KEY POINTS:
MADONNA
Hard Candy (Warners)
Herald Rating: * * * *
VERDICT: The Queen of Pop continues her golden reign of the charts with this pop-tastic offering
There was a moment, some years ago, when it seemed Madonna really might have lost her knack. The 2003 album American Life offered nothing new from the mistress of reinvention and many questioned whether the Queen of Pop's reign was finally coming to a close. Clocking up less than four million sales, the record was the lowest selling album of her career.
Three years later, determined to prove her detractors wrong, Madonna unleashed the forward-thinking disco pop of Confessions on a Dancefloor. Fans were relieved and critics impressed, but an air of uncertainty continued to surround Madge. Could she do it again? Would she stick with the tried and true formula of Confessions or change tack completely? And if she did, just where would she go on her next musical venture?
It is amidst this myriad of questions, Madonna drops her new record Hard Candy, obliterating the doubt and continuing her golden reign of the charts. An album of pure pop glamour, Hard Candy is Madonna's most fun album since the definitive pop classic Like a Prayer.
The first single 4 Minutes , featuring this century's King of Pop, Justin Timberlake, is already dominating international charts. JT and Timbaland collaborated on five tracks, though surprisingly, most are the weaker offerings of the album.
Instead, it is Pharrell Williams' production outfit The Neptunes that really make this album sing. From the funk-heavy She's Not Me to the upbeat Cherish-esque track Incredible, Pharrell pushes Madge to new places without losing her distinct sound and flavour.
Timberlake and Timbaland's offerings, though undoubtedly catchy and polished, could easily have been written for and performed by any of today's leading pop artists. On She's Not Me, Madonna sings, "She's not me. She doesn't have my name. She'll never have what I have. It won't be the same." Ironically, when these two are at the helm, Madge runs perilously close to losing that individuality.
Pharrell doesn't always get it right though. Spanish Lesson is a particularly trite exercise in electro-pop matched by overtly asinine lyrics, even by Madonna's standards.
Overall though, the record provides an easy and enjoyable listening experience guided by strong basslines, disco beats and synthesised flourishes.
Madonna may have turned to fellow music royalty to help create her 11th studio album but she is still in control. On the closing track Voices, Madge purrs, "Who is the master and who is the slave?" As a tolling bell ends the record, capping off an orchestral finale, there can be no question that Madonna will always be the master.
