She's a charismatic, mature lady in the public eye, with an unparalleled drive to succeed, and a canny ability to reshape her image. Ladies and gentlemen, please put your hands together for ... no, not Mrs. Clinton -- Madonna.
Like the presidential hopeful, Madge has surrounded herself with some formidable advisers on her 11th studio album, "Hard Candy." From its synthesized horn stabs to the fade-out breakdown, her current hit, "4 Minutes," is pure TNT: Timbaland 'n' Timberlake. Ka-boom! The rest of the nonstop party platter is explosive, too. The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams bangs out a percolating groove to anchor the colorful title track, and relights the Material Girl's vintage disco fire with "Beat Goes On," a sparkly bells-and-whistles ditty reminiscent of Chic and Donna Summer, and featuring a cameo by Kanye West.
