Sneak Peek Review: Madonna "Hard Candy"

Madonna is known for reinventing herself. Over the past two decades we've seen her change styles and evolve as music changes. She somehow has done it yet again with the release of her new album Hard Candy, which is due in stores April 29^th.

This time she's taken her sound to a more rhythmic R&B direction. Though she is following on what's hot in music right now, beats, she seems to make it more original than the imitation acts currently rising atop Top 40 radio. Thus, this proves Madonna's creativity is at a different level than that of hot producers and artists with robot minds.

The new record starts out with a beat filled song called "Candy Shop" which follows into her current single that features the hands of Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. Following on Timbaland's repeated signature beat, Justin and Madonna "4 Minutes" to save the world.

Not every song on the record is all about a hip-hop riff. "Miles Away" starts off with an acoustic guitar before percussion comes in to give it an inspiring hypnotic hook. "Hey you, just be yourself/ Don't be so shy/ There's reasons why it's hard/ Keep it together/ You'll make it alright/ Our celebration is going on tonight," she sings. The song is sweet and not too much to handle compared to other songs on the record.

Of course, in today's music when an artists works with a hip-hop producer, more synth sounds are incorporated into the music as in "She's Not Me." This song consists of mainly just that as Madonna overdubs the track with a rhythmic way of speaking through the song.

An interesting inclusion on the album is "Devil Won't Recognize You." It's an acapella song covered with effects such as ping-pong delay that compliment her melodic voice.

A Madonna album would not be the same without some explicit content as "Spanish Song" uses the F word many times through its loops. And that's all the song consists of over and over.

Madonna has taken dance elements from her last record and brought them over to combine with rhythms. In the song "Voices," she overlaps a reverbed vocal around a dance techno feel with some added subtle beats to close out the record.