Critical Reception
Caryn Ganz called it "a loud, busy, energetic track", and commented that Timberlake did "his best Michael Jackson impression". Billboard music reviewer and editor Chuck Taylor said that with the song, Madonna "is poised to score her first top 10 hit since 2005's 'Hung Up'. There's an awful lot going on in the busy dance track but the trade-off chorus between Madge and Justin of 'We've only got four minutes to save the world' is hooky enough unto itself to sell the song." He added that the song "qualifies as an event record between superpowers who not only share equal billing, but sound gangbusters together." Mark Savage of BBC described the sound as "so futuristic it could realistically have been beamed in from the end of the world." Andy Gill of The Independent called "4 Minutes" one of Hard Candy's saviors. He noted that "the Mardi Gras marching-band bumping rambunctiously along," is one of the album's "most ambitious offerings." Joey Guerra of Houston Chronicle compared the track to the work of Nelly Furtado and felt that the composition was "a bid for radio play."
According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the song is an "advertisement for the rest of the album." Chris Williams of Entertainment Weekly called it a "flirty duet". Ben Thompson of The Guardian said: "It has a hard to escape sense that all concerned are going through the motions – effortlessly, sometimes brilliantly." Joan Anderman of The Boston Globe believed that the song is "chart-topper for its sheer star power as well as instant musical allure, and on the eve of Madonna's 50th birthday '4 Minutes' feels a lot like an icon's can't-miss gift to herself." However, she noticed that the "shift in the power structure more blatant than on '4 Minutes', where Madonna sounds like a featured guest trying to keep pace with Timbaland's colossal beats and Timberlake's nimble melody." Freedom du Lac of The Washington Post complimented the song for being busy and brassy. She commented: "ropelled by a detonative marching-band beat it's one of the most thrilling things Madonna has done in this decade." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic praised the melodic and rhythmic hook, but was disappointed that Madonna's voice is "drowned out by Timbaland's farting four-note synth – which might not have been so bad if the tracks were fresher and if the whole enterprise didn't feel quite so joylessly mechanical." At the 51st Grammy Awards, "4 Minutes" garnered Madonna, Timberlake and Timbaland a nomination in the Grammy Award Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals category. Dutch musician Junkie XL also earned a nomination in the Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical category for his remixing of the song.
Read more about this topic: 4 Minutes (Madonna Song)
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