TIMBALAND
Shock Value
Interscope
· The debut album from uber-producer Timbaland features guests from Elton John to 50 Cent.
It’s a fact that the "producer cum artist" syndrome has always been a risky one – The Neptunes disappointed mightily on their two efforts, and from that pairing, Pharrell’s solo effort was dismal. While Dr. Dre’s records are solid, some of the best work of his career has occurred with him seated firmly behind the mixing board. Timbaland’s Shock Value sees the ubiquitous producer trying to avoid the same fate. Unfortunately, the man who has aruguably shaped the sound of R&B for the past couple of years fails.
Employing many of the same tricks and sounds he used on Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/LoveSound (The background "yeahs!," the looping keyboard of "My Love," the stomping beat of "Sexyback"), any hopes that Timbaland would offer an adventurous album that takes his space-age funk to a new level are quickly dashed. "The Way I Are" might be a sly homage to Salt ’n’ Pepa’s "Push It,," but it’s lost under a haven’t-I-heard-this-before keyboard line, and collaboration with such questionable artists as She Wants Revenge are laughable. While he refrains from embarrassing himself in front of the mike by inviting guests to sing on almost every song, the 17 tracks on Shock Value are anything but shocking. Perhaps we’re jaded by the inventiveness he has shown time and again, but as he says himself in the opening track, "This ain’t the Timbaland you used to." It certainly isn’t.
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