The latest Madonna single

Getting a new single from a new Madonna record is always a big deal. The latest is "Celebration," which I'm loving - it reminds me a lot of the dance mix of "What it Feels Like For a Girl."

Video: Madonna - Celebration (unofficial)

CD Review: Madonna - Hard Candy

HARD CANDY
Madonna

Madonna's new CD is not a failure because, as some people suggest, she's working with big-name hip hop producers and allowing them to have too much control over her sound. After all, her producers have always had a ton of influence on her music, from the top 40 stylings of Patrick Leonard in the '80s to the electronica-pop of William Orbit and Mirwais in the late '90s.

Rather, Hard Candy is a failure for a much simpler reason: The songs suck. Too much style and no substance. Exhibit A is the lead single, "4 Minutes." Timbaland and Justin Timberlake create a hypnotic marching band loop, but it's not long before that gets annoying. And all that's left is an awkward track with flimsy lyrics about saving the world.

This project is very much like Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds, in that Tim & JT created most of the beats. But while that album featured a handful of killer tracks (even the haters can't deny the brilliance of "Summer Love"), the beats here are pretty stale. Few of these songs are deserving of a second listen. "Candy Shop" - boring. "Dance 2night" - boring. "Voices" - boring.

The most tolerable track is "Incredible," which sounds more like Madonna's typical dance-pop sound and less like hip hop. The Pharrell-produced tracks are better than the Timbaland tracks, but even some of those are suspect - "Spanish Lesson" features an exotic-sounding acoustic guitar riff that is blatantly ripped off from Pharrell's own N.E.R.D. track "She Wants to Move."

I'm a Madonna fan, so much so that I even liked American Life. But Hard Candy isn't doing it for me.

Babyface turns 50

Posted by Scott


I couldn't believe it, either. Venerable R&B songwriter/producer Kenny "Babyface" Edmonds is a half-century old. I personally have a soft spot for his '80s pop/R&B work like After 7's "Can't Stop" and Pebbles' "Girlfriend," but neither makes my list of...

TOP BABYFACE MOMENTS:

8 The Whispers - Rock Steady, 1987
I was going to give this last spot to Eric Clapton's Change the World, because he's a more legendary act, but screw that - Rock Steady is a better song. It's totally '80s, so its sound is quite dated, but just try to listen without singing along.



7 Fall Out Boy - Thks Fr Th Mmrs, 2007
Proving that he hasn't completely disappeared, Face pops up on FOB's latest record. He adds devious-sounding strings to Fall Out Boy's pop sound and helps create a top ten hit.



6 Babyface - Whip Appeal, 1989
In terms of his own solo work, Babyface never topped his 1989 album Tender Lover. Whip Appeal has stood the test of time better than the rest.



5 TLC - Red Light Special, 1994
Babyface gives the trio their sexiest song ever.



4 Madonna - Take a Bow, 1994
Madonna collaborates with Babyface and records the longest-running #1 song of her career.



3 Waiting to Exhale soundtrack, 1995
Face wrote and produced nearly all 16 tracks on this soundtrack, marking his commercial peak.

Video: Brandy, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston, CeCe Winans - Exhale Medley (1997 Grammys)


2 Bobby Brown - Roni, 1988
Yes, I own Bobby Brown's 1988 CD Don't Be Cruel, and this is the song I've never been able to stop listening to. The vocal delivery, the cute lyrics about "the sweetest little girl in the whole wide world," the passionate bridge ("once you've had a Roni you will never give her up!"), it all adds up to one of my favorite Babyface-penned tracks.



1 Boyz II Men - Water Runs Dry, 1995
Babyface's most famous collaboration with Boyz II Men is End of the Road, the 1992 song that broke Elvis Presley's 36-year old record for most weeks at #1 on the Billboard chart. But that song is a bit cheesy. Allow me to announce that 10 million people were wrong, and instead declare Water Runs Dry, an acoustic guitar-driven ballad, to be the superior track. Face's production really shines - the Boyz' voices never blended more beautifully than they did here.

Madonna's induction into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame

Tonight, Madonna gets inducted into the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame. There has been some apparent outrage about her selection. Some misguided elitists are suggesting that she's not really a "rock" artist and therefore doesn't deserve induction.

This is an absurd argument. Everyone knows the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame isn't just for "rock" artists. Country, disco, and jazz acts have been enshrined. Last year, a hip hop act (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five) got inducted. Let's be honest, it's not a "Rock N Roll" Hall of Fame, it's more of a general Music Hall of Fame, for all genres. And you can't have a Music Hall of Fame without Madonna. To suggest that her inclusion cheapens the Hall is preposterous. End of discussion.

To be honest, I'm more pained by the inclusion of John Mellencamp. Sure, he had a string of top 40 hits, but is he more worthy than Alice Cooper, Kiss, Heart, Steve Miller, and Genesis? He's just a modern-day Bob Seger. (Oh, wait, Seger's in the Hall too...)

Brand new Madonna song with Justin Timberlake

The upcoming Madonna duet with Justin Timberlake has leaked out. Early reaction to "4 Minutes to Save the World" has been mixed, but the song has really grown on me after a few listens. I'm loving the horns. The hip-hop influenced track is produced by Timbaland.

Madonna hasn't hit #1 on Billboard since "Music" in 2000, but I'm betting this song returns her to the top of the charts.

To hear it, play this clip NOW because Warner Music has been pulling these videos down from YouTube and other sites all day. The link certainly won't work in a few hours.