Frenchy’s Fracas

General Description
Artist/Band: N*E*R*D || ||
Album Title: Seeing Sounds
Year: 2008

Comeback kids?

How I Got Into This Music
This band has always been on my radar since I discovered the Neptunes products. I thought they wouldn’t release anything after the Fly Or Die album and the lackluster solo CD of band member Pharrell. But to my surprise, here’s Seeing Sounds..

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Tracks that got my attention:
Time For Some Action
Funny TV theme music combined with some Pharrell wackiness introes the first track, nice. The track itself? Hmmm.. Not so good, it’s a tip of the hat to different genres and to the Purple One, but that’s not enough. I like the heavy and cheesy 80s keyboards used in the bridge, but.. meh..

Everybody Nose
Heheh.. Mixing up quite some great styles, creating an unforgettable instant anthem! There’s some Miami Bass feeling from the Too Live Crew brewing combined with a smidgen of drum&bass. Again, the break/bridge: a sweet work of art! Followed by a great singalong ending.
It took me some time to get used to it, but this is one of the best tracks!

Windows
Pop rock, punk-pop, some bits reminding me of Heroin Is So Passe by the Dandy Warhols.

Anti Matter
B O O M ! !
A great female vocal sample, reminding me of the Real Roxanne. Real drum&bass mixed with some rough guitars. And again, the changeup’s a doozy! Closing bits are perfect singalong (or, shoutalong) material.
I don’t know where these guys get them big brass balls, but they do wear them with pride..

Spaz
Didn’t like this one, really didn’t like it at all. There’s nothing here that stands out, doesn’t work for me. Way too sloppy work on the whole track.
And then, Hieronymous Fox and me are chanting the chorus during our first day at the North Sea Festival.. Every friggin’ forty minutes.. Heheh, nuff said!

Yeah You
Best track on the album. A lot of style similarities with the Frontin’ track they produced with Jay Z. It’s got that same weird laidback feeling to it. I got some weird internal references with the chorus; its bass line keeps taking me to A Rollerskating Jam Called Saturday by De La Soul , even if it actually doesn’t really match.
And the vocals and lyrics on that chorus keep reminding me of Al Green’s version of Light My Fire, yeah, I know, weird..

Sooner Or Later
No, not again.. Crap, I do get tired of these ballads: much too formulaic, leave the Beatle references alone, please?
Then again, I caught myself humming this song a few times, scary.

Love Bomb
Never hummed this one and I’m sure I never will..

Conclusion
Well.. The great tracks on this album are very, very great. But they have to carry the mediocre and crappy songs and that’s quite a heavy load to bear. I know I’ll play this record more than their previous album, but it’s getting dangerously close to Predictable Stuff.
N*E*R*D still is a great band of musicians and producers; they need Pharrell’s ego to front the whole thing, but their collective effort is what stands out.
Still wanna see them perform live some time.

Rating:

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General Description
Artist/Band: Justin Timberlake
Album Title: FutureSex/LoveSounds
Year: 2006

Twice shy?
 
How I Got Into This Music
First single from his Justified album took me by surprise: a boy band nobody doing serious pop, produced by the Neptunes, how can that be?
I just didn’t know what to think.. Second and third single came out and I knew I had to give that record a listen. The element of surprise worked for 4 or 5 tracks but the other ones weren’t that good. Still, I was curious for whatever this guy was producing. His incredible track on Sergio Mendes’ Timeless showed the quality of a real performer.
And now, his second album is out.. Logical progression or ??

Album info at Answers.com || Album review at artistsdirect.com || Google: Other reviews of this album

Tracks that got my attention:
Futuresex/Lovesound
Title track. Took me quite a while to get used to the sound, the groove and beats. There’s this Another One Bites the Dust effect on the bass groove, catchy.

Sexyback
First single off the album - can’t get used to it. It sure as hell is different than what I kinda expected, but that’s okay with me

Sexy Ladies/Let Me Talk to You Prelude
That bass is what makes it work for me on this track. Timbaland’s production value is working its stuff here..

My Love
Second single, so typical of this album: can’t put my finger on it, great yet disappointing

Lovestoned/I Think She Knows Interlude
First part of the track’s full of dance energy. Second part, nothing subtle about it

Chop Me Up
Horrible, horrible.. First time I’ve been able to categorize this guy as a wigger. And that’s not fair, but this track really gets on my nerves

Damn Girl
Annoying Will.I.Am featuring on this excellent track, full credits for the Old Soul Vibe they’ve produced on this track

Until the End of Time
Already labeled as the new King Of Pop and he still wants more: great beat sample of Prince’s Purple Rain era.

(Another Song) All Over Again
A very mature track, but what really knocked my socks off was finding out who the producer was: one of this sweet earth’s most important and influential producers of the last two decades, Rick Rubin

Take Away Your Love
Shit, close your eyes and you get that Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, Debarge feeling - scary how well produced this track sounds. And Timberlake’s no slouch either..

Pose ft. Snoop Dogg
Nasty lyrics, great beat and of course long-time collaborator Snoop on this funky bonus track

Floatin’ ft. Charlie Wilson
Like the previous track, Floatin’ is more like the tracks of the first album - love it!

Conclusion
Respect. Sounds cheesy, but the guy keeps on taking risks and on this album there are plenty taken: no Neptunes, no reusing of the success formula of the previous album, more Dirty South influences. Some work, some really, really don’t. Timbaland seems to be the main influence and that works quite well, but I kinda miss the Neptunes on this album. It takes guts to take these risks and even though I preferred the debut album, the FutureSex/LoveSounds album is a great follow-up. I just wonder if it’ll be just as successfull.. It’s kinda weird that I enjoyed the bonus tracks more than the album itself.

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General Description
Artist/Band: Pharrell Williams
Album Title: In My Mind
Year: 2006

Finally..
 
How I Got Into This Music
It took quite some time for this guy’s album to come out, but it’s finally here: Pharrel Williams’ In My Mind. For those not in the know: this artist/producer is one half of the famous The Neptunes. I really have enjoyed the work they’ve produced these last five years; I’m sure that one in ten songs that have hit the top of the pop charts in that period has been produced by these guys, and that’s really scary.
Now this album’s been delayed so many times that I almost gave up on ever hearing it, and I was curious to see if the waiting took all the possible enjoyment out of this album.

Album credits at artistdirect.com || Google Search: Other reviews of In My Mind ||

Tracks that got my attention:
Can I Have It Like That ft. Gwen Stefani
Wow!! This track was the first single release and it showed the great potential I’d expect from this artist. Just listen very closely to all the different low-spectrum sounds, the mix of samples and the great hook. Stefani’s being paid for one single line I guess.. Pharrell’s not very strong on the lyrics, tho.

How Does It Feel?
A typical Takes A While To Get Use To track. Just didn’t get used to it, nope.

Raspy Shit
Reminds me of Faith Evans’ “Mesmerized” track. Great chorus, catchy.

Best Friend
One of the two sublime tracks on this album. Granted, his rapping flow ain’t the greatest, but here it’s the lyrics: very open and naked. A real Takes A While To Get Use To track, coz the chorus got on my nerves in the beginning, but now? Man, I’m screaming my lungs inside out!

Keep It Playa ft. Slim Thug
Honorable mention: don’t like the track, but it really takes you back to the first Neptunes success with Mystikal “Shake Your Ass”

That Girl ft. Snoop Dogg
What he does best: the mellow retro soul mixed with a wicked beat and, of course, Snoop Dogg - excellent track!

Take It Off (Dim the Lights)
Great production, excellent smooch ballad. Takes me back to my first slow dance, ah.. The memories, hope the girl finally got some feeling back in her toes, heheh..

Stay With Me (Dim The Lights) ft. Pusha T
Another great modern Soul production

Our Father
Second of the Sublimes. Dunno, but his lyrics seem credible, his performance enhances his words perfectly

Number One ft. Kanye West
Second hit single, still detest Kanye West. Great pop song

Conclusion
The main problem is that of expectations: this guy’s work with The Neptunes is fresh, smart and innovative. And it’s been that way for quite a while, an impressive feat by itself. But still I kinda expected this album to have those same qualities, and.. it didn’t deliver the goods. I can’t expect someone to keep amaze and surprise me with new sounds, beats and production, but still, I kinda do..
Another thing, most tracks weren’t really club songs, but I expect the different mixtapes and remixes to be compensate that shortcoming.
It’s an excellent album even though some tracks were less than okay (the tracks with Jay-Z and Nelly respectively were first class duds). Those expectations were just too high.

Rating: (still gifted..)

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General Description
Artist/Band: N.E.R.D.
Album Title: Fly Or Die
Year: 2004

What can I say about this band? Seeing that this is an album review, my dear reader, you expect at least more than that silly question..
No one Ever Really Dies is the band in which the producer duo The Neptunes express themselves without restraint. As producers, in the last four years there’s great chance that anyone listening to chart music has heard at least one of their productions: from the lovely R&B tomboy in hot pants, Kelis, to the wannabe god-knows-what pop-tart Britney Spears (there, I mentioned the Disposable One!). They’ve produced several rappers like Mystikal and worked with Jay-Z. So, is their band about rap and R&B? Not quite.. Their influences are based on real quality production bands like the Beatles, with a twist of Beach Boys mixed with several rock and punk standards.

How I Got Into This Music
Well.. The first time I registered their production style as the Neptunes was with Mystikal’s “Shake Your Ass“ and that’s when I realised I heard that beat before, or rather, the way the beat was set up: they have a signature sound and approach to everything they produce. Over in Holland, they appeared on a television documentary made by some serious music lovers at the VPRO. These same guys showed the Chilli Peppers way before they exploded commercially, so I just knew I had to pay attention. After that I kept my eyes and ears open for anything related to N.E.R.D. (missed both concerts at Paradiso, so that’s kinda silly) and then the first album “In Search Of..“ happened about two years ago! I kept nagging my friends about these guys ’till their ears dropped off, but now N.E.R.D. is a household name, so my friends are very, very happy.

Tracks review

Don’t Worry About It
Pharrell gets on a falsetto James Brown groove with a great rock vibe

Fly Or Die
Anthem for the rebels without a cause

Jump
A typical N.E.R.D. track: you just don’t expect this pop-happy approach to telling the world to piss off

Backseat Love
Nasty bad boy rock song

She Wants To Move
First single off the album. Man, this song haunted my brain for so many frigging weeks. Just the way the beat is set up, the little piano in the background, the guitar sounding very familiar and a very nice bass. “Her ass is a spaceship I want to ride“, great way of putting it!

Breakout
A song starting out as a lovey-dovey thing and building up into a funky and punky tune

Wonderful Place
Peace out.. Another song you don’t see coming until it’s all over you!

Waiting For U
Really great track and incredibly sweet lyrics

Drill Sergeant
Straight anti-war song, not expecting the band to perform at any Republican or Democrat fund-raiser

Trasher
Least favorite song

Maybe
Wow! Second single and a brilliant song!! Giving me the Beatle rock feeling with goose bumps to go

The Way She Dances
Really eighties feeling from this song

Chariot of Fire
Unbelievably smart song, great falsetto on Pharrell works great on this track

Find My Way
Rock ballad, slow R&B, quirky keyboards, this song has everything

Conclusion
N.E.R.D. have delivered a second album that works great for me. I enjoy the up-tempo skater boy songs, the heavy guitar rock moody songs and the weird production all over the album. Of course Pharrell’s voice fits perfectly without being annoying. This band sets the standard for great music and helps us forget that there’s a direct link between this band and Britney Smears.

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