 Tom Ewing from Pitchfork Media wondered "after listening [to the album], the question's still open — nobody involved in Hard Candy is anywhere near their creative peak!" Sal Cinquemani from Slant Magazine was disappointed with the album and said, "Madonna hasn't delivered this many vapid floor fillers on one disc since her debut, and maybe not even then. [...] There are few confessions here — nothing political, nothing too spiritual, no talk of fame, war, or the media. It's just what America ordered." Wilfred Young from NME felt that Hard Candy was "a solid enough album by the standards of most pop tarts, but from the mistress of innovation? Pretty mediocre."
