Madonna #9: The Beat Goes On

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Op donderdag 3 april 2008 14:04 schreef Dragonwizard het volgende:
Volgens mij krijg je al kippenvel van Madonna' scheet

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Op donderdag 3 april 2008 21:25 schreef Dragonwizard het volgende:

Ik vind het liedje trouwens wel erg vlak, maar dat komt omdat JT praktisch alles doet.

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"Workin' up a sweat/ that's what music's for," Madonna sings on "Heartbeat," the pumped-up fourth song on Hard Candy, her latest album, due April 29. Indeed, the pop diva makes good on her promise – singing her way through an hour of Euro-flavored dance tracks infused with retro, house beats. PEOPLE.com took an advanced listen – and can reveal five fast facts about Madonna's latest.

• On "Spanish Lesson," produced by the Neptunes, Madonna does, in fact, go bilingual, offering liberal translations of phrases like, "Entiendo," which she says means, "I get it," over a funked-up flemenco guitar riff. (Literal translation: "I understand.")

• Kanye West offers a fast-paced rap on "Beat Goes On," the eighth track, breathlessly rapping, "I think I'm going to try something new."

• The singer indulges her choral side on the album-closer "Voices," which features production by Justin Timberlake, Timbaland and Nate "Danjahandz" Hills. The song builds to a dark, cinematic crescendo, as the album closes with one lone tone.

• Madonna sings, "You always have the biggest heart/ though we're 6,000 miles apart," on "Miles Away," a direct allusion to living and working far away from hubby Guy Richie.

• Madonna really wants you to dance: Two songs – opening track "Candy Store" and "Beat Goes On" – feature overt calls to action. "Gotta get up off your seat," she sings on the latter, bolstered by the Neptunes's production and West's rapping.

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Album Review: Madonna "Hard Candy"

ArjanWrites.com guest blogger Marc Andrews was invited to an exclusive listening session at Warner Music in Sydney on Friday to hear Madonna's entire new album "Hard Candy." He wrote up a review of the entertainer's much anticipated new album exclusively for ArjanWrites.com. A big thanks to Marc for sharing his candid thoughts about the album. "It’s a bit like sticking your hand blindly into the candy jar and coming up with trick after trick when you keep hoping for a treat," he writes about part of the album. Read on for the entire review.

Invariably expectations for a new Madonna album are always high. More often than not they’ve been judiciously met and quite often surpassed (2003’s "American Life" notwithstanding). 1989’s still radiant "Like A Prayer" finally won over the rock media and nearly a decade later Ray of Light grabbed back a legion of lapsed Madonna admirers, caught up in the intervening downward spiral of Sex, musicals and bad movies.

Now a decade on from that Grammy-winning triumph and Madonna is due another pop-time-capsule-of-an-album. With 2005’s glossy disco-esque "Confessions On A Dance Floor" she cannily plundered the best of the '70s to arrive at something whose unrelenting shimmery beats and dazzling euro-dance hooks rivalled her first two early 80s albums, "Madonna" and "Like A Virgin." It sold well all around the world, with the exception of her birth-home, the US of A.

That’s why her new album, "Hard Candy," released later this month, is so very clearly targeted at righting that regretful wrong and putting Madonna back on top of the pop charts and radio formats from Hollywood to Houston and all stops in between.

In Madonna’s now 25-year, Hall of Fame-awarded, recording career, the album that "Hard Candy" most resembles in context is 1994’s "Bedtime Story." That was Madonna’s sticky valentine to the hot black producers of the time after 1992’s icy house-brewed "Erotica" left her high and, well, dry. This time round though, there’s no trace of Babyface (producer of Bedtime’s 1995’s US #1 "Take A Bow"), or Dallas Austin (Bedtime’s underrated lead single Secret), but in their place Pharrell Williams, Timbaland and posse.

Strangely, album opener "Candy Shop," (almost identical to the version that leaked online a year ago), is one of the album's weaker tracks and doesn’t bode well for the rest of the 12-track set. Still, any song with Madonna making smutty double entendres out of lyrics as knowingly silly as "I got Turkish delights" can’t be taken too seriously.

On track two the big guns (or should that be "gums"?) are wheeled out. While "4 Minutes" is a virtual join-the-dots exercise in how to make an American hit, circa 2008, it’s undoubtedly a grower. With so many busy elements (those blaring horns, the cutesy banter trading with guest star Justin Timberlake – relegated to a "featuring" role in the credits – and Timbaland hovering close by) "4 Minutes" succeeds on a number of levels. It's not Madonna’s greatest single ever, and one that will no doubt age very dis-gracefully, but the best track to right US chart wrongs. Want proof? This week "4 Minutes" soared to #3, handing Madonna the honour of now being the artist with the most top ten hits in the US – edging past Elvis Presley. Tick-tock, tick-tock indeed!

Thankfully, the record's tasty triple selection of tracks 3-5 are all prime examples of what Madonna does best – memorable pop with great choruses that’ll ricochet globally for months to come. If you’re looking for singles #2, #3 and #4, here’s your one-stop Candy shop.

"Give It To Me" is Confession’s "Get Together" cleverly remodeled in the winning electro-funk style of her classic 1983 breakthrough single "Holiday." Pharrell Williams must have been itching for years to upgrade that particular Madonna standard and may well have just managed too. We’re guessing a sure shot heir to "4 Minutes."

That’s followed by "Heartbeat," the most "traditional" Madonna song here. Not only is it yet another ode to getting down – "when I dance I feel free" – in the finest Into The Groove tradition, but boasts a chorus as sweet as, well, candy. Fans have been waiting decades for Madonna to utter a line as club-friendly as ITG’s "only when I'm dancing can I feel this free" and Heartbeat’s "see my booty get down" is a fitting, albeit bootylicious, successor.

Finishing off the delicious trifecta is "Miles Away" – sweet urban pop with an undercurrent of melancholy and unmistakable echoes of Nelly Furtado’s "Say It Right." It’s a poignant tale of being far from the one you love and hints at what might be going on in Madonna’s private life. For someone who’s long crafted her musical art from personal experiences, "Hard Candy" is almost devoid of that usual frankness and "Miles Away" might be the only crack in the façade we’re allowed to view this time around. Or perhaps she left that all for the punchy cover shot?!

Next up is "She’s Not Me" – a snippy, bitchy, catchy disco groover that appears to be the Queen of Pop taking direct aim at her competition. Yet with so much early promise it’s tragically let down with an unfortunately bombastic middle section. From then on it just gets messy as spooky, swirling noises throb relentlessly throughout, giving the impression Pharrell fell asleep on the mixing board while the track was still running.

That’s the biggest complaint for the rest of the album – so many of the songs have great potential, yet end too raw and unfinished. From the middle onwards "Hard Candy" is definitely more miss than hit. It’s a bit like sticking your hand blindly into the candy jar and coming up with trick after trick when you keep hoping for a treat.

Of "Incredible" the less said the better. Suffice to say it in no way lives up to its name. “Sex with you is incredible” is one of the few remarkable lines uttered during this quite unremarkable track.

"Beat Goes On" is significantly different to the version that also leaked last year. It’s yet another tribute to dancing, with more of an early 80s vibe, and at first seems like the perfect blend of old skool Madonna with new skool grooves. After a curt Kanye West rap in which he mentions "doing F," whatever that may be, things once again dissolve into a meandering mess. The chorus is brazenly forgotten about, spoiling what could easily have been another Madonna classic. On and on it does indeed go.

"Hard Candy" is redeemed at this point by "Dance 2night" – with the Timbaland/Timberlake duo close by once more. Harking back to mid-80s Janet Jackson with its jaunty freestyle R&B approach, it sports a brain-hugging chorus that could easily have been stolen from some boy band archive. Hmmm, now who could be responsible for that?

Track ten, "Spanish Lesson," is mercifully short. Guess what? There are more references to the dance floor, a Spanish guitar tossed in, alongside some plodding beats, and it’s all over so quickly it barely rates a mention. Ho hum.

The closest thing to a ballad on the album is "Devil Wouldn’t Recognise You" where Justin once again makes his presence felt double-tracking Madonna. With echoes of JT’s own "Cry Me A River," it proves to be yet again a decent pop song left wanting under the weight of the “everything including the kitchen sink” production approach.

Finally, "Hard Candy" comes to a haunting end with "Voices." Cue Justin uttering the opening line: “who is the master, who is the slave?” Well, that certainly gives us plenty to ponder! Over a moody, mid-tempo beat "Voices" comes on like a veritable act of contrition for what has essentially been a collection of confessions on a urban dance floor.

Overall "Hard Candy" is patchy, but blessed with a handful of great singles (which is what you’d expect from any Madonna album) that stick close to the winning formula of keeping the most recognisable voice in pop uncluttered and out front. It’s when she’s tossed boxing gloves first into the mix, along with all manner of production pots and pans (a case of too many cooks perhaps?) that "Hard Candy" goes a tad sour.

Expectations-wise, file "Hard Candy" alongside 2000’s inconsistent "Music" album – which suffered coming post-Ray Of Light and delivering a truly killer lead single that promised too much. Likewise, beyond the handful of obvious singles, things start to get somewhat sticky on "Hard Candy."

As it is, it’s a sweet enough treat with just enough for longtime Madonna fans to cherish, or (ahem!) get their teeth into. And for those who suspected Madonna was well past her use-by-date in her 50th year, it’s mostly a timely reminder she’s still got a lot more than just "4 Minutes" to save the world’s charts with.

Marc Andrews is a media and entertainment journalist who writes for MEDIAWEEK magazine (http://www.mediaweek.com.au) and DNA Magazine (dnamagazine.com).

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Exclusive review of Madonna's Hard Candy

Rating: 3/5

As finishing touches were being applied to the East London premiere of Madonna’s latest album, academics specialising in adoption at Liverpool University announced what they called The Madonna Effect – a phenomenon “in which parents in Africa surrender their children for adoption thinking they will enjoy a better life”.

Whatever context is applied to it, you felt like adding that The Madonna Effect – sure to accumulate now that she has set her sights on adopting in India – isn’t restricted to adoption. There’s a Madonna effect for almost everything she does. In the past week alone, the Swiss jewellers Chopard have been besieged with requests for replicas of the £500,000 knuckleduster rings exhibited on the sleeve of Hard Candy.

All of which is worth dwelling on, because how will The Madonna Effect play out when Hard Candy is released? It’s tempting even to theorise that Madonna has made it so that there won’t be much of an Effect.

Seemingly eager to relieve herself from the pressure of being imitated at every turn, Madonna’s 11th studio album finds her deploying a coterie of producers – Timbaland, Danja, Pharrell Williams – who have, in varying combinations, already done the same thing with Nelly Furtado, Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani. Naturally, this being Madonna, she has already filed the riposte before you made the criticism. On She’s Not Me, she makes the point that however any other woman attempts to match her, they don’t have the advantage of being Madonna. So, what’s the song like? Well, it’s like roughly two thirds of Hard Candy – a sequenced avalanche of beats in the sonic centre ground that, in the olden days, used to be occupied by tunes.

Far from being a problem, that’s how some of the most exciting pop music is assembled these days. Madonna’s instinct for a killer tune has pushed producers such as Stuart Price, Mirwais and William Orbit to career peaks. Given time here, Incredible and the Kanye West-assisted Beat Goes On will scrub up alongside some of her best – especially the latter’s nods to Detroit techno at its poppermost.

Justin Timberlake cameos on the new single 4 Minutes and three other songs, including the immediately excellent Miles Away – a collision of acoustic downstrokes and feverishly jaunty rhythm that verges on reggae.

When the songs work, it doesn’t much matter that Madonna is blazing a fourth-hand trail. After 25 years of reinvention, we can surely cut her slack in that department. But on Dance 2Night, She’s Not Me and Give it 2 Me, what surprises is how deferential Madonna is to her collaborators. Even the album’s showstopping ballad, The Devil Wouldn’t Recognise You succumbs to a default mode of vast beats.

By this late stage, you rather feel like you’re in your fifth hour at the Ambassador’s famous party. Great, but is there anything else on offer other than Ferrero sodding Rochers?

Only on the final song, Voices, does Madonna remember that her stock-in-trade is to assimilate the sound of a well-known producer and turn it into something else. Here, the sort of poignant, unresolved chords you might sooner hear on an early Serge Gainsbourg record accord with a more personal lyric, before a grandiloquent finale of bells and pipe organ sends us on our way.

Hard Candy is no disaster, but a little more of that wouldn’t have gone amiss.

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Madonna’s Hard and Delicious Candy: My review…

Hard Candy drops on April 28th but I have already been fortunate to have a sneak listen to the record at an exclusive playback in London today. A handful of journos piled into 3 Rooms in Shoreditch to hear it.



The decor was totally fab - giant candy emblazoned with Madge pictures and a lovely little goddie bag featuring all M’s latest pictorials.

So the album. Overall it’s easily as good as Confessions…..if not better. It’s a dancefloor filler from start to finish. At times I’d say there’s a bit too much going on with some of the tracks but it’s a fun album that I reckon could exceed the last album in global success. I only had one little listen but here’s my initial thoughts on the album! And a picture of me and my Madonna branded lolly! I got a D for….Dean! Ha ha.

1. Candy Shop - “Come into my store, we got candy galore,” Madge purrs. It’s a little less frantic as 4 Minutes but a good single if it were to be released - definitely catchy.

2. 4 Minutes - A killer tune that we already know and love.

3. Give it 2 Me - She’s just filmed the video for this track, the second single. It starts off with an Abba twinge and it’s almost circusy. It gets almost techno and rave style towards the end and there’s some enjoyable heavy mechanical voice work towards the end. It’s a definite radio hit.

4. Heartbeat - starts off with the sound of a beating heart. This track sticks in your head - it feels like an ace track from the Bedtime Stories era.

5. Miles Away - An acoustic guitar starts at the beginning. It’s vocally very Madonna and possibly a little Ray Of Lightish! It’s all over the internet on You Tube if you fancy a listen…..

6. She’s Not Me - This song feels very personal - is she yelling and screeching at hubby Guy’s ex Tania Strecker (who Madonna pushed out the way to get Guy) when she squeals: “She’s not me and she never will be!” There’s anger and it’s great.

7. Incredible - It’s very happy as a record. Has a furious ending that goes on and on. It’s fairly dark and gets very NERD-ish towards the end.

8. Beat Goes On - Disco number and very fun. It’s electro with a hip hop edge and has a great orchestral bit. One of my favourite tracks.

9. Dance Tonight - It feels like the ‘Forbidden Love’ track of the album. It’s smooth and sexier than most tracks on the album. Dancy towards the end and feels like proper old school Madge.

10. Spanish Lessons - The gypsy guitar is out and proud. I wanted to walk around the room click my fingers and slamming my feet on the floor.

11. Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You - I really wanted to listen to this one again big time! Stand out track for me - that’s what I wrote down but I was mingling around at the time and have memory loss annoyingly!

12. Voices - “Who is the master and who is the slave,” Madge asks. It’s dramatic with strings and slightly more laid back and chilled. A good end to a fab new album.

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Hard Candy: UK Album Playback

Madonnalicious was fortunate enough to attend the UK playback for Hard Candy in East London earlier this evening with about 100 other members of the press.

Behind a non-descript door near Spitalfields market, UK press, TV and internet journalists gathered to listen to Madonna's new album. Once checked in at the door, all mobile phones were taken away and champagne handed out in return!



The playback took place in a large loft-type space, with many sofas and comfy chairs, cushions and LCD televisions, on every table there were candy canes and jelly beans - and large lollypops spelling out M-A-D-O-N-N-A H-A-R-D C-A-N-D-Y, many of the journalists snapped up these goodies.

Handouts of the album tracklist were handed out to everyone and then the playback started with the name of each track was displayed on the many LCD screens - and at the end the 4 Minutes video was also played.



As everyone left, they were handed a Hard Candy goodie bag which contained copies of Dazed and Confused, Elle, Q and Vanity Fair (May editions with the Madonna covers), a set of four Hard Candy collectors postcards, candy canes, a Hard Candy lollypop and some Madonna Hard Candy's which would spell out her name and the album title if you dared open the packet!





And the album you ask? For those who were worried Madonna has ventured too far into RnB, fear not - although some songs contain the RnB beat, the way Madonna sings her lyrics over the top tends to make the songs recognisably 'Madonna'.

Far from being just an RnB album, madonnalicious felt a definite early 1980's club disco/electronic vibe to the album, and it felt like Madonna was going back to her beginnings (with a little RnB added on top!).

The second single Give It 2 Me will be an excellent club hit - in it's funky club/disco stomper way - it even contains a very similar bridge/break to Thief of Hearts.

For those fans who previously heard The Beat Goes On - prepare for a surprise - the song is so different madonnalicious even thought the wrong track was being played. Only the chorus (barely) survives, and there are new verses and a new rap by Kanye West.

Other standout tracks include 4 Minutes, Miles Away, She's Not Me, Incredible, Devil Wouldn't Recognise You and Voices.

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Madonna playback 'mayhem' (ie not mayhem at all)

We went to a 'Hard Candy' album playback yesterday evening. Playbacks are great because there is booze and food and the music is played quite loud - factors which, when combined, ensure that everything sounds better than it actually is.

These leaflets (click to enlarge) were lying around.



Let's have a look at this again.

"'The album title is a juxtaposition of tough and sweetness.. Kind of like "I'm gonna kick your ass but it's going to make you feel good". And of course, I love candy,' laughed the material girl."

'Laughed the material girl'? What is this, a local TV news report? Christ alive.

Anyway the album's brilliant (see our extensive review) but of course what you really want to know is whether the playback was festooned with loads of 'Hard Candy'-inspired nonsense. The answer is yes. As well as loads of massive 'candy canes' and the like, the entrance featured this 'amazing' (slightly unnerving) picture of the album sleeve, made out of jelly beans.



Let's take a closer look.



Let's take an even closer look.



On second thoughts, let's not.

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Op donderdag 10 april 2008 21:03 schreef creno het volgende:
Heeft iemand al kunnen ontcijferen wat er op haar ring staat ? Het lijkt op "Mdolla" maar is dat ook zo ?!?

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EXCLUSIVE - DrownedMadonna.com has some great news for Madonna's fans.

Madonna is due to start her world tour on the anniversary of 9/11, DrownedMadonna.com can reveal. The first show will be at London’s Wembley STADIUM on September 11th with a second show on 13th. She wants a big opening for her tour and there’s no where bigger than Wembley Stadium. After London she will go to Paris.

Huge shows are being planned in Australia, Brazil and Argentina to name but a few. There are also plans to travel to Dubai for the first time and a visit to Israel is looking hopeful.

Keep in mind that this is a tentative schedule and it's obviously subjected to change.

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Op zondag 20 april 2008 13:59 schreef Prego het volgende:

beat goes on is bijna binnen...

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Op zondag 20 april 2008 21:22 schreef Hapertje het volgende:
Waar zijn die laatste 4 nummers te vinden?

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Op maandag 21 april 2008 20:02 schreef Cracka-ass het volgende:
Elke keer als ik 'Spanish Lesson' hoor moet ik toch een beetje aan Bassie & Adriaan denken.

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Op maandag 21 april 2008 20:40 schreef HuubTuub het volgende:
Confessions, is geweldig!
(wellicht toch maar even rondsnuffelen bij de torrtentjes...hmmm what to do...)

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Op maandag 21 april 2008 20:47 schreef Hapertje het volgende:
Ik vind echt dat Pharell de konten van Timberlake en Timbaland gekicked heeft! Ik had na de demo's totaal geen vertrouwen in de samenwerking met Pharell, maar damn... die nummers met zijn medewerking zijn hot!