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..

Reviews: || ||
Videos: ||
Have a listen on:

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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