Madonna's 4 MINUTES single: terribly underwhelming

Pains me to say it. Though I'd love to offer this as (further) proof that i'm NOT a tunnel visioned, biased, knee-jerk sycophant. That I have the ability to judge things clearly. The song's not God awful; it's just...boring. A BORING Madonna song. ?!?! Madonna, Justin Timberlake, and Timbaland ALL get in a studio together...and THIS is what these 3 very talented people come up with?

It starts off good with big dramatic horns...but then just kinda goes nowhere. It's not super fast, it's repetitive, and the vocals are buried by this studio gadgetry. There's absolutely nothing "WOW!" about it. Having said that, I already bought the single off Itunes, I'll continue to seek it out and listen to it on the radio, and I hope it goes as high on the Billboard singles chart as possible. It IS doing very well -- so far -- on both radio and in sales. Be interesting to see how high it can chart based on curiosity and hype...and the soon-to-come video, which I anxiously hope will perhaps add some visionary pizazz to a lackluster single. I'll be happy with a top 10 finish, ecstatic with a top 5. I do NOT see it going to #1...but I hope i'm wrong. Hey, i'm the one who's NEVER really liked LIKE A PRAYER...yet it's an all-time fave of many. The expectation with Madonna is always so high...so this is disappointing. It's NOT a song anyone with taste will call amazing. It's a novelty. It won't have any legs. I just hope to God the other 11 songs on the album are better.

In the meantime, I'll cling to the always reliable growing hype, which includes the always reliable provocative photo shoots. Whatever the actual product, the fact remains that here's a female pop star months from 50 getting an amount of new single/pre-album buzz singers half her age would kill for. This is UNPRECEDENTED in pop music culture. Period. It's CRAZY encouraging in terms of pushing the boundaries of age on various different levels. For that alone, BRAVO, Madonna!