The New York Times take on Madonna's "Hard Candy"...

The album is out tomorrow. Some of my favorite points from the article:

• Madonna sets aside her avant-pop and do-gooder impulses on “Hard Candy.” Instead of introducing little-known dance-world producers into the mainstream, she is working with thoroughly established hit makers. Instead of arty provocations, she’s polishing the basics of verse-chorus-verse. And instead of another full-scale reinvention, she’s looking back, deliberately echoing the sound of her early years, with a ProTools face-lift.
• Presenting herself not only as an object of desire but as a material girl with her eye on the profits was one of the many smart moves she made from the beginning. By flaunting her control and her triumphs, Madonna gave fans a stake in her long-term prospects, something that loyalists should be able to appreciate as her sex appeal inevitably fades — although Madonna is still svelte, toned and dressing in lingerie as often as she pleases.

• The dance floor — not the pulpit, not the art gallery — is Madonna’s truest home, and it’s a good place to shake off pretensions and excesses. Her grand statement on “Hard Candy” is nothing more than that she’s still around and can still deliver neat, calculated pop songs. Madonna has had more profound moments — ”Like a Prayer,” “Ray of Light” — but not every pop star is cut out for full-time profundity. This time around, concocting new ditties that will have her arena audiences singing along, she was smart to stay shallow.

You can read the entire article here


also you can listen to the entire album here
check back tomorrow for my review.