It took 25 years and 11 albums before Madonna finally bored me. 2008’s Hard Candy is the first of her releases that left me cold from start to finish.
I think that’s because it’s the first album that feels like she’s chasing something rather than blazing a new path.
On previous albums, Madonna sought out little-known producers who helped push her music in new directions, often redefining the pop music landscape in the process. On Hard Candy, she teamed up for the first time with established stars.
Madonna’s main collaborators on this album are Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, and Justin Timberlake. Kanye West is featured on one track. As a result, the album sounds more like a mash-up of those artists with a dash of Madonna throw in than an actual Madonna record.
Where Confessions On a Dance Floor felt thrilling, Hard Candy feels tired. This was Madonna’s last album for Warner Bros. Records after a 25-year relationship, and it sounds like it was dashed off to fulfill a contract.
About the only good decision Madonna made was rethinking the album’s title and cover art. The initial plan was to title the album Black Madonna, a reference to Catholic paintings and statues of a dark-hued Madonna figure, with a cover depicting Madonna in blackface. Wiser heads prevailed.
Hard Candy reached #1 on the Billboard album chart — Madonna’s fourth straight album to do so — and sold 4 million copies worldwide. Even her misses were hits.
What are you waiting for? Nobody’s gonna show you how
Why wait for someone else to do what you can do right now?
Got no boundaries and no limits
If there’s excitement, put me in it
If it’s against the law, arrest me
If you can handle it, undress me
[Pre-Chorus: Madonna]
Don’t stop me now, don’t need to catch my breath
I can go on, and on, and on
When the lights go down and there’s no one left
I can go on, and on, and on
[Chorus: Madonna]
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna show me how
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna stop me now
[Verse 2: Madonna & Pharrell Williams]
They say that a good thing never lasts, and then it has to fall
Those are the people that did not amount to much at all
Gimme the baseline, and I’ll shake it
Gimme a record, and I’ll break it
There’s no beginning and no ending
Give me a chance to go, and I’ll take it
[Pre-Chorus: Madonna]
Don’t stop me now, don’t need to catch my breath
I can go on, and on, and on
When the lights go down and there’s no one left
I can go on, and on, and on
[Chorus: Madonna]
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna show me how
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna stop me now
[Bridge: Madonna, Pharrell Williams]
Watch this
Get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don’t stop it (What?)
Get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don’t stop it (What?)
Get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don’t stop it (What?)
Get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don’t stop it (What?)
Get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don’t stop it (To the left, to the right, to the left, to the right)
Get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don’t stop it (To the left, to the right, to the left, to the right)
Get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don’t stop it (To the left, left, right, right, left, left, right, right)
Get stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid (Left, left, right, right, left, left, right, right)
[Pre-Chorus: Madonna]
Don’t stop me now, don’t need to catch my breath
I can go on, and on, and on
When the lights go down and there’s no one left
I can go on, and on, and on
[Chorus: Madonna]
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna show me how
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna stop me now
[Breakdown: Madonna]
You’re only here to win
Get what they say?
You’re only here to win
Get what they do?
They’d do it too if they were you
You done it all before, it ain’t nothing new
You’re only here to win
Get what they say?
You’re only here to win
Get what they do?
They’d do it too if they were you
You done it all before, it ain’t nothing new
[Chorus: Madonna]
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna show me how
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna stop me now
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna show me how
Give it to me, yeah
No one’s gonna stop me now
Give it to me
Meet Me In Montauk 
I don’t really know this album at all, though I find the lead single “Four Minutes” to be more compelling than “Give it 2 Me.” However, I’m curious to know what Daniel thinks of this album given his admiration for Madonna’s collaborators, especially Pharrell Williams, Justin Timberlake and Kanye West.
I would say that 25 years and 11 albums kept you from becoming bored is a hell of a record!