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03/14/2008
First Look: Madonna Hard Candy Album Cover
According to People, here's the cover of Madonna's forthcoming album Hard Candy, due April 29th.
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Posted 12:44 PM EST by Andy Towle in Art & Design, Music, News | Permalink
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I love you, Joe Totale.
Posted by: bob jones | Mar 14, 2008 2:20:36 PM
Oh and btw, if Dennis Quaid had appeared in photos dressed in assless chaps with an oversized police badge belt on his torso trying to look "edgy" and "controversial," I'd call him tacky too.
Its not about the age. I would have the same opinion if it were Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan's album cover. Its just tacky!
Posted by: Wes | Mar 14, 2008 2:21:49 PM
"Crispys right. Why can't she be sexy at 50? What is she supposed to be doing? Needlepoint? Or maybe her album cover should be a picture of her in a sweater vest taking a pie out of the oven. That would really sell a pop album."
Seriously though, what is sexy about that album cover? Its horrible.
Posted by: Wes | Mar 14, 2008 2:24:02 PM
How is that sexy? Helen Mirren is sexy and a bit older. Don't see her wearing many sweater vests. You also don't see her shoving her crotch out wearing faux leather and spandex. Personally, I think Madonna looks disgusting now with the zero percent body fat, but putting that aside, I don't think anyone is saying she need give up the idea of sex appeal. But she did this back in "Human Nature" days, when she was at an age where it was, arguably, more appropriate. She needs to reinvent herself into something respectable now because struggling to hold onto something she did once so well just looks desperate. And she is a mother of three now too; if my mom shoved her crotch in the public's face at ANY age, I'd be mortified.
Anyway, I hate Madonna. Her music makes my ears bleed.
Posted by: David | Mar 14, 2008 2:24:55 PM
I'm not sure I'd consider it a double standard. I think Quaid is sexy because I would totally do him! I may enjoy dancing to Madonna's music, but I would never even imagine having sex with her so her "sex appeal" is lost on me.
I would guess that most commenter's feelings on the subject don't go far beyond that.
And... it's a CD cover. Who even buys CD's anymore? ;)
Posted by: Aman Chaudhary | Mar 14, 2008 2:48:00 PM
Wes, Wes, Wes, if Dennis Quaid's picture had been in assless chaps you KNOW that NO-ONE would have tsk-tsked him for being "tacky". Come on, the average comment would have included "hot", not "gross". As to relevance, Madonna's last album sold millions to a new generation of teen homos - surely she's still relevant. Andy Towle, I love you and I love your blog. I know better, but I click on the "comments" link anyway. And the bitter queens who abound here, who hate EVERYthing, once again make me regret it......
Posted by: Strepsi | Mar 14, 2008 2:48:36 PM
Walk into any leather bar in any city in the world and you will find an assortment of middle aged men in their finest plumage -why should Madonna or any other "older" woman be denied the right to sexually express themselves in a similar fashion. If it turns her on more power to her.
Posted by: giovanni | Mar 14, 2008 2:52:58 PM
STREPSI, just because someone doesn't agree with your point of view doesn't make them bitter. It makes you bitter because you "know better" not to click on the comments but do it anyway. Grow up and understand that not everybody likes what you like and not everybody is going to respond how you respond. It's called being an adult. Maybe if Madonna recorded a song about it, you would get it.
Posted by: Bob jones | Mar 14, 2008 2:57:39 PM
Um, the look of the cover is clearly deliberate. I love the font -- it's hilarious.
Sorry boys, this is hot.
Posted by: Bears are Fat | Mar 14, 2008 3:05:09 PM
It's not just the obvious photo... Madonna's graphics have always left alot to be desired, always abit cheap and halfass... but this slice of crud is her absolute worst, a soft chew at best... the text alone is abominable. Amanda Lear had better quality graphics, that's how terribly tacky this lack of effort is. She should've had Takahashi Murakami do a "Hard Candy" cover.
As for the crass photo, I thought she already Died Another Day... god knows her sexiness did. She just passes off as an Idiot Tart, which might've been a more appropriate title for the album.
Posted by: A.J. | Mar 14, 2008 3:05:12 PM
Does anyone know how many human fetuses it took to get her face so tight?
Posted by: holdensf | Mar 14, 2008 3:11:49 PM
three? eight if from malawi.
Posted by: bob jones | Mar 14, 2008 3:14:24 PM
Tacky tacky tacky.Yukarama.Just a picture of the belt would suffice and show some class.However the actual title design is woeful.Cannot be the final product,surely.Hasn't she done the naughty girl routine to death already?This is exactly how she lost her momentum in the 90's,overkill.Luckily she came back with the killer "Ray".And the wonderful underated "American Life".Going backwards again?
Posted by: john | Mar 14, 2008 3:18:07 PM
Well, Madonna's got everyone going again.
I'm sure she'll be thrilled. Love her or hate her, this is what she does best. All the comments on this site are a testament to her ability to push peoples buttons and get them talking about her. Call her tacky, call her whatever. She's laughing all the way to the bank.
Posted by: JJ | Mar 14, 2008 3:27:52 PM
It's not like Madonna hasn't been photographed as an art object many, many times. This time she's going for a glitzy, cheap, sexy look. I think it's good. It's not the best cover ever, but it's good.
Madonna and Hillary: the haters just can't hate enough.
Posted by: YankinTex | Mar 14, 2008 3:39:44 PM
JJ -- we (who don't like it) totally get what she's going for. I ignored the comments about it looking "photoshopped in 2 minutes" -- of course that's the whole point. Yes, the typestyle is funny.
This is not a hack job, it's obviously intentional. Still doesn't make it appealing or cool.
Posted by: rascal | Mar 14, 2008 3:49:30 PM
I just love when the gays come together as one to support the vital issues of our time.
Posted by: crispy | Mar 14, 2008 3:51:41 PM
it looks so fake and damn ugly!!
Posted by: littleoslo | Mar 14, 2008 4:01:08 PM
I know when I hit fifty, I hope I look good and still want to fuck... a lot.
I know that gay culture declares you dead over 35, but to say Madonna or anyone else has to throw on a pair of mom jeans and call your sexuality a day is just bullshit.
Posted by: Marco | Mar 14, 2008 4:06:36 PM
Crispy - Ha! Funny!
Posted by: JJ | Mar 14, 2008 4:19:37 PM
Yeah, you can look sexy at 50 WITHOUT also looking a desperate hooker. You don't need to wear whatever it is that she is wearing in order to be sexy.
Plus, the design is just terrible. It's so gaudy and grotesque. The font is not at all "edgy" (if that's what she was going for) and her body posture/facial expression makes this look like a reject from an America's Next Top Model shoot.
I love Madonna, and I really like "4 Minutes", but this cover is terrible. Not misogynistic, not agist, not anyway. It's just a bad cover.
Posted by: Glenn@StalePopcorn | Mar 14, 2008 9:22:04 PM
The trend right now (Britney and Ashlee Simpson)is to give packaging a cheap-looking mid-eighties pop-trash sort of vibe and yet the whole design is inconsistent. The photography and the image itself is too crisp and hard-edged for the bubblegum font. The designer is giving off mixed messages and is clearly in over his head in making this kind of ironic reference. If they just ditched the font altogether, they might be able to make something of this cover. And everything else i've read on these comments about Madonna not being classy, or whatever, is just crabby nonsense. It's a picture of a fucking pop star, not your mother.
Posted by: kwellshampoo | Mar 14, 2008 9:51:22 PM
Kwellshampoo: Isn't the hard/soft, hard/sweet juxtaposition deliberate? Don't you think that might be the *point* of this image? The tension between the elements makes this a striking image.
I love the bubblegum font.
Everyone is attacking her for a sexual image, saying things like, "you don't have to wear X to be sexy." That's true at any age. So the principle basis for attacking this as 'tacky' exhibited here is strickly Madonna's age. But it's not like she hasn't anticipated your very predictable bashing of her: she's spoiling for a fight with you -- you haters.
But AJ takes the cake: She should've had Takahashi Murakami do a "Hard Candy" cover.
What a cliche and obvious idea.
Posted by: Bears are Fat | Mar 15, 2008 1:39:16 AM
But this wouldn't be sexy on ANYONE whether they were 21 of 49. The design is just too poor to make anyone look good.
Posted by: Glenn@StalePopcorn | Mar 15, 2008 10:13:26 AM
Two words.
Praying Mantis.
Still looks good? Did you see her at the RockandRollInductionCeremony?
More Botox than Nicole Kidman's forehead. She couldn't move anything from the chin up.
Posted by: Br!on | Mar 15, 2008 4:01:08 PM