 (produced by: Madonna & Williams)
Both Warner Bros. and Madonna are very interested in using this song as the 2nd single for "Hard Candy," because it helps bridge the gap between Madonna's older sound and newer sound. On this track, Madonna's pure bubblegum pop as she sings "if you can handle it, undress me..."
4) HEARTBEAT - 4:03 (produced by: Madonna & Williams)
This is such a fantastic studio album track because it has the potential to be a number 1 single. It has such a catchy hook but it's not one that will knock you out too soon.
5) MILES AWAY - 4:48 (produced by: Madonna, Mosley, Hills & Timberlake)
It's ethereal, mid tempo and guitar-heavy. It has that fabulous hand clapping bit during the middle which reminds everyone that Madonna's an original who sets her own rules.
6) SHE'S NOT ME - 6:04 (produced by: Madonna & Williams)
OMG so much like "Thief of Hearts." Madonna sings about someone who's obsessed with her and who dresses like her, but there can only be one Madonna!
7) INCREDIBLE - 6:19 (produced by: Madonna & Williams)
A ravishing slow ballad which reminds me of what Madonna said in her "Something to Remember" CD, "it's about the music & it's always been about the music."
8) BEAT GOES ON - 4:26 (produced by: Madonna, Kanye West & Williams )
(featuring Kanye)
This song has come a long way since it was first leaked to the net, last summer. Fans will appreciate the album track much more because it's totally reminiscent of New York's underground disco life of the 70's and early 80's that Madonna was so much a part of. Kanye is such a superior singer, producer, entertainer who both compliments and adds to something already perfect!
9) DANCE 2NITE - 5:03 (produced by: Madonna, Mosley, Hannon Lane & Timberlake)
Madonna has totally retrogressed to her "you can dance" days with this record because it's totally hedonistic and pleasurable and danceable. Although it does have somewhat of a dark feel to it.
10) SPANISH LESSON - 3:37 (produced by: Madonna, Williams)
Madonna opens the song with, "Yo te quiero means I love you." This is a fast-moving Spanish/English track. As Madonna's fans know already know, she has a passion and a talent for sining in Spanish.
11) DEVIL WOULDN'T RECOGNIZE YOU - 5:09 (produced by: Madonna, Joe Henry, Mosley, Hills & Timberlake)
Madonna purrs "Over and over you're pushing me onto the floor and I keep coming back for more" in her sexy sweet-sounding melody that is all too familiar by now. This song isn't exactly a ballad but it does have a somewhat somber tone, as it opens.
12) VOICES - 3:39 (produced by: Madonna, Mosley, Hills, Lane, Timberlake)
This is perhaps Madonna's most out-there track. She saved the most unique and personal song for the end, with lyrics like "Are you walking the dog or is that dog walking you.
Bonus Tracks:
** 4 Minutes ~ Tracy Young House Mix Edit
** 4 Minutes ~ Rebirth Anthem Mix Edit
** Ring My Bell 3:54 on the Japanese CD or available on iTunes
** Give it to Me 4:59
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