Hard Candy vs. Like a Prayer

[12inch 197]

Which of these two infamous records do you prefer?

[FrozenYoghurt 66]

Unironically, Hard Candy.

It isn't a good Madonna album (should have been for Nelly Furtado), but I am a sucker for Timbaland urban pop of that era.

Devil Wouldn't Recognize You has an incredible instrumental. 4 Minutes is so eclectic. Kanye's guest verse on Beat Goes On is fantastic. 

Like A Prayer might be better though.

[Andymad 10,317]

I mean, when you look at the singles....

[12inch 197]

Keep It Together, the album version, would fit perfectly on Hard Candies.

[Enoch 95]

Like a prayer, prefer songs that are personal & have a story behind, like Oh father(?)

But hard candy is not bad

[madgefan 10,137]

S E R I O U S L Y?

[Bobo 1,218]

Hmmm...Citzen Kane or Fast and Furious, let me think....

[emanon 2,377]

puting these 2 together is like comparing Marilyn Monroe with the back of bus...

[heartcore 1,477]

Honestly, I adore both of these records equally. They’re both utterly fantastic and it’s a shame that Hard Candy has never received the critical/fan acclaim that it deserves.

[kesiak 3,032]

7 hours ago, 12inch said:

Keep It Together, the album version, would fit perfectly on Hard Candies.

It really wouldn't - completely different sound and production.

I like "Hard Candy" but it simply can't compare to the legacy and cultural impact of "Like A Prayer" which gave us singles and videos that to this day are seen as the pinnacle of pop. Few albums could to be fair.

[luckystar1983 623]

Definitely Like a Prayer... I prefer her ballads over her dance songs and Like a Prayer has a lot of them like Promise to Try, Oh Father and my favorite, Spanish Eyes. It also has Cherish which is one of my favorite songs by Madonna.

Hard Candy is a very fun album though and I enjoy a few songs on it. I just don't think it can compare to Like a Prayer. 

[evolution 246]

There’s zero comparison. Hard Candy is garbage by comparison 

[hydrangea 411]

I suppose that those who voted for "Hard Candy" are trolling the poll...

[Lucifer's Angel 651]

Both albums are very cohesive and got great lyrics but overall HC is more enjoyable to listen to, thanks to his catchy hooks and great beats.  

LAP opens with the title track, which is just that legendary and timeless and it closes with Act of Contrition, which recalls the title track and all the power of that song. Lap song simply outshines the entire album, with no offence to Express Yourself and Till Death Do Us Part that are still timeless bops. Other songs like Cherish, Dear Jessie and Keep It Together feel very boring in comparison and their beat sounds dated. 
Love Song feels more like a wasted opportunity than an underrated gem. At least my expectations from two music legends are much higher! 
The real strength of LAP relies on the beautiful sad lyrics of Promise to try, Spanish Eyes and Oh Father. Great ballads in which she served vocally, although her strongest vocal performance is definitely during the Evita-Rol peak. 

On the other hand, the lyrics on HC are not that sad, which can be a good thing if you don't wanna be in a sad mood. Songs like Miles Away, She's Not Me, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You and Voices all got very interesting lyrics that show a charismatic attitude and sense of humor. 
The beat of 4 minutes might sound dated cuz Timbaland already show off with Nelly Furtado, but that song still grabs its own spotlight in the album and gives a different flavor from the Pharell production.  Give It To Me it's arguably the best dance track on the album and perfect to lose control on the dancefloor. 

Overall HC feels like a candy store, with many different candies but all of them very tasty and great for different occasions; while LAP got mainly a sad mood and more songs to skip.

Let's compare the albums:

1. Like a Prayer VS  Candy Shop

2. Express Yourself VS  4 Minutes

3. Love Song VS  Give It 2 Me

4. Till Death Do Us Part VS  Heartbeat

5. Promise to Try VS  Miles Away

6. Cherish VS  She's Not Me

7. Dear Jessie VS  Incredible

8. Oh Father VS  Beat Goes On

9. Keep It Together VS  Dance 2night

10. Spanish Eyes VS  Spanish Lesson

11. Act of Contrition VS  Devil Wouldn't Recognize You

12 Supernatural VS Voices

 

Lap: 5/12 

vs

HC: 7/12

 

winner: HC 

[PWCCA 2,498]

The easiest question in the world to answer.

One is an absolute masterpiece which changed the face of pop music as we know it, and turned a pop star into an artist and a legend. The other, well, is a forgettable mess that pandered to long-expired musical trends. Like a Prayer, though not my favourite M album, is pure brilliance... excellent writing, excellent production, iconic artwork, and accompanied by beautiful and ground-breaking videos. Hard Candy, simply put, is just plain garbage... poorly conceived, patchy (over) production, and a cover so bad, cheap and tacky that I am sure it will appear in those 'Top 20 Worst Album Cover' lists.

 

[o_g_c_x 2,785]

Is this for REAL?

Lol

[o_g_c_x 2,785]

Timeless and iconic tunes that are proven to stand the test of time versus HC

Im laughing so hard right now...

[Winn 2,201]

What's next, Vogue vs White Heat? 

I'll save you the trouble and answer now: VOGUE.

[Andymad 10,317]

1 hour ago, Winn said:

What's next, Vogue vs White Heat? 

I'll save you the trouble and answer now: VOGUE.

WHITE HEAT I love that song. I would have taken that over Gang Bang Bang Gang Bang on MDNA tour

[hydrangea 411]

2 hours ago, Lucifer's Angel said:

Both albums are very cohesive and got great lyrics but overall HC is more enjoyable to listen to, thanks to his catchy hooks and great beats.  

LAP opens with the title track, which is just that legendary and timeless and it closes with Act of Contrition, which recalls the title track and all the power of that song. Lap song simply outshines the entire album, with no offence to Express Yourself and Till Death Do Us Part that are still timeless bops. Other songs like Cherish, Dear Jessie and Keep It Together feel very boring in comparison and their beat sounds dated. 
Love Song feels more like a wasted opportunity than an underrated gem. At least my expectations from two music legends are much higher! 
The real strength of LAP relies on the beautiful sad lyrics of Promise to try, Spanish Eyes and Oh Father. Great ballads in which she served vocally, although her strongest vocal performance is definitely during the Evita-Rol peak. 

On the other hand, the lyrics on HC are not that sad, which can be a good thing if you don't wanna be in a sad mood. Songs like Miles Away, She's Not Me, Devil Wouldn't Recognize You and Voices all got very interesting lyrics that show a charismatic attitude and sense of humor. 
The beat of 4 minutes might sound dated cuz Timbaland already show off with Nelly Furtado, but that song still grabs its own spotlight in the album and gives a different flavor from the Pharell production.  Give It To Me it's arguably the best dance track on the album and perfect to lose control on the dancefloor. 

Overall HC feels like a candy store, with many different candies but all of them very tasty and great for different occasions; while LAP got mainly a sad mood and more songs to skip.

Let's compare the albums:

1. Like a Prayer VS  Candy Shop

2. Express Yourself VS  4 Minutes

3. Love Song VS  Give It 2 Me

4. Till Death Do Us Part VS  Heartbeat

5. Promise to Try VS  Miles Away

6. Cherish VS  She's Not Me

7. Dear Jessie VS  Incredible

8. Oh Father VS  Beat Goes On

9. Keep It Together VS  Dance 2night

10. Spanish Eyes VS  Spanish Lesson

11. Act of Contrition VS  Devil Wouldn't Recognize You

12 Supernatural VS Voices

 

Lap: 5/12 

vs

HC: 7/12

 

winner: HC 

It's true that HC is more joyful, but doesn't have anything new that we haven't heard before... I like "Miles Away", "She's Not Me", "Beat Goes On", "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" and "Voices" but, in general, I find the album very insubstantial, could have been made by anyone. I think that every producer involved on it didn't put enough effort to bring us an excellent album.

[Lucifer's Angel 651]

38 minutes ago, hydrangea said:

It's true that HC is more joyful, but doesn't have anything new that we haven't heard before... I like "Miles Away", "She's Not Me", "Beat Goes On", "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You" and "Voices" but, in general, I find the album very insubstantial, could have been made by anyone. I think that every producer involved on it didn't put enough effort to bring us an excellent album.

I disagree. Madonna never did an album like HC and it was a breath of fresh air after the COADF album, in which she came back to her disco roots. HC is innovative and experimental and proves Madonna ability to choose current producers at the top of their game and and still be able to push them further to achieve something totally unique and pioneering like the HC album.
Let's face it: the only real skip on HC is the Incredible song. Seriously, even Spanish Lesson is lowkey a bop and a great way to learn some Spanish. There is plenty of substance on the rest of the album:  4 minutes still got a great message to save the world and Miles Away's lyrics are extremely mature and it kinda forecast the imminent divorce with Guy Ritchie. It may not be a subject as deep as the lost of her mother, but it still deal with very important and personal stuff.  Not to mention that HC songs are joyful and make you dance! Even the ballads got awesome bridges and melodies.

The hard true is that Like a Prayer tries to be joyful but it miserably fail: Cherish, Dear Jessie and Keep It Together are meant to be happy cheerful songs but they are just plenty boring and got pathetic lyrics. Those songs aged quite bad  and  are definitely a skip in the album.  Love Song is bland and disappointing cuz Madonna and Prince did not put enough effort on it; and, finally Act of Contrition tastes like the title track leftover. This means that half of Like a Prayer album is not that great at all. 

[geert 3,039]

Like a Prayer

[madgefan 10,137]

4 hours ago, Lucifer's Angel said:

6. Cherish VS  She's Not Me

T H E  N E R V E ! ! !

[FrozenYoghurt 66]

LAP isn’t all that to be honest. It has a few amazing songs and a few skips.

Just like Hard Candy. And the Timbaland sound was still very trendy in 2008, it only became outdated in 2009 when electronic pop lost its urban touch.

[lucasciccone 4,216]

those five votes for Hard Candy...