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Timbaland
“Timbaland Presents: Shock Value”
Interscope Records
April 3, 2007
I’ll admit it: I’m a big fan of a lot of the tracks Timbaland has produced lately, especially Justin Timberlake’s and Nelly Furtado’s.
The overall grandiosity of tracks like JT’s “What Goes Around” and Furtado’s “Say It Right,” in my opinion, is where Tim’s production is at its best. I don’t even have to call his work on these tracks a guilty pleasure; it’s just a straightforward pleasure. In addition, Timbaland has done some interesting stuff with Missy Elliot in the past.
Timbaland’s former work, however, stands in stark contrast with tracks like “Release” and “Fantasy” from his latest solo outing, “Timbaland Presents: Shock Value.” “Release” is Tim adapting his work on “Sexyback” with quick shots of synth, and “yeah’s” at the end of every measure. The synth is more constant than it is on “Sexyback,” making this more of a bouncy party track. Tim’s vocals and the lyrics are abysmal. Most of the track features Tim in a quavering voice talking about how he needs to “Release! / I’m out of control.” The innuendo is thinly veiled, but the creepiness – the song lacks a back-and-forth with a seductive female vocalist – is not. The tune just conjures up images of a big, depraved, amorous Timbaland on a mission to find any way he can to “release,” which is not a good image.
“Fantasy,” with female guest vocalist Money, is a midtempo, poor-man’s version of “Say It Right,” and is representative of a good portion of the album. It’s not that the tracks are bad, they’re just staggeringly mediocre and are certainly nothing to spend your money on or call home about. In addition, the vocals contributed by Money and Keri Hilson are nowhere near as distinctive as Furtado’s. Hilson, in particular, sounds like a wannabe Beyonce.
The high point is the second track on the album and the first single, “Give it to Me.” The track features Furtado, Timberlake and some excellent beats and synths by Timbaland. The verses feature slinky, descending lines by Furtado, Tim and Timberlake and the chorus is big and spacious, like those on “What Goes Around” and “Say It Right.” This is on par with Tim’s other excellent work of late and, more than anything else on this album, is deserving of his stamp of approval.
The album ends with several collaborations, which have been garnering quite a bit of attention. Garage rock band The Hives make a guest appearance on “Throw It On Me,” an upbeat club track featuring chopped-up samples of the band’s guitars and some raucous vocals also courtesy of the group. It’s certainly an interesting experiment, which is more than can be said for most of this album.
“One & Only” features Fall Out Boy and is extremely annoying, with a typical FOB chorus except that the instruments are sampled and cut up, and the synths are more emphasized than the guitars. “Apologize,” featuring One Republic, is your average ballad that a fan of The Fray would enjoy, except that the beats are kind of hip-hop – not all that out-of-the-ordinary for pop music nowadays – and Tim is shouting out the same “heys” found on “Say It Right” throughout the track.
“2-Man Show,” the final track on the album featuring Elton John, is worthless. It’s nothing more than Tim rambling things like “uh-huh” and “I like that,” with some uninteresting piano from Elton John and some choral vocals.
In addition to his pop moments, there are plenty of uninteresting rap tracks, with Tim throwing down such threatening lines as “Kill yourself / Go on, kill yourself / If I was you I wouldn’t feel myself.” None of these tracks are particularly distinctive or noteworthy, and Tim is at his least impressive when trying to pull off this sort of bragadocious drivel. He’s much more impressive when producing unique pop and hip-hop tracks like those he’s done for Timberlake, Furtado, Elliot or Aaliyah.
Overall, I would not recommend this album. Most of it is incredibly mediocre. I would say that if you hear “Give It To Me” enough on the radio, then you’ll certainly get your fill of this album. If you really want a good Timbaland fix, I’d suggest checking out “FutureSex/ LoveSounds” by Timberlake or “Loose” by Furtado.
Bangor Daily News