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Let's talk about Hard Candy!


MadgeSlave
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We should build a shrine for Guy O. for stopping her about this. Say what you will about him but I can't believe Steven Klein and Madonna were in any way remotely ok with doing this shoot, let alone thinking about it in the first place.

 

other artists have done it before (here, maria joao, paying homage to black jazz artists):

undercovers.jpg

 

but i agree that she might have been criticized for it.

then again, she is always criticized...

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I get that one may come from a "good place" (ignorantly), but it's still spitting in the face of who you're trying to "homage" or reference, by invoking hurtful racist symbolism. 

 

If it had been a different type of album, let's say a religion heavy album that related to the black madonna in some way, it would be different, MAYBE, but just relating it to african american music makes it plain black face rather than deep symbolism. 

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Yeah, I'm glad she went against using blackface. It wouldn't have worked at all, it's far far too politically and racially charged to even consider.

 

Am I the only one who likes Incredible?

I used to absolutely hate it! But I must admit that it's grown tremendously on me recently, I love how she intersperses the sadness with the carefree party vibe. I mean:

You don't know what you got 'til it's gone
And everything in life just goes wrong
Feels like nobody's listening
And something is missing

(I hope) I want to go back to then
Got to figure out how, got to remember when
I felt it, it thrilled me
I want it, to fill me

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Hard Candy has been my least favorite M album since day one, however, I've been listening to it in the past few days and things have changed a bit.

 

I still hate Spanish Lesson.

 

But seriously, there are some pretty cool and catchy songs in there, like Beat Goes On, Dance 2Night, She's Not Me and Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, just to name a few. And then, there's Voices...It's my current obssession, the ''Who is the master? Who is the slave?'' line refuses to leave my head.

 

As an album it's not that bad, it's pretty good to be honest. But as a Madonna album... :Madonna032: 

 

It's not that I want her to repeat the same formula for every single album she does, but it feels so rushed and so weird and strange, almost like it was meant for Fergie or Nelly Furtado but they decided to give it 2 her (got it?).

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I believe the boxer theme was rejected because, from a commercial point of view, they didn't want her to launch combattively. This hasn't traditionally served Madonna well on a commercial level.

 

It's a great album. It was just the dawn of a new era in which her fans were challenged to accept her as a maturing singer breaking from the confines of the trendsetting popstar she was expected to be with each release through Confessions. They knew she wouldn't continue to sell like the hottest new singers anymore imho, and so they tried something different. At the end of the day, it was a return to roots record, more like the first album than any other. As with everything she has done post-50, she was dismissed for it rather than praised for the context of nostalgia. Madonna can never really win in that sense. As an underdog, there is always a faction that is determined to declare her a failure.

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  • 3 years later...

I remember to buy this album after my obssesion of Confessions on a Dance Floor at the time of the released. I listen many times this albums (except Beat Goes On and 4 minutes then i always skipped, i not like so much of theses two songs). I listen today the album after nine years and the album was so worse to listen today compared to when i listen the album at the time of 2008. The production not aged so well and was outdated. When i listen for example Confessions on a Dance Floor or Music, the album was listen so well many years after the released and was timeless. Not Hard Candy. Depist this album was good, this album was not traveled the decades. Spanish Lession was in fact a good vibe, but not so much lyrically, musically, it's was good, but not so much good as many latino that she recording before (like Spanish Eyes or Deeper and Deeper). But I prefer this song to Beat Goes On, Dance 2Night and 4 Minutes. My favorite of this album was Give It 2 Me.

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Guest Nobody Knows Me

It’s a good album but for Madonna’s standards and coming after Confessions on a Dance Floor it’s pretty mediocre. Beat Goes On and Candy Shop should have been released as singles though. 

As for the tour, it’s fun but it’s pretty messy and lacks much of a concept. And her voice was not in a good state at all. I wish the 2009 tour had been filmed though.

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2 hours ago, Nobody Knows Me said:

It’s a good album but for Madonna’s standards and coming after Confessions on a Dance Floor it’s pretty mediocre. Beat Goes On and Candy Shop should have been released as singles though. 

As for the tour, it’s fun but it’s pretty messy and lacks much of a concept. And her voice was not in a good state at all. I wish the 2009 tour had been filmed though.

I feel like the singles should of been

  1. Candy Shop
  2. 4 Minuets
  3. Devil Wouldn't Recognize You
  4. Beat Goes On
  5. Miles Away

And yes I wished the 2009 version of the tour was released instead getting she seems more energized and happier plus I live for the I'm Not Alone remix of Frozen such a great performance and was way better than the really bad Heavy Metal version of Hung Up

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2 hours ago, Nobody Knows Me said:

It’s a good album but for Madonna’s standards and coming after Confessions on a Dance Floor it’s pretty mediocre. Beat Goes On and Candy Shop should have been released as singles though. 

As for the tour, it’s fun but it’s pretty messy and lacks much of a concept. And her voice was not in a good state at all. I wish the 2009 tour had been filmed though.

This. Like wtf were her vocals on that tour. I can’t believe that’s her highest grossing tour. Confessions or MDNA deserved that. On S&S she sounds like a dying crow. Thank god she fixed her voice later on 

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Leave 4 Minutes alone please. It served her wonderfully as the lead single and I remember getting goosebumps listening to it as a kid. That said, I think her vocals on that album are some of her worst and I find the sound a bit too tiring now to keep me listening throughout the entire record. Still many bops on Hard Candy though that never became singles. She's not me, Devil, Beat goes on and Dance 2night definitely stand out to me. I know many fans consider it a career low for her and it might be but it's quite a solid record for music's standards at the time and it's very danceable and sexy. If I could have a Madonna album revamped, in terms of vocals and production, I would definitely give this one a chance to be justified. The melodies and rhythms would slay today's young. I am grateful that M didn't forget she was a hot woman and didn't age gracefully becoming a washed  out balladeer. She has plenty of time to do that.

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Well, HARD CANDY is for me the first album that wasn't a real Madonna album.

For the first time in a 25-year career, Madonna follows the trend and does exactly what works, without an ounce of innovation.

This record is the first to have so many collaborations: two duets with Justin Timberlake, a featuring of Kanye West, the vocal participation of Pharrell Williams.

The sleeve that I find particularly horrible, she's integrated on an enlarged candy background, and the name M-Dolla is integrated on the belt with the original title of the album.
I don’t know what happened but Giovanni Bianco seems to have done a sloppy job... !

I don't like INCREDIBLE and for me the production is awful on VOICES.

But it's Madonna so... even if she sings shit I’m gonna join... pfff

:Madonna017:

 

And the worst part about it is that this album is the best memory of my life: the meeting with my husband! She could make me a Madame X instead!!!

:Madonna031:

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I loooooove the Hard Candy album!¡! i love every track and brings me good memories.. also my first time seeing Madonna live on the S&ST... my only complain is Why Pharrel has to say something in EVERY song produced by him? for me that sounds like "Hi i'm here" we know you are there man you only need to hear the bases to know you are there... and this is not a Hard Candy only thing he does that in almost every song he produces

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1 hour ago, roberMDNA said:

I loooooove the Hard Candy album!¡! i love every track and brings me good memories.. also my first time seeing Madonna live on the S&ST... my only complain is Why Pharrel has to say something in EVERY song produced by him? for me that sounds like "Hi i'm here" we know you are there man you only need to hear the bases to know you are there... and this is not a Hard Candy only thing he does that in almost every song he produces

Would you rather hear DJ KHALED! or Mr. Worldwide maybe? :lol: So glad we avoided those so far

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The Album: It took me a while to warm up to this album; it's certainly not my favorite, but it does have its gems such as: 4 Minutes, Give It 2 Me, Miles Away, She's Not Me, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You, and Voices. But it also has some of the worst crap in her career, like: Candy Shop, Beat Goes On, and Spanish Lesson. I just shake my head when I hear these songs. Anyway, I really don't think the young punks needed to be on this album. It's just a question of who was leeching onto who.

The Tour: What can I say? She be pimpin' on this tour! And I don't mean that in a good way! The only redeeming qualities was the Human Nature number and the Latin music segment. I would've preferred that this tour wasn't done at all.

 

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It think it's a really good pop album - better than MDNA, Rebel Heart and Madame X.

It's not as good as Confessions, Music or Ray of Light  - but it's still pretty good. 

4 minutes was so radio friendly and sounded great on the radio - but for some reason did not work as well as a live track

Give It 2 Me, Miles Away, Beat Goes On, Devil Wouldn't Recognize you, Voices plus the outtakes Across the Sky, Beat Is So Crazy, Ring My Bell, Animal, Latte, Infinity are good too

Think Spanish Lesson and Incredible could have been replaced by 2 of the tracks that did not make it onto the album

Was a shame Miles Away did not get released quicker with a better video and promotion and think Beat Goes On could have been a good 2nd single choice. Definitely the right track was picked for the lead single  - was all over the radio at the time and very catchy

I think at the time it sounded a bit trend following and late in the day and was quite a shift in sound after Confessions  - but think it has aged quite well especially since the Pharrell sound has come back a few times since then. I think it would have been much better received if it was released a few years earlier like 2002/3

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52 minutes ago, Adriabs said:

It's weird, but to me it feels like this is a lackluster album full of gems, if that makes any sense. I think the main problem is the lazy production and the 2-3 bad songs that kill the vibe, but it's actually so much fun and, at least to me, it aged WAY better than MDNA.

yeah, I feel this way too

:party:

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