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Pop Dee-Lite : Madonna : Hard Candy
Disclaimer: Yes, I know MOKB is dedicated to indie music. However, Dodge occasionally lets me indulge in major label artists. Since my column is devoted to all-things-pop, and Madonna is the Queen of Pop, I feel it's my duty to weigh in on her new album. (If you are offended by this and prefer more obscure artists who sell seven albums or less in their lifetime, see the majority of Luftmensch's posts.)
Hard Candy has been out for a week now. I considered writing a review after several listens the day it came out. But I needed more time to absorb it and decide how I felt about it. I have even gone so far as to avoid reading any reviews about the album, so as not to taint my own opinion. First off, let's address how easy it is to be critical of the fact that she enlisted A-list hitmakers Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Pharrell. I, too, was skeptical, at first. But looking back through her discography, I was reminded of her collaboration with Babyface and Dallas Austin on Bedtime Stories. And how about William Orbit on Ray of Light? Same thing goes for her choice of Mirwais and Stuart Price on Confessions on a Dancefloor. Maybe they don't all have quite the household name appeal of J.T., Timbaland and Pharrell, but they are all hitmakers in their own right. Whomever Madonna wants, she gets. Bottom line. And while she makes good use of their services, she doesn't relinquish all control. She still firmly holds the reigns and keeps the boys in check.
Moving on, I watched an interview with Madonna over the weekend where she stated that Hard Candy is a workout/sex CD. I can't agree more after putting it to the cubicle vs. workout test. The listening environment makes a huge difference. In regards to sex, this record doesn't exactly have an Al Green vibe to it. But it is Madonna and even though she's almost 50, her album insinuates that she is not in need of the latest in female Viagra products. Candy Shop, 4 Minutes and Give It To Me make that clear (insert your own cougar joke here). She also hasn't moved far from the dancefloor since Confessions. Heartbeat, Beat Goes On and Dance 2night prove Madge isn't about to take down the disco ball and retire to the English countryside for tea and crumpets. As much as I like dancefloor Madonna, my favorite song on Hard Candy is Miles Away. One of the more serious tracks on the CD, it lopes along breezily with a stutter and a stop as she explains that You always love me more when I'm miles away.
It's only fitting that there is a track titled She's Not Me on Hard Candy. That's because there is only one Madonna. I will still be anxiously awaiting whatever she churns out next year or 10 years from now because it's Madonna and she has yet to let me down. (Yes, I even liked American Life.)
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posted by Dee @ 9:40 AM
13 Talk back to yo' mama!
13 Talk back to yo' mama!:
Worst post ever. It's because of people like you Madonna sells so many cds - there is not much to say about her music, well, you certainly don't have much to say about it - not because there's much to it. All that you say in this post is that the cd features some other bogus musicians, that she considers this record as a something-something and that she has never let you down and that she probably is still sexually active. Who cares? Nobody, I guess. When it comes to Madonna, people tend to forget about the music and this post proves it.
Have no shame about what you listen to. Life is too short to be an indie a-hole who has to hate anything slightly popular. These are the same people who wore anarchy tees from Hot Topic in high school.
Also I pretty much agree with most things said in the post. This is good writing and Madonna is actually [still] important whether you'd like to believe it or not.
yeah...that anon obviously doesn't get laid.
Yeah, but still - no one has said anything about her music, which is quite strange considering calling me an a-hole and adding that I obviously don't get laid too often - you seem to know everything about me, about Madonna and her sex life, but you know NOTHING about her music, because there is nothing to know except for the fact, that there's a thousand people tweaking those knobs in the studio.
That post is just a complete misunderstanding - I've read it once again and the autor says nothing at all about the music itself - all that you can learn is that her music is something that you can dance to, which is a thing that you know even without listening to "Hard Candy". And Elise - what is it exactly that you agree with? The only opinion expressed in the post is "I like Madonna" and that is my point - why would you waste your time and scribble all those other things about who she works with(easily found on wiki) if the only thing that you have to say is that you like all of her songs? A great piece of musical journalism, but you didn't have to insult me in the process. Thanks.
Hey Anon,
This is a music blog, not the New York times. For the most part you are going to get blurbs. Anyway, I think it is relevant who she is working with because that says almost everything you need to know about the album. Mega-producers are going to put their stamp on the album. You can always tell when Timbaland produced a track and when Pharrel did one. This is probably more important than Madonna itself. I find it pathetic that you feel the need to come to a blog and spew about you feel this was a bad review. Don't come to this blog no more, don't read it, skip over that post.
MOKB would love it if it was because of us that Madonna sold so many cds, but therein lies your numbnuttedness...people buy Madonna's cds because they like her music.
You have first-hand knowledge that Madonna's music is tweaked beyond recognition? You know this for a fact? Prove it. Just because you say it, that doesn't make it true right?
You ask not to be insulted, yet you tell Dee that this was the "Worst Post Ever"? Come on crybaby.
So she didn't talk loads about "the music itself". This is a blog, not great music journalism...she informed some people on some things, said she liked it...the crime is?
yeah, you're the a-hole who doesn't get laid.
"I find it pathetic that you feel the need to come to a blog and spew about you feel this was a bad review" - I feel the same way about the post - the difference between me and the author is that I at least say why I don't like the post, and the author says nothing about the reasons to like Madonna.
"You ask not to be insulted, yet you tell Dee that this was the "Worst Post Ever"? Come on crybaby." - I don't know Dee, I'm quite sure that she is a good person, very passionate about music and that is great. I've just read the post and I have to admit, that it is very, very bad.
"yeah, you're the a-hole who doesn't get laid." - not sure what you are trying to do here. Insult me? What you said tells more about you than in says about me, please bear this in mind.
"You have first-hand knowledge that Madonna's music is tweaked beyond recognition? You know this for a fact? Prove it. Just because you say it, that doesn't make it true right?" - if you think that Madonna is the only person behind her records, I don't know what to say. Perhaps this: when it costs her a couple of hunderd grand to produce a track, you can be sure that Madonna only participates in its creation. As Nick said: "You can always tell when Timbaland produced a track and when Pharrel did one. This is probably more important than Madonna itself". This is the thing - you don't really know what is on Dee's mind when she says that she likes Madonna, which is the main reason for me to say that this post could do some more work.
Come on Anon, every artist's final studio works are tweaked and changed...notes lifted, blah, blah, blah...your argument is so lame. All records are produced, mixed and mastered. It costs loads to make a Madonna song because Madonna has and makes loads of money...only works with the highest exposure level producers and so on. Madonna doesn't do DIY or garage bullshit.
I'll tell you what what I said says about me...it says I can spot a douchebag who gets his jollies off by trashing things written on BLOGS?! I can tell a self-important internet fuck who needs to find something other to do than insult shit and then cry when the favor is returned. Dee said she liked the record, what the fuck else did you want?! Answer that and then look to find it elsewhere.
i like turtles! (and i get laid lots)
I knew when I sent this post live that it was going to garner some ugly comments. Madonna, after all, can be polarizing. I’m sorry I didn’t go into enough detail for Mr. Anon. The bottom line is that most people listen to Madonna because they want to, uh, get into the groove. There’s not much more to it than that, and frankly, that’s why I listen to her music. My goal with this post was to let Madonna fans and fans of pop music know plain and simply that it’s a fun listen that is typical of Madonna’s work, without writing a 10-page dissertation. You’ll find that even the most seasoned music critics are typically relegated to writing even shorter reviews than this for their publications.
wow dodge, you kiss your kid with that mouth?
guilt is an emotion I know very little about.
in my humble opinion, mandonna is 100% un-fuck-with-able.
- Ryan
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