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HARD CANDY, Madonna, Warner Bros.

This one’s for you, America. No Abba samples, no edgy French producers, no politics.

Madonna makes her least adventurous, yet nonetheless shrewd, move with her new “Hard Candy.” She enrolls producers The Neptunes and Timbaland, the guys behind seemingly every American pop hit in the past several years, plus frequent guest vocals by Justin Timberlake, arguably the most viable modern pop star.

It’s a fail-safe team, and indeed, they don’t fail – especially with Madonna doing her part by playing boldly and suggestively and relishing her cougar role with Timberlake. Potential hits abound.

The dance focus of “Hard Candy” brightens the emotionally complex nature of 2005’s “Confessions on a Dance Floor.” The tracks are typical of The Neptunes and Timbaland, aggressively accessible and playful. For her part, Madonna gleefully doles out some of the most vacuous lines of her career. “My sugar is raw!” she offers on the gurgling opener “Candy Shop.” She busts through the girl-group innocence and fizzy electro of “Incredible” with the proclamation, “Sex with you is incredible.” And “Give It 2 Me” is loaded with such provocations as “If you can handle it, undress me!” and “Get stupid, get stupid, get stupid, don’t stop.”

Meanwhile, Madonna and Timberlake bolt through Timbaland’s barrage of horns and drums on the incongruous, but catchy, hit single “4 Minutes.” Later they roll around in the S&M role-playing of a theatrical “Voices” that adds a shade of atmosphere to “Hard Candy.” Although diversity isn’t an apparent goal, there are touches of sadness embedded in the chopped-up/smoothed-out framework of “Miles Away” and the somber strains of “Devil Wouldn’t Recognize You.”

Madonna knows her fans have widely differing expectations of her. After satiating those who demand her to be a pop pioneer with “Confessions,” she dishes out “Hard Candy” to those who just want her to be flirtatious and uncomplicated.

Seems like she did it without even thinking.

Rating (five possible): 4

E = MC2, Mariah Carey, Island/Def Jam

Records were made to be broken, and frankly, it’s about time someone passed Elvis and threatened the Beatles for making the most No. 1 singles. Plus the hit machine that is Mariah Carey brings healthy diversity – a multi-ethnic woman – to the field, and technically she’s a much better vocalist than Elvis or any Beatle.

Still, who is Mariah Carey? There doesn’t seem to be much to know beyond basic objective facts: She started piling up hits in 1990, slumped for a while and then rebounded with the wildly successful 2005 release, “The Emancipation of Mimi.” Nothing obviously profound radiates from her candy-bar-like personality: She’s a little sweet, a little nutty and full of empty calories.

Yet here she is, not yet 40 and scoring her 18th No. 1 hit (Elvis had 17) with “Touch My Body,” the playful first single from “E = MC2.” The album is poised to be one of the biggest sellers of 2008 and just might churn out enough No. 1s to get Carey past the Beatles’ record 20.

Such an accomplishment for what amounts to a status-quo collection of urban-pop relationship songs. But the difference is Carey, whose powerful pipes are the perfect complement for the genre’s fidgety and propulsive style. She’s also surrounded by an embarrassment of riches in terms of producers and guest performers, who include a modulated T-Pain on the booming opener “Migrate” and a Young Jeezy, who grinds with her in the heavy machinery of “Side Effects.”

Carey’s her usual spritely self, soaring in full-bodied bliss over the thick undercurrent of “I’ll Be Lovin’ U Long Time” and adding a dash of class to the ginger yet-insistent electronic dance of “I’m That Chick” and the irresistible rhythmic push of the marching “O.O.C.”

Her emotional range doesn’t extend beyond the heartbreak of “Bye Bye” and “I Stay in Love,” which offer only a tad more depth than the light-S&M/exhibitionist tone of “Touch My Body.” However, “E = MC2” is exquisitely crafted, and few compare to the singer’s delivery.

Rating (five possible): 3.5.