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Madonna and Robyn CD Review

Reviewed by on Apr 29, 2008
Rating: 5 Star Rating

Madonna and Robyn have a lot in common. They’re both blonde, pop music veterans who are known by their first names, and are both dropping new discs this week!

Madonna and Robyn have a lot in common. They’re both blonde, pop music veterans who are known by their first names, and are both dropping new albums this week!

Madonna :: Hard Candy

Madonna is a music legend, and even if this CD was terrible, she’d still sell millions of records. The good news is that it’s actually pretty good. Madonna updates her dance tunes with hip-hop help from Timbaland and Pharrell, and a dose of Justin Timberlake for good measure. There’s even a little Kanye on Beat Goes On. The whole disc is hyping up the energetic disco dance vibe, and tracks like Heartbeat and Dance 2Night stand out. Timberlake is a main fixture on this album too, doing well on Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You and Miles Away. Madonna also bumps the bass with the retro-dance sounds on She’s Not Me, where the lyrics take a little stab at pop star wannabes. Madonna is back with a good album[/KWLINK], but it is definitely the least Madonna-esque album. Most of the hot tracks could have also worked for other stars like Gwen or Nelly, but Madonna adds her own attitude to the party while reminding us all that it’s her footsteps today’s acts are following.

Fun Facts

  • 4 Minutes became the second single, after Rihanna’s Umbrella, to have digital sales over one million units in five weeks.
  • Madonna sings in Spanish on the track Spanish Lesson.
  • Hard Candy gained Platinum certification on its first day of release in the Netherlands, selling over 60 thousand copies.
  • Madonna turns 50 on August 16, 2008.
  • Hot Tracks

    4 Minutes, Heartbeat, Beat Goes On.

    Rating: 3

    Robyn :: Robyn

    It’s been ten years since Swedish pop phenom Robyn hit North America with hits like Show Me Love and What It Takes. Since then the stylish blonde has been working hard and starting her own record label. It took a few years to put this album together, and even longer to get it released over here, but it was more than worth the wait. Song for song, Robyn drops what has to be one of the best albums of the year. At her best, like on Who’s That Girl?, and With Every Heartbeat, Robyn is perfect electro-dance pop, and she doesn’t let up on insanely catchy pop tracks like Be Mine and Handle Me. With these four singles alone this album would be stellar, but she keeps dropping new sounds, hip-hopping on Cobrastyle and Konichiwa, and sweetly singing softer ballads with Eclipse and Should Have Known. Throughout the disc Robyn reveals a fresh, progressive new sound, and the contrast of her Swedish pop voice spitting tough, edgy lyrics blows all the other pop princesses right out of the water. Go buy this! You won’t be disappointed.

    Fun Facts

  • This album is the first release on her own record label, Konichiwa Records, which she founded in 2005.
  • Robyn says this album was heavily influenced by electronic duo The Knife, and the rock band Teddybears.
  • The first version of this album was released in Sweden on April 27, 2005. Over three years ago!
  • Be Mine, the album’s first single in Sweden was named the fourth best song of 2005 by Stylus Magazine.
  • It has been more than 10 years since Robyn had singles, Show Me Love and What It Takes, in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.
  • Hot Tracks

    With Every Heartbeat, Who’s That Girl?, Handle Me, Cobrastyle, Be Mine.

    Robyn Rating:5

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