madonna - hard candy (warner)
May 01, 2008
Placed back to back, a comparison of Madonna's past two albums really highlights the difference between contemporary European and American pop culture. 'Confessions On The Dancefloor' was an album with the emphasis on the song; a blissful return to old style pop that referenced ABBA and Pet Shop Boys in the process. A glorious success, it brought Madonna back from the damage control of 'American Life' and allowed us to believe once again that she truly was the queen of pop. Enter 'Hard Candy'. Cue sullen faces. Where has the pop song gone? Granted, I often need to work with some albums to truly get the most out of them however, where 'Confessions' was innovative or, at worst, pure fun, 'Hard Candy' is just the hard sell. It is the embodiment of all things urban pop which dominates the US Charts. And, frankly, it is frequently cringe-worthy. Madonna has never really excelled in the area of lyrics writing; a fact highlighted over her career with such dogs as 'Shoo-Be-Doo', 'Mother & Father' or even 'American Life' itself. However, 'Hard Candy' goes one step beyond, full of cliched and obvious metaphors, on the whole leaving the listener feeling that Madonna really is 50 years of age and desperately grabbing for lost youth. Even the artwork on this album makes poor Madonna look old - and to be entirely honest, Madonna deserves better. You might think that this review comes from an anti-Madonna writer; this couldn't be further from the truth. I know her back catalogue all too well and the frustration comes from the fact that I know 'Hard Candy' could've been so much better. I can only hope that this current direction isn't going to lead her further down the path 'American Life' threatened to not so long ago.
