Confessions of A Madonna Fan!!!!

Nowadays we hear a lot about anti-ageism. We were treated recently to a campaign that tried to convince us that stereotypes of old people, such as that they are over the hill or past their sell by date, are inaccurate and that older people can be productive members of society capable of many of the things we assume have passed them by. I have no problem, of course with this, but what I want to know is why have none of these campaigners thanked Madonna for her tireless work to present a new image for older people!?

I have a confession… I am a Madonna fan and I always have been. Her hits are infectious and brilliant but I think with her latest album, Hard Candy, Madonna may have gone just a step, or more appropriately, a difficult aerobics/ gymnastic/ yoga move too far.

I’m not one of those people who think that once a pop star has hit the big four-O they have to chuck it in. I see no reason that they can’t continue on churning out massive songs that can get us all dancing or singing along. Madonna’s last album Confessions on A Dancefloor was in my opinion one of if not her best, tight purple leotard and all, but this new offering is just too much.

Madonna sings her way through an odd collection of mid-tempo dance hip-hop songs on Hard Candy. Now, Madonna is the queen of reinvention. She has changed styles almost as much as some stars changed outfits. Each album brings a new Madonna; some have met more success, think Ray of Light and Confessions on A Dancefloor, than others, think Bedtime Stories or American Life. But, I really feel that this latest album belongs in a whole new category. Perhaps it can be called “Trying Too Hard” or “Put it Away Already”.

Throughout all her previous albums, even those which were panned critically and commercially, I always felt that this was a Madonna album and that she owned it and had left a big imprint on its style and sound. The same cannot be said for Hard Candy. In an attempt to latch on to the trend of the moment, hip hop, or more precisely, Timbaland, Madonna seems to have gotten all bent out of shape, which from her videos is something she is good at.

Hard Candy is not a good album. It’s only mediocre, it’s just okay. In her need to dominate everything, Madonna has forgotten that it is more important to be good or at least true to your own style than to be popular. No one song stands out as a classic or at least as a great Madonna song and one gets the feeling that these songs could just as easily be sung by any of Timbaland’s other female collaborators.

Aside from this, the videos are bordering on disturbing as if in an effort to prove that she can still move, flex and twist at 49 years of age. Madonna has decided to make each video an eerie show of her new athletic body. She bends and grinds like no 49 year old should and to be honest, it comes across as an old granny trying to stay hip with the kids.

Madonna should be well above these wacky acts. Nobody questions that she is still capable of banging along with today’s young pups. She doesn’t need to, she is a living legend.

So to conclude, get off the floor, Madonna, put the clothes back on, and make another great Madonna album. Oh, and maybe eat something.