Timbaland has a knack for turning everything he touches to gold recently - he has garnered international attention for his work with Nelly Furtado, Justin Timberlake and others.
Now he releases something of his own, an album of collaborations produced by himself. Overall the album is good, there are some absolutely fantastic tracks and great potential singles, but there are also a few turkeys aswell.
Here is my track by track break down:
TRACK 1: Oh Timbaland This samples Nina Simone's 'Sinnerman', with 'sinnerman' being replaced with 'Timbaland'. Its not the best for the opening track, but it is good and well produced. I can't quite fathom the beat for it and it takes a few listens to appreciate it fully. 6/10
TRACK 2: Give It To Me The first single release from the album. This sees Timbaland collaborating with Nelly Furtado and Justin. The vocals are equally distributed between the 3, and the overall result is a fantastic beat fuelled track. I love this song and it sounds great loud!! 10/10
TRACK 3: Release A collaboration with Justin here. A high energy track, but for me lacks the
hook present in the previous 2 tracks. Justin doesn't sound like himself on here, obviously due to the tweaking and twiddling during the intricate production. 7/10
TRACK 4: The Way I Are This is, in a word, FANTASTIC!!! Absolutely LOVE this track. The vocals are brilliant. Keri Hilson and rapper D.O.E. are the contributors here, and the result is a fantastic, contemporary track with a killer beat! This will be amazing in clubs!! 10/10
TRACK 5: Bounce This track reminds me of 'Ridin Dirty' by Chamillionaire a bit. Except not as good. This is a bit too grunge style for me, and Justin doesn't fit in my opinion. 4/10
TRACK 6: Come And Get Me 50 Cent and Tony Yayo are the guests for this track. It is listenable, but not fantastic by any means. Isn't radio friendly, so thankfully doubtful as a single. 5/10
TRACK 7: Kill Yourself The beat in this is too dominant, the hi-hat gets annoying after about 45 seconds. I believe that is the 'Mortal Kombat' theme sampled here, and the piano gives the song a gentle, airy feel. 5/10
TRACK 8: Boardmeeting This is a good track. Its not too grungy, and I love the instruments n whole overall sound. I can't really say much else about this one apart from that really. 7/10
TRACK 9: Fantasy Vocals provided by Money here. This track is quite boring and the complicated beat makes it hard t get into. It's a typical R'n'B song, and doesn't show much originality. 4/10
TRACK 10: Scream The track might suggest some raucous, beat driven, hip-hop tune, but its anything but - which for me ruins it. When looking at the album case I was looking through the titles of the tracks and thought 'ooo, Scream sounds interesting' especially since it features Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls, so when I played the track I was, needless to say disappointed at the floaty R'n'B ballad that was playing at me - it seems a bit raspy in places, not the best use of Nicole's talents. 5/10
TRACK 11: Miscommunication A duet with Timbo and Keri Hilson. This is a synth driven track that delivers Keri's great vocals well and provides a smooth groove for the ears. A good track - but by now in the album I wanted the tempo to pick up again. 6/10
TRACK 12: Bombay As the title suggests, a taste of the orient is evident here. It features traditional Indian vocals mixed with a contemporary synth sound and Timbaland's unmistakeable vocal. An interesting mix, making it an interesting track 6/10
TRACK 13: Throw It On Me The pace is finally back up now, in the form of a duet with The Hives. The infusion of electric guitar and hip-hop beats works really well here and makes it a stand out track for me. 8/10
TRACK 14: Time A mid-tempo song, quite droney, but in a good way. It's a simple song, but it works well and strikes me as quite original. Sounds quite suited to a Halloween film I think. 7/10
TRACK 15: One and Only I heard before the albums release that Fall Out Boy were one of the guests on this album, and I got quite excited, after recently purchasing (and reviewing… see my other reviews) 'Infinity On High' I developed a new liking for the band. This song, however, doesn't quite hit the spot for me, as I was expecting something unique, so hip-hop/rock fusion but it sounds like a Fall Out Boy album track, nothing really different about it. Its decent, but not what I expected. 6/10
TRACK 16: Apologise This song makes this album for me. It is absolutely fantastic. It was a single release for the featured band (One Republic) but Timbaland has converted it into an even more stunning and heartfelt ballad. If you buy any track from this album via iTunes or whatever, make sure it is this one. I HOPE that it gets a single release. 10/10!!!
TRACK 17: 2 Man Show After 'Apologise', the next track had a lot to live up to - so Timbaland brings in the big guns to close the album - Elton John. Elton provides the piano, but no vocals, on this track, and the result is a typical Eltonesque piece, with a typical Timbaland beat. Its quite good, a very interesting and unexpected collaboration though! 7/10
Overall, it is the strength of 'Give It To Me', 'The Way I Are' and 'Apologise' that drive this album and make it a must have. Whilst the other tracks are OK, there are some definite turkeys.
Think before you buy. Dan :-D
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Great review - I'm still going to buy the album as I think it will be worth it for the great songs (when Timbaland is great - he's really really great!)
Advantages: Such a variety of genres put together with great, slick production Disadvantages: A few weaks tracks, and would have been great to have Promiscuous Girl included
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Apr 8th, 2007
(Jul 6th, 2007)
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