Madonna
Hard Candy
WEA/Reprise

She's still making exceptional pop-records - on her terms.

And after a comfortable ten years or so of enjoying universal respect and acknowledgement, it looks like Madonna’s ready to be the bad girl again.

If America wasn’t a bit too distracted to notice the merits of 2003’s American Life, they weren’t exactly eager to be reminded of a war everyone now knows is an insurmountable tragedy. Her ever-keen business savvy in tact, the Material/Maternal woman re-grouped and took her problems to the dance-floor with the continuous-dance follow-up, Confessions On A Dancefloor, which spawned the infectious “Hung Up.”

She is – at once – a legend AND a relevant, current pop-superstar. The list is pretty short of artists who ever managed to maintain such a status: Elvis did it in his day; Paul McCartney and U2 are doing it now – which probably doesn’t make anyone second-guess her motives in working with the current darling of pop-producers, Timbaland.

Hard Candy is largely mid-tempo r&b/pop grooves that are radio-ready but above the standard.

“Candy Shop,” the track that leaked out months ago, fits that mold, and it’s quite funky.

Stronger tracks include “She’s Not Me,” but it's really tracks like “4 Minutes,” her singles that features the two Tims – both “berlake” and “baland” – that illustrate how capably Madonna rolls with newer acts without ever falling out of her element.

Melody abounds in a project that is balls-out produced to the gills, a testament to Madonna’s ever-reliable ear for solid musicality. “Beat Goes On” features Kanye West, which its pop-power almost makes you forget that it may not be the most appropriate cut for West to have guest’ed.

This is potentially the most hit-producing Madonna record to surface since Erotica, however, this time she commands our attention with her time-and-again proven ability to keep on making outstanding pop albums.

Madonna