“Hard Candy” – Madonna

Rating: 5/10

“Who is the master, who is the slave?” is one of the lyrics in the final track of the new Madonna album, and it leaves listeners with a question that resonates throughout the entire album: Who is really running the show here?

Madonna has been writing and performing songs for 25 years and has put out 10 other albums ranging in styles and themes. However, for her eleventh, she brought in two teams of writers and producers to help modernize her sound. The duos include Justin Timberlake with Timbaland, and Pharrell Williams’ team, The Neptunes.

The Neptunes give their songs a very peppy, pop feel. They are much more disco-esque and slightly resemble tunes from Madonna’s last album. “Spanish Lessons” and “Candy Shop” have awesome beats that are difficult not to dance to, but the lyrics are lacking substance, especially in “Spanish Lessons” in which Madonna does her version of a “Learn To Speak Spanish” tape with poor Spanish translations, even from “Evita” herself. Spanish-speakers everywhere: Cover your ears or you’ll hear your language butchered to the tune of a Latin guitar backed by an electronic drumbeat.

The songs “She’s Not Me” and “Give It 2 Me” are, in contrast, great lyrically, but use annoying, repetitive beats from a drum machine. In the song, there could be a double meaning to the lyrics.

They may not only be about a lover finding a new woman, but also perhaps a claim that no other lady in the music business can top the Queen of Pop as she sings, “She’s not me, she doesn’t have my name / She’ll never have what I have, it won’t be the same.”

Ding ding! In come the challengers Justin Timberlake and Timbaland. They already have a one-up on the competition, as their first track on the album, “4 Minutes,” is the album’s lead single. Its catchy beat, and unique, electro-ska music have already made this song a hit in bars and dance clubs across the country.

The duo of Timberlake and Timbaland with the songs “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You,” “Voices” and one of the best songs on the album, “Miles Away,” put up a pretty good fight. Timbaland’s infectious beats come together with Timberlake’s talented and catchy songwriting to give “Hard Candy” a few songs with more substance and a smooth R&B tone to them.

Madonna rocks the cover of the album in a wrestling outfit – complete with a championship belt – but who should really be wearing the gloves? “Hard Candy” comes across as a battle between two styles of producers, and it appears that the Pop Queen merely acts as a puppet as they run the show.

When the tracks come to a close and the final bell has sounded, it’s clear that the winner of the match is Timbaland and Timberlake, as they were able to deliver the songs with the freshest sounds and most enticing lyrics. The Neptunes had a few good ones as well, but proved to stick too closely to the disco feel of Madonna’s previous album. In all, Madonna has shown that after 25 years in the biz, she can still pump out hits, but only with the help of young talents and without the flair of her classics.