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Hard Candy (Madonna album)
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Hard Candy is the eleventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released on April 25, 2008 by Warner Bros. Records. It was her final studio album with the record company before a greatest hits album, Celebration, marking the end of a 25 year recording history. The album debuted at #1 in a record breaking 37 countries and was the 11th best-selling album worldwide in 2008 according to IFPI. The album was supported by the successful worldwide Sticky & Sweet Tour.
Lead single "4 Minutes" (a duet with Justin Timberlake) achieved worldwide success by topping the charts in Australia, Canada, Germany, Italy and other European nations. It became Madonna's thirteenth number-one single in the United Kingdom, a record for a female artist on the British charts. In the United States, "4 Minutes" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, giving Madonna her thirty-seventh top-ten hit and breaking the record previously held by Elvis Presley. Background and releaseHard Candy was released on April 26 in Israel and Australia (with many retailers chose to sell the album two days earlier). Throughout Europe, including Germany, Ireland, Austria and The Netherlands the album was released on April 25. On April 28, 2008 the album was released in the United Kingdom, Brazil and most other European countries, and on April 29, 2008 in the United States, Mexico and Canada. The album was preceeded by its lead single "4 Minutes".Musical styleThe album, overall, has an urban pop vibe, while remaining a dance-pop record at heart. In the early stages of recording, Stuart Price, the producer of Confessions on a Dance Floor, described the new album as moving in an urban direction. It had initially been defined as having "a lot of producers from a lot of genres in there."Pet Shop Boys were originally asked by Warner to write for and produce some of the album. Neil Tennant revealed they were contacted again the same week and told Warner had changed their mind. "We got told to forget it as they decided to shove her down the R&B route." Timbaland, one of the featured producers of the record, referred to the album as being "like "Holiday" with an R&B groove." Justin Timberlake also defined the album as being "an R&B/pop/dance record." Upon release, The New York Times reviewed the album as "a set of catchy, easily digestible, mass-appeal songs." The album features vocal appearances by Justin Timberlake, Timbaland, Pharrell Williams and Kanye West while the song "She's Not Me", features American guitarist Wendy Melvoin, best known as part of Prince's former band, The Revolution. Hard Candy features production by Timbaland, Timberlake, The Neptunes, Nate "Danja" Hills and by Madonna herself. Promotion Album cover made entirely of Jelly Beans at Madame Tussaud's in London. Hard Candy was also streamed on MySpace four days before the United States release. Furthermore, the season finale of Ugly Bettys second season, "Jump," solely featured Madonna's music, "Candy Shop," "Spanish Lesson," "She's Not Me" and "Miles Away" all played, as well as the 2006 single "Jump." The Japanese television drama Change also featured "Miles Away" during the closing credits. A teaser website was created by Warner Bros. called displaying an animated clock with Madonna singing "Tick tock" continuously from the "4 Minutes" song. Hard Candy Promo TourTo promote the album, Madonna embarked on the Hard Candy Promo Tour, the first venture as part of Madonna's new contract with concert promoters Live Nation with media content provided by "Frank the Plumber LLC". The show consisted of a 40 minute set featuring six songs, with dates in New York City, Paris and Maidstone. During the performance at the Roseland Ballroom in New York, Justin Timberlake accompanied Madonna onstage for the performance of "4 Minutes" (he appeared on video screens for the further dates). Pharrell Williams also appeared on video during the performance of "Give It 2 Me." Alongside these and album tracks, "Miles Away" and "Candy Shop," Madonna performed a rock-infused version of "Hung Up," introduced by a few bars from "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". "Music," was also remixed using a sample of Fedde Le Grand's "Put Your Hands Up 4 Detroit."In an interview with the BBC, Madonna stated: The April 30 New York set was shown live via MSN in association with Control Room and Live Nation. The May 10 Maidstone concert was shown live on BBC Three and later a special program Madonna Live at Radio 1's Big Weekend was shown on BBC One, both including interview footage with Jo Whiley. Highlights of the show were also shown all that week on BBC Interactive. The Maidstone show caused controversy with Madonna's use of swearing causing complaints to be made to the BBC. Setlist:
The album was further promoted by the 2008-2009 Sticky & Sweet Tour. Singles"4 Minutes"The lead single, "4 Minutes", was released digitally on March 18, 2008, worldwide, and was physically released on April 19, 2008. The single features Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. It is currently the most successful release from the album, reaching #1 in twenty-four countries. The song peaked at number three on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. 4 Minutes went to number 1 in Ireland in 2008, her first number one in 19 years there, since the release of Like A Prayer"Give It 2 Me" The second single, "Give It 2 Me", was released to radio on June 4, 2008, in Europe and June 24, 2008, in the United States, where it peaked at #57 on the Billboard Hot 100. It has gone to number-one in the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Spain, Turkey, and on the U.S. Dance and Airplay Chart. It also reached the top 5 in seven other countries, and the top 10 in eight other countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and Mexico. It had only moderate success in Australia, reaching #23, while in Japan, only the top 40. "Miles Away" The third single, "Miles Away" was released to US radio on October 13. It was released digitally in Europe on October 17 and worldwide on November 24 when it was also released in various physical formats. Many Canadian radio stations had already begun playing the song before that date and the song started moving up the Canadian Hot 100 chart and peaked at 23. On July 17, 2008, a promotional single of "Miles Away" was released in Japan, where the song had increased airplay and digital downloads. The song has failed to chart on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, but it has topped the Hot 100 Single Sales and Hot Dance Airplay charts. In the UK, "Miles Away" peaked at no.39 and was Madonna's lowest charting single since 1984. ReceptionCritical receptionThe BBC's Tom Young was one of many critics to praise the record stating that;"In essence, the album is not the hip hop tribute many had feared, but an urban extension of 2005's Confessions On A Dancefloor. The disco still rules supreme (just listen to the funk-overload of Dance 2Nite) and the dancefloor remains Madonna's sexual playground. Yet, with Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Nate 'Danja' Hills and Pharrell Williams at the helm, the RnB edge is added. Williams' breathy punctuation and tinny percussion spill over from the album's opener Candy Shop and Timbaland's distorted bass beats make for wonderfully messy melodies, particularly on the superb climax, Voices – Madonna's most haunting sound since Frozen." As with Madonna's 2005 effort Confessions on a Dancefloor, the album received mostly positive reviews. Reuters noted: "As parting gifts go, Madonna's 11th studio album — and her last before she exits long-term record label Warner Bros. — is unusually generous, if early reviews are to be believed. [...] Released internationally this week, and hitting U.S. stores on Tuesday, Hard Candy scored solidly among rock critics." Rolling Stone said that Hard Candy is the work of "a songwriting team of American chart royalty" that help "revisit her roots as an urban-disco queen." The Observer wrote that "whenever Hard Candy threatens to get boring, something always happens to recapture your interest." The album was however still criticized for being "an attempt to harness the urban market", with Mark Savage, of BBC Music, writing that "Timbaland's tracks are frequently reminiscent of his (superior) work for Nelly Furtado" and later stated that "if a handful of the tracks had been delivered to more producers with a touch more subtlety, Hard Candy could have ranked alongside Madonna's best." The Times felt similarly, noting that while "Hard Candy is no disaster", the album's producers have "already done the same thing with Nelly Furtado, Britney Spears and Gwen Stefani." The Independent said that the album reflects "how a once diverse talent has ossified into simply satisfying the sweet tooth of functional dance-pop." PopMatters wrote that the album "is overpopulated with recycled pop that is indistinguishable and artificial, something Madonna’s soothing arpeggiating vocals cannot alleviate". Allmusic panned the album and wrote, "Hard Candy is as a rare thing: a lifeless Madonna album." Chart performanceThe album debuted at number one in thirty-seven countries worldwide: Australia, Austria, Belgium (Flanders + Wallonia), Brazil (international), Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Croatia, Estonia, Denmark, Greece, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan (overall + international), Mexico (international), Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Switzerland, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, Taiwan, U.A.E., UK, USADuring its first day of release in the Netherlands, Hard Candy sold over 60,000 copies, earning a platinum certification. The album also received a Gold certification on its first day of release, selling over 15,000 copies. Furthermore, after only two days of release, Hard Candy debuted at number one on the French albums chart, selling 38.000 copies. It also debuted at number one on the Oricon weekly album chart in Japan, selling about 55,462 copies, retaining that position for a second week due to an increase of sales to almost 80.000 copies. Hard Candy also debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, where Madonna joined a select group of artists to achieve ten number one albums, behind Elvis Presley, with eleven, and The Beatles, with fifteen (though Madonna's tally includes the Evita soundtrack album which is a cast recording rather than a Madonna album). Madonna achieved a similar feat in Australia, where it became her seventh album to reach number one on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album was certified gold in its first week and eventually went Platinum "4 Minutes" has also remained in the Australian Top Ten for over eleven weeks. According to Nielsen SoundScan, Hard Candy sold 100,000 copies in the United States upon its first day of release. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 with over 280,000 copies sold. Hard Candy became her seventh number one album, making her the female artist with the second most number one albums, behind only Barbra Streisand. It was certified Gold on June 4, 2008, a month after its release.. In Latin America the album was also well-received, reaching number nineteen on the Mexican Top 100 Albums chart based on three-day sales alone, and after three weeks in the chart, the album had peaked at number three, it has been certified Platinum. In Argentina, after debuting at number-four based on shipments, it climbed to number one. In New Zealand, Hard Candy debuted and peaked at number five on May 5, 2008, and stayed on the chart for just nine weeks. Formats
Track listingAdditional notes
Bonus tracksiTunes Deluxe Pre-order, Digital Download Pre-order, iTunes, Digital download (bonus track version), Japanese CD bonus trackDeluxe Digital Download, iTunes (Deluxe Version) 1 iTunes (Deluxe Version) 2 iTunes (Deluxe Version) 3 CD Limited Collectors Edition Candy Box LP Limited Edition bonus tracks Additional notes:'
Album creditsProduction
Personnel
Certifications, peaks and salesChart procession and succession |
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Used under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply.
Used under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License; additional terms may apply.
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