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Hard Candy Image
Metascore
65

Generally favorable reviews - based on 24 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
7.3

Generally favorable reviews- based on 562 Ratings

  • Summary: The queen of pop's latest and last release on the Warner Brothers label was produced in part by Nate "Danja" Hills, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, and Pharrell Williams.
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 10 out of 24
  2. Negative: 0 out of 24
  1. Candy finds her dropping her Kabbalah string on the dance floor and readopting an American accent to offer up an unpretentious, nonstop dance party.
  2. All in all, Hard Candy could be the greatest swan song to a pop career this side of Let It Be, if you wanna get all hyperbolic about it.
  3. Even when she wrestles with Pharrell's abrupt stylistic changes or lets herself get absorbed in a Timberlake melody, Madonna still finds her way back on top.
  4. Overall, Hard Candy sounds a bit too much like Madonna’s trying to catch up with the American R&B princesses. Having said that, she holds her own for the most part, and when her own voice shines through, she reminds us why she’s outlasted so many.
  5. Hard Candy is a serviceable and sometimes very good pop album that also happens to be a confusing and even dismal Madonna album.
  6. So yes, a solid enough album by the standards of most pop tarts, but from the mistress of innovation? Pretty mediocre.
  7. Hard Candy sounds bloody expensive, but has precious little to declare except an infatuation with its own reflection in a nightclub mirror.

See all 24 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Negative: 29 out of 187
  1. KevinS
    Apr 30, 2008
    10
    Don't listen to anyone that says this is not a good album. This is one of Madonna's BEST albums. The majority of the tracks are Don't listen to anyone that says this is not a good album. This is one of Madonna's BEST albums. The majority of the tracks are just awesome, and this album deserves to be listened to with the volume up and the bass pumping! A real crowd pleaser of an album. Fun, exciting, and very danceable. Expand
  2. AngeloB.
    May 2, 2008
    10
    I love it.
  3. SeanF
    Dec 5, 2008
    10
    Fantastic considering the worst song on the album was a number 1 Hit!
  4. Nov 17, 2015
    8
    Šis albums iznāca R&B ēras norieta laikā 2008. gadā, kas, iespējams, varētu būt par iemeslu albuma zemajiem komerciālajiem panākumiem.Šis albums iznāca R&B ēras norieta laikā 2008. gadā, kas, iespējams, varētu būt par iemeslu albuma zemajiem komerciālajiem panākumiem. Saturiski tas sastāv no diva veida dziesmām – pusi producējis Timbaland, tostarp lielāko albuma hitu 4 minutes, duetu ar Džastinu Timberleiku; otru pusi – Farels Viljams. Tieši šis mūziķis/ producents savos 40 gados pagājušo gad piedzīvoja karjeras mezmarizēšanos ar hitiem Get Lucky un Blurred Lines, kura iedīglis, manuprāt, sastopams šajā albumā, t.i., dziesma Give it 2 me, kurā Madonna lustīgā R&B un deju mūzikas savijuma pavadījumā dzied par to, kā visa pasaule ir bezbailīga mūziķa priekšā. Pieņemu, ka šobrīd, laikā, kad arī Timbalands un Džastins Timberleiks, kā arī vieglāka R&B mūzika sāk atgriezties radiostacijās, Hard Candy būtu tieši laikā, jo tajā samijās iepriekšminētais žanrs ar Madonnai raksturīgajām melodiskajām dziesmām un liriku ziņā neatkarīgo skatījumu uz pasauli. Noklausoties visu albumu jāsecina, lai gan 4 minutes bija komerciāli veiksmīgs singls, kurš ticis pārdots 6 miljonos eksemplāru ASV, tajā ir ļoti maz pienesuma no Medžas un tas ‘aprija’ pārējo albumu, kurš ir pilns ar no šī brīža skatu punkta inovatīvām dziesmām. Veiksmīgākās no tām iepriekšminētā Give it 2 me; Spanish Lesson, She’s not me, Devil Would not Recognize You. Expand
  5. Jun 15, 2019
    7
    What a hard task - to be the following release after the globally acclaimed Confessions On a Dance Floor (2005), no, really, what a DOUBLEWhat a hard task - to be the following release after the globally acclaimed Confessions On a Dance Floor (2005), no, really, what a DOUBLE hard task, she also had to present something new after only 2/3 years of her last reinvention.

    This is not a bad record at all, people just didn't get it because it's Madonna doing R&B. It's not like she hasn't done it before, it was just at a bad timing. Electropop/EDM was getting back at it's track and she was a little late. But, the whole record itself is very well produced, the highlights are amazing tracks (Devil Wouldn't recognize/Miles Away) and it was the background for the highest grossing tour for a solo act (still holds that record as of 2019!/female). I only wish she hadn't kept "Across the Sky" out of the final cut.
    Expand
  6. Mar 27, 2020
    5
    This album is too cohisive. Some songs (like "Heartbeat" and "Miles Away") could be even better if someone other than The Neptunes wouldThis album is too cohisive. Some songs (like "Heartbeat" and "Miles Away") could be even better if someone other than The Neptunes would handle those tracks production. Expand
  7. Justin
    Apr 29, 2008
    0
    She's now old enough to be a grandma, which is why her childish need for attention and shock is so pathetic... and thanks again for She's now old enough to be a grandma, which is why her childish need for attention and shock is so pathetic... and thanks again for ruining Guy Richie's career. Expand

See all 187 User Reviews