Not as bad as I thought, has a few older style gems too!Having generally skipped most of her albums since "Ray of Light" the 'new' image and musical direction shown on "4 Minutes" did little to make me want to buy this on initial release. However as a fan of older style Maddie tracks "Give It To Me" and the less dated "Miles Away" tipped the balance in the end.
The problem wth an album like this is it isn't going to impress genuine R'N'B or Rap fans, and neither is it going to satisfy the fans who want a follow-up to the dance-pop of "Confessions". So give her her due, she decided to straddle the genres and see what happened!
There are some good tracks on here, but there are also some painfully overlong ones and bouts of very lazy lyrics (something more apparent in recent albums). Starting with the downside(s):- the artwork. I guess it's deliberately a world-weary take on sex, at least I hope it is intentional as she's got enough foundation to build the next tower block in my home city on! She does not look attractive, but definitely hard-bitten...maybe this is apt considering recent marital revelations, but the inner pictures show an aging woman in a very uncomplimentary light.
Musically "Candy Shop" is a so-so opener, which is a shame, and "Incredible" (who said Americans don't use irony) drags on and on and on.... whilst her collaboration with Justin is far better than the one with Kanye (which just sounds tired and formulaic).
The rest of the album is quite listenable, albeit marred by some over-heavy percussion in places, and she does try a few different styles for her fans to latch onto. The mock Spanish guita-sample and percussion bursts are interesting, but would've worked far better if "Spanish Lesson" had omitted the short looped male vocal samples that try to keep it sheltering under the R'N'B umbrella.
The real highlight for me is "Devil Wouldn't Recognise You", which could easily have sat in a late 80s album and has poignant lyrics tinged with the hard edge the album title suggests. This track and "Miles Away" reveal so much about her relationship with Guy it almost hurts, but musically "Devil" sounds like a potential single, complete with imaginary rain-soaked video. The chorus harmonies are subtle and well-placed, but the icing on the cake is the break, which drops into understated male backing vocals before going back into treated/stuttered versions of the chorus.
The final track "Voices" follows on nicely too, but distorts a wee bit too much for my liking (the drum effect distorts some vocals too).
If you like "Give It To Me" and "Miles" then you'll like 3 or 4 other tracks on this album for sure, some of the rest will just grow on you after a few lessons (only 2 or 3 are simply past saving).
Give it a listen if you can, but make sure you check out track 11! 3 stars therefore.
Mutton as Lamb are you mad????????????She maybe 50 but who cares she is still shrewd and knows a tune when she hears it.
The best album since her last one and so much better than the 80s output.
Well recorded, if a little loud output wise like most modern recordings.
Shes more hip at 50 than most wanabee 20 year olds and probably will be at sixty.
Keep it up girl.
She really is mutton dressed as lambOverall I'm not impressed by this album. She is 50 and this cd is as embarrassing as Prince Charles wearing baseball caps backwards and trying to speak like a rude-boi. She should take a cue from U2 who gave up trying to be whacky after their Zooropa and Pop cds; went back to their roots and quite frankly sounded much better. She can do a brilliant ballard, why doesn't she include some of those and leave the rnb for the hoody wearing teenagers.
BEST ALBUM OF 2008Im going to keep this short and quick. This album is EXCELLENT!! I listened to it once and thought it was average... but since then, ive listened to it constantly when i drive to work, when im excercising... it's just such a brilliant classy album with music produced by Pharrell & Timbaland.
It also includes guests such as Timberlake, Kanye West, and Pharrell. It's a really good album- there are 12 songs, 10 of which are exceptional!!
It mixes old style Madonna with modern day beats. BUY IT NOW!
Did she not use to be the definer of music?I used to think Madonna was one of the influential musicians out there. I now question if she ever did. This album is bland and follows trends others out there do a lot better. Only problem is they don't get the hyped up media attention our Madge is famous for.
I expected way better than this, I thought we had finally got to see the real Madonna with Ray of Light, but in the end Madonna is a brand that a lot of fans will defend as being beyond criticism, the only true critics are her fans...which i've been for a long time. Maybe one day she'll lose all those insecurities and the rudeness and actually be someone folk can respect...other that a 'brand' you simply buy because its cool to do so or cause everyone else has it. Very poor album, but in Madonna's own words its as great an album as her debut! Really? What album is she listening too!
Try a decent album like Bring Ya to the Brink.
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